Fylde Championship

Second Round Results

*Still to be played.

In his game against George Ellison, Doug Williams gambled a pawn but never obtained sufficient compensation and lost.

Having been a pawn down against Michael Parker, Oleg Cukovs fought back to win a difficult game after sixty eight moves.  Two Lytham players, John Cooper and Leo Ainsworth, also had a marathon of seventy one moves lasting five hours - John emerged the winner.

Phil Raynor's draw with Paul Evans was the surprise result of round one but in this round, Phil was the victim of a surprising win by schoolgirl Abigail Pritchard.  Phil has been enjoying good form for some time but he overlooked a winning chance and was duly punished by his young opponent.

The Wrights (Ian and Jon) drew.  Pat Coleman achieved a slightly unexpected win against the higher graded Dennis Davies after winning the exchange and slowly grinding out the win.

Div A

Preston 1 v Lytham Ex 1  1½ - 3½

For many years, Preston have dominated this division but first Blackpool and now Lytham are challenging this dominance.  An easy win for Lytham was not anticipated.  Despite the top board, Peter Jowett, losing, Lytham controlled the match and all of the other boards.

Peter Jowett did seem to have a good game against Brett Lund but Brett defended well and fairly quickly, Peter's position fell apart.

Doug Williams hit back for Lytham with a win on board 3 after building up an overwhelming attack against Connor Reaney's king.

Leo Ainsworth won a piece in a complicated position against Preston's new Captain, Peter Thompson, to give Lytham a 2-1 lead.

Meanwhile, John Cooper (Lytham's Captain) obtained a strong attack against Bob Taylor's castled king, winning first a piece and later a pawn - this secured Lytham's victory.

On bottom board, there was a clash of two players who have maintained consistent form this season, Geoff Pennington (Preston) and Phil Raynor (Lytham).  They agreed a draw after reaching a rook and pawn ending that was approximately level.

Div B

Morecambe v Lytham Ex 2  1½ - 2½

This was a tense match where all three top boards drew leaving Lynne Morrison to score the vital win for Lytham.

Preston 3 v Blackpool 2  2½ - 1½

This result keeps things tight at the top of Division B with the top four clubs neck and neck.