TAFCA WINTER LEAGUE ONLINE 2020-21 – Shock and Awe!
TAFCA WINTER LEAGUE ONLINE 2020-21
Thurs 15th April 21 – 7:30pm
Division One
Castlehill B 3½, Kirkcaldy A ½
Congratulations to Castlehill B on finishing their league campaign on a high and in the process helping out their club mates, Castlehill D who with this result avoid relegation from division one! A double bonus!
Board 1: John Kane (1445) KA 0 – 1 Ben Volland (1829) CB
Tough game for both players and by move 22 it seemed all square! Yes Black had more space and advanced pawns in a Q, K and 6 pawns each but not yet winning. But experience and pressure can win you rewards as Ben ended up winning a pawn and a few moves later more materiel to give him a decisive edge. John had fought hard and maybe deserved something out of the game, but it was not to be. Well played Ben!
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “343”
Board 2: Dariusz Kosznik (1755) CB ½ – ½ Shivia Subramanian (1444) KA
As a spectator, there seemed to be a lot going on but nothing happening! It was looking draw(ish), but maybe Shivia had a slight edge, he certainly deserved one the way he was playing! Dariusz seemed to have turned it around at one point, but once again Shivia was back in the room, or should I say board! It petered out to a draw in the end and I have no idea if that was time related or not. Could either player have done more to push for the win? Not sure, but well played both players.
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “344”
Board 3: Peter Selbie (1263) KA 0 – 1 Pawel Kosior (1681) CB
Another tough fight by Peter Selbie who never makes it easy for you no matter how much higher graded you are! All square after the first 15 moves, Pawel was tying to force an advantage and when you do that it can go wrong! On move 19 Pawel (black) played Bc3? (Qxa4 was best move!). This gave Peter an excellent chance to make his mark but he failed to capitalise on this error. With that let off, Pawel started to rack up the pressure on Peter and more and more errors stared to creep into Peters play. Pawel is not one for looking a gift horse in the mouth and took full advantage! Well played Pawel!
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “345”
Board 4: Leyton Hackney (1597) CB 1 – 0 Brain Morley (780) KA
What on paper should have been done and dusted early went the whole way. Massively out graded Brian played very well indeed. Yes Leyton was always in front and never really looked in danger, but neither could he afford a mistake or worse a blunder! Nice and steady play taking a small advantage into the end game where it became a winning advantage for Leyton. Well played both players but big credit to Brian for making a game of it!
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “346”
This result was a win, win for Castlehill Chess Club Dundee saving Castlehill D from possible relegation and increasing the number of teams we will have in division one next season!
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Division One
Castlehill D 1, Dundee A 3
There was nothing at stake for either side; well I say that but a win for Castlehill D would save them from possible relegation from division one without having to rely on results else ware. But realistically, given their opponents, their saving was going to come from other team’s results! But life has a habit of throwing you a curve ball and here was a case in point when Martin Chalmers upset the apple cart and brought down a Dundee legend to give Castlehill D a chance of a shock result! It did not happen but boy it was nearly a possibility!
Board 1: Jacques Ophoff (2257) DA 1 – 0 Keith Rose (1515) CD
Keith held his own in the opening faze, but after that it went the way of the form book and Jacques was just in a different class! Keith you played well and you could have done nothing more!
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “347”
Board 2 moved to end of report!
Board 3: Ed Spencer (2127) DA 1 – 0 Jan Barron-Majerik (1500) CD
Jan seemed to be holding his own for long periods of the game, but playing players of Ed`s calibre you are only one mistake away from disaster! Unfortunately for Jan disaster struck on move 20 when he knew not to play Nxf3(??), but played it anyway and paid the price! Oh well maybe another time and place! Well played Ed! Unlucky Jan.
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “349”
Board 4: Gordon Thomas (1312) CD 0 – 1 Gary Weir (1881) DA
What a game to be drafted in for against the league champions and some of the best players in the league! Gordon to be fair gave a good account of himself and it was not until move 16 that Gary started to exert his influence on the game and start making inroads on Gordon position. Mind you once he did the writing was on the wall, but Gordon had not yet decrypted it! Well played Gary good to have you playing with us again. Unlucky Gordon, but well played!
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “350”
Board 2: Martin Chalmers (1505) CD 1 – 0 David Findlay (2150) DA
Martin came out of the opening unscathed and more or less on an even footing against the Dundee legend, David Findlay. Move after move Martin not only matched David, but started to make inroads and by move 29 Martin held a clear advantage. Of course Martin and players of a similar grade have been here before but never turned the clear edge to a won game. It was starting to look like “same old, same old” as Martin began spurring opportunities to take a wining advantage, especially on move 35 when he moved his Rook back to d1? The more aggressive and advantages move 35.Rc8(!!), would have been hard to meet! This slip up did allow David the chance to get right back into the game. David was obviously a bit out of sorts as he did not seem to be able to capitalize on this chance and punish Martin for letting him back into the match. Having said that, all credit and plaudits must go to Martin Chalmers, who kept too his plan of keeping the game tight with a lot of pressure. He found all the right moves when he needed them to once again establish a clear edge going into the endgame. This pressure finally paid off on move 44 when David made another error, one in which Martin now had a clear path to promote one of his pawns and David could not find any defence and a few moves latter resigned! Must have felt punch drunk at the end of that game!
What a game! What a Match! A David (Martin) v Goliath moment! What a result! While it’s an online match and not OTB, this still has to be one of the biggest upsets in the TAFCA & Dundee area for many a year!
Magnificent, Stupendous, glorious, outstanding, astonishing, awesome, even bravura!
Have I left anything out? Oh yes, Martin will milk this for all its worth, but so would I and everybody else! David unfortunately I fear it will become part of “TAFCA Chess folklore”! If you have any scars…well it must be a case of. “Physician heal thy self”!
Lichess Game “Link”: TAFCA Database No “348”
Great fight by Castlehill D with a big sting in the tail, maybe it was a scorpion’s tail! Martin Chalmers we all salute you on what has to be the biggest result in your chess career so far and we all agree what a result! Well played is an understatement!
For all the results, standings and games click the link below.