Macclesfield C gain their 1st win of the season and leapfrog above Chorlton into 5th place.
Man With Hat (MWH) swaps his usual pre-match routine for a nostalgic tour of South Manchester Surburbia having come off the Motorway at a different junction. Mr Hat had to ask directions and this is actually allowed under certain conditions i.e. if Mrs Hat is not in the car at the time (A sharp intake of breath from Mrs H). Arriving at the venue 15 minutes late, I was pleasantly surprised to see everybody else sat down and in the right playing order. Thank you Oliver for not starting my clock! I didn’t recognise the bottom 3 boards for Chorlton and figured that they must be the latest of a procession, a seemingly endless flow of talent from the Manchester Club. Joachim was first to finish on board 2 with an agreed draw with the experienced Graham P. A slight plus for us I thought but this was wiped out when Marc on board 5 agreed a draw with Anthony despite being a pawn to the good. `Lost too many endgames this season` explained a sheepish Marc. MWH gleefully accepts his opponent’s piece sacrifice on board 4 then spends all of the game desperately clinging on to his advantage liquidising when possible. A win to MWH who has less than 5 minutes left on the clock. Commiserations to Oliver who played well enough to suggest that he will win soon. Its 2-1 to Macc and John has a pawn majority on board 6 but with a knight each this could take time. How wrong was I? I turned round for a couple of minutes and all of a sudden John has broken through and promoted causing Joel to resign. A team win was now only ½ a point away but well played to the Chorlton rookies who had put up fierce resistance. Our Pete C looked in a solid position against Chorlton’s Peter H on board 3 having 2 bishops to break through a rigid pawn structure. However, drama is never far away when the Macc lads travel and Pete C appeared to be spooked by his opponent’s declaration that he was no longer scoring (less than 5 minutes left). Pete stopped hitting his clock to the horror of Joachim and MWH but eventually he realises and records the best victory of the night. Well played Pete! Ant’s valiant efforts on Board 1 to contain a very strong player in Austin disappeared when Pete’s victory was confirmed.
Chorlton teams are like a box of chocolates – you never know what to expect and the return fixture at the Ranch may be tougher. However it was beaming smiles all round from the Macc Lads who will now go to East Cheshire in better spirits.
New Gradings out now for those with a strong constitution, search ECF Grading Database (There is a automatic download of the latest Macclesfield Chess Club ECF Grades on the "Members" tab so this will always be up-to-date -Denzil-Webmaster).
Best wishes from Mr + Mrs Hat
Man with Hat arrived early at the Navvy to find that the room had been used for an earlier function. With no thought for his safety he sneaks behind enemy lines and unfurls the Macclesfield flag at the far side of the room with the chair backs facing the wall. In football parlance this is like winning the toss away from Home and electing to swap sides, a bit like Graeme Souness plunging the Galatasaray flag into the Centre Circle of Fenerbahce. Unfortunately, it didn’t really get much better… Joachim on Board 3 made a solid start with an agreed draw. A quick glance over my shoulder and I see that Joachim had wedged a pawn on the 5th rank whilst his opponent Andy had jammed a knight also in the centre of the board. No room to play ½ : ½. Tom dropped a pawn against a tough opponent and the experienced Mr K was able to convert (Tom, I’ve not beaten him in 3 attempts)! ½- 1½. Next to finish is yours truly. I actually thought this ½ wasn’t too bad and although the green shoots of recovery are still very much frozen underground the rot has, for now at least, stopped. A blunder free draw with the Black pieces did not however please the indomitable Mrs Hat whose withered look was accompanied by an order not to mention the grading differences (never occurred to me)! Three games left and the Macc Lads have big time advantages in all of them but we need 2 wins for a match point and I am realistically only optimistic for Denzil against Alan who for some reason he likes to play against. Alan was eyeing up a winning endgame but Denzil managed to keep the Queens on making it difficult to play with less than 3 minutes on the clock. A mating net was weaved and not seen and the scores moved to 2 each. Francis had allowed Paul a free run of his Queen down the Queenside. The idea was to trap Paul’s Queen but Paul created a flight square and was able to free himself with a 2 pawn winning advantage. The baying mob then turn their attention to Board 5 where John had a good position until he ran out of rope to tie Chris up. Chris emerged free at last with a 2 pawn advantage but no passed pawn i.e. 4 v 3 and 3 v 2. Could John keep the game alive with his time advantage and pressure Chris into an error? It’s John that makes the error and another deserved win for Marple. Well played Terry, well played Marple and we move on to the second half of the season when we will once again be up against it. Thanks to all those who stepped in at the last minute to ensure 6 very keenly contested games played in good spirit with congenial hosts.
Next up for Man with Hat is the Stockport Rapidplay where Mrs Hat will be signing books and scaring the children.