Leamington A 2 - 2 Solihull B

18 November 2014

Solihull B are the strongest side in the division on paper, but our B team had managed to get a surprise win over them a week earlier, leaving us a point ahead of them with a game in hand heading into this showdown.

  • Aldridge, Dan (181) 0.5 - 0.5 Clarke, Neil (170)
  • Darling, Tom (151) 0.5 - 0.5 Cheshire, David (161)
  • Collins, Andy (145) 1 - 0 Carpenter, Raymond (158)
  • Olaleye, Oladejo (143) 0 - 1 Nunez-Gil, Roger (UG)

    • My own game was the first to finish. It started out as a very sharp Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, with both players missing chances for a winning advantage in the first dozen moves. Ultimately, I opted to allow simplifications to win my gambit pawn back, and was a dead draw after only 21 moves.

    Dan's opponent opted a quiet opening, with an immediate kingside fianchetto. It was balanced throughout and soon ended in another draw.

    Ola had unfortunately gone a bishop down after an early miscalculation. He had some compensation in the form of an attack on his opponent's castled king, but another slip at a key moment lost a second minor piece and proved decisive.

    Thankfully, Andy was able to produce an excellent win with the black pieces to tie up the match at 2-2. His comments on the game are below.

    So, a tense evening saw us lose our 100% record, but our slight edge at the top of the table is preserved.