TAFCA WINTER LEAGUE ONLINE MATCH REPORT (by Robert Jackson with help from his team)
Thurs 10 December 2020 – Div 1 – Castlehill ‘A’ 1.5 v 2.5 Castlehill ‘C’
This was an exciting match between two sides who both believed they could win; it was a derby match after all! Neutrals probably took a different view. This was a “nail biter”! A “close encounter“, which for Castlehill A ended up being a “too close an encounter”, as our “C” team players played out of this world!
Average Team Grades: Castlehill A-1949: Castlehill C-1593: A 356 difference!
Board 2: Andre Babin (1882) v Michael Dugdale (1578)
This was the first game to finish and it was a brutal affair with both sides pulling no punches. Andre is always a tough opponent but Michael was not short of ideas either. The longer the game went the better it seemed until Michael on move 18 played Bg4 to avoid his Bishop being swapped off – unfortunately missing the knight could take it still. In truth this shock clouded Michael`s mind as he still had a get out of jail move which would have still kept him holding a small advantage (9.Nxe5 Qh4+! 10.g3 Qe4?, but Qh3!!) That happens to us all!
Castlehill A 1, Castlehill B 0 – First blood to “A” team!
Board 3: Robert Jackson (1575) v Richard Kynoch (1866)
Playing with Black Richard pressed hard from the start but Robert found ways to hold any breakthrough. Richard felt that he pushed his Q-side pawns carelessly to give Robert the advantage. Robert felt he played a strong move on 18.exd5 – the computer analysis disagreed and marked it as a blunder! Computers – what do they know! Anyway this was a turning point in the game. Richard was up against it – a Bishop with little movement (the “bad Bishop” concept) and his Rook fully occupied stopping pawns pushing forward. Robert played carefully before creating a mating threat to finish.
Castlehill A 1, Castlehill B 1 – “C” team back in the game!
Board 4: Graham Mooney (1866) v Andy Rowe (1572)
Graham Mooney v Andy Rowe was next to finish. This was a very cagey affair. Andy became fixated on the reasonable strategy of placing a Knight on f5 and striving to keep it there. Not quite an outpost but it was a good position for the Knight and it would not be rushed away easily. Unfortunately it did not create any weaknesses or tactical opportunities as it might on another day. The computer analysis showed that both players made very few inaccuracies or mistakes. Not even a single blunder! Looking through the game as it was played; it looked as though it would need something special to win. Unfortunately both players were unable to find any tactical or strategic ways to break through. A draw was agreed and this looked to be a very fair result.
Castlehill A 1½, Castlehill B 1½ – All down to the last game. Squeaky bum time!
Board 1: Miguel Angel Prieto Alvarez (1650)est v Declan Shafi (2184)
Final game in the match was between Declan Shafi and Miguel Angel Prieto Alvarez. This was an amazing game. It looked as though Miguel was doing very well. However on move 35.Qd4?? Miguel missed a chance to push further ahead. The game looked pretty level now. The main issue was time. It was seemingly running down faster for Miguel. Luckily he held his composure and pressed on. The game itself turned after Declan on move 38 played g4 instead of h4. This transformed the position and enabled Miguel’s Knight to play a very prominent part thereafter. However we were on a countdown now and Miguel was left with under a minute to play. It looked as though it would take a checkmate now to survive. Unfortunately for Declan he blundered at this critical point and moved 52…Qe7 making checkmate unavoidable. A very uncharacteristic mistake from our “star player”, Declan Shafi. Miguel won shortly thereafter as the Queen – Knight combination work superbly well together!
Castlehill A 1½, Castlehill B 2½ – A derby classic full of everything, including the underdog winning!
The matched ended with a victory for the “C” team over the “A” team. That seemed to be a bit of a stretch of the imagination beforehand. Full credit to all players for what was a very exciting match.
Just shows you even in chess David can still beat Goliath sometimes!
For league tables checkout the tab on the home page. For everything else checkout the TAFCA website which also includes a searchable database where you can find these games (Click link below).
To search for the 4 games above type as is, or copy and paste the following into the search box without apostrophes:
“Castlehill A week6“,
The four matches should come up?
A big thank you to Robert and his “C” team players for putting this report together for us!