After our somewhat tepid start to the season this chalks up our second consecutive win, and puts us right back in the mix, although it has to be said, Ipswich Sports Club must still be favourites. We faced the same line up that held us to a 2-2 draw back in October, and we had the same results except for Rowland who was able to reverse the slip up he made in the ending of his last game, and made sure he came away with the full point.

Ipswich Sports Club is a brand new venue for us, so we left with plenty of time to find it, although it isn't that difficult when your Satnav happens to know where it's going. Although it doesn't always know how long it will take to get there as Bob and Phil found out, arriving with half an hour to spare, which is obviously better than the alternatives. Mind you, it didn't look as though the match itself would get started anywhere near on time as they were still moving tables and chairs with less than ten minutes to go before kick-off. Surprisingly the match did get underway on time and things settled down in their usual way.
  Both Panagiotis and Rowland opened with an English, Phil faced a Queen's gambit and Bob played his Modern. Phil was the first to finish in what had been a pretty level game until his opponent embarked on a complicated series of exchanges that could easily have gone wrong for either player if any of the exchanges were done in the wrong order. It was a series of exchanges however that allowed Phil to pick up a stray central pawn when it was all over, although the game was far from won as his opponent's bishop looked more dangerous than Phil's knight. His opponent clearly thought that his best chances lay in exchanging everything off the board and go into a rook and pawn ending a pawn down. Phil played with precision and it wasn't long before his 3v2 pawns became 3v1 and as these were gradually moved up the board, and all his opponent could really do was make things difficult and pray for a stalemate.
  Rowland put us further ahead in a very different type of game to Phil's. It was typically Rowland - complicated, aggressive, balanced on a knife-edge, sacrificial and generally difficult to work out whose threats were the most dangerous. And it didn't end until it ended when the tide had finally turned in Rowland's favour, and coupled with a significant time deficit. his opponent resigned.
  We were now looking good for our fist match win of the season, although there was still scope for things to go badly wrong. Panagiotis had pushed his English on all fronts, so by the time he was out of the opening only one of his pawns was on its home square, with four of the others on the fourth rank. It was interesting to see that while Phil was converting his rook and pawn ending, only a pawn and a knight each had come off of this board. Eventually Panagiotis appeared to be breaking through in the centre and his opponent had to give up the exchange to halt it. But that exchange had come at the cost of a pawn, and soon it was two pawns, and then three. After his opponent had forced the exchange of queens and was about to exchange a couple of the remaining pawns, he offered Panagiotis a draw, which was accepted on the grounds that it was the sensible thing to do when a game can no longer be won.
  With that decided there was barely another move played on board four and a draw was accepted there as well. This board had been materially level throughout, although at times it looked as though Bob was hemmed in and short of any active moves. It was surprising how his opponent's pair of knights seemed to dominate the position and for a long time Bob was on the defensive. But he maintained his cool and after the queens came off, along with one of the annoying knights, Bob was able to breathe more easily. In the final rook and pawn ending it was Bob who seemed to have an edge, but with time slipping away, and a 3-1 victory to be gained, Bob took the draw.
  Ipswich Sports Club is a very nice venue with a good bar, but there are slight reminiscences of Felixstowe's Dooley Inn insofar as noise from the bar had a habit of creeping into the playing room, which is separated from the bar by a concertina door that seemed impossible to fully close. This could become a serious problem, especially in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and especially if one of their customers (who could have been mistaken for the Joker from Batman) should be there. Saxmundham will be the team putting this to the test on December 16th.

There must have been something in the air tonight. Something that eschewed equality and symmetry. Something that upset the balance on all four boards, especially the odd ones where queens were traded for a variety of pieces.
  There was little sign of what was to come as things got underway. Panagiotis got off to a fairly brisk start with a Sicilian that prompted an early f4, Phil faced a Centre Counter that started along traditional lines, Rowland's Pirc was handled with caution and Bob's Modern looked suspiciously like an English.
  Bob was the first to finish after a struggle for control of the centre resulted in a series of exchanges and an almost empty centre with a solitary enemy pawn occupying it. Unfortunately it also resulted in an oversight that cost Bob a piece, but he fought on with that pawn being a persistent thorn in his side. His opponent played with care and that material imbalance and that slowly advancing pawn proved decisive, and after two hours of play Bob eventually resigned. It is worth mentioning here that at the point where Bob resigned not a single piece had been exchanged of Rowland's board, everything was still there apart from a single pair of pawns; the balance there had not yet been upset.
  The same could not be said on board 1. Perhaps as a sign of things to come, Panagiotis had disdained the threat of doubled f-pawns and a half open g-file that made his king look a little vulnerable (especially as his opponent had castled long) and instead began a direct assault on the enemy. In order to keep it going Panagiotis surrendered his queen for a rook and bishop but his opponent always seemed to have enough to hold him off. It was a risky strategy and very soon after that Panagiotis gave up the exchange, but had picked up a few pawns along the way so now he had two bishops and three pawns for his queen. Unfortunately, apart from a rook, he didn't have much else and now his uncastled king was facing imminent danger as both rook and queen had penetrated behind his lines. Panagiotis had no choice but to take a draw by repetition.
  At this point we were still hopeful of drawing the match as Phil had survived a very complicated Centre Counter in which he was constantly in danger of losing a pawn, but instead came out of the complications a piece up (albeit for four pawns, that soon became three and then just two). At this point Phil had all five of his pieces bearing down on the enemy king and had built up a substantial time advantage, but that king somehow managed to slip through his fingers as he transferred himself from a very exposed queen's side to a much safer king's side. After the queens came off and we entered a minor piece ending it was the extra two pawns for Phil's bishop that were just enough the draw the game.
  Rowland's game had been a long tussle for some kind of strategic advantage in which most of his pieces seemed glued to the back rank. It was quite a contrast to see all but two of his pieces on the back rank while his opponent had all but two of his off the back rank. But that apparently, is not uncommon for the hypermoderns. With such a busy board (only one pair of pawns missing) it was very hard to say who stood better, but then, after a couple of dozen moves a second pair of pawns was exchanged. And half a dozen or so moves later saw the first pieces exchanged. Now things were looking interesting. Rowland's opponent had castled king's side but had concentrated all of his forces down the queen's side, and the time was ripe for a bishop sacrifice on h3. Not only was the king isolated from his pieces, those pieces seemed to be in each other's way to render the needed assistance, but somehow Rowland's opponent managed to survive the onslaught, even though he had to surrender his queen in the process. But that came at quite a cost to Rowland, and as the smoke cleared he found himself attacking the king with just his queen. A king that could call upon two rooks and a knight for defence. And while Rowland had a couple of passed pawns in his favour he didn't have time to advance them, and as both players had been playing on the increments for some time, they settled for a repetition, leaving us still without a match win.

Well we're nothing if not consistent this season - three matches and three 2-2 draws. Newly promoted Sudbury, who were last in Division One twelve seasons ago, made a good fist of it tonight in a match that could so easily have gone either way.
  Panagiotis had faced an English and fairly raced through the first twenty or so moves, picking up a pawn on the way. The ending was of the sort that you don't often see - four knights and a handful of pawns. Panagiotis maintained his pawn advantage and slowly but surely advanced them up the board. One couldn't help but wonder if his opponent had considered giving up his knights for the three pawns just to see if Panagiotis could remember how to deliver mate with just two knights. It's something you learn in your early chess career and then forget about because it never happens - and it didn't happen again tonight either. Of course his opponent would have to lose his own pawns as well for this to work, and Panagiotis would never have let that happen.
  It was a while after that before Simon put us two up. He had played the Queen's Gambit, which his opponent accepted, and the usual struggle for control of the centre followed. As the game wore on all enemy pawns were removed from the Queen's side leaving a clear path for Simon's two connected (and of course passed) pawns to create problems for his opponent (on the other wing the pawns were 4-3 in his opponent's favour). An oversight lost Simon the exchange, but the compensation proved well worth it. Both players had to be wary of back rank mating threats, but it was Simon's two pawns, now separated on the a and c files, that won the day when it was clear that both would reach the seventh.
  Two-nil up and things were not looking too good for us on board two, while board three had developed into the usual chaotic encounter that we have now come to expect from Rowland. His opponent's Reti, in which he castled on move four, sprung into life during the middle game, and it was difficult to see who stood better. It was interesting to see Rowland's three remaining pieces stationed right in the heart of his opponent's defences with only his queen guarding the rear. He then faced a king hunt, which drove his king up the board towards his pieces, and looked to us lesser mortals as though it would succeed. But Rowland had some really clever responses, that again to us lesser mortals, it looked as though that hunt had been turned on it's head. When the smoke cleared Rowland was the exchange down but had two advanced and connected passed pawns that looked good enough to win. Unfortunately at the critical moment Rowland advanced the wrong pawn and his opponent's king was able to get among them and that once again turned the game on its head.
  All this time Phil had been putting up stiff resistance in a very difficult game. He had faced a French Defence that eventually cleared all of Phil's central pawns (that's c-f inclusive). To make matters worse his opponent had both of his d and e pawns threatening to advance. However, to get to this point his opponent had given up two pieces for a rook and two pawns, which meant there was plenty of scope for an upset. Phil had managed to reduce the deficit by a pawn, but it didn't last long, and in the bishop and knight v rook ending the pawn deficit eventually told.

Title holders Bury might not be as strong as they were last season, but then neither are we, so another drawn match was quite acceptable, especially considering we could so easily have come off a lot worse. It was a treacherous evening with rain lashing the A14 most of the way there, and we were not helped by the fact that we were running a little late due in part to the rain and also to the traffic outside Manningtree station. We arrived without a minute to spare and as two other matches had just got under way.
  John finished first, and after soaking up a certain amount of king's side pressure thought he saw the opportunity to sacrifice a knight for two pawns, and then pick up the piece with a final fork. He appeared to have forgotten that a rook can travel sideways as well as up and down the board and came away without that final piece and his opponent proficiently converted his material advantage.
  Rowland levelled the score after another highly tactical game. He had punched a hole in his opponent's king's side pawns, but it was not so easy to penetrate and he had to be very careful after castling long as his opponent was threatening all sorts of danger on that side of the board. Facing a mate in one himself, Rowland went on a king hunt, and while it didn't end in a mate, his opponent had to give up his queen for a rook to avoid it. His resistance didn't hold out much longer after that.
  Phil had been playing a solid game, maintaining the balance throughout, but a small inaccuracy towards the end swung the game squarely in his opponent's favour and Bury were ahead once again.
  Panagiotis had picked up a pawn quite early in his game and nursed it through to a double rook ending. However, he hadn't played with his customary accuracy, perhaps because he had one eye on the clock and half his mind on not missing the last train home, in any event his opponent should have drawn the ending. Panagiotis continued the advance of his extra pawn, and it was his opponent who lacked some accuracy, which Panagiotis exploited well and eventually levelled the match.
  The weather had improved slightly for the journey home and we were comfortably in time for those last trains.

On paper we have the highest average rating in the league (by a fraction). However, without Andy we drop well below new boys Ipswich Sports Club, and on a par with Bury. If Ipswich SC can field their nominated squad on a regular basis they must be considered favourites for the title this season, and that's why tonight's result was so good for us.
 First to finish was also the last to start this evening after Rowland's opponent was caught up in the congestion caused by the partial closure of the Orwell Bridge. Rowland sportingly gave him twenty minutes before starting his clock and his opponent arrived within minutes of doing that. It was a sharp and tactical game and it looked as though his opponent was about to open up Rowland's king's position, giving up two minor pieces for a rook and pawn. However it was worse than that for instead of taking the rook a queen entered the fray and a mating net followed.
 Panagiotis finished next, levelling the match with an excellent performance in which he negotiated an unusual opening, contained the threats and patiently and accurately steered the game to a won rook and minor piece ending.
 On board two it was good to see an old Ipswich veteran returning to over the board chess having been absent since the first Coved lockdown. Phil tried his luck with a Centre Counter which produced a rather passive response from the ex-Ipswich captain. It was a steady game until Phil overlooked the loss of a pawn, which led to a worsening position as another pawn dropped. Phil found some very good resources to keep his hopes alive, and his opponent used up huge amounts of time dealing with them, and played the last dozen or so moves with a minute or less time on his clock. Phil even managed to get one of his pawns back, but in the queen, rook and knight ending his opponent found a very clever way to win the knight and that was that.
 It was now down to Rod to see if the match could be levelled. His opponent was a pretty strong player back in the day but hadn't played a serious game of chess in over forty years. In spite of that absence from the board he put up a strong performance and Rod had to dig deep to gain any advantage from having the white pieces. He eventually managed to break through his opponent's Sicilian, and with a mate in two Rod thought his opponent had resigned. No, and he didn't resign when faced with mate in one either - he was just having a bit of fun and Rod didn't mind.
 All in all a very satisfying result, which will hopefully help stop Ipswich SC running away with the title.