Three league matches in October, and three wins. No complaints.

Herts League – Division 3                  Tuesday 30-October-2018                  

Boards 1 to 4: 70 minutes + 10 seconds a move. Board 5: 35 moves in 75 minutes the 7 every 15 minutes. Borehamwood black on odd boards.
   Borehamwood                             Hertford 2
Board  1 : Raoof, Adam N                173   1/2   Wooster, Nick                144
Board  2 : Marcos, Dan                    158   1-0   Buswell, A Mark            146
Board  3 : Kent, Anthony R             151   1-0   Du Boulay, Andrew      141
Board  4 : Gesthuysen, Malcolm   139   1-0   Morris, Simon P             135
Board  5 : O’Sullivan, Terry J         107   0-1   Rudd, David R                133
Match Score :                                        3.5 – 1.5 

Not as straightforward as the score might suggest, but not quite a pre-halloween fright night either. Nick Wooster got a very creditable draw against Adam. Malcolm built up a strong attack on Simon Morris’s black king, forcing him to give up his queen for a knight and rook. Dan’s game was very open but he held his nerve. Terry got his knight pinned to his king, creating too much weakness. Anthony got a decent Sicilian defence as black, but then went a bit astray reaching the first diagram below after 22…gxf. White should have played something like 23. Qh4 with advantage, but instead played 23. f4,  allowing 23….e4 in reply, blunting the white bishops. White then allowed the Black queen to get to d4 (Andrew Du Boulay was getting short of time) and the a pawn was heading all the way to be queened (2nd diagram after 37…a2).

              Position 1 after 22 …..gxf                                            Position 2 after 37…a2

      

2 more Herts League matches We have a match against Watford in November, then the return against Royston in December.

Our first home Herts League match of the season, and a comfortable win against Royston 2, who traveled 35 miles from the far corner of Hertfordshire/Cambridgeshire border. 2 wins out of 2 so far in the Herts League.

Away team white on odds.

Borehamwood                          Royston 

1 Raoof, Adam N 173             1-0 Walton, Paul 161
2 Rubeck, Jonathan 168        1-0 Strehl, Arek 147
3 Marcos, Dan 158                 1-0 Judkins, Brian D 138
4 Kent, Anthony R 151           1/2 Pride, Stephen C 138
5 Gesthuysen, Malcolm 139 1/2 Andrews, Arthur 91
Result :                                     4-1

Jonathan Rubeck played his first match for the club, and won against a feisty Petroff Defence. On Board 1, Adam’s game was a complicated French Winawer, where white took the Poisoned Pawn and paid the price. Dan’s closed Sicilian got complicated, but his King Side attack eventually prevailed.  Draws for Anthony and Malcolm completed the picture.

Board 1 below: White’s King is somewhat exposed

Board 3: White’s King getting slowly squeezed.

Herts & District League – South

Tuesday 16-October-2018

Borehamwood                                      St Albans
Board  1 : Marcos, Dan  (black)           158   1-0   Laskier, Paul (white)      135
Board  2 : Gesthuysen, Malcolm         139   1-0   Douse, Terry                    118
Board  3 : Devan, Matthew                  122   1/2   Claret, Ray R                    115
Board  4 : Sear, Kevin                           111   1/2   Ball, Matthew P               130
Board  5 : O’Sullivan, Terry J               107   1-0   Hill, M                             E100
Match Score :                                                   4 – 1

Borehamwood put on a good team performance on returning to the Herts and District league. A team was entered this season to ensure all club members (graded under 160) get a reasonable number of games.

Dan Marcos faced a Closed Sicilian, where white attacked too early and then grabbed a pawn which lost the exchange. Kevin Sear was under pressure against the Black Lion, which gave his opponent a strong initiative. Kevin succeeded in swapping down to an opposite colour bishops ending, and a draw was agreed. On his debut for the club, Matthew won the exchange but then gave it back (and more), and was probably fortunate his opponent offered a draw. Terry’s opponent over-pressed in a very even position, which cost him a couple of King side pawns and a lost endgame. Malcolm was last to finish, seeing home his extra pawn in a won endgame. Back to move below cannot hold up whites attack.

 

 

Herts Chess Association : Herts League – Division 3
Wednesday 10-October-2018      Borehamwood white on odd boards

Little Heath 2                                        Borehamwood
Board  1 : Topham, Mark                    164   0-1   Raoof, Adam N                   173
Board  2 : Likeman, Martin                162   1/2   Marcos, Dan                        158
Board  3 : Cook, Chris RD                    149   0-1   Kent, Anthony R                 151
Board  4 : Cheetham, Mark M            130   1/2   Gesthuysen, Malcolm        139
Board  5 : Joelson, Adam                     128   1/2   O’Sullivan, Terry J              107
Match Score :                                            1.5 – 3.5

Borehamwood have not made the short trip to Potters Bar to play Little Heath for a number of years. The teams were evenly matched, so to come away with no defeats on all boards is very encouraging.

Adam played a sort of Zukertort and picked up a good win on top board (Picture 2 below). Dan played a highly combative line against the London System, giving 2 exposed kings and lots of traps, but somehow he managed to  draw (picture 1). The position below shows white’s Queen on b7 while Dan’s Queen was under attack.  The Caro-Kan and Queens gambit declined were also drawn on boards 4 and 5 for Malcolm and Terry. Anthony got some good pressure in the Sicilian Grand Prix Attack and secured a pawn advantage with black failing to castle. A won pawn ending eventually emerged, giving us the points.

The M25 exit was closed on the way home (same happened at last match in Bishops Stortford). No idea what we did to upset the chess gods, or maybe we should look up road work schedules before the next match.

Kent v Cook below