| Nomads 1 | 3.5-2.5 | Ecclesall 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Nelson | 0-1 | David Adams |
| Paul Cumbers | 0-1 | Jim Burnett |
| Chris Shephard | 1-0 | Peter Hempson |
| Jamie Hillman | 0.5-0.5 | Ewan Cormack |
| Jeremy Hamm | 1-0 | James Marley |
| Geoff Frost | 1-0 | Safdar Alam |
The first thing to note is that we comfortably outgraded Ecclesall on all boards. The second thing is to note that was by and large irrelevant!
Having won the toss there was a long debate between all 6 of us about choice of colours. Jon eventually took black and Paul white.
And so we set off. It was very cagey for a long time with no-one clearly doing well (or otherwise). Jamie eventually drew after about an hour and a half, in a position that looked slightly unfavourable for him. Then Chris won and mood in the camp brightened, until Jon lost.
I have played many Cup games against Ecclesall where Dave wins on 1, they win on 2, previously Pete but now Jim, and so only need 2 draws from the remaining 4 boards. Keep a close eye on Paul on board 2.
I eventually won on 6, having played a very forgettable first 25 moves before finding some tactics to win Safdars Queen.
Sat next to me, Jeremy was grinding out a nice ending which he was firstly unlikely to lose, then won with good technique. This was as well because finally Paul lost to Jim. I thought that he was at least drawing but of course I only play on board 6!
Good win and into the semi-final