Greek gifts and tragedies as Division 1 side beat under-strength Shirley & Wythall

Birmingham League Division 1

After three league defeats, Lichfield earned a much needed 4-2 win over a Shirley & Wythall side who arrived at The Guild Hall with a weaker lineup than expected.

The match win was built on victories on three of the lower boards, with David Hulme, John Keaveney and Richard Anderson all beating lower-rated opponents.

John, playing on Board 3, grabbed a ‘hot’ pawn, then spotted a key defensive idea in the followup and converted his advantage to win. David, playing Black on Board 6, built pressure and won a pawn in a Sicilian, but his opponent generated counterplay by embedding a knight on d6. Both sides threatened their opposing kings, and potential perpetual checks needed to be carefully considered. Eventually, however, David’s opponent succumbed to the pressure, blundered and lost.

Richard Anderson’s opponent on Board 5 castled into a classic Bxh7+ ‘Greek gift’ sacrifice on move 8, and the Black king was forced into the open on g6. Richard couldn’t correctly calculate the checkmating line – the engine later revealed there was a forced mate in 10 – but went for the next best thing, winning back the sacrificed minor piece and an extra exchange. He prised open some files for his rooks, and his opponent resigned when faced with a mate in two.

The only Lichfield player to lose on the night was Ben Nevett-Farman as Black on Board 2, who described his defeat as a “tragedy”. His opponent opted for an unsound piece sacrifice in the middlegame, and Ben seized control of the game to build a winning advantage. Ben believed he had spotted a forcing line to win his opponent’s Queen with a Rxg3+ tactic, but missed that when the Rook was recaptured by the f pawn it opened a defence of the threatened White Queen. He was left an exchange down and in a lost position.

Both Maurice Staples, playing on Board 4, and Turan Asgarova, on Board 1, drew. Turan, just 10 days before the due date for the birth of her first child, was last to finish, doggedly exerting pressure on her opponent’s weakened king position in a time scramble. Her opponent defended resiliently, repeatedly finding the best defence, and a threefold repetition brought the game to a close. (Match played: 30th October).