We were briefly ousted by Crewe 'B' after Tuesday evening's results, but returned to the top of the South Cheshire Shield table with a 3.5 - 0.5 win at Newcastle last night. We now have a 100% record after 3 matches.
We were helped last night by Newcastle defaulting on board 4, so we were 1-0 ahead without a Pawn being pushed. Mycle then put us into an early 2-0 lead with a terrific win on board 1 against an opponent rated 261 points higher. Phil then ground his opponent down on board 3 for a straightforward win, putting us 3-0 up and guaranteed to win the match. It was a war of attrition on board 2, with the game going down to the last few minutes before a draw was agreed. It looked for all the world that Lea was hopelessly lost, but his opponent failed to find the right continuation after winning a Pawn. Lea plugged on and, against the odds, managed to exchange Queens, win his Pawn back and get into a drawn endgame. A great result against an opponent rated 253 points higher.
Click here to view the full match score card - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/141740. Next up is a home match against Alsager on Tuesday 18th July.