Lichfield 'B' can't recover from defaulted board in Stafford loss

Cannock & District League Division 2

Stafford are always one of the toughest opponents in any of the Cannock Leagues, and Lichfield 'B' found themselves up against it from the start in their Division 2 match, with a default on Board 4. Our team never recovered, succumbing to a 0.5 - 3.5 defeat.

David Hulme on Board 1 (Black) finished first, meeting another of his ilk in a calm, measured game. Neither party probed or prodded or poked. Instead, they gently massaged their own forces into stagnation and agreed to an early draw.

Next to finish was David Pickering on Board 2 (White). The opening ran smoothly, with David developing nicely and castling safely. His opponent played c4, semi-closing the position and announcing his queenside intentions. David weighed his options and felt he needed to deal with the queenside attack first. He gave up a pawn and allowed two semi-open a- and b-files, with both his rooks occupying them. David tried to exploit the dark-square holes by placing his bishop on a strong outpost with great range. The closed nature of the position allowed his opponent's knights to work it, giving David little play. David needed to open the kingside, but he was too worried about potential plans on the queenside; Black, in fact, used the kingside, first blowing up the centre and dislodging the dark-square bishop, then rerouting their pieces to attack the king. David’s pieces were poorly coordinated to defend, and he succumbed to the pressure and resigned.

Peter Rose finished last on Board 3 (Black). Peter misplayed the opening and allowed His Kingside pawns to be ruined, leaving him on the back foot. His opponent's attempt to press the advantage, however, went for an unsound sacrifice. Peter dodged the immediate threat and ended up with a Knight for two pawns, and his doubled isolated pawns had a silver lining: half-open files to add pressure against my opponent's King. The position was dynamic, so Peter believed keeping queens on would lead to a mating attack, rather than winning a pawn back and trading down. The Rook vs Rook and Knight endgame was worrying, as his opponent’s remaining Rook could mop up weak pawns. Both players had almost no time, and the position became delicate as his opponent seemingly resolved the tactical threats and even forced an unsound sacrifice of his own. The ending was still unclear, if slightly worse for Peter, but he ran out of time and conceded the match.

Lichfield B have been going strong this season and have shown great potential, with only draws and wins in their last few fixtures, including a previous draw away at Stafford. In the rematch, the 'B' team hoped to secure a good result at home, but Stafford came out strong, and there was nothing to be done.

Lichfield 'B' are still top of the division, but with other teams, including Stafford, with games in hand.

(Match played: 12th November)