Shepshed 2 Vs HA1

Graham B Reports:

Draw, 4 teams now on 4 points

Graham B

13 Dec		Shepshed 2		v	Heathcote Arms 1
				2½ - 2½
1	B	174	Henfrey, Robert	0 - 1	Sharpe, Graham	196
2	W	157	Jimenez, Alfonso	½ - ½	Bray, Dave	169
3	B	157	Sheahan, Sean	½ - ½	Cowley, Michael	147
4	W	157	Farrall, David	½ - ½	Booley, Graham	152
5	B	150	Rice, Stephen	1 - 0	Manger, John	131

 Division 1

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	GPD	Pts
1	Wigston 1	5	4	1	0	7	9
2	Shepshed 1	6	3	2	1	2	8
3	Braunstone 1	6	4	0	2	7	8
4	Melton Mowbray 1	7	3	1	3	2	7
5	Wigston 2	6	1	2	3	-3	4
6	Heathcote Arms 1	6	1	2	3	-4	4
7	Ashby 1	5	2	0	3	-5	4
8	Shepshed 2	7	1	2	4	-6	4

HA3 Vs Syston 4

I was mistaken about there being an HA1 League Cup match this Tuesday.

There was, however, a very hard fought match between HA3 and Syston 4.

On board 4, Gordon was a clear piece up, but having difficulty making progress. A blunder, however, saw his queen drop.

Meanwhile, on board 2, Hacker Dave was a knight for two pawns down. When the position was repeated on the board, his opponent announced 'that's twice' clearly indicating his willingness to agree a draw, but without actually making the offer. Dave then thought about his awful position for a while before pushing a pawn. Dave went on to drop another pawn, but, miraculously, a draw was agreed a short while later.

Ray's game looked like an up and down affair, but he was eventually able to promote his pawn forcing his opponent to swap a rook for it. 

Graham H, was victorious chalking up his first win since coming back to chess. It can only be a matter of time until he reaches his old form.

11 Dec		Heathcote Arms 3		v	Syston 4
				2½ - 1½
1	B	110	Hewitt, Graham	1 - 0	Agger, Reg	92
2	W	95	Ricketts, Dave	½ - ½	Veitch, Robert	85
3	B	91	Beach, Ray	1 - 0	Mundy, Rob	81
4	W	43	Milner, Gordon	0 - 1	Morelli, Nando	80

Great result.

The league table now shows us as having two match wins, but this is actually three wins owing to a board anomally when we played Braunstone at the start of the season. We should, therefore appear in the middle of the table.

Good luck to HA1 on Thursday.

No matches after that until the New Year.

Apparently, there is a charity Blitz competition at Syston next Tuesday.

Colin.

Round Up

First of all, some more detail on events at last week's HA2 match away at Ashby according to Heathcote Arms players who were there.

Ashby 3 Vs HA2

29 Nov		Ashby 3		v	Heathcote Arms 2
				2½ - 1½
1	B	121	Jones, Peter	0 - 1	Harrison, Peter	151
2	W	119	Armstrong, Victor	1 - 0	Manger, John	131
3	B	106	Williams, Richard	½ - ½	Beach, Ray	91
4	W	83	Page, Peter	1 - 0	Milner, Gordon	43

Captain Pete won and was in the bar with Mark Hebden.
John turned down the offer of a draw because he was trying to win and then left his queen en prise.

On board 3, both players were in time trouble, but Ray was two pieces up. Richard Williams' flag fell. Ray had not noticed, but Gordon pointed out to the players that the flag had fallen. Richard complained that Gordon was a spectator and had no right to intervene. Ray, being the good sport that he is, agreed to a draw.


HA3 Vs Red Admiral 1

A strange game between Stan and Drew where Stan had a guaranteed perpetual check (and they had appeared to play repetitions for around 20 moves with neither of them claiming), but then dropped his queen. Gordon had a massive material advantage against Calvin and then lost some of it back before mating him. Chris appeared to have the early advantage against Mick Slater, but was then back ranked by a rook in the corner supported by a bishop. Ray lost. Graham scored a draw against Andy Carter.

This left me struggling against Barney with the match score level. At this point a butterfly appeared in the Skittle Alley and fluttered back and forth for the rest of the evening. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a Red Admiral.

Whether the appearance of this omen was the result of witchcraft, a remote control, or whether Stan had secretly smuggled it in and released it from a jar (or his wallet as one of his team mates suggested) at the appropriate moment, is unclear, but it seemed to raise the spirits of the visiting team.

This was a good game, and I went down fighting. Time got me in the end.

04 Dec		Heathcote Arms 3		v	Red Admiral 1
				2½ - 3½
1	B	119	Ross, Colin	0 - 1	Thomas, Barnaby	129
2	W	110	Hewitt, Graham	½ - ½	Carter, Andy	99
3	B	91	Beach, Ray	0 - 1	Barabas, Peter	103
4	W	80	Johnson, Chris	0 - 1	Slater, Mick	98
5	B	60	Harbidge, Drew	1 - 0	Parsons, Stan	85
6	W	43	Milner, Gordon	1 - 0	Burton, Calvin	71

Melton Mowbray 3 Vs HA2

No details, as yet, about this match, but if i receive any news or games, i will edit them in here.

05 Dec		Melton Mowbray 3		v	Heathcote Arms 2
				1 - 3
1	B	137	Jex, Alan	1 - 0	Cowley, Michael	147
2	W	95	Smith, Peter	0 - 1	Harrison, Peter	151
3	B	70	Walton, Alison	0 - 1	Booley, Graham	152
4	W	71	Keightley, Andrew	0 - 1	Manger, John	131

Next Week

Tuesday 11/12/12 HA3 at home to Syston 4.

Tuesday 11/12/12 HA1 plays its rearranged first round of the Major League Cup fixture at home against Braunstone 1.

Thursday 13/12/12 Shepshed 2 Vs HA1

No matches for HA2 until 17th January away at Wigston 4.


Well done everyone,


Colin

p.s.  there is an amusing blog dated 16.11.12 at  http://www.kirbycastlers.org.uk/

HA1 at Home. HA2 and HA3 Away

HA1 Vs Melton Mowbray 1

27 Nov		Heathcote Arms 1		v	Melton Mowbray 1
				1 - 4
1	B	169	Bray, Dave	0 - 1	Lee, Graham	207
2	W	151	Harrison, Peter	0 - 1	Denton, John	190
3	B	147	Cowley, Michael	0 - 1	Reynolds, Tom	172
4	W	152	Booley, Graham	½ - ½	Billingham, John	165
5	B	131	Manger, John	½ - ½	Macauley, Glenn	140

Syston 4 Vs HA3

We travelled separately to Syston and all four of us were very late. Apparently, a drove (the correct collective noun according to Wikipedia) of pigs had managed to get on to the M1 and had brought the Northbound and Southbound carriageways to a standstill for several hours. We all drove (there's  that word again) through Leicester, but those roads were busy too as a result of the nonsense on the M1.

Gordon won very quickly. Drew lost, but appeared to be playing unnecessarily quickly. Ray agreed a draw when two pawns down. I got absolutely panned. My pieces all felt as if they were on the wrong squares right from the start - i went on to lose a couple of pawns and then got my queen trapped. Desperate not to lose to a player graded 34 points below me - i prolonged the agony and resigned half an hour later than i should have done. Here it is. Warning - not for the squeamish:

27 Nov		Syston 4		v	Heathcote Arms 3
				2½ - 1½
1	B	85	Veitch, Robert	1 - 0	Ross, Colin	119
2	W	81	Mundy, Rob	½ - ½	Beach, Ray	91
3	B	80	Morelli, Nando	1 - 0	Harbidge, Drew	60
4	W	57	Evans, Bailey	0 - 1	Milner, Gordon	43

Ashby 3 Vs HA2

29 Nov		Ashby 3		v	Heathcote Arms 2
				2½ - 1½
1	B	121	Jones, Peter	0 - 1	Harrison, Peter	151
2	W	119	Armstrong, Victor	1 - 0	Manger, John	131
3	B	106	Williams, Richard	½ - ½	Beach, Ray	91
4	W	83	Page, Peter	1 - 0	Milner, Gordon	43

If anyone has any resports or games from the above matches that they would like to share, send them to me and i will put them up.


Next Week

No HA1 match this week.

HA2 play away against Melton 3 on Wednesday.

HA3 play at home against the Red Admiral. Stan the man would like to play 5 or 6 boards if possible.


The Website

Herve is currently making some changes to the website. The gradings page link has now been fixed and the Roll of Honour page has been updated. Many thanks Herve.

Well done everyone,

Colin.