It was a disastrous night for the 'C' team at Stafford last Wednesday where, despite outgrading our opponents overall, we were beaten for the first time this season, also giving Stafford their first win of the season. This result has almost certainly cost us any hope of winning the Division 4 title as we are now back in 3rd place, 2 points behind Crewe 'D', who also have a match in hand..
The evening started well enough, with Julian getting a draw against a higher graded opponent and everybody on the other boards being a pawn up. However, Steve blundered in his endgame, giving back the pawn and also giving his opponent a winning position. Ernie was also a pawn up but somehow lost his way and, in the process, his Queen !!.Grenville was 2 pawns up in his endgame but was in severe time trouble and started to panic, His advantage gradually dissipated and, in the end, he had to settle for a draw by repetition. So a match that should have been won comfortably ended in a 3-1 defeat because of self inflicted errors.
Click here for the match score card.