ITS OVER

Drinking in the Queens Hotel, so many people deflated,

News had just come over, Macclesfield C had been relegated,

Man with Hat had told us,

He cried so much his face was wet,

We knew we'd been checkmated.

Despite some late fireworks from Joachim, Macc C failed to secure a point that would have seen their relegation struggle go right down to the wire for a second consecutive season.

For the record, Man with Hat led from the back and was, for once, playing a lower-graded player. However, I couldn’t break through and was getting increasingly frustrated and behind on the clock before Steve made a fatal mistake. On board 5 Pete had already drawn with the potential banana skin that is Vijay. I was still playing and could not afford the time to wander to the other side of the room until my win was confirmed. Even from a distance the body language did not look good and Man with Hat was to quickly learn that his beefed up team was now 1½ - 2½ down with the KoolKat unable to come back from a poor start against Mark W and Denzil beaten by David N on boards 1 + 3 respectively. Time for Joachim to add to his tally with breath taking combinations to prise Bill’s queen away from its guards 2½ - 2½. Ant looked to have lost the deciding game with Reg just needing to finish off a king and pawn endgame with a pawn advantage. I then noticed Reg’s clock was showing 19 seconds. Would this be enough time pressure to induce a mistake at the midnight hour and see the team cling on for another day? Well, you live by the increments and you die by the increments and Reg finished with aplomb.

As Ant’s king was laid down to rest, the fickle finger of fate was pointed, the death knell rang and man and boy openly wept in the street. Lights were lowered around the globe, the horsemen of the apocalypse were briefly seen through a thunderstorm of biblical proportions and hell froze over. Mrs Hat continued to crochet.

A big thank you to all those who played this season and Man with Hat looks forward to the club rapidplay on 21st May. See you all there!

ANOTHER DEFEAT

Macc C took another beating last night as their Cheshire rivals closed in on the Division 2 title. Macclesfield C are still hanging on grimly to their Division 2 status, not by their own volition but by the inability of others to cut the cord. One last chance on 23rd April and even then it’s out of our hands. Macc C failed to post a game win recording 3 halves and 3 losses for a second consecutive match. Marc was at his brilliant best and infuriating worst. Facing Tudor on board 6 he somehow managed to power his h2 pawn onto g6 but then dropped a piece and in a classic case of chess denial dropped a second minor piece. Perhaps a plume of unnerve gas had found itself into the room. Pete had only just finished shuffling the wood about for a creditable half against Keven and this was matched by Man with Hat who was left frustrated when all the artillery was clattered off down the e-file. A quick look at David’s form for the season (unbeaten in Stockport League) helped numb the pain. Ant was next to finish. Having dropped a piece to Geoffrey on board 2 it was too much even for the king of the swindles 1-3. The prize for tenacity went to Joachim who hung on for his half when it looked like he was going to go 2 pawns down to Paul B the East Cheshire captain then again what do I know! Last to finish was East Cheshire’s top board John who found a way through in an absorbing finish against the animated Francis who threw everything at his opponent. MWH was going to mention that we were out-graded on every board and by a mean average of 21.5 but I thought better of it. As for Mrs Hat, she was less than impressed that I failed to restore the family honour against David who had beaten her some years ago.Well played East Cheshire and good luck for the rest of the season in particular your next match against Marple!

SLIP SLIDING AWAY?

Another bad day at the office for Macc C sees their Division 2 status hanging by a thread. However 3 draws and no wins doesn’t really tell the whole story. PhilCo was inconsolable after failing to execute a planned mate against Dave K and spent most of the night on the phone to the Samaritans having reversed the charges. Tony sliced and diced his opponent Daniel netting a piece before blundering it back only to regain the advantage but allowing a perpetual. Marc also burst through his opponent Paul’s defences grabbing the Queen but at a cost of a Rook and a Knight. With pawns on the board this should have been a win but when the pawns dropped so did any chance of the full point. John played an assured game keeping ice cool in a sub 5 minute finish to secure a draw against Andrew (joint winner of the Stockport Rapidplay minor). David S appeared to be struggling from early on against a tough opponent in Howard H and as for Man with Hat well I’ll be brief. I played the Pirc for a good many years so why do I struggle playing against it? I spectacularly failed to hold the middle of the board, I miscalculated a combination and then was outplayed in the endgame. I thought my endgame was getting better, obviously not. Well played to my opponent Richard who played much better than I and well played to Chorlton who won well despite encountering traffic problems on the way to the Queens Hotel stadium. Onwards and downwards we go and MWH can look forward to some self-flagellation. Now that has brought a smile to Mrs Hat’s face!