Back in the day every club in the league used to enter a team in the N&S Cup even though it was a forgone conclusion that Ipswich would always emerge as the winners. But like the FA Cup, the minnows still entered, and for much the same reason as they have always entered - to see how far they can get. Records of this competition are sparse, but we do have a record of an entry by Manningtree as one of the minnows back in 1981-1982 when we were knocked out in the first round by Felixstowe. Since then, the only time we have a record of entering a team again was nearly forty years later in 2017-2018 when there were just four entrants, although there were many occasions before that when there were only two entrants, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds. We may have created history tonight as being the first club other than Ipswich or Bury to win this half of the competition. If we find out one way or the other you'll hear about it here.
  We had a good line up for tonight's match, but Ipswich have a lot of strength in depth, so even without Guillermo Beneyto (2073) this promised to be a very close match. We were expecting our points to come from the top, with the middle holding their own and the bottom holding anything they could lay their hands on. And as things got under way there were some somewhat unusual opening lines developing.
  The first to finish was Bob, a Modern opening with doubled fianchettoed bishops that developed into a remarkably symmetrical game with echoes of a Stonewall formation by both sides. Bypassing the centre, his opponent began a pawn advance on the king's side which didn't get far and as the pieces were traded in the centre each side converted that Stonewall formation into two chains of pawns running from the a2-d5 and a7-d4 diagonals, crossing at their peaks and giving each a passed protected d-pawn. Bob appeared to have a slight initiative, but in the final queen, rook and bishop ending there was never enough for either side to force anything decisive.
  It wasn't long before Andy followed suit. In an English Catalan, Andy saddled his opponent with doubled isolated c-pawns on move 8, and seemed on his way to a comfortable positional advantage. However, he was in too much of a hurry to exchange queens, and underestimated his opponent's piece activity. Andy lost a pawn, and stood slightly worse when a draw was agreed on move 23.
  Rowland then gave us what we needed, a whole point to put us in front. Rowland's answer to his opponent's Sicilian was the rarely seen (or even heard of) Freak Attack in the Najdorf Variation. That's Rg1 followed by g4 and after that all sorts of chaos. There were times when it looked as though his opponent had weathered the storm, but Rowland always seemed to find more ways to complicate things further and to give his opponent few options. In the end his opponent did manage to fend off the numerous mating threats, but at the cost of a rook, and shortly after that he resigned.
  Panagiotis finished next keeping us one point ahead. He had faced a very aggressive expansion of central pawns, which were soon joined by the g-pawn. He appeared to be quite unconcerned with this king's side aggression and played it cool while concentrating on the queen's side. An entertaining, if somewhat baffling game developed in which the move rate was about twice that of the other boards. His opponent managed to hold the queen's side together and as the pieces were exchanged, and with just a queen and two minor pieces each, Panagiotis sacrificed his bishop for two of the pawns in front of his opponent's king. It was a bold attempt, but as his own king looked sufficiently safe, especially as his opponent's pieces had to be deployed to defend their own king, and they managed to organise themselves very well in doing just that. After persistent attempts to break through were countered, and after carefully considering the state of the remaining two boards, Panagiotis accepted the draw.
  With just boards four and six remaining Ipswich would need to win both of them to overtake us, for 1½ points would not be enough for they would lose on board count. And that is no doubt the reason these two boards continued as long as they did as both were as good as decided half an hour or so before they actually finished.
  Graeme faced an English and unlike most of Graeme's games, this one developed into a very careful and positional game without any of the complicated fireworks we so often see. In fact, it was only after an hour and a half's play when they had just reached move thirteen that the first exchange took place. With the pawns more or less locked, a half open c-file on which Graeme's backward c-pawn stood became the target for his opponent's pieces. Graeme however have sufficient recourses to defend it and offered a draw. His opponent jumped up to check the state of the match and returned to play on. While keeping a close eye on that vulnerable pawn, Graeme pushed the only pawns unlocked on the other wing that resulted in his rook penetrating on h1. His opponent, while not actually in trouble, had to retreat his pieces to fend off the danger, allowing Graeme to simplify and put the draw beyond question as well as putting the match beyond Ipswich's reach.
  This just left the matter of Phil on board four. A Caro-Kann had developed into quite a complicated middlegame when Phil offered his h-pawn in front of his king. This looked a very dangerous offering, removing Phil's fianchettoed king's bishop and allowing a sacrificial attack on g6, and his opponent spent nearly fifteen minutes in deciding to take that h-pawn. Phil immediately got his pawn back and his opponent declined that sacrificial attack, but the series of exchanges that followed appeared to be about to leave Phil a piece up. The appearance was wrong; it left him two pieces up. His opponent's only compensation (if you can call it that) was isolated and passed a and h pawns, which he then set about advancing. Rather than push his own passed pawns, Phil decided to snuff out the advances of his opponent's pawns, but it wasn't until his opponent overlooked a discovered attack on his only remaining piece that he resigned.
  We came away therefore quite content with the fact that we hadn't lost a single board against a side that in the past dominated this competition. Now all we have to do is beat the Norfolk winners and take home this trophy for the first time.

Our history in the Norfolk and Suffolk Cup is a bit sketchy. We entered a team in the 1981-82 season and were knocked out in the first round by Felixstowe. After that we don't appear to have made an appearance until 2017-2018, and since then we have made only two more appearances and have been knocked out on each occasion by Bury St Edmunds. And the only team we have hitherto beaten in this competition is Saxmundham (apart from a 6-0 default win over Ipswich). Tonight we had just about the strongest team we could muster while Bury were without a couple of their stronger players who can't mange Wednesdays. Not a good omen for Bury as Ipswich, Woodbridge and Sudbury have all switched their match nights to Wednesdays.
  First to finish was Rowland, and by a long way. With less than an hour's play and with some boards still without so much as a pawn exchanged, Rowland offered a draw. It was a familiar position in a line that he knew well that always peters out to a draw, so Rowland decided it expedient to short circuit the process.
  It was a very long time before Panagiotis followed suit, although he could have taken the draw a quarter of an hour earlier. He was once again waiting to see how the other boards were developing before making the decision. It was a tricky game in which both sides took a long time castling and as the ending approached Panagiotis gave up both of his rooks for his opponent's queen. Panagiotis was confident however that he wouldn't lose, but also knew that squeezing a win out of it would be very difficult. Once he was satisfied that the team was looking comfortable enough on the remaining four boards he accepted the draw.
  It wasn't long after that that Bob followed suit having weathered a rather stormy attack in which his opponent sacrificed a bishop for three central pawns. Bob showed how well two knights can stop advancing pawns if you place them on the right squares, especially when you can cut off the enemy king with a rook on the seventh. The initiative still seemed to be with his opponent however, but he had the disadvantage of being way down on the clock, and agreed a draw as he couldn't see a way to advance his pawns any further.
  With the match still level, the points now started rolling in. On board two, Mark Le Vine adopted an unprepossessing Hippopotamus formation against Andy's English, not troubling to develop a piece beyond his third rank until move 19. And still at this point, after nearly two hours of play, not so much as a pawn had come off the board. Andy then seized the light squares and launched a king's side attack, sacrificing a piece for two pawns on move 26, and an exchange on move 31. Mark could do nothing except return material, but Andy's initiative continued unabated.
  Simon had faced a delayed Englund Gambit which led to a very tactical middlegame. It also led to a large time advantage for Simon and by the time they reached the ending his opponent was playing on the increments. With both side developing strong attacks on their opposite number's king, Simon was offered a rook (with check to boot) but should he take it? Those watching were doubtful, but take it he did, and facing a mate in one Simon pulled out the move he knew would save him, a queen check that would force the exchange of queen's and leave his opponent helpless.
  The match was now in the bag, we were two up with just Phil's game to finish. Phil's opponent had gone for a large queen's side expansion, which didn't bother Phil too much as he concentrated down the centre and was able to place a knight on a commanding square in the heart of his opponent's position. Phil eventually won the exchange and pressed his advantage which eventually led to the collapse of his opponent's position culminating in the loss of his queen.
  We knew we were in with a chance tonight, but we came away with a larger winning margin than we thought possible. If we defeat Ipswich in the final round it could be the first time a club other than Ipswich or Bury to have won the Suffolk section of this cup. We will need to do a little more digging in the records to know that for sure.

Although we out-rated Bury on every board (just about) Bury put up a good fight and came away with a lot more than we would have liked. However, the two points we gained put us on top of the table for the first time this season and keeps us in with a realistic chance of lifting the Division One Trophy for the sixth time. Who would have thought we would have gone from this mid-season...

		P	W	D	L	Points
1	Sudbury A	6	3	2	1	15½
2	Ipswich Sports Club	6	3	1	2	15½
3	Ipswich A	6	4	0	2	13
4	Manningtree A	5	1	3	1	10½
5	Bury St Edmunds A	4	0	2	2	5½
6	Saxmundham A	5	1	0	4	4

...... to being more or less favourites at the top. We are far from there however, as any one of the four teams below us could so easily snatch the prize from our grasp and it's still theoretically possible for a very unlucky set of results to drop us back down to the bottom half.
  Taking the results in board order, Panagiotis' game transposed into a Philidor and he went for a rather dubious set-up. However, his opponent did not follow the strongest follow-up and gradually the position turned into Panagiotis' favour, with him eventually emerging a healthy pawn up. His opponent's tenaciousness and resourcefulness, together with his own poor clock handling, led to practical problems in converting the advantage and, later, to steering the game towards a lost endgame that his opponent had no trouble winning.
  Andy enjoyed a comfortable return to the Suffolk League. His opponent had no response to the Maroczy Bind: weakening the d6 square on move 8, sacrificing a pawn on move 12, a piece on move 13, and finally the queen on move 14.
  With his three opening moves of d4 ,e3,f4, Phil's opponent announced the venerable Stonewall opening, but no king side attack resulted. Instead there was cautious manoeuvring by both players and multiple exchanges. By move 28 an ending of queen, same colour bishops and pawns arrived, with Phil slightly worse. However, a simple pawn blunder ten moves later gave his opponent, who had played well throughout, a direct and rapid winning king and extra pawn ending after the forced exchange of the queens and bishops.
  Rowland kept the score line respectable with his fourth consecutive win for the team (fifth if you count the default). The game was evenly balanced with Rowland applying constant pressure on the enemy king's position. It took a long time to break thorough but he got there in the end.

We needed a 4-0 win tonight in order to keep our slim hopes of regaining the Division One Trophy alive, but we didn't expect to get it like this. And while we were expecting a weakened side, half strength wasn't what we had in mind. Saxmundham have had a nightmare of a season this year having to default one match (with another hanging by a thread), postpone several others and having to default several boards, although until tonight, none of those boards have been in A-Team matches.
  Saxmundham did not attempt a tactical placement of boards by playing the two white boards or by defaulting the top board (as Suffolk's unique rules allow) but sportingly placed their two players as logic would demand. Panagiotis launched his Sicilian with venom, and playing with his customary speed and accuracy he was comfortably on top more or less from the start. His opponent put up a valiant fight, but it was to no avail as his position steadily deteriorated.
  Phil's game was less clear as he navigated a Centre Counter, for while Phil appeared to have the edge for much of the time, it appeared finely balanced on a knife edge where one false move from either side could spell disaster. Phil kept his head and steered the game to a nicely executed conclusion, and leaves the table in a very interesting state with just two and a half points separating the top four teams.

This is Manningtree A's second defeat of the season, and both of them have been against Ipswich A. And while this might seem to have put the lid on any hopes we had of taking the Division One trophy this year, there is still room for a glimmer of hope when you consider the remaining fixtures.
  Our main rivals must be Ipswich, Ipswich SC and Bury. Ipswich SC and Bury have both got to play each other twice, so if they share the points that stops either of them running away with it. Ipswich have got to play Sudbury twice, whereas we have got Saxmundham twice, so if we aggregate a point or two more than Ipswich do in those matches then our other remaining match against Bury could be the decider. Yes the chances are pretty slim, but as we play Bury in six weeks we'll know well before the end of the season just how slim they are.

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.