Lytham 1 v Preston 1

The Rapidplay grades used were 1900+1897+1786+1526=7109 for Lytham and 1952+1699+1606+1543=6800 for Preston, meaning that Lytham needed to score 4.5 points and Preston 4 points to win the Cup on Handicap.

Lytham got off to a flying start when Phil defused Sebastien's mate-in-one threat with a neat combination which also won a piece and with it the first game.

Board 1 came down to a fascinating endgame with John's Bishop and 7 pawns aiming to overrun Malcolm's Bishop, Knight and 4 pawns. Or maybe the 2 minor pieces had the edge? In practice the knight and bishop were traded together with all the pawns, making it a draw.

Meanwhile Peter seemed to have got the better of a rook and pawn endgame with Becky, emerging with a newly promoted queen and a couple of pawns against Becky's rook and 2 pawns - but there was insufficient time to convert the advantage and Becky claimed a much needed win to tie the scores as Peter's flag fell: 1.5-1.5.

Carl meanwhile had offered a draw in a complicated position, but William declined and sacrificed the exchange to press for a win, only for the attack to peter out and also lose on time.

2.5 to 1.5 to Preston at the break as everyone tried to re-compose themselves for the reversed colours....

Phil again led the way for Lytham, quickly reaching an endgame 2 pawns to the good and converting the advantage to tie the scores at 2.5-2.5.

On board 4, Becky had launched a dangerous king-side attack, giving up a piece for 2 key pawns in front of Peter's king and an ongoing initiative. Peter managed to navigate to an endgame with a rook and 2 bishops versus Becky's 2 rooks and when Becky allowed a bishop to fork her king and rook it was game over. 3.5-2.5 to Lytham.

Board 1 saw a tense opening struggle on familiar territory for Malcolm and John, with Malcolm ultimately reaching an endgame with 2 very menacing knights and a passed a-pawn versus John's bishop and knight and central pawn majority. The knights proved too tricky and the a-pawn too quick. The scores were tied: 3.5-3.5.

So it all came down to the final game, which seemed to be barely out of the opening. William had a menacing knight outposted on the 6th rank and was a few minutes up on the clock; Carl was doing all he could to displace it and create some daylight for his pieces. William lost a central pawn in the fight to maintain the dominant knight and seemed to lose track of the clock in the intricacies of the position. Carl claimed the win on time and the match 4.5-3.5 for Preston. He might have claimed the Cup as well, but he merely thought that Preston had made it through to the next round!

Congratulations to everyone for such a well-contested match played in absolutely the right spirit.

And many congratulations to Preston on winning the 2024 Rapidplay Cup!