This was a very pleasing victory against the Manchester champions in the National U18 Tournament (they've subsequently lost to King's School, Chester, U18's in the NW England phase). The game was a first fixture of any type against this inner city prep school and the first 13-a-side match I can remember!
Alex V takes a lot of credit - firstly for pushing me to try and make our agreed 12-a-side match 13 players each! He then promptly beat his opponent with ease and held Ben Edwards's opponent in a friendly afterwards … pity the recording moves didn't go according to plan, but otherwise a superb start! (1-0, 14 minutes).
It is rare to see the King's Gambit on board 7 in a junior game and Montagu C took advantage of the open 'f' file to expose the weak kingside. Well done! You castled and developed pieces well. (2-0, 19 minutes).
I think it'll have to be called the 'Freddie Gambit'. Freddie H threw away a pawn (13. b4 Nxb4) but that simply opened a file for Freddie to attack the castled king (incorrectly castled: the king, castling queenside, should've been on c8, not b8) but the open 'b' file saw your queen and rook effect a checkmate! (3-0, 20 minutes).
Charlie L was somewhat fortunate to be able to fight back in a match where he lost his queen, but you kept attacking and this paid off, rook and bishops, on strong diagonals, to the fore. (4-0, 24 minutes).
Ben E made an interesting start, but kept the pressure up on many fronts so that his opponent missed a queen / rook / king fork. Thereafter it was always likely to be a win for Ben, disaster permitting, and although his queen became pinned against king, it wasn't enough for his opponent to fight back. (5-0, 28 minutes).
Kevin H took full advantage of two early errors - I was most impressed when you forked king and rook with bishop on f7 (rather than diving in with the knight) and then skewered the king in front of the queen … game over (in effect) … and all by move 9. Well done! Your best game yet! (6-0, 29 minutes).
Things were looking at least equal on all other boards: would Moor Allerton win one match?! We were soon to be put in our place. Alex T may have lost, but he played ever so well in a high standard game for U11 board 9! He lost his queen when his opponent made a discovered attack on the piece with a check … (6-1, 39 minutes).
Luke T was rattled by his opponent constantly swapping off pieces and apparently keen on doubling up Luke's pawns - both kings were kept central and exploited, Luke just losing out …! (6-2, 42 minutes).
I was disappointed to see Hugo R bring his queen out early - it was then chased around the board - but you then developed wisely and your bishop pinned queen against king! You took a little while to finish and with results starting to go against us elsewhere, I was rather keen to get this 7th point and match victory! (7-2, 47 mins.).
I thought Paddy D might have tested his opponent with an early 'Ng5' but otherwise you played immaculately until, with an attack on all fronts in both directions, you lost your queen … rooks were swapped off and then you missed that mate in one! With only the rook left I thought you'd spot it! Never mind! (7-3, 48 mins.).
What a fantastic first game John W had for the school! 52 minutes of recording moves, developing his pieces well - just lacking a definite 'plan' - then, finally, a couple of pieces lost. What a start! (7-4, 52 mins.).
The same could well be said for Charles A too … a lot of sensible moves, but just lacking the killer blow in an even match. A bishop on c8 hindered Isaac S's development in a drawn match. You didn't make any real mistakes, but couldn't quite get your pieces working together. Overall, however, a very satisfying win!
Posted on
Thu, February 12, 2009
by Anselms