We played our main rivals to avoid relegation this season, the newly promoted Altrincham A.
Fortunately for us , they were missing a few regulars for this match, but the match result still came down to the last game.
First, on board 4, Carl beat Mike fairly quickly .The game was played quickly and Carl went into the end game with a pawn advantage where he managed to get a passed pawn and win the game.
On Board 5, Denzil managed to win a bishop in the middle game. Vijay then took a bishop pawn with his rook, not noticing it was protected by a Bishop. In the final position, Vijay had his Knight threatened, with checkmate threats as well.
The best Vijay could has achieved would have been an equal exchange of two major pieces but this would have meant he would be down to (Knight) v (Knight ,Bishop ,Rook) in the end game so he resigned.
On Board 2, Phil Cattermole played well against Reg. He gain a Knight advantage early on. In the final position he was attacking the King and could exchange Queens should he wish. Reg resigned giving Macclesfield B a 3-0 lead.
On Board 1, However John-Paul had a difficult game against Dan. He found himself well outgraded and Dan played very well to win Altrincham’s first point.
On Board 3 ,Phil Colville had a good game against Dave.
It was a sharp but even game throughout. Dave got into time pressure and was playing on increments for a long time. However it was Phil who made a mistake and lost a bishop in a nail-biting finish.
At 3-2 there was a glimmer of hope for Altrincham.
On Board 6, Joachim and Bill were even poised. In fact as Bill was a pawn up in a promising position. Time pressure got to both players ,Joachim managed to hold on to his nerve well.The lower graded Bill however “played on instinct” which undid all his hard work and ultimately led to his downfall.
14/10/2019 - Macclesfield B 4 Altrincham A 2
1 Taylor, John Paul (155) 0-1 Soares, Danilo(205)
2 Cattermole, Philip (152) 1-0 Clucas, Reg P (156)
3 Colville, Philip (153) 0-1 Newell, David (145)
4 Gartside, Carl 1(153) 1-0 Davies, Michael (120)
5 Lobo, Denzil (146) 1-0 Kakarparthi, Vijay(125)
6 Trier, Joachim 1(138) 1-0 McCartney, William (101)
The evening started with small issues. John Ashley took on the role of captain and confirmed the team order.
The next hurdle was the digital clocks . This caused a headache as none of the Limit league team could set the clocks. As there are no reliable manual clocks available ( they have been replaced over the last few years), Every member now needs to learn how to set these clocks .
On to the match itself.
Our experienced Limit league team were treated to a harsh lesson from the Ashton school. 0-4 ! The lads from Ashton played very well.
John Astley on board one (black) was the first to fall against an opponent who had done his homework on the Sicilian defense. Sacrificing a piece for 2 pawns to get an overwhelming queenside attack. Marc Jouannet was the next to fall after attempting a king side attack.
Brian Woodhall defended to the end but losing a piece earlier on proved too much of a challenge.
Finally, Brian Woodhall had to give in when he couldn't prevent the pawn advantage resulting in a queen.
Will lessons be learned? We hope so
Macclesfield A V Macclesfield B
1 Smallbone, Kieran (212) 1-0 Colville, Philip (153)
2 Shaw, Robert (196) 0.5-0.5 Gartside, Carl (153)
3 Olsson, Martin (186) 0.5-0.5 Cattermole, Philip (152)
4 Heppell, James (177) 0.5-0.5 Laurence, Geoff (146)
5 Taylor, John Paul (155) 0-1 Lobo, Denzil (146)
6 Davison, Colin (154) 0.5-0.5 Trier, Joachim (138)
The Season started with a fine match between Macclesfield A v Macclesfield B.
Although the B team was out graded on all boards, Macclesfield A & B teams fought hard which is usual in home derbies.
Despite an early the top board loss, the rest of the Matches were all close.
In Summary
Phil Colville beaten by the talented Kieran
Carl managed a draw against Rob
Then
Geoff got a draw against James
Next
Denzil managed to win against John-Paul
Then
Joachim agreed a draw with Colin with an even position
Finally
Phil Cattermole magnificently managed a draw against Martin in a sharp exciting game
A great match with was played in the best spirit and a great start to the season .