| Bedford D | Bedford C | |||
| 1 | Steve Pike | 1 | 0 | Callum Shields |
| 2 | Andy Evans | 0 | 1 | Robert Walker |
| 3 | Lucian Cox | 1 | 0 | Peter Gill |
| 4 | George Griffiths | 1 | 0 | Joe Valerio |
| 5 | David Cox | 0 | 1 | Richard McMorran |
| 3 | 2 |
As usual Division 2 began with a C versus D team derby. I am not sure if it is old age or just a bad night but I didn’t manage to follow very much of what was happening on other boards (or come to that on my own!) but I’ll do my best
After his excellent performances last year Callum had white on top board against Steve. My impression was that Callum got off to an aggressive start, but Steve is a “big beast” in Division 2 and after Queens were exchanged early on Callum eventually succumbed in a minor piece ending. [Ed – I’m not sure the way I played was the way to “smash the London every time”(!) but I thought I’d add it for contrast below ]
On board 2 Robert and Andy were well into the evening before any pieces were taken but Robert eventually managed to win a minor piece for two pawns and went on to grind Andy down.
Lucian played a Sicilian Dragon against me. His Queen travelled via a5 to h5 where it was soon joined by a Rook on h3 forcing me to scramble pieces to my Kingside. That should not have been fatal but I missed a chance to equalise by opting to grovel rather than counter attacking, and allowed a losing end Rook and pawn game a pawn down which Lucian efficiently converted.
On the next board George somehow managed to get a pawn and (I think) a bishop stuck in the heart of Joe’s position which made it very hard for Joe to develop. My attention was drawn to Joe’s clock, as much as the actual position. He used nearly 45 minutes over his first 7 moves with the inevitable result – a very good win for George. [Ed – George sent me his very interesting game (below) – as Peter says, time was certainly a factor, but George whipped up a very aggressive attack from nowhere, very quickly]
Finally Richard took on David (standing in for Ramsey Dairi I think), and quickly got a big lead in development, which he duly turned into a win.
Congratulations to the D Team but I wish they would stop beating the C Team!
Peter Gill, 28th October 2022