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Herts U120 team 2009 - 2010
Report Herts v Kent U120 ECF Final 10th July 2010 This has been yet another unquestionably successful season for the Herts Minor Team U120 / U100.
We reached the County Championship Final for the second time in 3 years. Having won in 2008, we reached the Quarter-Finals in 2009 and Finalists in 2010. Very few county teams have such a good record.
True, losing is always painful and our opposition were pretty good this year. We might have limited our loss to a closer score, but although we did our homework and inflated our grades, too many games slipped away from us.
We started well, with no errors early on; it looked like it would be a close result. Duncan Marshall won first, Bob Harrison took his usual draw (after 23 moves this time); Ed Magee was advised to play on with his Sicilian and made a good win. Alan Brewis managed a draw on board 12. Madhi Elango thought about offering a draw, was encouraged to play on but was unsuccessful. John Harris had a great mating attack on the go, but he was short of time; his opponent made a sacrifice and John was mated. Ian Riddoch and Harold Eva made good use of their time to build up a small advantage, but were both unable to capitalise. Peter Baker had a solid draw on board 10. Ian Leighton lost on 7, after looking equal for a long time and Corinne Mountford was defeated by one of the strongest players Under 120. Kidge Elder started thinking about a draw too early, missed a dual threat and lost for the first time in 2 years . . . The specially brought doughnuts were no help at all.
We used this occasion to present County Ties, for three wins without an intervening loss, to: Corinne Mountford; Madhi Elango; Ed Magee; Ian Riddoch and Jonathan Phillips.
Here are some personal scores:
Jonathan’s best performance wins him the ‘Player of the Season’ Trophy.
Seven of us had a pleasant social drink at The Pheasant in Keyston on the way home and we looked forward to another campaign next season. Grades for the forthcoming season may be available during the week of July 20th, but don’t hold your breath.
We hope to have a social in early August for a drink and meal at a pub to celebrate our achievements. We’ve had another good year and I look forward to organising again next season.
Regards,
Kidge Elder.
Report Herts v Norfolk U120 ECF County Championships Quarter Final 8th May 2010 Congratulations to us all on managing to squeeze the closest of WINS out of this match. At somewhere round about 6.40pm Corinne finally defeated her enduring opponent. She had had to manoeuvre her knight (against his bishop) after getting rid of the queens, each with six pawns remaining - 8 knight moves to win a crucial pawn and break down the resistance. Her success was also due to getting her pawns onto the safe coloured squares, out of touch from the bishop and no gaps for the opponent king to crawl through; and in such circumstances knights are better than bishops. Well done. 6 - 6 Herts win on board count. After a win, one of my little pleasures in life is printing off the result and writing these e mails; but far greater is the inner pleasure for all of us, which stays around in the heart and memory for some time to come. So please remember this team win and we will be looking for more on Saturday 19th June in the semi-final. We're good enough to go the distance. One of the things to learn when playing important games like these, is that one has to make a big effort not to have any thought of doing anything else before or after the match as this is a distraction. Most of us do prefer white to black, but when we play black we must learn to be just a little hesitant in our response to white, in order to neutralise his advantage. Almost throughout our team our strength lies in the middle game. Wins were enjoyed by Corinne, Madhi (with a good recovery), Ian R, Jonathan (another good endgame with one rook, and a pawn majority) and Kidge (about time too after those draws). Ian L missed a bishop forking his queen and rook, but also recovered well to get a draw; Bob somehow played 25 moves before any capture and expectedly this went to a draw as well. Harold went down before I could get up to walk round; Ed is covered above; Peter after going a piece up, hesitated to simplify his game, went for another piece (sacrifice) and was mated; John played on 'till about 6.15pm before his opponent won a king and pawn endgame. The spacious Turner Hall in Newmarket, close to the town centre, is a good (neutral for Herts) venue, which hosts other chess matches. The maple floor bounces a bit if your heavy opponent gets jumpy, like mine; but little outside noise gets in and once the heating is sorted it's just warm enough. There is a good kitchen and a side room for analysis. £60 for the afternoon. So put June 19th in your diaries NOW and look forward to more progress.
Report Herts v Surrey U120 27th February 2010 Great WIN over Surrey yesterday. We had 7 winning points on the sheet before they had scored anything; they even outgraded us by all of 2pts a board ! These last two matches show that you are a good team, who can perform well when required. We have now qualified for the Knock stages of the ECF County Championships. We are probably playing Norfolk at a neutral venue part way between us, which is about Newmarket. Yesterday we enjoyed our usual quiet venue, but it was only an hour or so into the match that Jonathan made a beautiful knight sacrifice - ''check'' (for all to hear, nice one) then check, then mate. Madhi, Ed and Corinne duly followed suit, then Ian and Bob, who offered a draw, (no, no, I've come too far from Surrey to draw yet) then pleaded for one, but shortly after got a win. Duncan, Dave and Kidge each agreed draws. Those doughnuts taste even better after our best win ever against Surrey.
Report: Essex v Herts U120 23rd November 2010 Madhi flew out of the blocks, getting a resignation after just 24 moves. Jonathan walked into a good endgame win without looking stressed. Duncan and Corinne both as black succeeded with solid mating attacks. Ian R played a draw specialist, but took his time and made a success of his bishop and knight endgame, two pawns up. Ian L, Ed, Bob, Harold and Kidge all had sound draws, and Mark somehow was let off the hook by his opponent, who clearly did not know his end game theory, that a bishop and rook's pawn is drawn, if the bishop is not able to cover the queening square! The widespread pleasure on our drives home is a feeling to remember. Our next match is on Feb 13th v Surrey at home, where we will be playing in rooms on the first floor of the Free Church. Please let me know if you are unable to play. This match is such that we must win to go onto the national knock out stages. Well done one and all, Kidge
Report: Surrey v Herts U120 Ashtead 28th November 2009 Well, we drove round to Ashtead on a pleasant sunny morning and returned round the M25 in the pouring rain. We lost a pretty close match which could have been ours at almost any time, 7 - 5. Wins for John Harris, Duncan Marshall and Jonathan Phillips, well done for your study and hard work, were supported by draws from Bob Harrison, Ian Leighton, Ed Magee and Kidge Elder. Notably two of these could have been wins, and our board 4 admits to a greater fallibility here, than he cares for . . . having gone pawn and position up, it looked like plain sailing and he could still have won after 'sacrificing' / losing his last piece to get two passed pawns . . . the final ignominy came when he realised that the opponent pawns that he had taken the trouble to double up, now prevented him winning the king and pawn ending ! In America, they might say he needs a 'trick cyclist / sport psychologist'; in France they'll quote 'C'est la vie', and in England, I'll tell him 'Must do better'. Losses were suffered by Mark Duggin, Ian Riddoch, Harold Eva, Mod Heylen and Corinne Mountford. Corinne is completely forgiven, in that I had pressed her to try and get a win, in order to salvage a draw for the team. Whilst playing, I was unable to see why the others lost, which may or may not be a blessing. When one loses a match after 4 hours, it makes it all more tolerable that one put up a good fight. On the Stock Exchange recently there has been a so called 'Dash for Trash', when investors have been buying up too many poor shares, which will come back to haunt them. Yesterday I was reminded of this phrase. We have had two of our toughest matches and currently with one win and two losses we have two points; but this is balanced by having a game score of 18 - 18, which is good. In the new year we are well capable of fighting for both wins and points, which will see us qualify for the knock out stages. Neither Surrey nor Kent will relish the prospect of coming to Herts. Our next match is January 9th at home (WGC) to Kent. I trust that you are all available. Regards Kidge
Report: Herts v Essex U120 Welwyn Garden City 7th November 2009 Bob Harrison got things going with a quick win; he was promptly followed by Ed Magee and Mahdi Elango winning without much difficulty. Ian Leighton's opponent left his queen en-prise once too often; but John Harris, with a evenly balanced position, found he had taken just too long for his 35th move. Jonathan Phillips did well to use his time to to good effect, but somehow let a black pawn slip through his net in the end game, with same coloured bishops and a pawn up / position tricky - good work though. Mark Duggin did his best to get his opponent into time trouble, it was a close shave; but his position and material shortage, made his prospects limited from then on. Paul Bainger had a long wait for his draw, almost inevitable against Geoff Lane, who usually swops off and offers a draw in quick time. At this point may I repeat the importance of asking the skipper if a draw is ok. I am not allowed to tell you what to do, UNLESS you ask. Corinne nearly got it into her head that she had to win, when a draw was definitely her best option. Once she knew what to do, then a draw was agreed as she had the option of repeat check with two rooks against a trapped King. However, Alan Brewis had developed a fine queen attack, with a fork of a knight and a mating option; his opponent looked for a 'cheap' get out and was mated in three moves. This gave us the six and a half points required. Ian Riddoch started late as usual, then played a slow game against demanding opposition, before ending up with a rook to be sacrificed, but five connected pawns versus a knight and rook - at which point his opponent resigned, unable to prevent a pawn queening. The teas, coffees and cakes went down a treat; but I was slaving over a hot stove the night before, making some excellent oatcakes / flapjacks, and you hardly touched them! Take care or you'll get 'Rich Tea' biscuits in future. Many thanks to those of you who stayed to the end and helped clear up. Since I seem to be writing some of this out of chronological order, may I also note that most of the visiting team were in the hall before the hosts. Let's not give away home advantage by letting them get comfortable too early. Next match is versus Surrey at Ashtead on November 28th, please let me know if you are not available - let's carry the momentum through the month. Kidge
Report: Kent v Herts U120 Dartford Saturday 10th October 2009 This match took place in the large warm airless room J19 at the Mick Jagger centre. A few of us cut our arrival time rather fine, but with no opening blunders. Madhi agreed a draw after a solid opening with white. Bob dropped a piece to the old reverse bishop trick. Mark Duggin was first winner after a strong mating attack. Ian didn't shut things down quite sharply enough, but Ed found a good win as black; Harold and John also won as black - made for a happy car on the way home. Our anchor Mod settled for a draw with white on board 12, when I hoped for a win there! Most of the time, well four hours or so, I was engrossed in my own struggle. After going for a very quiet defensive opening and stressful defensive middle game; we reached an ending when both of us had to lose a piece capturing a freshly queened pawn. It came down to a knight and three pawns each, which was just about under control. However, later analysis showed up that a knight sacrifice, I looked at and considered, did work out, though not in the way I saw . . . this left a dead draw and meant we lost the match 6.5 to 5.5. A close result and no disgrace, but it means that we must win the return at Welwyn on January 9th.
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