Bedford A wrapped up the Beds League Division 1 title, with 2 matches still left to play, with a nervy 3-2 victory over Milton Keynes A on Thursday 13th March.
| Board | Rating | Bedford A | V | Milton Keynes A | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2125 | Ledger, Stephen CG | 1 – 0 | B Bartram, Dominic | 2064 |
| 2 | 2065 | Arulnandhy, RaviN | ½ – ½ | B Tweeddale, Eoin | 2049 |
| 3 | 1970 | Collacott, NickB | ½ – ½ | P Elwin, Adrian G | 2050 |
| 4 | 1957 | Habershon, Paul FG | ½ – ½ | G Meichel, Eric B | 2020 |
| 5 | 1862 | Pike, Steve CB | ½ – ½ | B Whiteside, Robert | 1906 |
| Total | 9979 | 3 – 2 | 10089 |
Not a lot of fireworks on the board to report but, nevertheless, some quality chess I’m sure 🙂-
Board 3 – Nick’s game was a cagey Exchange Slav, both sides probed away but without taking many risks and a draw was eventually agreed.
Board 2 – Ravi seemed to be doing OK, in a sort of reverse Grunfeld, but, again, it never quite caught fire and a draw was agreed with plenty of pieces still on the board.
Paul’s game on Board 4 was a bit more lively as they castled opposite sides and went for each others kings (see game below ).
On Board 1, I was playing Dominic Bartram ( our previous encounters = played 3 drawn 3 ) and we played down a line that I reckon equalizes for black quite quickly but queens and a couple of pieces come off early. Dominic played a “novelty” on move 13 and I thought this gave me a small, niggling edge which eventually became a pawn up in an opposite bishops ending. As he also had a pair of doubled pawns, I thought I always had good winning chances and, eventually, found a simple way to win.
I had been assuming I had to win to tie the match, as Steve was 2 pawns down on Board 5 when I last looked, but he also managed to get to an opposite bishops endgame and somehow managed to force a drawn position (see below). Splendid stuff.
So the title it is. Having only dropped 1 drawn match, to our B Team, can we match the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’ and remain unbeaten following our final 2 matches at Luton and Leighton Buzzard B.
Steve Ledger, 14/03/2025.
Ed – I was encouraged to include my game. I’m not sure it was that interesting but it did have the following instructive position. Robert has been hammering me for 60 odd moves for his two pawn advantage, but now needs to find the killer move in an opposite colour bishop ending…