Cambridgeshire County Chess Association

County Matches

East Anglian County Champs, 06/03/10

All to play for with two rounds to go!

On Saturday 6 March, Cambridgeshire recovered strongly from our initial two defeats in February, beating both Bedfordshire and Norfolk convincingly at Turner Hall, Newmarket. At the same time other results went in our favour leading to a very interesting situation where all four teams have a theoretical chance of winning the EACU county championship.

Cambridgeshire fielded a team that was slightly stronger than last time, while at the same time Bedfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk unexpectedly were missing some of their top players - a circumstance we managed to make pay. Cambridgeshire had the strongest team overall on Saturday, not only on average, but on almost every single board, something which hasn't happened for many a year, if ever!

In the morning we overcame Bedfordshire. We were given a headstart winning board 16 on default due to sudden illness and never really looked back from there. Early on we achieved several promising positions, and it mattered little that we were suffering a bit on a few boards; Cambs kept a steady a 2-3 point margin throughout the morning, in the end winning 9½-6½. Against Norfolk in the afternoon it was a similar story, even down to winning board 16 on default! Our greater strength in depth quickly resulted in a number of game were, funnily enough, we were an exchange up (I think I counted four or five such positions). The win never really seemed in doubt and when Ashley Stewart converted his material advantage (no cigar for guessing that he was an exchange up!) into a won king and pawn ending in the final minutes of the playing session, the margin of victory was as big as 10½-5½.

The top scorers for Cambridgeshire on Saturday were Paul McMahon and John Daugman with 2 wins, while Paul Kemp, Andre Kueh, Rob McCorry, Brian Panter and Ole Bay-Petersen scored 1½. Also, spare a thought for poor Ray Ilett who had the misfortune of winning two games by default (although Francis Bowers was there with his bookstall, allowing Ray to go home early).

Cambridgeshire-Bedfordshire (white on odds) 9½-6½
1. R. Tozer (IM)-K. Williamson 0-1
2. H. Richter-P. Habershon ½-½
3. O. Winfridsson-A. Brown ½-½
4. K. Clark-G. Borrowdale 1-0
5. P. Kemp-B. Valentine ½-½
6. A. Kueh-P. Kendall 1-0
7. A. Stewart-A. Elwin 0-1
8. N. Hutchinson-R. Freeman 0-1
9. R. McCorry-V. Griffiths ½-½
10. B. Panter-B. Pribanich 1-0
11. J. Beck-A. Matthews 0-1
12. O. Bay-Petersen-M. Joseph 1-0
13. P. McMahon-P. Hunt 1-0
14. E. Kernohan-P. Taylor ½-½
15. J. Daugman-A. Walters 1-0
16. R. Ilett-[D. Fault] 1-0

Cambridgeshire (white on odds)-Norfolk 10½-5½
1. R. Tozer (IM)-R. Calindas 1-0
2. K. Clark-D. LeMoir 0-1
3. O. Winfridsson-B. Collinson ½-½
4. H. Richter-D. Hall ½-½
5. P. Kemp-J. Dawson 1-0
6. A. Kueh-S. Pullinger ½-½
7. A. Stewart-G. Scott 1-0
8. N. Hutchinson-M. Hughes ½-½
9. R. McCorry-C. Dekker 1-0
10. B. Panter-S. Moore ½-½
11. J. Beck-J. Burrows 0-1
12. O. Bay-Petersen-G. Barr ½-½
13. P. McMahon-G. Blowers 1-0
14. E. Kernohan-A. Hall ½-½
15. J. Daugman-P. Badger 1-0
16. F. Bowers-[D. Fault] 1-0

In the other matches Norfolk defeated Suffolk in the morning session, and Suffolk then suffered another defeat at the hands of Bedfordshire in the afternoon. This results in the following table going into the last two rounds on Sunday 21 March, when we're playing Suffolk and Bedfordshire:

1. Norfolk, 6mp (34½gp)
2. Cambridgeshire, 4 (33½)
3. Suffolk, 4 (31)
4. Bedfordshire, 2 (29)

Ola Winfridsson,
Team Captain, Cambridgeshire