Combined ‘A’ team up to third after convincing victory

Derby League Division 1

The Burton and Lichfield ‘A’ side faced bottom side Rolls Royce ‘B’ in a Monday night match at The King’s Head and emerged as convincing 3-1 winners.

First to finish was John Hoddy, playing White on Board 4. His opponent played the solid Scandinavian Defence, and John was unable to create any real initiative through the opening and middlegame. A draw was agreed in 23 moves.

Mircea Mesesan and Richard Anderson, both playing Black on Boards 1 and 3 respectively, were next to finish. Mircea induced light-squared weaknesses in his opponent’s kingside position, and took advantage to secure a fairly straightforward victory. Richard looked to have a devastating advantage in piece development coming out of the opening, with a powerful pin against the white king on the b6 to g1 diagonal crippling his opponent’s position. He won a pawn, and his opponent was forced to retreat his pieces to awkward squares to survive. Richard then missed the cleanest tactical win, but when the game simplified into a rook and bishop vs. rook and knight ending, still had a winning advantage.

The most competitive contest of the evening was Ben Nevett-Farman’s game with White on Board 2. In the early middlegame Ben looked to have a winning advantage as a consequence of his opponent’s damaged pawn structure, but then missed a tactic that cost him his ‘d’ pawn. He still had some hope of generating pressure, but his opponent defended well, with Ben in characteristic time trouble. When his opponent offered a draw for a second time, he accepted.

With Breadsall ‘A’ losing on the same night, the match victory lifts Burton and Lichfield ‘A’ to third in the Division 1 table, behind top sides Belper ‘A’ and Derby ‘A’. The combined side still have Belper ‘A’ to play once, and Derby ‘A’ twice, in their remaining five league matches. (Match played: 23rd February).