Ringwood A v Basingstoke A

A pleasure to entertain Basingstoke and apologises for the tropical temperatures.

First to finish was board one where Steven showed his class against a player who usually is one of the last to finish. Soon after, Niall on 4 evened the match. I'd seen some of it and thought it was fairly even, but Niall's opponent was very generous to me in his praise of Niall's play.

The other games went on a lot longer. Eventually a draw was agreed on board 5 in an equal rook ending, leaving just boards 2 and 3. I thought my position was pretty sharp, but board 2 was a delight to watch if you like that sort of violence. Each side seemed to respond to threats by doubling the anti. I'm sure computers will shred the game, but as a human I thought both players showed great imagination and nerve. At one stage myself and my opponent found ourself both watching that one as ours paled into just difficult. :-).

In my game, I thought I had a dream Modern. As in I had converted it to a good Dragon. My opponent however showed great resilience and, I suspect just calculated better than I did in the key positions so despite my having an extra pawn I'm sure he was better at that stage. I was resigned to hoping for a draw when my opponent blundered, allowing me a pretty mate. My "Modern" bishop moved twice in the game. Once to g7 and then to deliver mate from h6 to a King on d2.

Thanks again to the Basingstoke team for making the journey to Ringwood for a second time this season and good look in the final. Perhaps next season we should look at playing both matches at a venue half way between?

Thank you Martin for the kind comments and for being such excellent hosts.

I (board 2) was too focused on my own game to pay attention to the others, but I am assured that all games on the bottom three boards were closely fought, with lots of exciting chess. I thought a drawn match was fair, and it seems a pity that one team has to be eliminated in this manner.

The journey actually wasn't too bad for us; straight down the motorway/ A road with no traffic. Whether at Ringwood, Basingstoke, or elsewhere, we are looking forward to another two close contests next season.