YORKSHIRE LEAGUE DIVISION ONE 2017/2018.York R.I. ‘B’ v Hull & D.C.A. ‘A’.

4 th November 2017.

Woodhouse Cup 4th November 2017.

Home Team Away Team

York R. I. ‘B’. Hull & D.C.A. 'A'.

Board. YCA YCA Home Result Away YCA YCA

  Code Grade   Grade Code1 6127 175 Patrick Gower 0 – 1 John G. Cooper 194 38752 1978 164 Richard Cowan ½ - ½ John Thackray 171 56583 3929 160 Peter R. Harrington 1 – 0 John W. Atkinson 175 38664 4465 166 Tom Leah 1 – 0 Douglas Vleeshhouwer 170 44465 5553 163 Paul M. Barber ½ - ½ Paul S. N. Kendall 173 38256 1852 156 Eric A. Key 0 – 1 David E. Lord 168 33167 2306 158 A.Jon Griffith ½ - ½ Richard O. Callis 141 11628 1441 132 Herbert Lockwood ½ - ½ Bruce R. Oliver 142 9871

      Home Team Score 4 – 4 Away Team Score    

Transport considerations had a strong influence on selection of the team representing Hull & D.C.A. ‘A’ against York R. I. ‘B’ and the match outcome. On this occasion it was possible to direct the Bridlington car to the Railway Institute without additional call on the time of the players involved (in fact, they travelled a shorter distance than the Hull & D.C.A. ‘B’ team contingent, which made its way to Harrogate) and I believed that the changed Hull & D.C.A. ‘B’ team was still capable of winning at Apley Grange. (See Harrogate ‘B’ v Hull & D.C.A. ‘B’ to see if the belief was well founded.) Examination of the match result sheet, and the comments of a team member, suggests that ‘The Seasiders’ – Paul Kendall (Beeford by the Sea!?) plus David Lord and Bruce Oliver (Bridlington) had an important part in securing a share of the spoils.

Board one saw Patrick Gower opting to play the Symmetrical Variation of Petrov’s Defence – 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 – and the game did not diverge from theory until move 9. John Cooper gained a pawn advantage at move 20 and a knight fork of queen, rook and bishop on move 32 resulted in his opponent’s resignation.

John Thackray answered Richard Cowan’s Ruy Lopez with the Open (Tarrasch) Variation on board two. Pieces were exchanged in a game lasting 42 moves. A draw was agreed with each player having king, queen, knight and 5 pawns.

(2) Richard Cowan. - John Thackray. [C80]Woodhouse Cup. 04.11.2017.1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4 6.Re1 Nc5 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.Nxe5 Be7 9.d4 Ne6 10.Be3 0–0 11.Nc3 f6 12.Nf3 Re8 13.Qd3 Nf8 14.Rad1 Be6 15.Ne4 Qd5 16.b3 Bb4 17.Bd2 Bxd2 18.Rxd2 b6 19.c4 Qh5 20.Ng3 Qg6 21.Qc3 Bg4 22.Rde2 Rad8 23.Nh4 Qf7 24.Re3 Qd7 25.h3 Be6 26.Ngf5 g6 27.Nh6+ Kg7 28.d5 cxd5 29.cxd5 Qxd5 30.Ng4 Qd4 31.Qxc7+ Rd7 32.Qg3 Qd6 33.Qf3 Bxg4 34.Qxg4 Rxe3 35.Nf5+ Kh8 36.Nxe3 Re7 37.Rd1 Qe6 38.Qf3 Kg7 39.Qa8 b5 40.Qd5 Rd7 41.Qf3 Rxd1+ 42.Qxd1 Qd7 ½–½

John Atkinson’s English Opening, Symmetrical Variation on board three displayed many characteristics of the Sicilian Defence, Maroczy Bind. Peter Harrington countered with a sharp attack that gained four white kingside pawns for a knight. John is rarely battered into submission in such fashion, resigning on move 32, down an exchange and four pawns.

Douglas Vleeshhouwer informed me that his opponent spent a lot of time fathoming the opening on board four. Unfortunately, Douglas chose the wrong line at a critical point and his game went downhill from that point.

A Closed Sicilian Defence on board five resulted in multiple exchanges and a draw at move 29. With rooks about to be exchanged, leaving each player with king, bishop and five pawns, Paul Kendall and Paul Barber decided that a win for either of them was unlikely.

(5) Paul S. N. Kendall. - Paul M. Barber. [B23]Woodhouse Cup. 04.11.2017.1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.f4 g6 6.Nf3 e6 7.0–0 Nge7 8.Qe1 Nd4 9.Nxd4 cxd4 10.Ne2 Bg7 11.d3 0–0 12.Bd2 Bc6 13.Bb3 b5 14.a4 a6 15.Qf2 d5 16.e5 f6 17.Nxd4 Bd7 18.Qh4 Qb6 19.Be3 fxe5 20.fxe5 Bxe5 21.Qxe7 Bxd4 22.Bxd4 Qxd4+ 23.Kh1 Qg7 24.Rxf8+ Rxf8 25.Qxg7+ Kxg7 26.axb5 axb5 27.Kg1 d4 28.Re1 Kf6 29.Rf1+ Ke7= ½–½

David Lord adopted the Sicilian Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein Variation – 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 – and this gave rise to very sharp tactics in the opening. Eric Key’s offer of a queen exchange allowed David easy equality and active piece play. 26. … Rxd4 won material and led to white’s resignation shortly afterwards.

(6) Eric A. Key. - David E. Lord. [B29]Woodhouse Cup. 04.11.2017.1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.c4 Qe4+ 8.Be3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Qg6 10.Qc2 Qxc2 11.Nxc2 e5 12.f3 Bf5 13.0–0–0 Be7 14.Bd3 Be6 15.Rd2 0–0 16.Rhd1 Rfc8 17.Kb1 a5 18.f4 f5 19.Bf1 e4 20.b3 a4 21.Nd4 Nxd4 22.Bxd4 axb3 23.axb3 Bb4 24.Rf2 Rd8 25.Be2 b5 26.g4 Rxd4 27.Rxd4 Bc5 28.Rxe4 fxe4 29.Rf1 bxc4 30.bxc4 Bd4 31.f5 Bf7 32.Rf4 0–1

Richard Callis v Jon Griffith produced an entertaining game full of tactics. The point was split at move 64, just before a drawn king and rook pawn v king ending arose.

(7) Richard O. Callis. - A. Jon Griffith. [A45]Woodhouse Cup. 04.11.2017.1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d6 3.e3 g6 4.Nd2 Bg7 5.Bd3 Nbd7 6.Ngf3 c6 7.e4 Qa5 8.c3 b5 9.b4 Qb6 10.Nb3 0–0 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Bh6 Bh8 13.h4 e5 14.h5 exd4 15.hxg6 fxg6 16.Nbxd4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Rxe4+ 18.Kf1 Nf6 19.Ng5 Re7 20.Re1 Rxe1+ 21.Qxe1 Qc7 22.Nde6 Qe7 23.Bf8 Qe8 24.Bxd6 Bxe6 25.Nxe6 Qd7 26.Nc7 Rc8 27.Qe6+ Qxe6 28.Nxe6 Ne4 29.Bc5 Nxc3 30.Rh3 Re8 31.Nd4 Nxa2 32.Nxc6 a6 33.Ra3 Nc1 34.Ne7+ Kf7 35.Nc6 Bb2 36.Rf3+ Ke6 37.Re3+ Kd7 38.Rxe8 Kxe8 39.Nb8 Nb3 40.Nxa6 Nxc5 41.Nxc5 Bc3 42.Nb3 Kd7 43.Nc5+ Kc6 44.Ke2 Bxb4 45.Ne6 Be7 46.Kd3 b4 47.Kc4 Kd6 48.Nd4 Kd7 49.Nc2 Ke6 50.Nxb4 Bxb4 51.Kxb4 Kd5 52.Kc3 Ke4 53.Kd2 h5 54.Ke2 h4 55.Kf1 g5 56.Kg1 Kd3 57.Kf1 Kd2 58.Kg1 Ke2 59.f3 Ke1 60.Kh2 Kf2 61.Kh1 h3 62.gxh3 Kg3 63.h4 gxh4 64.f4= ½–½

Another ding dong game on board eight where Herbert Lockwood must have missed a win at various times in the endgame. Bruce Oliver made things as difficult as possible and was eventually rewarded with a draw.

The next round of Yorkshire Chess Association fixtures sees Hull & D.C.A. ‘A’ travel to face Sheffield ‘B’ at the Woodseats Working Men’s Club. The home team has registered two wins from their opening three fixtures, their only reverse being by a 5–3 margin to Sheffield ‘A’.

David Lord.

Yorkshire League Division One: 2017/2018 at 4th November 2017.

Team P W D L F Defaults PointsRose Forgrove ‘A’ 3 2 0 1 13½ 0 4

Sheffield ‘B’ 3 2 0 1 12½ 0 4

York R.I. ‘A’ 2 2 0 0 11½ 0 4

Sheffield ‘A’ 2 2 0 0 11 0 4

Leeds 3 2 0 1 9 0 4

Bradford ‘A’ 3 1 1 1 15 0 3

Hull & D.C.A. ‘A’ 3 1 1 1 12 0 3

York R.I. ‘B’ 3 0 2 1 11½ 0 2

Huddersfield 3 1 0 2 11 0 2

Bradford Central 3 1 0 2 10½ 0 2

York R.I. ‘C’ 3 0 1 2 10 0 1

Calderdale ‘A’ 3 0 1 2 8½ 0 1