The first result was on board one where Geoff Robinson, who was in a promising position, was caught by surprise by Harry Batty. Diego Garcia Lucas levelled the match against Ron Broxson before Peter Wallace and Michael Thistlewood agreed a draw. The result depended on the last game where Ann Thomas, who was moving in for the finish, was thwarted by Norman's perseverance and thus Bispham 2 recorded their first match win.
Poulton 3's young players played very well and show a lot of promise for the future.
Ron Broxson was first in with a win over Les Hughes followed, after forty odd moves, by Norman Thompson's win against Liam Bromley. Harry/Ian and Peter/Marjorie on boards 1 & 2 respectively all agreed draws giving Bispham 2 the win 3-1.
Poulton 3 played hosts to Lytham 3 with the teams joint leaders in the division. On board 2 Jordan Lewis finished ahead in a short game against Allan Wilson. Dave Hartley and Dominic Lewis converted material advantages to wins to seal the match for Poulton 3. In a long game between the captains on board 4, Keith Sansom playing white held on to a single pawn advantage to mate for a well deserved win.
The match went right to the wire as Rob Hanson's clock fell in the final action of the night handing victory to Poulton, Rob had earlier missed a chance to win when he could have forced home a passed pawn. Preston 2 were outgraded on the top four boards and did well to hold their own as Alan Pidcock drew solidly with Roy Ellames, Phil Taylor converted an early advantage into a winning endgame against George Ellison and Cliff Rutlidge also earned a creditable draw against Oleg Cukovs. Michael Parker beat Prestons Conor Reaney. Ironically Rob was the only Preston player to outgrade his opponent and he lost.
A tough match . A fairly quick draw on board 5. A double rook ending with equal pawn structure. John Lyth sacrificed a rook to force mate on the h file after poor opening play by Leo. Phil Raynor dropped a piece in a fairly equal position as did Carl Heald in a worse one! Board 1 was an edgy affair but Glenn broke through with rooks and queen and simplified to a won ending.
Not much to choose between the 2 teams on paper but Poulton deserved their win. George won in style after a kingside attack. Colin Liddle's fine run came to an end against in-form Michael Parker who also broke through on the kingside. Leo Ainsworth won the exchange but had to settle for a draw under pressure from Steven Gardner. Phil Raynor won a pawn against Simon Rogers but soon afterwards a draw was agreed at Phil's offer. Paul Evans missed some winning chances against Oleg Cukovs,tried hard to win an ending with opposite-coloured bishops in the allegro but Oleg held out for the draw.
| Board | Bispham 2 | Lytham 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Batty, Harry | 1 - 0 | Robinson, Geoffrey W |
| 2 | Wallace, Peter | Draw | Thistlewood, Michael J |
| 3 | Broxson, Ron | 0 - 1 | Garcia Lucas, Diego |
| 4 | Thompson, Norman | 1 - 0 | Thomas, Ann |
| Board | Poulton 4 | Lytham 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wright, Ian P | Draw | Regan, John |
| 2 | Hughes, Leslie | 0 - 1 | Lord, Richard |
| 3 | Wilson, William | 0 - 1 | Coleman, Patrick N |
| 4 | Ramsey, Catherine | 0 - 1 | Sansom, Keith |
| Board | Bispham 1 | Poulton 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McGrady, Blaine | 1 - 0 | Lewis, Dominic |
| 2 | Batty, Harry | 0 - 1 | Lewis, Jordan |
| 3 | Wallace, Peter | 0 - 1 | Bennett, Judd |
| 4 | Broxson, Ron | Draw | Bennett, Gary |
| Board | Bispham 2 | Poulton 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Batty, Harry | Draw | Wright, Ian P |
| 2 | Wallace, Peter | Draw | Ellison, Marjorie A |
| 3 | Broxson, Ron | 1 - 0 | Hughes, Leslie |
| 4 | Thompson, Norman | 1 - 0 | Bromley, Liam |
| Board | Poulton 3 | Lytham 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hartley, Dave C | 1 - 0 | Lord, Richard |
| 2 | Lewis, Jordan | 1 - 0 | Wilson, Allan |
| 3 | Lewis, Dominic | 1 - 0 | Coleman, Patrick N |
| 4 | Bennett, Gary | 0 - 1 | Sansom, Keith |
| Board | Lytham 4 | Bispham 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilson, Allan | 0 - 1 | McGrady, Blaine |
| 2 | Robinson, Geoffrey W | 0 - 1 | Batty, Harry |
| 3 | Thistlewood, Michael J | Draw | Wallace, Peter |
| 4 | Garcia Lucas, Diego | Draw | Wolstencroft, G |
| Board | Preston 2 | Poulton 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pidcock, Alan | Draw | Ellames, Roy |
| 2 | Taylor, Phillip J | 1 - 0 | Ellison, D George |
| 3 | Rutlidge, Cliff H | Draw | Cukovs, Oleg |
| 4 | Reaney, Conor | 0 - 1 | Parker, Michael L |
| 5 | Hanson, Robert | 0 - 1 | Rogers, Simon N |
| Board | Morecambe | Lytham 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charleshouse, Glenn L | 1 - 0 | Cooper, John G |
| 2 | Lyth, John D | 1 - 0 | Ainsworth, Leo R |
| 3 | Heald, Carl | 0 - 1 | Liddle, Colin |
| 4 | Boyd, David | 1 - 0 | Raynor, Philip N |
| 5 | Blade, Norman T | Draw | Pritchard, Abigail |
| Board | Poulton 1 | Preston 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellames, Roy | 0 - 1 | Lund, D Brett |
| 2 | Ellison, D George | Draw | Jowett, Peter E |
| 3 | Cukovs, Oleg | Draw | Taylor, Robert K |
| 4 | Parker, Michael L | 0 - 1 | Rutlidge, Cliff H |
| 5 | Gardner, Steven | 1 - 0 | Reaney, Conor |
| Board | Lytham 1 | Poulton 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper, John G | 0 - 1 | Ellison, D George |
| 2 | Evans, Paul A | Draw | Cukovs, Oleg |
| 3 | Liddle, Colin | 0 - 1 | Parker, Michael L |
| 4 | Ainsworth, Leo R | Draw | Gardner, Steven |
| 5 | Raynor, Philip N | Draw | Rogers, Simon N |
Fylde Championship
| Board | White | Black | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Parker (1) | 1 - 0 | Malcolm Peacock (1) |
| 2 | Paul Isherwood (1) | Oleg Cukovs (1) | |
| 3 | Tom Fielding (1) | Draw | George Ellison (1) |
| 4 | Dennis Davies (0) | 0 - 1 | John Cooper (½) |
| 5 | Pat Coleman (0) | 0 - 1 | Jon Wright (½) |
| 6 | John Regan (0) | 1 - 0 | Les Hughes (0) |
| 7 | Abigail Pritchard (½) | Draw | Phil Raynor (½) |
Although the results of Round 1 largely followed the form book, Round 2 has produced a couple of surprises. The big surprise was Michael's win against Malcolm. Michael sacrificed first the exchange and then a piece for a strong attack. After defending very well Malcolm made an error in time trouble.
A smaller surprise was the draw which Lancashire Junior Champion, Tom Fielding, achieved against Fylde Champion, George Ellison. George conceded that this was a fair result in a game which followed the book until move 18. Dennis Davies also played a decent opening against John Cooper but overlooked a crucial check on move 18 and lost a piece.
Jon Wright's good form continued with a win against Pat in a rook and pawn ending after a close encounter with attacking chances for both players.
Phil Raynor opened well to obtain a two pawn advantage against Abigail but she defended the rook and pawn ending very well to earn a creditable draw. John Regan proved too strong for Les Hughes. I regret that the remaining game between Poulton team mates Oleg and Paul has not been played and this is likely to result in a default for one of the players.