The Northern 4NCL
3rd Weekend, 19th-20th Feb 2011 by John Carleton
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John Carleton |
The third weekend took us to
the luxurious Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate to
play in the aptly named Majestic Hotel. This
hotel is famous for its Victorian facade
impressively visible from much of the town
centre but also because it was the only building
in Harrogate hit by a bomb [unexploded
fortunately] during the second world war.
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Barcelo Majestic Hotel, Harrogate |
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Apparently the pilot had been
refused entry during the pre-war years because
his jacket was not up to standard and so was out
for revenge. Strangely enough the [as ever]
staggeringly deep Atticus preparations for the
weekend [which leaves many of our rivals gasping
in amazement] had established that in order to
enjoy our Saturday evening meal at our
restaurant of choice we too would have to meet
the demands of a dress code. This was an extra
pressure felt by some of our more sensitive
players which fortunately did not detract
from the heated discussion on several key lines
of the Sicilian Defence, inter alia, which
debate is such a prominent feature of our
pre-weekend regime.
The extra hazard of copious snow had to be negotiated before
we could settle to our first match of what promised to be our toughest weekend
so far. Overall there was one default only, although one or two players did cut
it fine as the default hour approached.
Much of the attention focused on our match with Bradford DCA
Knights A in the top of the table clash between the two unbeaten teams. The
tension was palpable and relatively quick draws followed on boards 2 and 6 but
in differing circumstances. On board 2 Peter found himself faced by a master
of defence; perhaps the manner of Peter's play with the black pieces in previous
games had gone before him, but for whatever reason conflict was not easy to come
by in this game and Peter downed tools to nurture a pint of the local brew.
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Spirit of
Atticus v Bradford DCA Kts 1 |
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On board 6 Andy equalised
after some awkward moments and was content to
'draw with black'. Two players seemed very
relaxed: Dave on board 4 for us and Ben Hague on
board 1 for Bradford. Each delivered
characteristic impressive wins. Ben sacrificed
for initiative, and soundness is not the
absolute consideration. He backed himself to
outplay me in the resulting melee. His judgement
was absolutely vindicated with a most
publishable [I know they are all published
thanks to the brilliant 4NCL backroom workers,
but you know what I mean] win.
Robbo's game was also a vintage of its sort: a deadly black
Sicilian leading first to the gain of a pawn, then pseudo-sacrifices to rip open
the white king's defences and finally conversion to a simple technically won
ending. There was a pleasing logical thread linking the whole game; oh how
rarely are we able to say that about our games! The two remaining games had
Atticus playing the white pieces but under pressure. Steve on board 3 had played
an uncharacteristically hesitant opening saddling himself with some weaknesses.
Gradually he fought back to equalise and secured the draw. Mike too had the
worst of the opening and found himself suffering what appeared a lethal bind. He
broke out boldly but with the draw in sight faltered and was condemned to
further suffering.
The team supported him nobly
until the lure of the bar just across the
corridor proved irresistible. Thus Mike was left
to struggle with only the five remaining
games[!] of the titanic Yorvik v Holmes Chapel
match still in play and one or two others from
the remaining matches for company. In the end
resignation was forced and Mike was able to join
the team for our celebrations of the match; we
were determined to do this with as much gusto
as for the previous games; the result had not
turned as we had hoped but we felt we had
contributed fully to the struggle.
Thus, after due liquid
refreshment, we headed into Harrogate for our
meal. Soon we were captivated by the ambience
and indeed the wines of 'Chez la Vie' and an
excellent meal was enjoyed by all. There was a
moment of sudden sobriety when the bill arrived
but nothing that couldn't be sorted out with the
aid of a nightcap back at the Majestic.
Although Sunday's game featured us, now lying second in the league, against
second from bottom team and fellow Merseysiders Aigburth, we had no illusions
that this would be anything other than a very tough encounter. They had come
close to victory on Saturday and there was a relaxed air about their squad.
However, cometh the hour cometh the man, and Peter on board 2 led us on our
journey with an impressive victory against Roger Williamson. As with Dave's
game the day before there was an impressive sustained aggressive logic to this
performance. The clean kill made this perhaps the Atticus game of the tournament
so far.
The
large and spacious playing room at the hotel was an ideal setting for the
matches in rounds 5 & 6.
Meanwhile all was not going totally smoothly for us. Andy on
board 6 was meeting stout resistance and could claim little more than equal
chances. Mike on board 5 had walked into a nasty opening line and was fighting
to try and create any play in a technically lost ending. Dave on 4 had for
complex reasons deserted 1.e4 and this did not look like a great decision as his pawn
structure began to appear increasingly fragile. Steve on 3 grabbed the
initiative early on but gradually this dissipated and he seemed to look somewhat
worse. Peace was agreed in this match with both sides appearing wary. In my game Miroslav Gruca had a rush of blood in deciding to try and knock me off the board
from the very opening.
Fortunately for me the threats were rather hollow and he
found himself condemned to a long and arduous defence with his queen shut out of
play. Meanwhile Dave generated active play and a draw was agreed and Mike had to
bow to the inevitable defeat. Thus we stood at 2-2. Andy was playing on in case
I didn't win and whilst doing so generated a little pressure which yielded a
piece winning combination [or cheapo to give it its technical name]. When my
anticipated result finally arrived Andy's win quickly followed to see us win 4-2
but under no illusions that we had just had yet another close encounter.
• Rd5
results •
Rd6
results
•
Spirit of Atticus team page
• Northern
league Table •
Games in PGN
• More
photos from the weekend
• Official
site
This report can also be seen
here.
Additional reports by John
Carleton
