Macclesfield's Club Championship-The Final Stage

In the Championship Tony Soames defeated Colin Davison with a win and a draw.

In the first game Colin tried the Dutch Defence and play was evenly balanced until White broke through in the centre.

In the second game Tony employed the Sicilian Defence and Colin went into an obscure line. The play was complicated and Colin gave up a piece to set up a strong attack on Black's king. When the complications resolved Black remained the exchange up. In time trouble, refusing a draw by repetition, Colin lost a piece and then Tony lost his extra rook leaving a simple drawn position.

The Pomeroy Cup sees Richard Murphy and David Styles in the final.

In the first game David had White and overpressed his attack, leaving himself with a bishop severely hampered by his own pawns.

In the second game Richard was playing well and threatened to win a piece, to which David responded by inviting complications with the offer of a knight. Richard ran short of time and overlooked an unusual mate.

They will continue with two further games at rapid play rate.

SAVING THE BEST TO LAST

Last home game of the season (played at Wilmslow). This is now the 4th different venue for the last 4 home games and the Macclesfield Nomads aka Macclesfield C are looking to make it an incredible 9 victories in 10. First to finish was Mrs Hat and regular readers of this blog will know that Mr Hat is neither brave nor stupid and does not comment 0-1. Next an almighty thud that triggered Tsunami alerts across the globe as Marc throws down his King in disgust after ceding the advantage to a strong opponent 0-2. Dave M is having to play accurately to stay in this one as his opponent is peppering him with checks in a double Rook and Queen endgame but it’s the Wilmslow player who makes the error and 20 minutes later its 1-2. Rook and opposite squared Bishops are a recipe for frustration in endgames but David S finished with aplomb. Well played Dave and David! 2-2. Here we go again as the crowd tunes into another episode of `An audience with the Hat`. I now have not only a massive time advantage but an extra Bishop and only a passed pawn wedged into the 6th rank to worry about. Man with Hat makes this nervier than it should have been. When I finally wake up to the fact that I need to sac a pawn to create the play that will activate my pieces my time advantage has been drastically reduced. My opponent’s clock however does run out and although not the most satisfying of ways to win a game, a win is a win and this was my best of the season.

A special thanks to Wilmslow Chess Club for hosting this match as cordial as ever.

CHAMPIONS!!!

Just a point required to be crowned champions of Division 3. Macclesfield `C` entertain Altrincham `B` in the basement of a community hall – with Zamba classes being held upstairs!! For those not familiar, the beat and more pertinently the loudness is somewhere between the Notting Hill Carnival and that other one in Rio. Mercifully, it ended at 9pm. Tom was first to finish with a win. Having struggled with his form in recent weeks, this was a gutsy performance to win when it mattered most. Next was Marc looking to avenge a defeat he suffered at the beginning of last month. Having engineered a passed pawn advantage, he was on top in a Queen & Double Rook ending when his opponent under pressure blundered and allowed Marc to fork his rooks. On hearing the 2-0 scoreline, Dave M exchanged a solid and promising position for an agreed championship winning draw. Objective secured in an almost anti-climatic way. David S, having fended off a vicious Kingside attack then went on to win his game meaning that the match had now been won. The only blip was Man with the Hat who played poorly throughout but full credit and congratulations to my opponent who did play well and thoroughly deserved his win. There was still time for the championship winning captain to be carried shoulder high down to the Queens Hotel where a guard of honour had been formed to throw Man with Hat into a bath full of champagne after he nodded off, contented and with a glass of scotch in his hand.

A special thanks to Jenny Soames for booking the venue at short notice and to the Altrincham team for being good sports when confronted with the cacophony that greeted them.