Ecclesall | 3½ | 0½ | Nomads 400 |
---|---|---|---|
Robert Walton (b) | 0.5 | 0.5 | Eric McKenna (w) |
Ivan Basarab-Horwath | 1 | 0 | Robert Shaw |
Safdar Alam | 1 | 0 | Jo Woollard |
Stuart Bullington | 1 | 0 | Sam Humphrey |
Nomads won the toss, and chose white on odds.
Robert and Ivan both castled king-side. Once out of the opening, Robert was comprehensively out-manoeuvred. On move 29, facing imminent forced mate, he resigned.
Jo established a solid defensive position, with her bishop on g2, but her opponent launched a strong attack with queen and bishop along the a8-h1 diagonal. Swapping queens off left Jo a bishop don, then she lost a rook for a bishop, leaving her a full rook down. She resigned soon after.
Sam exchanged knights, then bishops. His opponent positioned his queen ominously on e5, but Sam got a pawn to h2. However, Stuart forced a queen swap, winning the h pawn, then won a rook for a knight, giving him a decisive lead.
Eric castled early, positioning his bishop on g2, then swapped off knights. The two queens followed, on move 25. By move 30, Eric and his opponent were left with just a rook, knight, and five pawns each. A draw was agreed soon after, in this position: