THE ONLY WAY IS UP

It was another dark, dank, dismal, dreary January night and Macclesfield C entertained Denton in what was already being billed as a crucial game for both teams to preserve their Division 2 status. Denton had hitherto recorded a win against a strong Chorlton side, defaulted 0-6 to Macclesfield B and then got trounced by East Cheshire. What team, if any, would Denton be putting out?

Denton’s top 3 aka the three Davids were all in attendance and their Board 6 had beaten me 24 hours earlier in the Stockport Rapidplay so the omens were not good. Marc was dropped down a couple of boards to give him some respite and boy did he take advantage dispatching Ivan before the rest of us had finished developing. Team captain David H for Denton must have been rubbing his hands when confronted by his favourite opening and he certainly Pirc’d up enough to end Philcos resistance (that’s enough of that – Ed). Next to finish was the top board where Man with Hat was staring down the barrel. David C pulled the trigger and missed from close range letting the Hat keep his Rook pair. He then reloaded and shot himself in the foot allowing me to plonk both of the said Rooks on the 7th rank to claim an unlikely draw. Onwards and downwards (to the bar that is) where Tom found me to give news of his fabulous victory over Eric on Board 6. I walked back upstairs with a sense of trepidation. Yes, we were ahead 2 ½ : 1 ½ but I knew that David S was struggling and he eventually succumbed to Stan. Whilst the crowd were circling this board the Match of the Day theme tune was being played over on Board 2 where Tony was bringing home the full point and the match after closing out against the experienced Dave B.

A great night at the Queens hotel, Macclesfield C recording their first victory of the season, leapfrogging Denton to climb off the bottom of the table. Some fantastic performances but a supreme team effort to win when conceding an average of over 18 grading points per board. Well played to both teams and we shall look forward to the return fixture.

CAT PURRING

Stoke league skipper, Phil, aka “Top Cat”, surveyed the division 2 league table on New Year's eve and saw that Macclesfield were joint bottom with just 3 points from 4 matches and thus he had his New Year resolution (so need for a dry January after all!)

On the 6th Macc travelled to Leek to play Cheddleton B. The club champion held Simon, the home skipper; indeed the latter was compelled to take a perpetual check. The secretary likewise held the rising star, Jacob, and then The Cat, Ant and Phil Colville (Philco hereafter) delivered the wins to secure a 4-1 win. Macclesfield went from bottom to top in a division that now saw all clubs on either 4 or 5 points.

On the 16th Newcastle B were the visitors. Dave playing top board played a combination which had a serious flaw but with the Secretary, Top Cat and Dave Mallinson all securing wins, together with Ant's draw, a 3.5-1.5 result was achieved.

Two days later the team travelled to Crewe. Despite a whole day making desperate calls etc, Top Cat couldn't find a board 5 and thus we started one down from a forfeit. Ant's opponent over-stepped the time control and we came back to 1-1. The secretary finally got the better of the League Chairman at the 3rd attempt and Dave secured a draw against Karl. Top Cat's opponent, Neville, always saves his best for our skipper and yet again managed to pull off a win to draw the match 2.5-2.5.

So as we reach the end of January, Macclesfield sit proudly at the top of the table – but other teams have games in hand……..

BEES BUZZING

Super cool B team captain, John-Paul, finally decided at 8:45am on the morning of January 3 that he ought to get round to selecting a side for that evening's away fixture at Chorlton. Several players, who had assumed they'd been dropped having not had the skipper's call earlier, responded positively and thus the side arrived in good time for the 2017 opener. The home team and most of the visitors understood the extreme conditions at Chorlton and came wearing 8 layers (when the heaters were switched on it still took quarter of an hour for the ice droplets to melt) but super cool J-P chose to buck the trend.

The secretary put the visitors 1 up inside the hour with a quick win. Nick, who'd come prepared for the bar not to be open, made it 2 when he recovered from an almost hopeless position and also the disaster of spending nearly 5 minutes on his clock when he forgot to press it. Phil ground out a win when his opponent, Alan, went wrong and then Denzil declined a draw when his opponent had a forced perpetual. His opponent then decided to vary and thus began a saga…..

Joachim turned round a material deficit and the captain made it 5 with a vicious attack. The secretary looked forward to an early return home – a big mistake!

Denzil's game reached the stage Q + 3 pawns v Q. Both players embarked on long checking sequences aimed at creating some sort of record. Scoresheets were filled and new ones started. Denzil seemed determined not to move his pawns and spectators began to prey for the 50 move rule to kick in. Denzil's pen ran out, his opponent's pencil snapped – or maybe they had less than 5 minutes with the Fischer increments - but certainly there were groans when it was realised that no-one was now counting moves. Suddenly Denzil moved a pawn (oh no!) and nearby pubs emptied.

Spectators took it in turns to have a nap and then, in what seemed like the small hours, Denzil blundered a pawn and, eventually another, and finally, in what might have been the longest game in the league had anyone been counting, had to settle for the draw which had been offered hours earlier!