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.