We’d brought a formidable team for this anticipated quarter final match, with Sam Milson (back in Sheffield) and Kieran significantly improving our chances against a strong Ecclesall. But bumping into Dave Adams in The Abbey carpark, he tells me they’ve been expecting to see Sam: intelligence from somewhere…. But still, great players if not quite the surprise factor we were counting on!
Very interesting match to watch. 3 fairly early draws: Chris v Dave Adams on board 3, Jon v Jonathan Tait on 1, then John F v Farshad on 4. But Ian (facing John Clark) and Kieran (Ewan Cormack) are better – and Sam is equal against Jim Burnett. Lots of interest in Ian’s middle game position: he’s playing extremely well against some inaccurate opening moves. But he is in bad time trouble and in the endgame his opponent is getting some threatening-looking counterplay. But still, Kieran has played very nicely on the White side of a Kings Indian Bayonet Attack: and I think we’ll probably win, with Sam now also standing better. Still, it’s quite tense, as people are crowded round the three outstanding games….. But then out of the blue Ian’s opponent resigns (he’s blundered his knight – see the full game below) and Kieran wins: we’re there. And Sam beats Jim too: 4.5-1.5 – a great result.