Combined ‘A’ Team complete league double over Derby ‘B’

Derby League Division 1

The combined Burton and Lichfield ‘A’ team notched up their second victory of the season against Derby ‘B’ at The Guild Hall.

Ben Nevett-Farman was five minutes late arriving for his Board 2 match, but his opponent never arrived at all, giving Burton and Lichfield an instant 1-0 lead by default.

A number of the Derby ‘B’ players have performed well above their ECF ratings against higher rated opponents this season, and their resilience was on full display again, with both Turan Asgarova (on Board 1) and Mircea Mesesan (on Board 3) being held to draws with Black by lower rated opponents. Mircea was fortunate to escape with a draw against David Smith, and admitted after the game that he was close to resigning at one point in the endgame. Turan was unable to prove any advantage against Skott May.

The match result therefore depended on Richard Anderson’s Board 4 game, but he held an advantage throughout most of the game. From the moment his opponent missed the best continuation in a complex middlegame and instead blundered, the game result was not in doubt. Richard converted his advantage by playing a number of forcing moves that left his opponent paralysed by multiple pins.

The win leaves Burton and Lichfield ‘A’ safely in fourth place in Division 1 with two matches left, one against league leaders Belper ‘A’ and the other against second place Derby ‘A’. (Match played: 2nd April)