Friday, 29 November 2013

BDCL Div 2 28/11/2013: Shirley & Wythall v Wolverhampton


BDCL Div 2: 

               Shirley & Wythall vs Wolverhampton
David Thomas (151)         1 – 0    Mike Townsend (187)
John Freeman (148)        0 – 1    Parminder Sanghera (e187)
Louis Rawson (143)         0 – 1    Dave Wightman (165)
Peter McGuirk (141)       0 – 1    Phil Bull (154)
Robert Purcell (140)    0.5 – 0.5 Jonathan Hunt (153)
Gordon Christie (133) 0.5 – 0.5 Frank Wood (151)

Wolverhampton went to table-topping Shirley & Wythall with high hopes, bringing a full strength team for only the second time this season.  However, three of the team arrived substantially late due to unprecedented traffic.  In a fine display of sportsmanship by the hosts, the start was delayed for as long as possible and so the minimum time disadvantage was experienced by the affected parties.  Once play began, Phil Bull quickly went a piece up and managed to treble his opponent’s pawns in return for an attack on the white king that was quickly neutralised.  Parminder Sanghera gained a pawn and began to build an attack against the black kingside.  With the time control looming, Frank Wood went a pawn down, but Jonathan Hunt went a pawn up.  Phil Bull exchanged into a won ending and Parminder Sanghera’s attack broke through shortly afterwards for the second win of the night in quick succession.  Jonathan Hunt agreed a draw but, emerging from a time scramble a piece ahead, Dave Wightman was able to win to secure the match.  Frank Wood recovered the pawn to draw on Board 6, leaving just Mike Townsend to finish.  He had sacrificed two pawns for an attack on the white king but, when the defences held, the game was lost for an overall score of 4 – 2 to the visitors on the night.  The win pushes Wolverhampton up the league table and, more importantly, greatly relieves the concerns over potential relegation.  Thanks are due to Shirley & Wythall for bearing with the late arrivals, and for some tightly contested matches.  Good luck for the rest of the season.

By Dave Wightman

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