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Under 150 Team Season 2006 - 2007
Congratulations to Lancashire on winning the U150
County Championship. It was a fitting match for a final, desperately
close, with the final board after almost five hours play delivering a
win to Lancashire by 8.5 - 7.5. If it had been 8 - 8, Herts would have
prevailed on board count. After the close encounters with Cambridgeshire
and Nottinghamshire it was perhaps inevitable that Herts would be
involved in such a close match, but this time we just came up short, and
were beaten by the better team. The fact that the top eight boards were
all drawn was perhaps an indication of how closely these teams were
matched.
The venue for the finals was Moat Community College,
Leicester, and after all the recent rain, we were blessed with fine
weather for the journey. Mark Harris produced the first result of the
match, and in doing so, completed a hat-trick of wins against
Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire and Lancashire which qualifies him for a
county tie. Congratulations to Mark on an impressive sequence of
results. Lancashire soon levelled the match, and with draws on boards
seven and eight, the match started to take shape. We were looking solid
enough on the top boards, but it was soon apparent that things were not
going to plan on the lower boards, apart from James Aldred on board
nine, who soon pressed home his advantage to restore Herts lead. At this
stage we had no obvious advantage elsewhere, and with inferior positions
on four of the lower boards, our prospects were not good. Lancashire
were soon level again, and we needed a swing in fortune from somewhere.
Our fortunes changed on board fifteen, as Simon Charles, a pawn down,
won a knight. He only had a single pawn left, which would be vital if
he was to translate his advantage to a win. Meanwhile, there was a
glimmer of hope on board three, where Dick House was trying to press for
a win with two a-pawns. Elsewhere other boards were confirmed as drawn,
and with Lancashire edging ahead, we needed two points from the
remaining three games involving Dick House, Ian Mutton and Simon
Charles. Ian, not for the first time this season, was refusing to go
quietly, and was trying to snatch a draw from likely defeat. Simon had
carefully preserved his remaining pawn, and now brought us level at 7 -
7. Could Dick still win ? Could Ian draw ? As the remaining minutes
ticked away, it became clear that Dick could only draw, and that Ian's
valiant effort was in vain.
There followed the presentation of trophies, and
photographs. Thanks to John Denton, our past HCA president, for his
support, and the team photo attached hereto. Other photos should appear
shortly on the ECF website. If you left before the presentation, I have
your trophies, and will pass them on when I see you again next season.
This has been a memorable season for the U150 team,
and at this point I would like to affirm the contribution of Adam
Batson, David Edney, Wayne Kershaw, Avinoam Baruch, Michael Turner,
Tarisai Savanhu, Ian Cross, Dane Young, Bruce Toper, Nigel Kerby and
Alan Gore. These players may not have played in the final on Saturday,
and some have them have stepped into the team at short notice, but they
have all contributed to the success of the U150 team this season. I
would emphasise that the U150 county game is about having a strong squad
of players that enable players to compete against players of a similar
grading. We have used 27 different players this season, and it is an
endorsement of their contribution that every single player who has
played for the team this season has contributed at least half a point.
After all this excitement I need a holiday, so I am
taking leave of the chessboard for a while and heading for the French
Alps.
Have a good summer, and hope to see you all next
season for more adventures with Herts U150.
Regards,
Mike
Mike Price reports:-
County chess at its best, as Herts and Notts fought
out an 8-8 draw in the U150 ECF semi-final at Stevenage yesterday.
Anthony Burrows was clearly playing a different game
to the rest of us, as the first time I looked round to take stock, there
were hardly any pieces left on his board ! Whatever game it was, it was
clearly successful, as Anthony soon gave us our first win of the
afternoon. But it remained a very tight match, and after three hours
play, there were only three results, and the match was still level. Wins
for Mark Harris, Ian Mutton and Jon Spencer on boards 13, 14 and 15
followed, not so good if it goes to board count you might think. As four
hours play came up, there were three boards left, with the match level
at 6.5 each. Herts were ahead in one, behind in one, and Antony Hall was
level on board 1, perhaps holding a slight edge. Antony needed to know
how we stood on board count. We did our sums; crucially the game we were
winning was Adam Batson on board 2. Adam duly won, and as he did so,
Antony agreed the draw on board 1. Herts are in the final.
Last season we finished bottom of the Southern
Counties, and I commented how often we were being outplayed on the top
boards, although we had strength in depth. We have still had strength in
depth this season, but with Antony Hall, Adam Batson and Jon Barnes
coming into the team on the top boards, we have more than held our own
on the top boards. We have had an excellent sequence of results against
good opposition that has carried us to the final. Can we win one more ?
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