Hi all,
With the absence of Dicky due to the dreaded bat lurgy, I figured I'd take it upon myself to summarise the exciting happenings of the St Johnites this Thursday! The Crusaders were paired against the Dons Buccaneers, with Mark on board one squaring off against Jeff Dawson. When I glanced over, the game seemed tactically sharp, with the board open and Jeff's bishops slicing Mark's position. I didn't see much more because the game ended quickly, with Jeff taking home the full point. Next to finish was Harry on Board Four, squaring off against Jim McAvoy. The middlegame looked very interesting, with Harry taking an imbalance where he got a rook and two pawns for two pieces, but apparently the b pawn was a thorn in Harry's side, denying him some valuable passers. Jim managed to hold onto the b pawn and create some pressure, eventually tricking Harry with a knight fork in the endgame; two points to the Dons. I was next to finish. I was squaring off against Dave Dempster for the fourth time in two months! Determined to avoid playing the Morra against him (despite scoring well), I decided to surprise him and heavily prepped the Rossolimo. In return, he surprised me and played an e6 Sicilian, totally sidestepping my prep. I played g3 and we ended up in an interesting middlegame where we both ended up with isolated d pawns and neither of us really knew the position. He had the better of me initially but eventually I managed to alleviate the pressure and win a pawn. Soon, I had the bishop pair against two knights with my extra pawn, and the rooks and queens got traded. I managed to create a lone passer on the queenside and trade the minor pieces into a won king and pawn endgame, and eventually he succumbed. David was last to finish, playing Brian Jeffrey on board three. David had two rooks for the queen and great pressure against white's remaining minor piece, but his king was wide open to queen checks. Given a move, he would win the knight and the game, but his rooks were also not protecting each other, limiting his king's escape options as the queen harassed him. Eventually, repetition occurred, and the game was declared drawn. Crusaders 1.5-2.5 Dons. Dennis also squared off against Rod for their Bronze Division matchup! I didn't catch the game at all, but I do know that Dennis managed to win (result submitted and logged on the website). There were also several St Johnites present for casual games, although due to my late finishing game I managed to miss all the excitement downstairs. What I didn't miss, however, were cameos from both Senior International Master Mike Read (who took an interest in several of the serious games and gave some feedback to Harry after the conclusion of his) and the Jedi Master himself, former board one Dr Daniel Frean on a trip down from the Lake District for work, who provided some moral support! Apparently Dan is pretty much done with super serious chess, although he has linked up with Kendal Chess Club who are absolutely thrilled to have him on board one in their local league. Coincidentally, Dan was apparently one of the testers of Duck Chess when it was first developed by Dr Tim Paulden, although unfortunately we didn't have time for a game. Maybe next time! I know that several of you have Covid, so I hope you all get well soon! Nathan
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