Purbeck v Weymouth B

An exciting match that went down to the wire. First to finish was board 2 where John didn't feel he could take advantage of Steve's king being stuck in the centre. Next, on board 1 Chris overlooked a tactic that allowed me to win a pawn and when he lost another pawn leaving me with connected passed e and f pawns, he decided he'd seen enough. On board 3, Nick had some pressure but when Malcolm was able to get in the freeing e4 it opened up the game for his two bishops and gave him the edge. But then Malcolm left his d pawn en prise and after some simplification a drawn endgame was reached. That left board 4 where Derek was 2 pawns up when he lost the exchange. He then lost the initiative and John built up a strong attack. They were both now in time trouble with only around 1 minute left on the clock (and the pressure of everyone else watching the game!). John asked his captain what the match situation was only to be told he had to win! However, after a couple of more moves, discretion proved the better part of valour and a draw was agreed meaning Purbeck won the match by the narrowest of margins. We're now looking forward to entertaining Weymouth next week, same time, same place, in the first round of the B&DCL Handicap Knockout.
Steve Peirson