The B Team hosted Leighton Buzzard A in their final match of the season. A win for the visitors would potentially see them win the league, so there was much at stake.
Richard had a very solid game against Gary. Queens came off the board early and the ending of rook and minor pieces looked very level and peace was declared early.
Ramsey and Steve’s game was a tight one. Again queens came off early and although Ramsey’s pawn structure was weaker, the presence of opposite coloured bishops meant that he had good drawing chances in the R&B ending. Steve established his bishop on f6 and this always gave him mating chances which tied Ramsey down. Eventually Steve won a crucial pawn on the queenside and he converted the advantage.
Richard and Kevin’s game looked an interesting tussle. At one point Kevin tried to attack on the kingside with queen and knight, but this was repelled and Richard seemed to create chances of his own. I did not see how the game ended but a draw was agreed.
I found myself tied up in all sorts of knots against John Sharp. I lost a pawn early on and the position looked pretty horrible for much of the game. After much defence I briefly appeared to have equalised, having won the pawn back but in time trouble I completely overlooked a mating threat and it was game over.
Robert seemed to have much the better of the game against Peter, particularly after he won a key pawn on h7 with a neat tactic. This allowed him to generate an attack and although Peter defended and complicated, Robert emerged in a R&N v R&B ending two pawns up. However, Peter’s bishop and rook combined to cause problems and next time I looked Robert had lost the extra pawns and was struggling to hold the game and in the end he missed a tactic which allowed Peter to create a lethal passed pawn.
A 4-1 win to Leighton Buzzard saw them claim the League Title – congratulations to them. For the B Team a very decent 4th place overall.
Alex Taylor, 12th April 2024