| Nomads E | 2 | 4 | Ecclesall E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan Chambers (w) | 0 | 1 | Elliot Spencer |
| Keith Davis | 0 | 1 | John Speck |
| Robert Shaw | 0 | 1 | John Eddershaw |
| David Kesteven | 1 | 0 | Ken Scott |
| Peter Morton | 1 | 0 | Mike Howarth |
| Natasha Withington | 0 | 1 | Tim Port |
Keith opened with the exchange variation of the Caro-Kann defence, eventually swapping off all the minor pieces. After some manoeuvring, the rooks were also exchanged, leaving both players with just a king and four pawns. John pushed an isolated pawn to his seventh rank, pulling Keith’s king away from his own pawns, and allowing John to get in behind them, giving him a decisive pawn lead.
After a quiet opening, Duncan ended up in a close position, only slightly down on material. Realising he couldn’t win unless his opponent blundered, Duncan resigned. Meanwhile, Natasha lost significant material, ending up with just a king and five pawns against a king, two knights, a bishop, and seven pawns.
In a complex sequence of early exchanges, Robert gained two bishops and a knight for two knights, a bishop and a pawn, a small net loss, but one from which he never really recovered. In the resulting rook and pawn endgame, John’s extra pawn was enough to force promotion, and Robert resigned.
Peter emerged from the middle game with a rook, two knights and seven pawns against a rook, bishop, and five pawns, then won Mike’s rook with a bishop fork, a decisive material gain, and his first win for the club.
David and his opponent, Ken, both had good early development, with strongly placed knights and bishops. Multiple exchanges left David with a rook, bishop and two pawns against a bishop and five pawns, theoretically a material advantage but rich in complications. After much manoeuvring, Ken sacrificed his bishop to march a pawn to promotion, only for David to instantly win the new queen with a skewer. faced with a decisive material disadvantage, Ken resigned.