This was our worst performance of the season so far, against a team we beat only a few weeks ago. Admittedly, they were stronger than before and we were giving away an average of 28 rating points per board, but with the notable exception of Peter Gill, all the games fell into a depressing pattern of decent position – deteriorating position – blunder – lost.
- On 1, I got a strong position, then played a series of moves which forced my opponent’s pieces onto much better squares, then blundered and lost soon after.
- On 2, Peter G played a great game and reached a very decent position, but his opponent was able to swap off the attack and reach a draw.
- On 3, Nigel played solidly to start with, but ended up with his major pieces stuck out of the game, then lost a rook.
- On 4, Peter H also started well but ended up with a difficult position and a pawn down, but then put his Queen where it could be taken.
- On 5, Mac played soundly to start with, but eventually ended up with a checkmate in the middle of the h-file.
So overall, not the best of matches in what hasn’t been a bad season so far this year. Let’s hope we play more to our capabilities in the remaining three matches.
Gerry Nolan 13/03/2015