BCL Division 1 Tue 12th Nov 2024
| Board | Rating | Leighton Buzzard A | V | Bedford B | Rating |
| 1 | 2173 | Sharp, John R | 1 – 0 | Bodily, Richard T | 1953 |
| 2 | 2092 | Kenworthy, Gary | ½ – ½ | Dairi, Ramsey | 1856 |
| 3 | 2000 | Law, Stephen | 0 – 1 | Taylor, Alex | 1941 |
| 4 | 1973 | Hunt, Peter | ½ – ½ | Pike, Steve C | 1862 |
| 5 | 1872 | Valentine, Brian J | ½ – ½ | Walker, Robert S | 1745 |
| Total | 10110 | 2½ – 2½ | 9357 |
Bedford B got off the mark for the season by sharing the points with league champions Leighton Buzzard A. Outgraded by an average of 150 points per board, it was a tremendous performance.
First to finish was Steve’s game against Peter Hunt. They traded pieces at a rapid rate, and soon agreed a draw.
Next up was Alex, who essentially won in the opening. Steve Law played a Sicilian Defence, but erred by allowing Alex to get pressure on the h1-a8 diagonal. In trying to unwind his position he allowed his a6 pawn to be taken by Alex’s queen, followed by winning a pawn on b6. Steve tried to complicate things on the kingside, but this allowed Alex another tactic which was winning at least another pawn and possibly two and he resigned.
My game against Brian Valentine was a cagey affair. I got rook and pawn for bishop and knight, but after the loose pawns were traded, there was no way other side could mount a winning attack, and we settled for a draw.
Ramsey’ s game against Gary Kenworthy was much more interesting. Ramsey always seemed to have the advantage, but the route to victory was far from clear, and he got into time trouble. However, it was Gary who appeared to go wrong and was forced to bail out for a draw by perpetual check.
Richard, promoted to top board in the absence of Mike Botteley, had a difficult game against John Sharp. He gave up two pawns to get an attack going, but was ultimately unsuccessful and John’s extra passed pawn proved decisive (see game below).
All-round it was another fighting performance against a strong A team. We next play another B team.
Rob Walker, 17th November 2024