"A tough night" - Birmingham Division 1 team stumble to chastening defeat

Birmingham & District Division 1

Lichfield's side in the top division of the Birmingham League slid to a disappointing 5-1 defeat to Redditch at The Guildhall in their first match of the season. A recurring problem across the games was clock management, with outgraded Lichfield players having to use too much time to battle for equality - or more - but then struggling with the time trouble repercussions in endgames.

Two Lichfield players, emerged with draws on the night. Tony Green, playing White on Board 5, played out a creditable draw, and apologised with a smile to his opponent for his "boring" play. Maurice Staple's drawn game on Board 2 was anything but boring, with pieces scattered across the board, unusual material imbalances, and vulnerable Kings evading danger before the two players took a deep breath and shook hands.

The other four Lichfield players were all defeated. On Board 6, John Staniforth had a slightly cramped position with Black, and time trouble eventually led to his defeat. On Board 4, new team captain Adam Routledge became embroiled in a very complex middlegame with Black, again falling behind his opponent on the clock. His King came under attack, and he tried to generate counterplay, but his opponent eventually crashed through with an unstoppable mate threat. After a final cheeky swindle attempt from Adam was easily sidestepped, he resigned.

On Board 3, Richard Anderson, was caught in an unfamiliar opening line playing White, and had to battle hard at the board to work out the best moves to navigate the complexities, soaking up time on his clock. He eventually managed to direct the game into a "clearly drawn" Rook and Pawn endgame, but then, short of time, misplayed the position, and allowed his opponent's rook to unnecessarily invade. His opponent found the right moves to make the situation tricky, then difficult, and one final mistake hastened Richard's defeat.

The only Lichfield player who seemed to have a significant advantage at any point in his game on the night was Ben Nevett, playing White on Board 1. Ben played very strongly through the opening and middlegame, and despite also being down on the clock, looked to be close to victory. Sadly, his advantage slipped away, and he then missed a fork which netted an extra pawn for Black. His opponent converted the textbook ending position efficiently, by keeping Ben's King cut off from the last remaining pawn in the R+P vs. R ending, advancing the King in front of the passed pawn, and then "building a bridge" in a classic Lucena finale.

It was, as Adam remarked later, "a tough night". Lichfield will hope for much better in their next fixture in a fortnight's time. (Match played: 1st October)