Bedford A drop first match point but maintain Division 1 lead

Home Team: Bedford A Away Team: Leighton Buzzard A
Board Name Grade Score Score Name Grade
1 Steve ledger 198 0 1 John Sharp 207
2 Ravi Arulnandhy 177 0 1 Steve Law 193
3 Paul Habershon 182 1 0 Kevin Williamson 174
4 Steve Pike 178 1 0 Brian Valentine 169
5 Michael Botteley 168 0.5 0.5 Peter Hunt 165
Date Played: 22/01/2015 2.5 2.5

Despite Sharp and Law arriving late with 15 minutes already elapsed on their clocks, they soon had strong positions which Steve and Ravi could not save (sadly, limited webspace prevents their publication here 😉 – Ed. ).

Paul got the initiative on Board 3 but it was only on the 24th move that Kevin Williamson made the critical blunder – see game.

Board 5 was agreed drawn in a rook and opposite colour bishops ending. Although Steve Ledger was still struggling on at this point, it was clear that Steve Pike needed to win his game to save the match. He won a pawn early on and managed to thread his way through to a tactical finish – see Editor’s indulgence.

The decisive games will be available to view shortly (apologies to the Leighton Buzzard opponents whose games already feature heavily on this site 🙂 – Ed. ).

Bedford A (P6 W5 D1 L0 Pts11) lead Division One from Leighton Buzzard A (P7 W4 D2 L1 Pts 10).

 

Paul Habershon 23/01/2015