Match Reports

back to Match Reports

Leamington C vs Rugby

27 March 2012

  Leamington C     Rugby
1 Andy Collins (126) 0 1 Nigel Malka (131)
2 Roy Hadfield (121) 1 0 Gareth Bailey (-)
3 Mark Armitage (110) 1 0 Brian Gould (-)
    2 1  

1) N Malka V A Collins:

  1. c4 Nf6 (I do not know much about the English therefore decided to keep things flexible and allow alternative transpositions in to the queens gambit or nimzo Indian etc)
  2. Nc3 e6
  3. a3 (this is not anything bad but just a waste of a tempo from white)Be7
  4. e4 d5 (I was worried about white gaining a very strong pawn centre so this simple move is virtually forced)
  5. cxd5 exd5
  6. e5 Ne4 (I realised my knight could have a few problems, moving it back to d7 is just horrible. I only realised at this point though that the text move sacrifices a pawn by force)
  7. Nxe4 dxe4
  8. Qa4+ Be7? (After Nc6 black has full compensation for the pawn, but after the text black has some compensation for the pawn at least initially anyway)
  9. Qxe4 Bc6?
  10. Qg4 0-0 (Objectively my position is not so nice here, but whites king is still stuck in the centre and he has worse development)
  11. d4 Re8
  12. Bh6 Bf8 (This holds things together but probably slightly better is g6)
  13. Be3 Qd5
  14. Nf3 (Here my opponent wants to complete his development quick, but it allows me some counter play chances on the queen side) Qb3
  15. Rb1? (This was a big mistake and I completely equalise after this) Bxa3 (Now my opponent thought I had made a mistake and was losing a piece after his next move)
  16. Nd2 Bb4 (This was the point!)
  17. Bc4? (Now my opponent blundered a piece)Bxd2+
  18. Bxd2 Qxc4 (Naturally picking up the piece)
  19. Rc1 Qd5 (Perfectly natural but missing at the time Rxe5+!)
  20. 0-0 Re6
  21. f3 Na6 (So I do not have to worry about my bank rank anymore)
  22. h4 Rd8 (With hindsight around this point I would have played differently, I felt like the game was won and was still trying to build up a winning attack, when all I needed to do was slow down consolidate my position, take away all whites counter play and he has no hope at all of saving the game)
  23. Bc3 Qd7
  24. h5 Rh6
  25. Qg5 Re8
  26. f4 Qe7
  27. Qg4 g6
  28. f5 (Pawns moves that should cause me no concern and simply further weaken whites position Rxh5
  29. Fxg6 Rg5?? (Its suffice to say that I simply lose after this, I was thinking I was being clever and just blundered, the simple hxg6 wins easily enough.

2) In his match against Gary Bailey, Roy Hadfield won in a positional encounter. He had constricted his opponent to a cramped position for most of the game, but Gary eventually managed to free his position and came back with dangerous counterplay, as the game became more tactical. However, Roy held firm and won after his opponent made an unfortunate but crucial miscalculation.

3) Brian Gould v Mark Armitage
Playing against a relative newcomer to the league, Mark had an unexpectedly easy time. The game was very even up until move 17, when Mark made a rather wild foray with a bishop check on the seventh rank. This unnerved his opponent who unnecessarily exchanged his queen for two minor pieces and the rest was fairly easy

back to top

Chipping Campden B vs Leamington C

23 January 2012

We travelled a long way for this defeat at the hands of Chipping Camden. Perhaps we were tired out after the journey but apart from a fine win on Board 1 by Roy, we failed to make any headway. Guy had a frustrating evening as his opponent turned up over half an hour after apparently falling asleep. That must have refreshed him, as he managed to defeat Guy in a very short time. Mark's defeat was much longer drawn out and for most of the game it looked very much like it would be a draw. Unfortunately, with Mark under some time pressure at the end, his opponent managed to force a win with a well thought out pawn advance.

  Chipping Campden B     Leamington C
1 William Langley (113) 0 1 Roy Hadfield (121 )
2 William P Nash (111) 1 0 Guy Greenland (113)
3 Adrian Grimes (102) 1 0 Mark Armitage (110)
    2 1  
back to top

Solihull C vs Leamington C

10 January 2012

In our second outing against this strong side, we didn't quite achieve the heady heights of our spectacular away win last November, but at least we held our own. Guy had a rough time on Board 1 playing against a very much higher rated player, and was perhaps unsettled somewhat by his late arrival. After an early queen fork which gained a rook for his opponent Guy bowed to the inevitable shortly thereafter. Andy on Board 2 also had a tough match and was under severe time pressure just coming up to move 35. It was beginning to look as though he would succumb to that pressure when his opponent unaccountably blocked off an escape square for his king, enabling Andy to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Mark's game against Louise was rather less spectacular with neither player being especially adventurous and both were content to allow the game to end in a draw by repetition of position.

  Leamington C     Solihull C
1 Guy Greenland (113) 0 1 Paul Roper (142 )
2 Andy Collins ( ) 1 0 John Green (131)
3 Mark Armitage (101) 0.5 0.5 Louise Coxon (123)
    1.5 1.5  
back to top

Solihull C vs Leamington C

23 November 2011

A great night for the C team with all of us winning against higher graded players. Andy on Board 1 had a stonking win in quick time against Paul Roper, Roy, after rejecting the offer of a draw early on, went on to dispatch Mike Nevin in a tense endgame. Mark, captain, finally got his first win of the season in a lengthy game which could have gone either way, but victory was assured once his opponent fail to spot a fine bishop sacrifice, which forced the win a few moves later. After this fine victory our position in the table has improved markedly from last but one to a respectable fourth.

  Solihull C     Leamington C
1 Paul Roper (142) 0 1 Andy Collins ( )
2 Mike Nevin (131) 0 1 Roy Hadfield (121)
3 John Green (131) 0 1 Mark Armitage (101)
    0 3  
back to top

Leamington 2 U700 v Chipping Camden

Tuesday 8 November 2011

A closely fought match but, after a nail biting finish in the longest game of the evening on board 4, Guy had to offer a draw due to severe time trouble, despite being in a clearly winning position. Tom Haworth also managed a draw on board 1, whilst Andy had a good win on Board 2. Sadly, Roy and Mark failed to get any points from their games, so Chipping Camden were able to claim the victory.

  Leamington 2     Chipping Campden
1 Tom Howarth (137) 0.5 0.5 Richard S Dobedoe (147)
2 Andy Collins ( ) 1 0 Gordon M Mills (133)
3 Roy Hadfield (121) 0 1 Peter L Drury (133)
4 Guy Greenland (113) 0.5 0.5 William Langley (113)
5 Mark Armitage (101) 0 1 Adrian Grimes (102)
    2 3 Away win
back to top

Leamington C v Shirley

Tuesday 11 October 2011

A Collins 0 - 1 K Warren
R Hadfield 1 - 0 K Gilbert
R Warnes 0.5 - 0.5 J Donovan
Leamington C 1.5 - 1.5 Shirley & Withall

We could not quite pull off a win. It was looking good at one point. Andy's game was last to finish, and it was a game that could have gone either way.

back to top

Leamington C v Banbury C

Tuesday 27 September 2011

After a conspicuously absent start to the season, Captain Armitage made his first outing playing on Board 3 against D Rowan. Perhaps it was due to the rather nice Hook Norton beer on offer or general rustiness but after a promising start the game slipped slowly but inevitably from his grasp, after his opponent managed to double his rooks following an exchange leading to a two pawn deficit. His team mates, Guy Greenland, playing K Freshwater on board 2, and Andy Collins, playing the highly rated Steve Rumsby on Board 1, fared rather better, with Guy achieving a creditable draw in an edgy but ultimately even game and Andy triumphing again in a full on Ruy Lopez. So overall, honours even.

back to top

Leamington C v Olton C

Guy 0 - 1 K Allen
Andy 1 - 0 A Cottom
Reg 0 - 1 J Gillespie

Guy (on Board 1) lost the exchange in the opening and his opponent never lost his grip on the game after that. Guy resigned after 26 moves when more material loss was inevitable with no compensation.

Andy won a close battle in the endgame where he managed to win a rook and stop a pawn from queening. A remarkably long and tense game in which he had been able to gain an edge and maintain pressure right to the end.

Reg had a closely fought game with plenty of complicated tactical threats on either side. Eventually he lost queen for rook after a deadly check and there no way back from that.

back to top