On 6 April the B Team headed to Milton Keynes for their final away game with Ramsey and Alex were making their B Team debuts.
I had the edge for most of my game against Eoin with more space, the bishop pair and an isolated d7 pawn to have a go at. Although I had pressure I was not able to find a route to making a decisive breakthrough. A series of exchanges followed leaving a level position with queens and opposite coloured bishops, meaning that a draw was agreed.
Richard and Adrian were involved in a complicated tussle. After an early exchange of queens, Richard looked to have the edge with a couple of extra pawns, but Adrian was able to use his slightly freer position to win the material back, and it petered out to a draw.
Alex was up against Graham Smith on board 5. The position turned into a French opening with Alex having a strong centre, but Graham having pressure on the queenside. Graham used his cunning to manoeuvre and squeeze the pressure on – Alex described it like being strangled by a boa constrictor! A tactic won a centre pawn and Alex’s position went downhill from there.
Ramsey was up against the rapid-fire Phillip on board 4. His position looked solid for the most part – with his pressure on the kingside matched by Phillip’s pressure on the king castled on the queenside. Ramsey fell into time trouble and his position became harder to defend and after he dropped a piece it was an easy win for Phillip.
Marc had a interesting game against Josue on board 3. His pressure in the centre and queenside lead to him winning a pawn – and then it became complicated with pawns flying up either end of the board. The complications led to Marc having won the exchange and with extra pawns, however, he had to be careful not to allow a perpetual check. In the end he managed to get his king tucked up in the corner with his queen, pawns and rook defending all the important squares and he was able to win the game.
A narrow 3-2 defeat, but it was a good performance all round and all the games were tightly fought.
Alex Taylor