Poole A v Highcliffe A

Report to follow, needless to say an excellent match

4 very exciting games this evening.

First to finish was myself against Mike who was exploring a new opening and I think after a bold f5 push I always had the better of the position, but after a draw offer from Mike the positions I was thinking about were not the most accurate way to push for an advantage and the reality was if I were to turn down the draw I would’ve gone through a much less clear position so a draw probably fair.

After a 2 minute break outside James and Nick had agreed a draw both in fear of being slightly worse if they hadnt.

Bruce vs John could’ve been 3 results and the evaluation bar was nothing dissimilar to a seesaw in a park with two people keen to send the other flying. Admittedly James and I had tablebase and no time trouble so everything was a little clearer from our perspective. Nonetheless John always had difficulties when he had the 2 pawns against the knight after Bruce picked off a kingside pawn and the knight just about got back. Immensely difficult ending that nobody would want to play either side of in reality!

Tim played an exciting game with an isolated pawn and Chip rightly exchanged some pieces against the isolani but despite a perhaps missed opportunity with an f5 push (cannot confirm), Tim managed to hold a position against a very impressive team that are performing fiercely in everything they enter this season.

Lovely to see the guys again and good luck for the remaining games!