TAFCA WINTER LEAGUE ONLINE 2020-21: Two match reports 18/02/21
TAFCA WINTER LEAGUE ONLINE 2020-21
Thurs 18th Feb 21, 7:30pm – Lichess
Two matches involving Castlehill teams played, both from division one!
Div 1 – Castlehill B 3½, Newport Knights A ½
Just like our “C” team last night (17/02/21), Castlehill B found themselves two players down and had to dig deep for replacements. Miguel Angel Prieto Alvarez (Castlehill C) & Ed Walton (Castlehill E) stepped up to the plate!
Board One: Lloyd Hughes (1757) NKA 0 – 1 Sam Gregory (1837) CB
It almost seems like an “oxymoron” to say, this was a “WILD” Caro-Kann!
What a game by both players and the interesting bit is what Lloyd played against a defence he uses himself! As a spectator you might have liked white’s aggressive start which was looking good on the surface. But underneath the surface, Sam was controlling most of the game. After the opening exchanges, Sam exploited all the holes in Lloyd’s camp caused by his aggressive play. It might have worked, but Sam was fully aware of all the pitfalls, or at least that’s how it looked! Cool clinical finishing by Sam to win the game, but what a game!
Castlehill B 1, Newport Knights A 0
Board Two: Dariusz Kosznik (1755) CB 1 – 0 Mike Scott (1700) NKA
Let battle commence was the call! But it did not happen as Dariusz had an easy win against Mike who was out of sorts on the night and did not play his best losing in 12 moves! Having said that, it was a nice finish by Dariusz to claim the game! They all count!
Castlehill B 2, Newport Knights A 0
Board Three: Simon Markham (1490)NKA 0 – 1 Miguel Angel Prieto Alvarez (1650)est CB
This game was the complete opposite from Dariusz`s game. This was a very complex game with both players giving each other lots to think about! For most of the game Miguel held a very small advantage, sometimes not even noticeable! It took until move 52 for Miguel to begin to assert himself over the board and build a possible winning advantage. Even then, Simon’s suborn resistance kept Miguel at bay for a long time. He did get the win, but Miguel had to dig deep to go over the winning line!
Castlehill B 3, Newport Knights A 0
Board Four: Ed Walton (1481) CB ½ – ½ Marcus Wylie (1465) NKA
Ed got to play his beloved Scotch and did cause a few problems in the opening exchanges for Marcus. Then again Marcus found all the right moves to walk away from any possible disaster. At one point it was beginning to look like Marcus would get the upper hand, but this time it was Ed who seemed to find the right moves to keep everything on an even keel! Neither player wanted to rock the boat after that and agreed a draw.
Castlehill B 3½, Newport Knights A ½
A great win for Castlehill B against Newport Knights A. The score line could have been closer, so maybe a bit flattering. The result moves Castlehill B up to third place behind Castlehill C in 2nd place and leaders Dundee A.
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TAFCA WINTER LEAGUE ONLINE 2020-21
Wed 18th Feb 21, 7:30pm – Lichess
Div 1 – Castlehill D 2, Dundee B 2
Castlehill D are the only “D” team in division One so this will be a hard ask to stay up. Then again our “D” team is as strong as some “A” teams in this division! Unfortunately they are massively out graded compared to their opponents, Dundee B who not only contain very strong players, but a “SIR” as well (hopefully not of the “Lancelot” variety!
Board One: Sir Philip Cohen (1870) DB 1 – 0 Peter Sallai (1510) CD
It’s good to see Sir Philip Cohen playing league chess again, no doubt egged on by the organising legend, Jean Chalmers! Peter up against it played really well and held a very small advantage after the opening exchanges and was looking good! Peter has been in this position a few times this season, but for some reason he has been losing concentration and making mistakes at crucial times which cost him the games. Unfortunately this happened in this match and that wrong move cost him the game!
Peter played 20…gxf5??
Best was 20….axb4 21.cxb4 Bg5
Its amazing how one wrong move can make your game turn on a sixpence from “doing well” to “dead and buried”! It’s something Peter will need to look at if he wants to move forward. He is a very good player but maybe the errors have knocked his confidence a little bit.
Castlehill D 0, Dundee B 1
Board Two: Martin Chalmers (1505) CD 0 – 1 Alastair Dawson (1800) DB
If this match was a movie it would be a mash up of two films the “Titanic” & “The Great Escape”!
Alastair was hit by the iceberg, 1.d4 by Martin who has never played that in his life! For Alastair it turned into the disaster movie “Titanic”! Captain Alastair Dawson had that sinking feeling after only ten moves. He was ripped apart on the Starboard side, losing his f7 pawn, he was material down, holes everywhere, and taking on water, stuck on the rocks unable to help him self, ready to deploy the lifeboats, this was the disaster movie of all time! Alastair was just waiting for the final blow that would signal the death-keel of this match, but it never came? Had the enemy run out of ammo (idea`s),
What a mess for Alastair, but what a beautiful site for Martin!
Under pressure but with Martin giving him time to think, Alastair formed a plan, it did rely on his opponent not finding and delivering the killer move (Alastair seen a few of them he did not like as he tried to save the game!), but again it did not come? The next few moves and plan of action turned Captain Alastair Dawson into action hero, “Steve McQueen” (never thought I would say that in a report!) from the movie “The Great Escape”! Not sure even Houdini would have got out of this one, but Steve did, sorry Alastair did! With Martin now backtracking, Alastair completed the “Escape of the century” and walked away unscathed from this encounter with a win. If you made a script up for this, it would have been classified “Sci-fi Fantasy”! What a game! Every chess match needs a hero! For Martin a good drink in front of the TV watching “The Hurt Locker“! 
Castlehill D 0, Dundee B 2
Board Three: Alan Borwell (1842) DB 0 – 1 Jan Barron-Majerik (1500) CD
This was a cracker to watch, not sure what it was like to play! Jan out graded and a mere novice in experience terms compared to Alan who it seems has been around longer that the dinosaurs!
Both players seemed in good form and for most of the game countered each others plans. Jan finally got the better of Alan and won a pawn in what still looked an equal position, but a pawn is a pawn and enough to win the game! Indeed that pawn was the bait to win a piece as it tried to promote. Jan was now a piece up with 4 pawns each, but Alan looked to be in pole position to gobble up Jan’s pawns and maybe scrape a draw after all ( a win did not look on because the Knight could always sacrifice it’s self).
50…..f2 51.Nxf2 Kxf2 52.Kc7
Then Jan played the move of the night to grab the game by the horns, which must have come as a shock to Alan!
In the position reached above, Jan played 52… Nxc2!!
What a sacrifice which guaranteed Jan promoting first! After such a long struggle and then to find that move is unbelievable and what a feeling it must have been, with your heart pumping before making that decision and hoping you had not just blown it!
Well played Jan!
Game to view
Castlehill D 1, Dundee B 2
Board Four: Darren Cruickshank (1500)est CD 1 – 0 John Robertson Jnr (1562) DB
Darren the new kid on the block up against the very experienced John Robertson Jnr who has been around the block a few times! The opening exchanges went in Darren’s favour having developed all his pieces and connected his rooks! John on the other had found his King under attack, and three pieces still undeveloped to give Darren a strong advantage! There were a few inaccurate moves on both sides, but Darren never let John back into the game and converted his advantage into a win! Nice play Darren!
Castlehill D 2, Dundee B 2
What a great match of two half’s and even more incredible, Castlehill D had the chance to win it! Still they would have bitten your hand off for a draw offer before the match started! Play like that in every match and staying up will be a breeze!
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