CHESS RESULT (2) : Barnstaple 1 - Tiverton 3

On Saturday 14 November, Tiverton played its second match, away to Barnstaple, in Division 2 of the Devon Chess League.  After winning the toss the Tiverton Captain chose to be  White on the even boards.

In aggregate the team ratings were level with Tiverton's 624 up against Barnstaple's 621.  But Simon Bartlett on board one was outgraded by 15 points by Ben Edgel and  Ivor Annetts on board two was up against a 12 point deficit in the form of Peter Marriott.  John Morrison on three had an insignificant 1 point advantage.  This meant that Keith Atkins reaped the benefit with a large 29 point advantage over his opponent.

As was to be hoped, Keith soon proved to strong for his opponent.  He developed strong pressure and won a piece.  Soon afterwards the threats against the Black king were too strong to be resisted. 1-0.

Simon was suffering against his strong opponent and was soon defending a one pawn deficit.

With castling taking place on opposite sides,  Ivor's game was likely to be decided by which pawn storm succeeded first.

John had a dour stuggle on his hands with interlocked pawns preventing  tactical possibilities.

After more than three hours play, Simon's position worsened with the loss of a second pawn.  With Ivor under time pressure, his opponent overlooked the fact that White's second move in his chosen sequence involved a check.  The oversight was decisive and Peter resigned.  With John very unlikely to lose, Simon gave up his virtually hopeless stuggle leaving the score at 2-1 in Tiverton's favour.

There was a bonus in that John managed more than a draw.  In a Rook and Bishop ending, he managed to penetrate his opponent's position and won a pawn.  Soon after his position became overwhelming and his opponent resigned.

This was an excellent 3-1 victory for Tiverton against a Barnstaple team that had not competed in County competitions for some years.  Tiverton now lead Division Two with a maximum of four points from two matches and game points standing at 6-2.  A fantastic start to the season!

MAY I INVITE PARTICIPANTS TO COMMENT ON THIS REPORT.  ONLY THEY KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN THEIR GAMES.

COMMENTS ARE OF COURSE WELCOME FROM ANY OTHER CHESS ENTHUSIASTS  - PARTICULARLY MEMBERS OF THE TIVERTON CLUB.

Hi Ben!
Of course it'll work here, this is a Tiverton site for people of Tiverton, and so it's good to see that Chess club have trounced Barnstaple! Shows we have sound minds in Tiverton, plus, stories like the chap who fell asleep in a game, and the Devon team player taking on ten at once was quite interesting - and I'm not exactly the biggest chess player in the world (more a scrabble man).
What I would suggest though, is maybe put this into an article rather than a discussion thread and stick a nice little photo with the team who played so we can all see their faces!
I think the chess club is a shining example of how this site should be used by other clubs and always mention it to other groups to follow the example!
I didn't even know we had a chess club before this site came along!