… said we are top of the league ! ( albeit after one match and on alphabetical order )
Still, Bedford A kicked off the 2024/2025 season with a comfortable win against newly promoted Luton A :
| Board | Home | Bedford A | V | Luton A | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1(B) | 2125 | G Ledger, Stephen C | 1 – 0 | B Hudson, Julian | 2019 |
| 2(W) | 2103 | G Gardner, James | 1 – 0 | G O’Brien, Thomas P | 1946 |
| 3(B) | 2065 | B Arulnandhy, Ravi | 1 – 0 | B Singh, Damanjeet | 1750 |
| 4(W) | 1970 | B Collacott, Nick | 1 – 0 | N Joseph, Michael | 1688 |
| 5(B) | 1957 | G Habershon, Paul F | ½ – ½ | G Juhasz, Aleksandar | 1613 |
| Total | 10220 | 4½ – ½ | 9016 |
I was the first to finish and then headed straight to the bar for some post-game analysis so I didn’t see much of the other games but from
what I gather –
I was quite pleased with my season opener (see game below).
James’ game seems to have been a game of fluctuating fortunes, after his oppenents Budapest Gambit opening, that ended up with James using K,R,N to try and shepherd his one pawn thru whilst his opponent had a R to try and charge 3 connected passed pawns up the board. Black actually managed to give up his rook and queen a pawn first but then a couple of inaccuracies allowed James to queen also and duly win.
I think Ravi won fairly comfortably.
Nick gave Michael Joseph a good spanking ! (see game below).
Luton did manage to put a half on the board when their board 5 played above his 1600 rating and eventually forced Paul to take a perpetual check.
Julian Hudson V Steve Ledger
Nick Collacott V Michael Joseph
Next up Bedford A V Bedford B on 7th November 🙂
Steve Ledger, 13/10/2024.