| Bedford C | Milton Keynes C | |||||
| Board | Name | Grade | Score | Score | Name | Grade |
| 1 | Robert S Walker | 1758 | 0.5 | 0.5 | George Ward | 1759e |
| 2 | Richard McMorran | 1653 | 0 | 1 | Michael Page | 1600e |
| 3 | Callum T Shields | 1660 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Colin Solloway | 1593 |
| 4 | Giuseppe Valerio | 1728 | 0.5 | 0.5 | John McKeon | 1585 |
| 5 | Peter S Gill | 1728 | 1 | 0 | Sumit Bhalla | 1250e |
| 2.5 | 2.5 | |||||
| Played: 28/04/22 |
Having comfortably won the away fixture against Milton Keynes C we might have been forgiven for expecting an easy evening last Thursday but it was anything but! It didn’t begin well when we struggled to find enough chairs (several had been taken downstairs for a recent event) and only just managed to find enough sets for the two matches against Milton Keynes B and C as well as half a dozen or so Club Tournament games. To make matters worse the Social Club juke box was going strong, much to the annoyance of at least one MK player – I had to tell him there was nothing we could do about it.
But the biggest problem did not become apparent until we approached the end of the evening, when Joe on Board 4 realised that his clock was not adding the required 10 second increment after each move. Given that Joe was (really!) very short of time this was not an easy problem to address. The resulting discussions made it difficult or impossible for his neighbours to concentrate. I was unable to watch what was happening in the other games so cannot comment on the chess itself.
On Boards 1, 3 and 4 draws were agreed. I believe Robert’s game on Board 1 was probably heading for a draw anyway – but I think Callum and Joe’s draws were more a recognition of the unsatisfactory circumstances.
On Board 2 Richard who had been on the verge of victory went from better to worse during and because of the kerfuffle and resigned. If he had stopped playing rather than resigning a draw might have been a fair outcome.
I was fortunate on Board 5 since my opponent had lost a piece for a pawn in the opening and when it all kicked off I was already on the verge of a forced mate.
We end the season with 4 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws. Bedford D play Leighton Buzzard B on Tuesday and if they win they will catch us on 10 points in 2nd place in Division 2. (Leighton Buzzard B cannot be caught). Thank you to all the players named above who were so reliable and to Oscar who stood in very ably when Joe or I had a night off.
I will spend Thursday night tidying up our equipment, and checking the clock settings. Any help will be very welcome.