Post by arf on Jan 27, 2013 12:30:28 GMT
All good things come to an end!
The downside of a single-round competition with few teams is the length between games. The time between them can disturb any momentum established by a team and can greatly help those who are in need. Having seen off Essex in fine style it was an age before the team could see if they could repeat the feat against Kent.
Earlier in the cycle the Kent vs. Middlesex Open match (15/10/12), sees Mike Wiltshire – Kent Chairman - belligerent about Kent’s u180 prospects; he feels they have a squad that will take them all the way to both SCCU and ECF titles. If they were to do it they would match a feat they achieved in 1995-96 which coincidentally are their last titles! On match day apart from the fact it would be great to disabuse him and them of their aim by defeating Kent we would still be on course to fulfil our greater ambition that of retaining both titles only achieved once in our history 1983-84 & 1984-85. Furthermore victory would mean that Middlesex continue their unbeaten streak – at some stage I’ll review match records to find out what the longest undefeated streak is – and end the calendar year undefeated! Unfortunately all good things come to an end as Kent did their Chair proud by winning 9.5-6.5.
The score-line does not do justice to the match as it was a lot closer than the final result suggests. With 9 games down the match score was 4.5-4.5. All of the games as expected were hard fought. Your author gets the first result of the day with an entertaining draw! The analysis afterwards determined my 17th move thereby forcing Syd to exchange his Q for 2R’s was the critical position by placing her on e2 instead of f3 it gave him a vital tempo to try and complicate. The error was compounded with another weak Q move which now meant that instead of playing for victory I was scrambling to find a draw or else be mated! Luckily the tempo required for Syd to obtain mate was not forthcoming and I could duly attain draw by repetition! The match was symbolic of what was to happen to the rest of team: an inability to execute good positions. Thus although Kent attain the match point it was more of a case of Middlesex losing it rather than them winning it!
Wins by David, who as usual plays a sharp line to generate an irrepressible attack; Guy, who rounds of his game with a Q sacrifice to ensure he has huge material advantage; and Neville, who for the time being has played his last game for the County as due to work commitments he is moving abroad. He sacrifices 2 pieces to initiate and maintain an attack against his opponents K finally reaching a position where he regains sacrificed material and mops up the remaining pieces! What a way to round off your last game, for the time being at least! Neville it will be great if we could a score of the game alternatively post a link at either:
chesstempo.com/pgn-viewer.html
www.lutanho.net/pgn/pgnviewer.html
The Middlesex wins are offset by defeats for Andrew, Bill and George. All defeats are hard to take none more so than George’s! When part of the audience you have a more objective approach to a position as opposed to the combatants who in the heat of battle, passions roused, are apt to miss things. George is in a spot of bother as his opponent’s Q, R and passed P are bearing down on the K. Observers were puzzled by his opponent’s R move as it was a blunder. George could safely play an intermezzo check and then take R. However chess blindness can strike at any time as George felt compelled to exchange R’s and in doing so allowed his opponent to consolidate position and bring home the point for Kent. Conversations with both players highlight they had missed either the check or the backward move!
The pivotal moment of the match had been reached and of the remaining games Middlesex looked good. John T played a positional game to secure a P and was attempting to nurse his small advantage; John W likewise involved in a positional struggle and although a P down had sufficient counter-play to cause problems for his opponent; both Mike T and Mike B had positional if not material advantages; Russell and Paul were at least equal and unfortunately it was only Jon who was involved in a losing game. Thus the expectation was that if all play to their strengths, make no obvious mistake then Middlesex should secure victory. However if George’s oversight allowed Kent back into the match, it can be argued the blunders by both John T and John W positively handed them victory. Kent in securing 3 wins in succession have a 6.5-4.5 lead.
The position of the remaining games meant that Jon at very least had to find a drawing line in order for Middlesex to have a sniff of a draw let alone victory and Russell and / or Paul had to find a dynamic line to get an advantage. All predicated on the fact that both Mike T and Mike B nurse their advantages. It was not to be as the expected draws for Russell and Paul and defeat for Jon all happened thus Kent crossed winning 8.5-5.5. In doing so they inflict the first defeat on the u180 team since the QF loss to Warwickshire in May 2011! The defeat also sees the hopes of going undefeated for the calendar year go up in smoke.
For the record neither Mike are able to convert their advantages acquiescing to draws. Final score Middlesex lose 6.5-9.5. So although the record will show a heavy loss to Middlesex the story of the match tells us something completely different!
Unlucky Guys!
Full match details here:
www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/match2.htm
Round 2 round-up: The other tie of the round was Essex vs. Sussex with the former winning 11.5-4.5. What was noticeable about the result is that Sussex was playing away and defaulted 4 boards! With Sussex coming to us in the final round of matches it suggests that we should be on to a home banker but time will tell! Wouldn’t want a repeat of the debacle of 2009-10!
Table after Round 2
1. Middlesex 1/2 (17.5)
2. Essex 1/2 (16)
3. Surrey 1/1 (12)
4. Kent 1/1 (9.5)
5. Sussex 0/2 (8.5)
[Note: As the four teams on 1 point have not yet all played each other, the expediency of using Game Points has been adopted to rank them in order. Game Points is in fact the 4th tie-break condition i) Match points, ii) MP between tying teams, iii) GP between tying teams, iv) GP overall, etc.) Full ranking provisions can only be properly applied with full data, i.e., all teams involved in tie-break have played each other.]
The table make interesting reading. It is safe to say that unless miracles happen, i.e. Sussex defeat both Kent and Middlesex, they are virtually eliminated. However the first of these could possibly be achieved as Kent can be vulnerable on the road. Essex is back in the hunt with a confidence boosting victory, albeit against a non-Sussex side and will carry that momentum into their next match against Surrey. Defeat however will also see them virtually eliminated and a successive year of non-participation in the National Stage. In short Round 3 will be feisty so I look forward to the next round of fixtures with bated breath!
Fixtures Round 3 – 26/1/13 Sussex vs. Kent; Surrey vs. Essex
Our next match is against Surrey and is the pivotal one of the season as with Sussex down and out it can be assumed that they will not be fielding as strong a team as they can when they visit us in March so a win is on the cards, however will not want to take any chances. More importantly that is for the future as to use the sporting cliche, 'We need to take one match at a time!' and Surrey is the focus.
We will have to be at our fighting best for a number of reasons:
Firstly, as mentioned, we will want to get our campaign back on track
Second, the division is a close one with 4 teams on 1pt only separated by game points everything is all to play for when considering SCCU title!
Finally, regarding National Stages, defeat will not be terrible as with an expected straightforward match against Sussex to come it should mean finishing 3rd. This will see us qualify for National Stages but means we will have to play a preliminary match something we would want to avoid if possible and victory against Surrey will be the perfect antidote!
Next Match: Surrey (A) 9th February 2013
Go on the Middlesex!