Borehamwood Chess club

First home match of season in cosy room 4 at Allum Lane Community Centre.

Out of nothing, Terry unfortunately mislaid his Queen against the English Opening on board 5. However, Malcolm won against the Nimzo-Indian on board 4 and Dan’s Alapin Sicilian also brought victory on board 2.Now 2-1 up Adam had a solid classical Dutch and tried a few things,  but these were well met by his opponent. Anthony Kent’s initially promising Leningrad Dutch went badly awry and led to being the exchange down under severe bank rank pressure. A pawn breakout on the queen-side got some much needed counter-play and an invaluable passed pawn. White refused the offer a draw being well ahead on time (80 minutes each for whole game), but black evened up material and white eventually got checkmated.

Herts League – Division 3                                  Tuesday 18th October
Borehamwood                                                   Letchworth & Hitchin 2
Board 1 : Adam Raoof 192             1/2           Anthony J Ball  (B) 164
Board 2 : Dan Marcos 155                  1-0           Ian Mutton 155
Board 3 : Anthony Kent 153               1-0           Anthony Burrows 153
Board 4 : Malcom Gesthuysen 132   1-0           Jon P Barnes P147
Board 5 : Terry O’Sullivan 121           0-1           Harris, Mark 147
Match Score :                                   3.5 – 1.5

Halloween night, and a 72 mile round trip up the A1 and A505 to play Rosyon was our trick or treat. On paper, this seems our toughest fixture as we were outgraded, apart from top board. So a draw, to follow two wins, giving 5 points out of 6 for the 2016/17 season is very pleasing.

Board  1 : Davison, Chris  (B)               183   1/2   Raoof, Adam N              192
Board  2 : Kemp, Paul R                        176   1/2   Kent, Anthony R                   153
Board  3 : Judkins, Brian D                    151   1-0   Gesthuysen, Malcolm          132
Board  4 : Rudd, David R                        146   1/2   Sear, Kevin                          132
Board  5 : Pride, Stephen C                    142   0-1   O’Sullivan, Terry J               121
Match Score :                                          2.5 – 2.5

Lets start with the match details

Herts CA : Herts League – Division 3         Monday 10-October-2016
Stevenage 2                                                        Borehamwood
Board  1 : Fitzgerald, Patrick      145   0-1   Raoof, Adam N                192
Board  2 : Thompson, Neal A      142   1/2   Kent, Anthony R                  153
Board  3 : Bogucki, Michal           141   1-0   Gesthuysen, Malcolm        132
Board  4 : Jones, Len                     135   1/2   Sear, Kevin                           132
Board  5 : Seeley, Peter                 126   0-1   O’Sullivan, Terry J               121
Match Score :                                            2 – 3

M25, M11,  38 miles each way. Another win: The  Great Escape is on!

Terry won when his opponent underestimated his King side attack, and could not prevent mate, whilst simultaneously keeping an occasional one eye on the Liverpool v Man United  match on his laptop (his opponent, not Terry).

Good draws for Malcolm in the Queens Gambit Declined and Kevin’s Pirc defense.

Adam’s opponent held out well against the French and a draw was agreed.

Anthony (White) was last to finish with a Kings Indian attack against the French. In the position below, black has just gone 13..a6? so reply 14.Nfxe5 won the pawn. Black then went Nd7 and 15 NxNc6 won in a 8 more moves.

Borehamwood CC now have 6 points, with 3 matches to go. All to play for.

Herts CA : Herts League – Division 3 Thursday 10-March-2016
Bishops Stortford 2 v Borehamwood

Board 1 : Heffer, Mark       140 1/2         Raoof, Adam N 198
Board 2 : Heffer, Judith             132 0-1        Kent, Anthony R 146
Board 3 : Willbe, Charles          134 1/2         Sear, Kevin 167
Board 4 : Jurd, Peter                   123 1/2         Gesthuysen, Malcolm 133
Board 5 : Hirst, Adam                 118 0-1        O’Sullivan, Terry J 113
Match Score :                                  1.5 – 3.5

Continue reading “Bishops Stortford: Great Escape is on!”

At the halfway point of the season, 1 win and 5 defeats is not too rosy. But, for the first time this season, we had out 2 top players – the highest graded in Division 3.  We duly won on boards one and 2, and manged a couple of hard fought draws. 2 wins, 5 defeats, 5 to play. Bottom of the table, but can see the light.

Herts CA : Herts League – Division 3      Tuesday 23-February-2016
Hertford 2                                                               Borehamwood
Board  1 : Capes, Ian                         162   0-1   Raoof, Adam N                    198
Board  2 : Morris, Simon P               155   0-1   Simmons, Matthew              190
Board  3 : Du Boulay, Andrew         144   1/2   Kent, Anthony R                    146
Board  4 : Mountford, Corinne        137   1/2   Gesthuysen, Malcolm           133
Board  5 : Hutton, Allan                     127   1-0   O’Sullivan, Terry J                113
Match Score :                                                2 – 3

Matthew got back to winning ways, Terry could not convert an interesting knight ending. Let’s move. Result for the record:

Herts CA : Herts League – Division 3       Monday 01-February-2016
Stevenage 2                                                                      Borehamwood
Board  1 : Fitzgerald, Patrick                   140   0-1   Simmons, Matthew               190
Board  2 : Trethewey, Frank                    145   1/2   Kent, Anthony R                     146
Board  3 : Rawlings, Stephen L              141   1-0   Sear, Kevin                             167
Board  4 : Jones, Len                                 141   1-0   Gesthuysen, Malcolm          133
Board  5 : Price, Michael K                        125   1/2   O’Sullivan, Terry J                113
Match Score :                                                        3 – 2

Winning our first game of the 2015/2016 season at the fifth attempt was clearly too traumatic

In short, Dan played well, Anthony missed a simple combination for a small plus…. Wali built a big queen side against Terry, and one of Matthews Minor pieces went AWOL.

Herts CA : Herts League – Division 3         Tuesday 19-January-2016
Borehamwood                                    Welwyn Hatfield Chess Forum 1
Board  1 : Simmons, Matthew               194   0-1   Brennan, D Ross                  150
Board  2 : Marcos, Dan                           164   1-0   Aldred, James H                    146
Board  3 : Kent, Anthony R                     145   0-1   White, David                         143
Board  4 : O’Sullivan, Terry J                 114   0-1   Wali, Mir M                             137
Board  5 : Glouzman, Leon                      118   0-1   Willsher, David                    134
Match Score :                                             1 – 4

Our first win of the season! Not exactly illuminating the firmament, but who cares.

Long drive up the A1 on a wet November night. No cigars, caviar or champagne. Still seeking our first points of a chastening season.

Leon played a rapid, solid stonewall as black and agreed a grandmaster draw. Anthony blundered a pawn early in a sort of reversed Leningrad dutch, but pressure led Q + 2 bishops against Q + Bishop and knight.
Black could make no headway, so draw agreed.
Terry had white against a kings Indian, had a lively game, but got caught at the back.
Malcolm backed the wrong horse in a drawn pawn ending, and Matthew finished last with a well fought reversed Sicilian draw. We lost 3-2

Herts CA : Herts League – Division 3 Monday 23-November-2015
Letchworth & Hitchin 2  v Borehamwood
Board 1 : Nelson, Ian 163              0-1     Simmons, Matthew 194
Board 2 : Burrows, Anthony G 153    1/2     Kent, Anthony R 145
Board 3 : Coates, Tom 133                    1-0     Gesthuysen, Malcolm 133
Board 4 : Pateman, Mark 125              1-0     O’Sullivan, Terry J 114
Board 5 : Collis, Leon 48                       1/2     Glouzman, Leon 118
Match Score : 3 – 2

Our first home match of the season against Hertford 2. The story so far: Malcolm’s opponent got the better of the opening and chaperoned  a pawn home in a won endgame. Leon lost to the Stonewall.
Anthony only just survived a Kingside onslaught against the Sicilian Dragon, and Du Boulay turned down a draw during the time scramble . Unfortunately for him, his flag fell first in a better position. A very fortunate win for us.
Dan won after his opponent resigned rather than face a loss on adjudication (computer agrees). Matthew is a down on material but playing on. 2 – 2 so far……

Tuesday 17-November-2015
Herts CA : Herts League – Division 3
Borehamwood 1 Hertford 2
Board 1 : Simmons, Matthew 194        P-P   Capes, Ian 160
Board 2 : Marcos, Dan 164                     1-0     A Morris, Simon P 150
Board 3 : Kent, Anthony R 145             1-0    Du Boulay, Andrew 146
Board 4 : Gesthuysen, Malcolm 133   0-1    Mountford, Corinne 134
Board 5 : Glouzman, Leon 118              0-1     Marshall, Duncan 114
Match Score : 2 – 2 so far