John Regan stepped into the breach as Captain. Unfortunately, he was not too well and this seemed to reflect in his game against Dave Hartley. John had illusions of a mating attack but it was shown by Dave to be unsound. Abigail Pritchard won fairly quickly against John Pouncy. On top board, Ken Gorman was 2 pawns up against Leo Ainsworth at move 35, and was still winning at move 55, but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, by choosing to take the exchange rather than support a passed pawn with his rook. He blames the allegro finish for this poor decision.
The match was won on the two top boards, Alan Pidcock showing all his experience by positionally outplaying Tom Fielding. Geoff Pennington had a quick win over Chris Riley. Boards 3 and 4 were drawn but in very different styles. Andy de Santos and Darren Lambourne drew a game that was even throughout, but it was the last game to finish on Board 3 that attracted a crowd as Kenny Quinn and Chris Fielding battled out a wild and woolly contest that fluctuated one way then the other until they finally agreed a draw like two exhausted heavyweights at the end of a 15 round slugfest.
The game on board 1 finished first with Leo Ainsworth winning material and then the game. The game on board 2 finished second with Peter James gambiting a pawn in the opening for active play - Phil Raynor managed to complete development in order to make the extra material count. The game on board 4 finished next with Ricky Lord winning a piece - Patrick Cregan resigned a bishop down in the end game. The game between Lynne Morrison and Jon Wright finished last - they agreed a draw in a rook and pawn ending where Lynne was a pawn up.
Honours were even, after a closely fought match. In the last game to finish, Chris Riley and Tom Leah played out a tricky end game, but once the queens had been exchanged, Chris was left with a comfortable win to tie the match.
This was Bispham 2's first game. They played well, and it was no easy win for Bispham 1.
League experience told in this start of the season derby at Poulton. Enthusiastic play from Poulton 4's new members and a captain's performance from Bill Wilson were not enough against Poulton 3, the club's junior team.
A good win for Alan Wilson on Board 1 but Lytham 3 gained revenge for last season's loss to the 4th team.
On a well matched night Harry Batty managed to open the score for Bispham 2, followed by two wins for Lytham thanks to Pat Coleman and Keith Sansom. Alison Screen then won the final game to gain the inaugural point for new team Bispham 2.
The match was a lot closer than the score suggested. All games were level after 2 hours play.
Lytham 1 had Colin Liddle on board three returning after several years absence to record a creditable draw against Cliff Rutlidge. Alan Pidcock and John Cooper fought out a tough draw also. Phil Taylor was in trouble after losing the exchange, but Leo Ainsworth incorrectly sacrificed knight for an attack and ended up losing. On board four Philip Raynor was also doing well, but his position deteriorated and he lost on time eventually. Rob Hanson converted his material advantage of a pawn into a win against Lynne Morrison on board five. The scoreline of 4 - 1 probably flattered Preston.
| Board | Poulton 2 | Lytham 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gorman, Ken | 0 - 1 | Ainsworth, Leo R |
| 2 | Hartley, Dave C | 1 - 0 | Regan, John |
| 3 | Pouncy, John | 0 - 1 | Pritchard, Abigail |
| 4 | Duerden, Colin | 1 - 0 | Morrison, Lynne GP |
| Board | Preston 3 | Preston 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pidcock, Alan | 1 - 0 | Fielding, Thomas |
| 2 | Pennington, Geoffrey | 1 - 0 | Riley, Christopher |
| 3 | Quinn, Kenny | Draw | Fielding, Christopher |
| 4 | De Santos, Andrew R | Draw | Lambourne, Darren |
| Board | Lytham 2 | Blackpool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ainsworth, Leo R | 1 - 0 | Coward, Neil |
| 2 | Raynor, Philip N | 1 - 0 | James, Peter D |
| 3 | Morrison, Lynne GP | Draw | Wright, Jon M |
| 4 | Lord, Richard | 1 - 0 | Cregan, Patrick |
| Board | Preston 4 | Poulton 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fielding, Thomas | 1 - 0 | Sowerby, Herbert |
| 2 | Riley, Christopher | 1 - 0 | Leah, Tom |
| 3 | Fielding, Christopher | 0 - 1 | Wilkinson, Malcolm |
| 4 | Lambourne, Darren | 0 - 1 | Hughes, Leslie |
| Board | Bispham 1 | Bispham 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McGrady, Blaine | 1 - 0 | Batty, Harry |
| 2 | Broxson, Ron | 1 - 0 | Screen, Alison |
| 3 | Wolstencroft, G | Draw | Smith, John A |
| 4 | Thompson, Norman | 1 - 0 | Screen, Ken |
| Board | Poulton 3 | Poulton 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heelis, Connor | 1 - 0 | Bromley, Liam |
| 2 | Lewis, Jordan | Draw | Wilson, William |
| 3 | Bennett, Judd | 1 - 0 | Ramsey, Catherine |
| 4 | Bennett, Gary | 1 - 0 | Maloney, Doris |
| Board | Lytham 3 | Lytham 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regan, John | 0 - 1 | Wilson, Allan |
| 2 | Lord, Richard | 1 - 0 | Robinson, Geoffrey W |
| 3 | Coleman, Patrick N | 1 - 0 | Gibbins, Len |
| 4 | Sansom, Keith | 1 - 0 | Weeks, William J |
| Board | Bispham 2 | Lytham 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Batty, Harry | 1 - 0 | Lord, Richard |
| 2 | Screen, Alison | 1 - 0 | Wilson, Allan |
| 3 | Broxson, Ron | 0 - 1 | Coleman, Patrick N |
| 4 | Smith, John A | 0 - 1 | Sansom, Keith |
| Board | Lytham 4 | Poulton 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robinson, Geoffrey W | 1 - 0 | Leah, Tom |
| 2 | Gibbins, Len | 0 - 1 | Heelis, Connor |
| 3 | Thistlewood, Michael J | 1 - 0 | Bennett, Judd |
| 4 | Garcia Lucas, Diego | 0 - 1 | Bennett, Gary |
| Board | Poulton 4 | Bispham 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wright, Ian P | 0 - 1 | Broxson, Ron |
| 2 | Ellison, Marjorie A | 1 - 0 | Wallace, Peter |
| 3 | Hughes, Leslie | 1 - 0 | Thompson, Norman |
| 4 | Wilson, William | 0 - 1 | Wolstencroft, G |
| Board | Preston 1 | Preston 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lund, D Brett | 1 - 0 | Taylor, Phillip J |
| 2 | Jowett, Peter E | 1 - 0 | Rutlidge, Cliff H |
| 3 | Peacock, Malcolm R | 1 - 0 | Reaney, Conor |
| 4 | Thompson, Peter | 0 - 1 | Fielding, Thomas |
| 5 | Leitch, Calum | 1 - 0 | Hanson, Robert |
| Board | Poulton 1 | Morecambe | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellames, Roy | Draw | Lyth, John D |
| 2 | Ellison, D George | 1 - 0 | Heald, Carl |
| 3 | Johnson, Martin | 1 - 0 | Blade, Norman T |
| 4 | Rogers, Simon N | Draw | Rushworth, Frank S |
| 5 | Hartley, Dave C | 1 - 0 | Bourn, Barry D |
| Board | Preston 2 | Lytham 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pidcock, Alan | Draw | Cooper, John G |
| 2 | Taylor, Phillip J | 1 - 0 | Ainsworth, Leo R |
| 3 | Rutlidge, Cliff H | Draw | Liddle, Colin |
| 4 | Reaney, Conor | 1 - 0 | Raynor, Philip N |
| 5 | Hanson, Robert | 1 - 0 | Morrison, Lynne GP |