| Woodseats I | 6 | 0 | Nomads III |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Ledger | 1 | 0 | Les Day (w) |
| John Toscano | 1 | 0 | Eric McKenna |
| John Trafford | 1 | 0 | Robert Shaw |
| Andy Lee | 1 | 0 | Jo Woollard |
| Nigel Carpino | 1 | 0 | Duncan Chambers |
| Bill Ward | 1 | 0 | Gordon Shaw |
For our first cup match of the season we had many familiar faces, and one not seen for 20 years: Duncan Chambers.
We won the toss, and chose to play white on odds. After that, it went downhill.
Eric was the first to succumb. After swapping off one pair of knights, he lost his queen to a discovered attack with check by the remaining knight, and resigned. Gordon went next. OBill’s Knight and bishop penetrated deep into Gordon’s position within the first dozen moves. Facing inevitable mate in two, he resigned.
Meanwhile, Robert offered up a knight in an attempt to lure his opponent into a draw by perpetual check, but John saw through this, avoiding the draw but taking the knight. Robert struggled on for a bit, still looking for a draw, but resigned when it was clear his position was hopeless.
After the initial exchanges, Les was left with two rooks, doubled on the d file, a bishop and six pawns, against two rooks, a bishop, a knight and four pawns, a slight material disadvantage. Andrew then outmanoeuvred Les, getting a pawn to e2. Facing inevitable promotion, Les resigned.
Jo began by swapping knight for bishop on f3. Further exchanges eventually left her with a knight and four pawns, one of them passed, against two bishops and five pawns, a significant material disadvantage. Unable to push her passed pawn to promotion, or stop the advancing white pawns, Jo resigned.
Duncan was the last to finish. After most of the pieces had been swapped off, starting with the queens, the game came down to a knight, bishop and four pawns against a knight, bishop, and five pawns.After much manoeuvring, Nigel forced his way to inevitable promotion, and Duncan resigned.
Overall, while this was another whitewash for Nomads III, most of the games were closer than the scoreline might suggest. Duncan put in a particularly good performance, after his long absence.