Another dismal result to explain as a beleaguered Macclesfield C team slump to yet another defeat. When the team sheets were exchanged Man with Hat sensed a chance to put some points on the board. No Mark Whalley, Tony, Richard, Nick or Bill. It all started well enough with Pete the Predator menacingly prowling the board, waiting for a mistake from his opponent before stripping him of material like a scene from a David Attenborough documentary. The only piece left was Pete’s bishop and a resignation soon followed. John looked to be in command on board 6 whilst Marc had a good position on board 5 but at the cost of a sacrificed piece. I had played my opponent previously and lost after 1) e4 so given Thomas’s lack of years I thought 1) b4 was worth a punt. It certainly worked to begin with and Man with Hat gains 5 minutes on the clock and a decent position. However, disaster has never been far away this season (or the last) and overlooking a move left me with a King that couldn’t castle and pieces that were tripping themselves up. If they were musical notes on a stave then the sound would have been something akin to a cat being strangled. Disentangling my pieces came at the cost of a ‘pin 2 win’. Well played Thomas and I look forward to another rematch. Worse was to follow and John blundered away a winning chance and had to settle for a draw against Steve W. Denzil was beaten by Reg on board 2 leaving the match score on 2 ½ - 1½ in favour of the home side. PhilCo had the hardest task of the night playing Mark on top board. Mr Hann is the man at the moment after going 18 matches unbeaten in the Stockport League last season. PhilCo had every chance of a draw in a minor piece endgame just needing to make sure that he didn’t allow Mark to fork his King and Bishop (Oops)! With the match now decided the baying mob turned their attention to Board 5. Man with Hat wasn’t sure whether the 2 remaining gladiators were aware that the match had been decided but perhaps the performance of the night came from VJ who resolutely stuck to his task of defending his advantage eventually returning the sacrificed piece in exchange for a winning endgame. Well played VJ and well played Altrincham and I shall look forward to the return fixture.
Mrs Hat would like to point out that she had beaten my opponent in April 2015 and would gladly help out if she wasn’t washing her hair and if I were to ask nicely. I’m afraid to say that my answer is not repeatable on this page. Man with Hat would like to wish his readers a Merry Xmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. Time for the Gin.
It was a cold, foggy evening for the Christmas Rapidplay tournament. Tony Soames had taken time out to celebrate his wife’s birthday and I (Denzil) was tasked with running this tournament.
Patrick struggled in, hitting the curb and damaging his tyre, whilst Tony Lane failed to make it. Several others were foiled by the poor weather
We ended up with a healthy 14 competitors. A buffet was provided and there was plenty for everyone.
After round two we had four people leading the pack, Phil Cattermole ,Joachim Trier , Nick Evans and Geoff Laurence.
In round three Phil beat Joachim and Geoff drew with Nick giving Phil the lead going into round 4 .
We briefly had a puzzle board for two rounds for competitors to entertain but Patrick decided to commandeer this board for his games although there were two other free boards available.
Round 4 saw Nick Beat Phil and Joachim beat Geoff opening thing up. Nick now led the field with Joachim and Phil in close second.
The final had real drama
Adrian and Patrick didn’t start their clocks
Alan made an illegal move an Francis gained a minute
Phil beat Tony Brough to end up on a winning 4 points
Joachim beat reckless Nick (who lost a piece without noticing) ending up on 4 points , leaving Nick having to settle third with 3.5 points
Geoff and Phil Colville (both on 2.5 points after 4 rounds and both could have tied for third place with a win) –drew
In eventful tournament which was played in the right spirit.
However there were times when Players were frantically pressing the clock and moving pieces. Things got so bad that pieces were knocked over and players lost track of what was happening. Strictly speaking, players are required to move and press the clock with the same hand and players should adopt this practice to avoid the uncontrolled frantic finishes
Result
=1st Phil Cattermole 4
=1stJoachim Trier 4
3rd Nick Evans 3.5
`The roses have faded, there’s frost at my door, the birds in the morning don’t sing anymore`.
Macc C `borrowed` a couple of players from the not-so-forbidden tree and were able to stop the haemorrhaging of points from the top order. Unfortunately this couldn’t stop the hybrid team from being unceremoniously dumped out of the Presidents Cup at Marple. First up was Marc being Marc thrusting his pawns onwards with lines so sharp it was like watching a laser cut through butter. David P was having none of it though and when the debris was checked it looked to be all things equal until Marc blundered a piece 0-1. On my other side, an equalising blunder by Alan and his dancing horses allowing Denzil a bishop fork of Queen and King (when will someone gift me a game)? 1-1. Next to be ground down was Tom on board 5, beaten by Chris, a consistent player 34 grading points higher. Tom will return to winning ways soon of that I am certain. We now needed 1 ½ points to progress by board elimination. Ant was holding firm with the black pieces against Paul on top board whilst Man with Hat was not. I had made a complete hash of the opening (AGAIN)! On the plus side, MWH had shown resourcefulness a plenty in order to be last man standing. It’s a very lonely place to be surrounded by the baying mob and this was Man with Hat’s second successive year at this venue trying in vain for a win that was only ever achievable theoretically. A stylish finish from MWH as he pirouettes off his chair knocking all of the remaining pieces over. Just time to find my King, pick it up again to put it down before congratulating my opponent Andy on his worthy victory.
I can hear the dulcet tones of Mrs Hat `Get over it`!