Links to 2021/22 season’s fixtures
December 1st, 2021Fixtures are on the English Chess Federation League Management System
Mixed Fortunes for Central Teams
November 19th, 2021Central 2 travelled to the University last week in division 5 but saw no action as their opponents were unable to set up the equipment in anywhere near the time allowed (30 minutes). A 4-0 default win was duly claimed and the team hit the pub to celebrate their second successive ‘whitewash’ win.
The first team travelled to Radcliffe & Bingham to take on their second team but came up short. As predicted by me last match report, Alan got back to winning ways against Barry Redburn but that’s as good as it got with Mick and Adrian both falling to defeat. I was last to finish again. A pawn down in a blocked position and my king-side attack going nowhere I accepted a draw and conceded the match.
It was good to see one or two old faces again. I’ve not been at a bar with Dorothy for some time…
Kevin Argyle
Central 1 v W.Notts 2 (Tues 9/11/21)
November 10th, 2021Central 1 remained unbeaten after a 2-2 draw against West Notts 2 at the Embankment pub.
Things started well after another fast and convincing win by Mark. His opponent played very passively in the opening allowing Mark to build an impressive and unchallenged pawn centre. Lacking any space to maneouvre, his opponent was nicely checkmated after just 23 moves.
Mick was next to finish, he went a pawn up but eventually agreed a draw leaving us needing just one more point for the match.
I built up a big advantage in the middlegame but failed to find the right moves and let my opponent back into the game. At one point he had a mate in three but failed to find it and with time running out, an advanced passed pawn was enough to clinch a draw.
Alan was again upset with himself after miscalculating and turning a technical win into a loss. Surely his first win of the season is not far away.
Kevin Argyle.
Central are Back in Action!
October 13th, 2021The new 21/22 season saw both Central 1 and Central 2 in action with differing fortunes.
Central 2 made the (very short) trip to West Bridgford club on Monday but only came away with a half-point courtesy of Lukasz. Both Joe and Ben were playing their first league game and will benefit from the experience.
Central 1 hosted Nomads 2 the following night which saw Adrian Dibble play his first game for us. It was hard to know what to expect as Nomads whole team consisted of new players but we managed a convincing victory with only Alan dropping a half point, frittering away a winning position and being very annoyed with himself afterwards.
Mark won quickly and easily, a victory for Mick followed soon after and from a complicated position Adrian eventually managed to trick his opponent, sacrificing a rook to bring home the full point.
It’s great to have league chess back!
Kev Argyle
Useful links
January 6th, 2020Probably, everyone else knew about these; but I’ve recently found out about the English Chess Federation League Management System:
Central 1
October 15th, 2019| Home Team | Result | Away Team | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central 1 | 2 – 3 | Ashfield 3 | Tue 1st Oct 2019 | 19:30 |
| West Bridgford 3 | 0 – 5 | Central 1 | Mon 6th Jan 2020 |
19:30 |
| Central 1 | 1 – 4 | Beeston | Tue 22nd Oct 2019 | 19:30 |
| Gambit 3 | 2½ – 2½ | Central 1 | Tue 5th Nov 2019 | 19:30 |
| Central 1 | 2½ – 2½ | West Bridgford 2 | Tue 26th Nov 2019 | 19:30 |
| Radcliffe & Bingham 1 | 1½ – 3½ | Central 1 | Tue 10th Dec 2019 | 19:30 |
| Central 1 | 1½ – 3½ | Nomads 2 | Tue 21th Jan 2020 | 19:30 |
| Central 1 | 2½ – 2½ | West Bridgford 3 | Tue 28th Jan 2020 | 19:30 |
| Ashfield 3 | Central 1 | Wed 12th Feb 2020 | 19:30 | |
| Beeston | Central 1 | Tue 18th Feb 2020 | 19:30 | |
| Central 1 | Gambit 3 | Tue 3rd Mar 2020 | 19:30 | |
| West Bridgford 2 | Central 1 | Mon 23rd Mar 2020 | 19:30 | |
| Central 1 | Radcliffe & Bingham 1 | Tue 7th Apr 2020 | 19:30 | |
| Nomads 2 | Central 1 | Mon 27th Apr 2020 | 19:30 |
Central 1st 2-3 Ashfield 3rds – 2/10/2019
October 5th, 2019All
What a match! Defeat. I’ll get that said first but an incredible fight.
Central 1ST 2-3 Ashfield 3rds
First off, a team match is a TEAM match and no one must carry the ‘what if’ of a narrow defeat. We each did our best. Some of us for nearly 3 hours of mental struggle.
I had it easy stress wise. I have a position I need to look at, because one option was a perfectly reasonable but double edged option and took the safe one. Pieces came off and I had a slightly worse end game. My opponent offered a draw and I accepted. Oh, must mention my phone went off. I knew that’s a 2 min penalty but needed someone else to say it, so thank you Mark for putting their captain straight.
Lukasz payed a blinder with the aggressive 1…e5 against d4 and, well, won. But his opponent has been round the block, held on and fought hard in a completely lost position. Lukasz knows he should have won, but it happens sometimes that an opponent fights hard and you only draw.
Mark Radford was held by his slightly lower graded opponent. Playing back. Mark said afterwards he saw better moves he should have played, but that’s chess. It just looked like one of those games where in a match situation you can’t risk for the win, though youd like to. It was a team minded effort from Mark.
So to the stunning finish with seconds ticking down. Mark Darlington on his debut. Mark got a superb position from the opening and felt his was much better. One move changed everything – a positional blunder. Time became a factor and in a double edged position towards the end, his opponent edged it. I confess, as a weaker player to have no clue what was going on. But I think “I have a no draw policy” is an attitude to be admired. Welcome Mark. You will win plenty playing like you do.
Concurrently was Alan’s game. A real thriller of a struggle. A sacrifice of the exchange, for compensation. Consolidation with a powerful position full of control and extra pawns. A miscalculation in a complicated position turning the tide back to the opponent. Winning another piece back and equity of sorts, 20 seconds left for Alan on the clock and… A draw. Again, I can only give a flavour. Great chess I can only try to follow.
So we lost 2-3. But the spirit! Well done all. Giving everything? Result is truly secondary.
We’ll stuff em in the return!
Best Wishes
Andy
Central 2 vs WN 3 – 17/9/19
October 5th, 2019| Central 2 | WN4 | ||||
| Lukacz Kacprzak | 1 | 0 | Arjuna Medis | ||
| Johnny M | 0 | 1 | Chris Hurst | ||
| Mick Frings | 1/2 | 1/2 | Aidan Elston | ||
| Mark Turner | 1 | 0 | Johan Tomsett | ||
| Simon Parham | 1 | 0 | Mankaram Punglia | ||
| 3.5 | 1.5 | ||||
WN3 v Central 2 – 23/9/19
October 5th, 2019| WN3 | Central 2 | ||||
| R Willoughby | 1 | 0 | Lukacz Kacprzak | ||
| M Herbert | 1/2 | 1/2 | Mick Frings | ||
| D McWilliams | 1 | 0 | Mark Turner | ||
| S Thacker | 0 | 1 | Simon Parham | ||
| E Jones | 1 | 0 | Mike James | ||
| 3.5 | 1.5 | ||||
“House warming” event
August 15th, 2019We are hoping to hold an informal house warming event on Tuesday 27th August.
This is a test event, perfectly informal, blitz tournament. Starting at 7.30.
Space will be limited for this event, we only have a limited number of sets and clocks, so anyone interested will need to reserve a spot. Entry is not restricted to club members, and any entrants should email me at this address: apsutton2017@gmail.com beforehand.
All being well, we will be holding other events during the year. I know that this is short notice, but hopefully we will have a fun evening to ring in the new chess season.
Thanks, Best Wishes
Andrew Sutton