Burton & Lichfield ‘C’ off the mark with Division 2 draw

Derby League Division 2

After two league defeats, the combined Burton & Lichfield ‘C’ team got off the mark in Division 2 with a 2-2 draw against Derby ‘C’.

On Board 1, Yuriy Slobodyuk played out a very solid draw with his higher-rated opponent. Neither player ever held a significant advantage. Kevin Gallagher’s game on Board 3 was also evenly balanced throughout, and petered out into a drawn knight ending.

On Board 2, David Pickering’s opponent played the dubious 1 e4 e5 2 c3?!, and David quickly seized the advantage, exerting great pressure on his opponent’s position, then winning a piece and the game soon after. Unfortunately, Mike Hoare on Board 4 missed the best continuation in an already difficult position and lost the exchange. He ran out of time on his clock in a losing position.

One fun detail from the match was that Derby Chess Club have recently purchased a set of DGT digital boards and clocks, and could therefore livestream the match onto Lichess. Website visitors can therefore review all four games on Lichess here. The match scorecard is here. (Match played: 28th October).