Blayney Chess Club surprised themselves and Bathurst Chess
Club with another tiebreak win in the fifth match between these two highly
competitive combatants.
With the match reduced to an 8-board match due to one
Bathurst player being unable to make it on the night because of unforeseen
circumstances, and Blayney thought to be completely out rated on the top boards,
it was Bathurst that were favourites to emerge victorious on the night.
Blayney got off to a great start with Mick Hendricks
accounting for Karl Matiszik in a brief, aggressive, but highly entertaining
encounter. This is Karl’s first loss in Bathurst vs Blayney matches, so Mick can
be pleased with his outstanding effort to best one of Bathurst’s most dangerous
players. Blayney’s Glenn Mann was caught in a bit of a quandary and in the
ensuing confusion, Bathurst’s Mark Evans was able to peg the scores back to
level at one apiece. Brian Patten was involved in a sharp game, and made the
most of his tactical opportunities to register a nice win over Paul McCrohan and
give Blayney back the lead and keep our hopes of victory alive. With Mick’s win
on Board 4 and Brian’s win on Board 7 against a loss on Board 8, the
possibilities of a monumental team win were becoming promising.
However, Bathurst were never going to make this an easy
task, on Board 6, Matthew Mann found himself engaged in a complex game with a
very worthy opponent, Tony Marsh. The game looked to be in the balance for a
while, but Tony was able to manoeuvre best through a tense middlegame and sealed
a nice win for Bathurst in an efficient manner. On Board 3, Col Parsons was
finding the redoubtable Naum Todoroski at his best form, and Garry Mann on Board
2 was enjoying a tense struggle against John McLoon. John actually offered a
draw at one stage, which Garry declined. John played the position with his
typical skill, Garry in youthful exuberance over extended a little trying to
realise the small advantage he held, and John seized on an error to cash in for
the full point. Col was in a difficult position, and Naum Todoroski found the
most complicated lines to make Col’s battle with dwindling time take on enormous
significance. Col erred, Naum pounced, and all of a sudden, we were behind 4-2
with only two games remaining to be finished.
Thankfully, on Board One, Phil Bourke had taken an
opportunity to turn an equal middlegame into a won ending. Slavko Kocic tried
impressively hard to salvage a draw from the debris, but it never looked in
doubt as Phil showed good technique to realise the full point edging Blayney
closer to that miracle tiebreak procedure.
Then realisation hit home, John Cooper had a good advantage
in his game. Could he finish off a determined Rod McPhee as Blayney sought to
level the match? Rod used every imaginative device at his disposal, but John
navigated them well for another Blayney win that tied the match at 4 wins a
piece.
Again, the tiebreak favoured Blayney, so we all enjoyed a
nice drive home with that winning feeling which certainly makes the trip seem a
whole lot shorter.
Blayney High School chess team played Kelso High on the
last Thursday of the school term. Things started well for Blayney, with Garry
Mann and Matthew Death on boards 1 and 4 winning their matches quickly. Now
everything rested with David Rogerson playing second board and Darcy Orish
playing board 3. Both players fought hard, with David reaching a tough rook and
pawn endgame; however, his opponent created a passed pawn and won the game in
style. Darcy also fought hard in his game, but was narrowly defeated. This
resulted in a tie and as the tiebreak method favours the higher board results,
Blayney came away with a heart wrenching tiebreak loss.
Despite their defeat, all the boys enjoyed the match and
are now looking to the future, with many promising year 7 and 8 players at the
High School and the opening of more junior events in Blayney. A special thank
you goes to Mrs Mista for organising the team for another year and the school
for providing chess resources and refreshments for players after their games.
We look forward to seeing any budding chess geniuses, or
even people like ourselves that just enjoy a game, at the Bowling Club on a Thur
night from 6pm, there is also a website, www.blayneychess.com with more details
on the Club and upcoming tournaments.
2007 NSW
Country Reserve Team Champions
