Lichfield 'A' still 100% in Division 1 after Rushall victory

Wolverhampton & District League Division 1

Lichfield 'A' still have a perfect record in Wolverhampton Division 1 after a third consecutive 3-1 victory, defeating Rushall at The King's Head on Monday.

Lichfield were off to a flyer when Mircea Mesesan, playing White on Board 2, defeated Peter Leary in only 16 moves. Peter blundered a pawn for no compensation early in the game, then, in trying to fight back on the Kingside, missed his only chance to complicate the position, and instead blundered a Knight to a pin on his Queen a few moves later.

Ben Nevett-Farman, Black on Board 1 against John Staniforth, also won convincingly within 25 moves. Ben allowed John to capture his Rook for Knight and two Pawns, and, following a perceptive sacrifice of a central pawn, his lead in middlegame development escalated quickly into a dangerous Kingside attack. John missed the only defensive resource he had, and was forced to resign.

Lichfield were 2-0 up, but the other two games were still in the balance. Maurice Staples, Black on Board 3, was under a lot of pressure. His opponent, Alex Pready, locked up the Queenside, and managed to open up the 'h' file, with Maurice's castled King in real danger. Maurice found a short tactical sequence to relieve some of the pressure, temporarily sacrificing his Knight to win a pawn and force some piece exchanges that made his King position less vulnerable. A draw was agreed, giving Lichfield the match win.

It's not clear whether either Connor Whetnall, stepping up to Division 1 as White on Board 4, or his opponent, actually knew that the match result was finalised at this point; he and rapidly-improving junior Aarav Sohi, were engaged in a mutual time scramble. The game seesawed dramatically. At one point Connor missed a mate in one but won a Rook, then Aarav pushed a passed pawn, and Connor hurried to defend. The Black pawn promoted, and Connor was forced to give his extra Rook back, exchanging into a drawn bishop and pawn ending. But that was not the end of the drama. Aarav's King managed to invade Connor's position, and two White pawns dropped off. Aarav was winning, but Connor fought on, and was rewarded when Aarav blundered into a stalemate. It was a strong result for Connor in his first outing for a Division 1 Lichfield team in any of the local leagues.

Lichfield now sit second in the Division 1 table, with two matches in hand on leaders West Bromwich. In their next match, they play last year's champions, Halesowen.

(Match played: 9th November)