An extremely rough introduction to Division B for Bispham's 1st Team who showed good form last season in the lower division.
A narrow win for Lytham Ex 2 who have now won all their first four matches. Ricky Lord deputised as Lytham Captain. Board 1 - Leo Ainsworth and Michael Parker had an epic struggle with just one pawn off the board on each side when the first time control was reached (after 35 moves). Board 2 - Ben O'Rourke and Judd Bennett agreed a draw - Judd had been material up earlier in the game. Board 3 - Lynne Morrison versus Les Hughes was a long tactical struggle and they agreed a draw in a situation where Lynne was short on time. It was a fair arrangement as Lynne was in a position to sack a knight for Les's last pawn leaving him with just a king and bishop. Board 4 - Ricky played a Captain's innings to win against Gary Bennett. Gary caused Ricky a lot of problems in the opening gaining a pawn and rook for a knight. However, Gary found himself in time trouble and he overlooked a pin to lose the game.
A well contested match ended honours even when Alan Pidcock (Preston) lost on time in a difficult position against Carl Heald. Earlier John Lyth had produced a winning attack against Clifford Rutlidge to put Morecambe into the lead. Phil Taylor then contrived to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory against David Boyd, when he made a complete hash of a won endgame which had resulted from an earlier error by his opponent. Pavlo Nefyodov proved too strong for Norman Blade and Carl Tillotson created a win from a probable drawn endgame with some help from Nick Jameson. So all in all a fair result.
A very tight match giving Lytham their first points of the season. Abigail Pritchard forced Alan Pidcock to repeat moves to avoid back row mate. Leo Ainsworth won the exchange for 2 pawns but had to settle for draw against Robert Hanson. Phil Raynor and Colin Liddle also had the edge in their games but the too had to settle for draws. The only decisive game, on board 2, was last to finish and decided the match. John Cooper (Lytham's Captain) had a positional advantage against Phil Taylor who offered a bishop to open up John's king. John declined the offer and traded queens to reach a good endgame, winning a pawn. Phil defended well, attempting a mate with rook and knight, but had a lost position when his time expired in the allegro.
Lytham 3 heavily outranked Bispham 2 on every board (28/24/22/16-90 overall) and in the circumstances the home team performed extremely well. Ron was seen off first by his personal bogie man, Pat Coleman, and then Norman Thompson and Keith Sansom who finished up in a gridlocked position and agreed a draw. Peter Wallace put up a valiant fight in a long game against Ricky Lord (67moves) but lost a pawn in the early end game and then Ricky captured another to bring the game to an end. Harry Batty and John Regan had a real ding-dong with both players having the advantage in turn. Eventually, John overplayed his hand and the two players had to settle for a draw.
Blackpool go through.
Poulton go through. Poulton were heavily handicapped and had to win by at least 6-2. Keith Sansom gave Lytham early encouragement with a good win over Dave Hartley but Dave played well in their second game to win comfortably. Oleg Cukovs and George Ellison played solidly for Poulton versus Allan Wilson and Pat Coleman respectively. Ricky Lord (Lytham) was outplayed by Michael Parker in both games. In the last round Ricky Lord had to beat Michael to seal the win for Lytham. An extremely tense endgame followed with both players short of time but playing with great skill. Michael won with a superb combination to win the game and the match for Poulton.
Grading disparity meant that Lytham had to win by at least 6.5-1.5. Poulton had 3 juniors with boys of only 10 on top 2 boards. This was valuable experience for the juniors and no disgrace.
* NB The second game between Colin Liddle and Jordan Lewis was awarded in favour of Poulton 3 following an appeal to the League Management Committee over a rule infringement.
| Board | Blackpool | Bispham 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coward, Neil | 1 - 0 | McGrady, Blaine |
| 2 | Wright, Jon M | 1 - 0 | Wallace, Peter |
| 3 | Davies, Dennis | 1 - 0 | Batty, Harry |
| 4 | Cregan, Patrick | 1 - 0 | Broxson, Ron |
| 4-0 |
| Board | Poulton 2 | Preston 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gamsby, Steve | 1 - 0 | Pennington, Geoffrey |
| 2 | Rogers, Simon N | 1 - 0 | Ramsey, Dave L |
| 3 | Hartley, Dave C | Draw | De Santos, Andrew R |
| 4 | Gorman, Ken | 1 - 0 | Default |
| 3½-½ |
| Board | Lytham 2 | Poulton 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ainsworth, Leo R | Draw | Parker, Michael L |
| 2 | O'Rourke, Ben | Draw | Bennett, Judd |
| 3 | Morrison, Lynne GP | Draw | Hughes, Leslie |
| 4 | Lord, Richard | 1 - 0 | Bennett, Gary |
| 2½-1½ |
| Board | Bispham 1 | Poulton 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McGrady, Blaine | 0 - 1 | Gamsby, Steve |
| 2 | Wallace, Peter | 0 - 1 | Hartley, Dave C |
| 3 | Batty, Harry | 0 - 1 | Gorman, Ken |
| 4 | Wolstencroft, Gary | 0 - 1 | Pouncy, John |
| 0-4 |
| Board | Preston 2 | Morecambe 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rutlidge, Cliff H | 0 - 1 | Lyth, John D |
| 2 | Taylor, Phillip J | Draw | Boyd, David |
| 3 | Pidcock, Alan | 0 - 1 | Heald, Carl |
| 4 | Nefyodov, Pavlo | 1 - 0 | Blade, Norman T |
| 5 | Tillotson, Carl A | 1 - 0 | Jameson, Nick |
| 2½-2½ |
| Board | Lytham 1 | Preston 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liddle, Colin | Draw | Rutlidge, Cliff H |
| 2 | Cooper, John G | 1 - 0 | Taylor, Phillip J |
| 3 | Pritchard, Abigail | Draw | Pidcock, Alan |
| 4 | Ainsworth, Leo R | Draw | Hanson, Robert |
| 5 | Raynor, Philip N | Draw | Tillotson, Carl A |
| 3-2 |
| Board | Lytham 3 | Poulton 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lord, Richard | 1 - 0 | Pouncy, John |
| 2 | Wilson, Allan | 1 - 0 | Hughes, Leslie |
| 3 | Coleman, Patrick N | 1 - 0 | Wilson, William |
| 4 | Sansom, Keith | 1 - 0 | Bromley, Liam |
| 4-0 |
| Board | Bispham 2 | Lytham 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wallace, Peter | 0 - 1 | Lord, Richard |
| 2 | Batty, Harry | Draw | Regan, John |
| 3 | Broxson, Ron | 0 - 1 | Coleman, Patrick N |
| 4 | Thompson, Norman | Draw | Sansom, Keith |
| 1-3 |
| Board | Poulton 4 | Morecambe 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pouncy, John | 0 - 1 | Jameson, Nick |
| 2 | Bennett, Gary | 0 - 1 | Parker, Sean |
| 3 | Ramsey, Catherine | 0 - 1 | Rees, Ben K |
| 4 | Maloney, Doris | 0 - 1 | Bourn, Barry D |
| 0-4 |
| Board | Poulton 2 | Blackpool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gamsby, Steve | 0 - 1 | Coward, Neil |
| 2 | Gamsby, Steve | 0 - 1 | Coward, Neil |
| 3 | Pouncy, John | 1 - 0 | James, Peter D |
| 4 | Pouncy, John | 0 - 1 | James, Peter D |
| 5 | Wilkinson, Malcolm | 0 - 1 | Wright, Jon M |
| 6 | Wilkinson, Malcolm | 0 - 1 | Wright, Jon M |
| 7 | Bromley, Liam | 0 - 1 | Davies, Dennis |
| 8 | Bromley, Liam | 0 - 1 | Davies, Dennis |
| 0-8 |
| Board | Poulton 1 | Lytham 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parker, Michael L | 1 - 0 | Lord, Richard |
| 2 | Parker, Michael L | 1 - 0 | Lord, Richard |
| 3 | Cukovs, Oleg | 1 - 0 | Wilson, Allan |
| 4 | Cukovs, Oleg | 1 - 0 | Wilson, Allan |
| 5 | Ellison, D George | 1 - 0 | Coleman, Patrick N |
| 6 | Ellison, D George | 1 - 0 | Coleman, Patrick N |
| 7 | Hartley, Dave C | 1 - 0 | Sansom, Keith |
| 8 | Hartley, Dave C | 0 - 1 | Sansom, Keith |
| 7-1 |
| Board | Lytham 1 | Poulton 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liddle, Colin | 1 - 0 | Lewis, Jordan |
| 2 | Liddle, Colin | 1 - 0 | Lewis, Jordan* |
| 3 | Cooper, John G | 1 - 0 | Bennett, Judd |
| 4 | Cooper, John G | 1 - 0 | Bennett, Judd |
| 5 | O'Rourke, Ben | 1 - 0 | Heelis, Connor |
| 6 | O'Rourke, Ben | 1 - 0 | Heelis, Connor |
| 7 | Wilson, Allan | 1 - 0 | Bennett, Gary |
| 8 | Wilson, Allan | 1 - 0 | Bennett, Gary |
| 7-1* | (see above) |