Preston`s new international signing Arulvel Kumar finished first with a good win on Board 4 against Malcolm Wilkinson. On 3 Kenny Quinn was less impressive but managed to win against Colin Duerden. On 1 Geoff Pennington had coped with Oleg`s Latvian Gambit but the latter showed his endgame mastery with a good knight v bad bishop. So it was Paul O'Mara on 2 who clinched the match, his connected passed pawns being unstoppable in the rook ending against Ken Gorman.
The first game to finish was on board 4: Chris Fielding miscalculated a combination in his game against Phil Raynor losing a piece for a pawn in the early middle game. The second game to finish was on board 3: Lynne Morrison won a piece through a pawn fork against Chris Riley and went on to win easily. Preston came back strongly from this point - John Regan blundered a piece against Arulvel in a four knights game. Arulvel went on to win convincingly. Abi came out the worst on the white side of a Sicilian Dragon against Thomas Fielding who won two pawns and went on to win. Hence the match was tied.
Although games were largely up and downers Poulton 3 took a clean sheet home thereby retaining their position at the top of the league.
In a well balanced match, white won on all boards. Blaine McGrady and Peter Wallace won for Bispham 1, and the two Poulton 3 points came from the club's Under 10s Judd Bennett and Jordan Lewis.
With key players missing Morecambe had a tough match. The result slightly flattered Preston. Board 5 started late as Cliff Rutlidge had struggled to find the venue. Sean Parker dropped a piece and went down fairly quickly. Paul Horman put up a good fight against a higher rated opponent but dropped material in the ending. Norman was under the cosh a lot of the game. Then Peter Jowett sacked the exchange a little rashly . In the ensuing tactical melee Norman missed a tactical win in a forced endgame. Then blundered a rook which might have been bearable but it enabled Peter to force mate. David Boyd had a good game against Malcolm Peacock's French Defencec but dropped a pawn in the ending and could not get back into it. John Lyth took his game to the wire in a blocked rook and 2 knight ending but time pressure told and Brett Lund broke through in the end.
A solid team from Preston 2 won this to leave Lytham 1 propping up Division A. A quiet draw on Board 1 after an unorthodox opening. Leo was unfortunate in touching the wrong piece in a crucial position. Despite opposite-coloured bishops in a single rook, bishop and pawns endgame, Cliff Rutlidge had an overpowering position against Phil Raynor. Paul Evans had a messy game v Calum Leitch and had to work hard for a draw. Lytham's one success came from Allan Wilson who, making his debut for this team, earned a creditable draw against a higher-graded opponent.
| Board | Poulton 2 | Preston 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gorman, Ken | 0 - 1 | Fielding, Thomas |
| 2 | Hartley, Dave C | 0 - 1 | Kumar, Arulvel |
| 3 | Duerden, Colin | 0 - 1 | Fielding, Christopher |
| 4 | Wilkinson, Malcolm | Draw | Lambourne, Darren |
| Board | Preston 3 | Poulton 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pennington, Geoffrey | 0 - 1 | Cukovs, Oleg |
| 2 | O'Mara, Paul | 1 - 0 | Gorman, Ken |
| 3 | Quinn, Kenny | 1 - 0 | Duerden, Colin |
| 4 | Kumar, Arulvel | 1 - 0 | Wilkinson, Malcolm |
| Board | Preston 4 | Blackpool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fielding, Thomas | 1 - 0 | Coward, Neil |
| 2 | Riley, Christopher | 1 - 0 | James, Peter D |
| 3 | Fielding, Christopher | Draw | Wright, Jon M |
| 4 | Lambourne, Darren | 0 - 1 | Davies, Dennis |
| Board | Lytham 2 | Preston 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pritchard, Abigail | 0 - 1 | Fielding, Thomas |
| 2 | Regan, John | 0 - 1 | Kumar, Arulvel |
| 3 | Morrison, Lynne GP | 1 - 0 | Riley, Christopher |
| 4 | Raynor, Philip N | 1 - 0 | Fielding, Christopher |
| Board | Bispham 1 | Lytham 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McGrady, Blaine | 1 - 0 | Regan, John |
| 2 | Batty, Harry | 0 - 1 | Lord, Richard |
| 3 | Wallace, Peter | Draw | Wilson, Allan |
| 4 | Broxson, Ron | 0 - 1 | Coleman, Patrick N |
| Board | Bispham 2 | Poulton 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Batty, Harry | 0 - 1 | Hartley, Dave C |
| 2 | Wolstencroft, G | 0 - 1 | Lewis, Jordan |
| 3 | Thompson, Norman | 0 - 1 | Lewis, Dominic |
| 4 | Screen, Ken | 0 - 1 | Bennett, Gary |
| Board | Poulton 4 | Lytham 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hughes, Leslie | 0 - 1 | Robinson, Geoffrey W |
| 2 | Bromley, Liam | 0 - 1 | Garcia Lucas, Diego |
| 3 | Wilson, William | 0 - 1 | Thistlewood, Michael J |
| 4 | Ramsey, Catherine | 1 - 0 | Thomas, Ann |
| Board | Poulton 3 | Bispham 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heelis, Connor | 0 - 1 | McGrady, Blaine |
| 2 | Lewis, Jordan | 1 - 0 | Broxson, Ron |
| 3 | Lewis, Dominic | 0 - 1 | Wallace, Peter |
| 4 | Bennett, Judd | 1 - 0 | Wolstencroft, G |
| Board | Lytham 4 | Bispham 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robinson, Geoffrey W | 0 - 1 | Batty, Harry |
| 2 | Garcia Lucas, Diego | 0 - 1 | Wallace, Peter |
| 3 | Gibbins, Len | Draw | Thompson, Norman |
| 4 | Weeks, William J | 1 - 0 | Screen, Ken |
| Board | Morecambe | Preston 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyth, John D | 0 - 1 | Lund, D Brett |
| 2 | Boyd, David | 0 - 1 | Peacock, Malcolm R |
| 3 | Blade, Norman T | 0 - 1 | Jowett, Peter E |
| 4 | Horman, Paul A | 0 - 1 | Leitch, Calum |
| 5 | Parker, Sean | 0 - 1 | Rutlidge, Cliff H |
| Board | Lytham 1 | Preston 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper, John G | Draw | Pidcock, Alan |
| 2 | Evans, Paul A | Draw | Leitch, Calum |
| 3 | Ainsworth, Leo R | 0 - 1 | Taylor, Phillip J |
| 4 | Raynor, Philip N | 0 - 1 | Rutlidge, Cliff H |
| 5 | Wilson, Allan | Draw | Hanson, Robert |
| Board | Poulton 1 | Preston 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellames, Roy | Draw | Pidcock, Alan |
| 2 | Ellison, D George | 1 - 0 | Taylor, Phillip J |
| 3 | Cukovs, Oleg | Draw | Rutlidge, Cliff H |
| 4 | Parker, Michael L | 1 - 0 | Hanson, Robert |
| 5 | Rogers, Simon N | 1 - 0 | Fielding, Christopher |
Fylde Championship
| Board | White | Black | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oleg Cukovs (2) | ½ - ½ | Michael Parker (2) |
| 2 | Malcolm Peacock (1) | 1 - 0 | Default |
| 3 | John Cooper (1½) | 1 - 0 | Tom Fielding (1½) |
| 4 | George Ellison (1½) | 1 - 0 | Jon Wright (1½) |
| 5 | Abigail Pritchard (½) | 1 - 0 | John Regan (1) |
| 6 | Phil Raynor (½) | 1 - 0 | Les Hughes (0) |
| 7 | Pat Coleman (0) | 0 - 1 | Dennis Davies (1) |
Paul Isherwood withdrew from the Championship shortly after this round had been drawn giving Malcolm Peacock a win by default in this round and Oleg Cukovs a win by default in the previous round.
In this round clubmates Oleg and Michael reached a drawn rook and pawns endgame and shared the point. This was the only draw in the round which produced four wins for white and one for black. Oleg and Michael now share the lead on 2.5 points with George and me. John Cooper's game with Tom evolved into a white stonewall and white won in 17 moves after attempts to undermine it backfired. Jon stood better after the opening but made a positional error in castling queenside, allowing George to launch a rapid attack against his King.
Fylde Junior Champion Abigail defeated clubmate John Regan. Phil Raynor won Les Hughes' d - pawn in the opening and, after winning two rooks for a queen, had a far better position on reaching the endgame.
In a very close game with Pat, Dennis was able to convert his extra pawn in an ending with Knight + five against Knight + four pawns.