Greater Manchester vs Lincolnshire 7:9

"Hi Everyone,
Thanks to all who played in yesterday's match. I have attached the match result sheet for viewing. I knew that Greater Manchester would provide a stiffer test for us than they did last season and this proved to be the case. In tight matches such as this one it is important that the whole team digs in to achieve the desired result which is a victory over sixteen boards. We are proving to be a very difficult team to beat at Minor Counties level and we are showing a great determination and will to win. It is pleasing to see that everyone is putting in a good shift for the team and although individual results will not always go the way we want them to, we can be safe in the knowledge that the players on the other boards are giving the maximum effort needed to get the team over the finishing line...."

Lincs Team in good spirit before the match 

This a fragment of an e-mail circulated after the match by Lincolnshire Team Captain - Nigel Birtwistle.
Match was really tough and the results were as follows:

Midland Counties Chess Union COUNTY MATCH RESULT FORM

Section:  Minor Counties
Home Team: Greater Manchester					Away Team: Lincolnshire
Venue: Handsworth, Sheffield					Date: 10th November 2012
Team having white on odd boards:  Greater Manchester					Result reported by:  Nigel Birtwistle
Board	ECF Code	Grade	Home team players’ names	Score	Score	Away Team players’ names	Grade	ECF Code
1	117777B	199	Andy Reeve	0	1	Chris Dorrington	226	175238J
2	119158F	199	Alan Smith	½	½	Andrew Dyce	E197	129719D
3	241589G	196	Ali Reza Jaunooby	1	0	Paul Cumbers	196	103734B
4	247371K	185	Jamie Horton	½	½	Claudio Mangione	193	280840H
5	284894G	U/G	Samuel  Correa Hernandez	0	1	Nick Stead	189	119629H
6	120512C	178	Dave Toole	½	½	Samuel Milson	185	247736J
7	185941K	177	Philip Olbison	0	1	Joe Kilshaw	180	181511D
8	275581G	177	Michael Fernandez	0	1	Harry Russell	179	216825L
9	114004J	175	Harry Lamb	½	½	Nigel Birtwistle	178	106801F
10	120612G	166	Glenn Trueman	½	½	Ivan David	167	772821E
11	143105F	163	Jon Lonsdale	0	1	Stuart Macdonald	155	277271G
12	190315K	163	John Reed	1	0	Denis Georgiou	152	111157H
13	287262G	161	Steve Tranter	½	½	Geoff Collyer	149	160353L
14	120145B	160	Mike Taylor	1	0	Chris Holt	148	112912A
15	104797J	156	Adam Tyton	1	0	Graham Ladds	147	113979E
16	106649D	153	Alan Beresford	0	1	Ian McDonald	146	222114H
				7	9

It's tough...

Nigel's face speaks volumes...

Nigel himself proved to be a true warrior displaying an amazing fighting spirit when, having been in desperate position in rooks and pawns ending and running short of time terribly, he did not give up and finally he dig up a half point for the team! He again proved an old cliché that the most difficult thing is to win the won game and also another cliché that all rook endings are drawish. Cum grano salis!




As you can see, Nigel's record had finished at the move 49 when he had stopped keeping record because of massive shortage of time. His opponent had kept record till the end of the game so maybe on day we will see whole game.

White to move

The diagram position is closely before the game had finished and this should be a draw. The plan of defence was to sacrifice the rook for pawn and because the White King is much too far from the major battlefield and Black King can support his pawn then the game has to finish draw.


I have already to achieve to chase some other games so let me show you how some of us had played.

Top board was a clash of both teams top rated titans. Well, Chris Dorrington [227] outgraded his opponent Andy Reeve [199] some 30 ECF points and he had everything under control right from the outset. Despite that in the car Chris insisted he had wanted to get his opponent out of books, according to my database they get out of some theory, perhaps not knowingly, in the move 22!



Paul Cumbers on the board 3 was fighting like a hell, however, it is difficult to fight with an exchange down.

Claudio, resting between the moves

I for one like Claudio Mangione style very much. His opening strategy in English Opening is fascinating. He fianchettoes his light-squared Bishop and then he castles queen-side! A rather innovative and sharp approach and theoretical novelty as well! It makes me happy that even in the era of silicon monsters and databases a creative man can play an opening novelty at move 10! The fact is that this idea is perhaps not the best but in OTB game it can cause a horror in your opponent's brain and at this level to find a refutation is extremely difficult.
He definitely had achieved a better position in his game, however later, he somewhat did not find the way how to keep Jamie Horton in the bay and after long fight the game finished draw.




Nick Stead played with Black pieces and Samuel Correa Hernandez's style was a bit adventurous and he had very little chance against Nick's solid strategical concept. 




When I saw Harry Russell playing against very young looking Michael Fernandez, I recollected some Nigel Davies' ideas from his DVD "How to beat younger players". I am 100% sure that Harry has never ever watched this video, however, his methodical and clinically pure style did not give any doubts that he knew exactly what he was doing. The true is that his adversary behaved as an avid reader of Mihai Suba's Dynamic Strategy. However, if you are not by any chance Mihai Suba himself or Boris Spassky for instance then please do not try this stuff! Harry played safe and finally he missed a simple tactical simplification which probably had shortened the game. Whatever, another point was on Lincolnshire side!




My game against Glenn Trueman finished draw. If you go through this game you will find several paradoxical ending positions. You will find that even "bad" Bishops can have some good qualities and finally, that even "very bad looking" Bishop can be equal to an "excellently placed Knight" if there are some tactical threats. The true is that White was long time better but he did not find a correct plan how to turn his small advantage into something more tangible. 

Denis Georgiou was playing White against John Reed. Their game was like a roller-coaster, up & down. In Nimzowitsch defence they had achieved interesting position and finally Denis was very close to win. However, ... He made a mistake which was not fatal, alas under pressure and frustration of previous mistake he had done he did not find the best defence and the he made last fatal mistake. Interesting game anyway.




Last game which I received from my team mate Chris Holt is a sad story a bit. Chris played the opening by the book and he was all right. However, the further course of the game just increased my concerns about the Catalan. You have to be prepared for all sort of things because positions arising from this opening can become very sharp out of blue sky. Chris achieved a winning but very sharp position where everybody can slip and not only once. In a tactical mess on board he did not find the winning plan. However, it was very interesting game!



As you can see, it was a tough victory and hopefully some others will follow!