Ashfield 1 went into weekend four hoping to pull away from the relegation battle before the final three rounds.
In Saturday’s match against the Masceteers Justin scored a quick win to get us on track. I then followed up with an uncharacteristically early result after my opponent allowed a mating attack. David lost to a promising junior, and the top two boards were halved, so it was down to John to get us over the line. He gained an endgame advantage and converted it into a win. 4-2
Promotion chasers She Plays To Win Lionesses lived up to their name on Sunday.
John was first to finish this time as both players took aim at the opposing king. Neither was castled but John’s monarch was the safer (just!) and his marauding pieces were too much. 1-0
Justin faced a similar situation with his opponent piling up against the kingside while he countered on the queenside. The next time I looked his king had run to the middle of the board, but he was winning material and came out on top. 2-0
Hubert had a slightly cramped position on a blocked up board. It may have been holdable, but a tactical slip let his opponent in and he quickly lost from there. 2-1
The other three games were amongst the last to finish on the day
Paul, playing a 2300+ WIM, had two queenside pawns deep in his opponent’s territory; I had a pawn advantage, but had let my opponent’s queen into my position to cause trouble; and Frank looked better in his game having invaded with his rooks.
First to finish was Paul. From a double-edged position he simplified into an endgame where he was pawns up and then eventually won. 3-1
I looked worse going into the end game, but my opponent seemed to miss a defensive resource and let me nab a pawn. Trying to defend against several threats in a B+4 v N+3 endgame, she allowed me to execute my key breakthrough winning her knight and then the game. 4-1
Frank looked like he had good chances to win with a protected pawn on the seventh, but his opponent’s pawns on the other side of the board proved too dangerous. 4-2
The games will no doubt appear in due course. Ashfield are not mathematically certain of stopping up with 8/16 but practically there are no problems. With three rounds to play Cambridge University 2 have 1/16 whilst Masceteers have 3/16 but have both the top two teams, Barnet Knights & Desert Penguins to play in the final three rounds.
Mike