Convincing victory for Division 1 side

Wolverhampton Division 1

For three of the four players in the Lichfield team it was their second consecutive Monday evening at the Forty Four Club. Ben Nevett-Farman, Maurice Staples and Adam Routledge had all played in the victorious Birmingham Division 1 team against Wolverhampton the week before, and now returned for the Wolverhampton Division 1 match.

In an imbalanced encounter in which his opponent had pressure down an open ‘f’ file, Adam Routledge, playing Black on Board 4, cleverly sacrificed the exchange to engineer a passed pawn on the queenside against Phil Bull’s Stonewall setup. Despite being low on time, Adam neatly converted his advantage to win. His season just gets better and better, his grade now over 100 points higher than last September!

Maurice Staples, playing White on Board 3, seized control of a key file in the late middle game and then, following an exchange of rooks, found a tactic to win his opponent’s bishop and the game.

Mircea Mesesan, playing Black on Board 2, also looked like his might have winning chances when his kingside pawns were advancing towards his opponent’s castled king, but after piece exchanges, and despite a more active King in the resulting ending, he found he couldn’t make progress. A draw was agreed.

Ben Nevett-Farman was the only Lichfield player playing against the same opponent as the week before, reprising his encounter with John Mangwengwende. Playing White, Ben lost the exchange as he tried to keep the Queens on the board as part of his attacking plan, but managed to complicate the game as it transitioned into an ending with both players short of time. In the time scramble. John blundered and lost a rook, and Ben’s last remaining pawn was enough to win the game, confirming a 3.5 – 0.5 victory that lifts Lichfield up to third in the Division 1 table. (Match played: 9th March)