Ben’s precise endgame defence seals Lichfield win
Wolverhampton Division 1
Despite the teams being closely matched in rating, Lichfield were convincing 3 – 1 winners in their Wolverhampton Division 1 match with Walsall Kipping at the Guild Hall.
On Board 2, Maurice Staples faced WGM Jana Bellin. Maurice and Jana have played each other six times in league chess over the last 15 years, with every single game ending in a draw. Their seventh encounter … also ended in a draw, agreed in an equal middlegame position with little prospect of progress for either player.
David Pickering, playing on Board 4, also agreed a draw in less than 20 moves. He held a small edge with White in a Scandinavian Defence, but, by the time his higher-graded opponent offered a draw, the position was fairly lifeless.
Richard Anderson’s game on Board 3 was a more dynamic affair. Playing Black, Richard held a space advantage from the opening and generated threats for dangerous pawn advances with his f pawn on the kingside. His opponent tried to break out with a b4 pawn break, but miscalculated one of the possible sequences of exchanges, allowing a black rook to land with check on the back rank, forcing white to ‘self pin’ his bishop. Ultimately, the back rank threats forced his opponent to give up the exchange, and Richard converted his advantage to win.
A 2 – 1 lead for Lichfield left Ben Nevett-Farman’s Board 1 opponent Christopher Bellin in a tricky situation. Following a tense middlegame, the game transitioned into a R+N vs. R+B endgame. With Christopher forced to search for a win to try and salvage a drawn match, he pressed forward with his King, looking to create and exploit weaknesses. Both players were short on time, but Ben defended precisely, and when the rooks were exchanged, it was instead him who emerged with a winning position, his opponent unable to prevent Ben’s passed ‘a’ pawn from promoting.
The match win leaves Lichfield 4th in the Division 1 table, with a record of played 5, won 3, lost 2. (Match played: February 5th).