Division 1				17/4/2007
		Horfield A		Clifton A
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	0 - 1	James Cobb
2	w	Alex Easton	½ - ½	Chris Beaumont
3	b	Chris Jones	½ - ½	David Collier
4	w	Phil Nendick	1 - 0	John Curtis
5	b	Martin Davies	0 - 1	Andy Pickering
6	w	John Richards	0 - 1	Duncan Grossett
			2 - 4

It was always going to be difficult; the Clifton side outgraded us by about 10 points a board, but we were determined to give it our best shot. It started badly when my position looked very lost from early on. I fought back to get winning chances, but ran short of time, and missed the drawing move with a couple of minutes left on the clock. Martin had a lost position and didn't realise it had become a drawn one when he resigned, so it wasn't looking like our night.

Alex and Chris did well though with a draw apiece, and Phil continued his excellent form with a nice win. So, we needed a win on top board to keep the title hopes alive. A first glance suggested we might have chances, but James Cobb turned out to have all bases covered.

So a very good Clifton side are champions. We have to grudgingly concede that they deserve it as they have put out the best side in the League this season. And we have had a very good season ourselves. As Phil said later: "we did well to finish above the likes of Bath and Downend but I guess it's the coming close that's frustrating." (JR)

 

Division 1				11/4/2007
		Bath A		Horfield A
1	b	David Buckley	½ - ½	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	Andy Gregory	½ - ½	Alex Easton
3	b	Nigel Saunders	0 - 1	Chris Jones
4	w	Greg Sweetland	0 - 1	Phil Nendick
5	b	C Jones	½ - ½	Martin Davies
6	w	Mauro Farina	0 - 1	John Richards
			1½ - 4½

The title challenge continues. Clifton A also won this week, so we're still level with two to play. What is effectively the title decider happens next Tuesday, at home, when we play Clifton.

We were lucky to meet a Bath side without Jack Rudd (in Paris) and Jim Sherwin (in Japan) and we took the opportunity to steamroller them. After an early draw on board 1 there was little doubt which way this match was going to go. There's a definite hunger for this title - bring on Clifton! (JR)

Division 1				3/4/2007
		Horfield A		Downend B
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	1 - 0	Geoff Taylor
2	w	Alex Easton	½ - ½	Paul Spiller
3	b	Chris Jones	½ - ½	Martin White
4	w	Phil Nendick	1 - 0	Richard Allen
5	b	Martin Davies	½ - ½	Dave Tipper
6	w	John Richards	1 - 0	Default
			4½ - 1½

Congratulations, first, to new dad Phil, and to Hazel, for the birth of Jude! Obviously the lack of sleep did not stop Phil from winning.

I got a point; courtesy of my favourite player: Mr D Fault (a nice chap, but his grade is lousy). Hence I was home before 8 and did not see what looks to have been a good solid performance and sets up an exciting three weeks for Horfield. Sadly for Downend B, it looks like it's Division 2 chess next season.

The title race is very tight. We and Clifton A are both on 24 points with three matches to go, but Clifton has the better goal difference.

Top of Division 1 (4 April 2007):

Club	Played	Points	Game Points	Def Pts
Clifton A	15	24	62	2
Horfield A	15	24	56.5	0
Bath A	15	19	51	0

Over the next three weeks, we play Bath A (A), Clifton A (H) and South Bristol A (H).  Clifton play Bath B (H), us (A), and Bath A (A). Bath A is lying third, and look like having a key role in determining who becomes champions - but it can't be them. Our crunch match is against Clifton - if we lose that, Clifton could lose to Bath A and still win the title. However, if we win ... it could be our first championship since 2001. (JR)

 

Division 1				12/3/2007
		Grendel A		Horfield A
1	b	Derek Pugh	0 - 1	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	Dave Osborne	0 - 1	Alex Easton
3	b	Alistair Gilbert	0 - 1	Chris Jones
4	w	Roger Hardy	½ - ½	Phil Nendick
5	b	R Foster	½ - ½	Martin Davies
6	w	Arthur Hibbitt	1 - 0	John Richards
			2 - 4

With the way I'm playing it's amazing we are fighting for the top spot and not staving off relegation. Players are rumoured to be offering their captains serious money to be paired against me. Luckily, everyone else is playing well and the top boards done us proud. There was another outbreak of this non-resigning malarkey, with one Grendel player continuing a whole rook down with only 50 seconds on his clock to his opponent's twelve minutes - the other way round on time and it would be understandable. (JR)

Division 1				27/2/2007
		Horfield A		Downend A
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	½ - ½	H Andolo
2	w	Alex Easton	½ - ½	Hosken
3	b	Chris Jones	1 - 0	Mike Brigden
4	w	Phil Nendick	con	Martyn Sellars
5	b	Martin Davies	½ - ½	Martin White
6	w	John Richards	1 - 0	Mike Brannan
			3½ - 1½	+1c

Downend A often supplies an interesting match. Phil turned up late and Martyn Sellars exercised his time stipulation option - hence an unusual continuation. My opponent also turned up late so I had the choice between choosing the 36 move limit, or asking my opponent to play all in 70; the latter seemed preferable. Steve drew fairly quickly. Mike Brannan got a promising position and then got lost in the complications - I emerged material up. Chris had a nice win to make it 2½-½.

The next two games were hit by the time limit. Martin had to take the draw when better as he was short of time. Alex was very short of time and working hard to get to a drawn rook v rook ending, when he missed a win. Luckily, he still had a draw in hand. (JR)

 

Division 1				21/2/2007
		University A		Horfield A
1	b	David Bareham	½ - ½	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	Daniel Hall	0 - 1	Alex Easton
3	b	J Lawson	½ - ½	Phil Nendick
4	w	J Hall	0 - 1	Martin Davies
5	b	A Mayhew	0 - 1	John Richards
6	w	Mark Valentine	0 - 1	Mike Gladstone
			1 - 5

That's more like it. Steve had a bind from early on that never came to anything. Phil seemed to be a piece down but had lots of minor piece activity and scrapped away for the draw. Otherwise it was one way traffic. But, these students don't like resigning. I don't know if it's the time limit or what - but Martin and I delivered mate, Alex was close to it, and only in Mike's game did the resignation seem to come at an appropriate time, but that was only after the match was truly lost! (JR)

 

Division 1				6/2/2007
		Horfield A		Clevedon A
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	1 - 0	Peter Chaplin
2	w	Alex Easton	0 - 1	Jeremy Hart
3	b	Chris Jones	0 - 1	Jon Calverley
4	w	Phil Nendick	½ - ½	Shane Roberts
5	b	Martin Davies	1 - 0	Andrew Borkowski
6	w	John Richards	½ - ½	David Painter-Kooiman
			3 - 3

2007 is proving to be a difficult year to get started. Another faltering display. Nuff said. (JR)

 

Division 1				30/1/2007
		Horfield A		Bath B
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	0 - 1	David Buckley
2	w	Alex Easton	½ - ½	Andrew Gregory
3	b	Chris Jones	½ - ½	C Jones
4	w	Phil Nendick	1 - 0	Mauro Farina
5	b	John Richards	0 - 1	Ron Gregory
6	w	Martin Davies	1 - 0	D Cooper
			3 - 3

Last time we beat them with only five players, so what went wrong? Okay, it was all my fault and I'm still beating myself up over what happened. I'd just got to the point when I was thinking that perhaps it really was a draw (despite Fritz later evaluating it as +1.25 to me, there seemed no way to break through), and I decided to try one last thing and ... took my eye off the ball. To be honest, I'd forgotten Ron was still there because there hadn't been anything he could threaten for some time. I moved my rook off the crucial file and Ron took his chance to make a decisive pawn break. Idiot! Me, not him. I might still have hung on but for another blunder. He missed a mate in four, but otherwise didn't slip up. Me, I went home and kicked the cat. (JR)

Division 1				13/12/2006
		Bath B		Horfield A
1	b	David Buckley	½ - ½	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	Steve Meek	0 - 1	Chris Jones
3	b	Andy Gregory	½ - ½	Phil Nendick
4	w	Mauro Farina	0 - 1	John Richards
5	b	Greg Sweetland	0 - 1	Martin Davies
6	w	Ron Gregory	1 - 0	Default
			2 - 4

Alex couldn't make this game so Nigel Pollett agreed to step in. Unfortunately he failed to make it, getting stuck in his office by a sewer collapse. Nasty. So we were not particularly optimistic on our way to the game. I then upset my opponent by claiming my right to play the old '36 in an hour and a half' time limit when he turned up ten minutes late.  Prospective opponents take note; if you want to play sudden death, be on time - no more Mr Nice Guy.

Steve accepted a quick draw which was good in that he had neutralised a dangerous opponent, but meant we now needed 3 points from 4 games to win the match. Before half nine, Martin and I both won without too many problems. Then Chris converted his endgame to seal the victory. Phil swapped off to a good knight v bad bishop ending; it was probably won but it proved impossible to find the right plan on the night. (JR)

Division 1				28/11/2006
		Horfield A		Grendel A
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	½ - ½	Derek Pugh
2	w	Alex Easton	½ - ½	Dave Osborne
3	b	Chris Jones	½ - ½	Roger Hardy
4	w	Phil Nendick	0 - 1	Alistair Gilbert
5	b	John Richards	½ - ½	Arthur Hibbitt
6	w	Martin Davies	1 - 0	R Foster
			3 - 3

This is a sort of 'pipe-and-slippers' match. What is the old fool on about, you cry? Well, it's just that we seem to have been playing each other so long. In fact some of the Grendel players even had their own teeth when we started. Anyway, we enjoy playing them, but we enjoy beating them even more, so this was a bit of a disappointment. A glance at the table shows Grendel is doing jolly nicely, thank you, so perhaps we needed to up our game a bit.

Not a lot more to say. Easton v Osborne was probably the key game. Alex was ahead on material, but Dave was ahead on time (courtesy of that dratted time limit); a draw was a gentlemanly result. A cad would have played on to try to win on time. (JR)

Division 1				21/11/2006
		Downend B		Horfield A
1	b	Ian Ponter	0 - 1	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	Geoff Taylor	0 - 1	Alex Easton
3	b	Paul Spiller	½ - ½	Chris Jones
4	w	Martin White	0 - 1	Phil Nendick
5	b	Richard Allen	0 - 1	John Richards
6	w	Dave Tipper	1 - 0	Alex Dunn
			1½ - 4½

Another game under the floodlights, courtesy of the League's fixtures computer. Alex Dunn was drafted instead of Martin and was understandably cautious about his promotion from the C's. After about ten moves, his caution seemed justified as his position looked dire under the intensity of the home team's lighting. However, he dug in and almost pulled off a win. On the other boards, it was a smooth operation against one of the relegation candidates. (JR)

 

Division 1				14/11/2006
		Horfield A		University A
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	0 - 1	Duncanson
2	w	Alex Easton	½ - ½	David Bareham
3	b	Chris Jones	½ - ½	Lawson
4	w	Phil Nendick	0 - 1	Hall
5	b	Martin Davies	1 - 0	M Valentine
6	w	Mike Levene	1 - 0	May
			3 - 3

I wasn't there so I can't say what happened. Martin said  they missed me (but as we scored well on the bottom boards anyway I think he was just being nice). (JR)

 

Division 1				7/11/2006
		Downend A		Horfield A
1	b	H Andolo	1 - 0	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	N Hosken	½ - ½	Alex Easton
3	b	GM Boyce	0 - 1	Chris Jones
4	w	Mike Brigden	0 - 1	Phil Nendick
5	b	Martyn Sellars	1 - 0	John Richards
6	w	Mike Brannan	0 - 1	Martin Davies
			2½ - 3½

You know Downend Cricket Club: nice venue, shame about the lighting? Well, no more. The chess club decided to invest some money in additional lighting over the summer and it's a huge improvement - like playing under floodlights. I'm not sure if our Green Party candidate would approve though.

Some interesting games. Chris Jones came up against old Thornbury team-mate Mike Boyce for the first time and Chris came off best. Phil picked up a point when Mike Brigden dropped a rook; something Mike wouldn't have done if playing a proper time limit. That point sealed the match and that was fortunate as I was about to lose.

But not on time as Martyn Sellars and I were playing the good old 36 in 90 time limit. We have both been vociferous opponents of the 'all in 90', so that was no great surprise. And you know what? It was lovely: it was more relaxed and both of us took time for extended thinks over moves without having to worry about the clock all the game. (JR)

 

Division 1				17/10/2006
		Clifton A		Horfield A
1	b	Andy Pickering	½ - ½	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	John Curtis	0 - 1	Alex Easton
3	b	Duncan Grossett	½ - ½	Chris Jones
4	w	Dominic Bennett	½ - ½	Phil Nendick
5	b	Eddie Bromilow	½ - ½	John Richards
6	w	John Gooch	0 - 1	Martin Davies
			2 - 4

Back to winning ways, but it was a weak Clifton side. Chris Beaumont and David Collier were both away at chess tournaments: Chris in Goa and David in Guernsey - I know which I'd prefer.

The new time limit continues to be a pain and to have an undue influence; in the four games I've played this season there have been more superficial mistakes than the whole of last season. The clock is now far too important a factor; no one resigns or agrees to a draw based on the position alone, they keep going if they are well ahead on the clock, so you have to try and keep pace. (JR).

Division 1				3/10/2006
		Horfield A		Bath A
1	b	Steve Dilleigh	0 - 1	Jack Rudd
2	w	Alex Easton	½ - ½	Jim Sherwin
3	b	Chris Jones	0 - 1	Nigel Saunders
4	w	Phil Nendick	1 - 0	Olivia Smith
5	b	John Richards	0 - 1	Greg Sweetland
6	w	Martin Davies	0 - 1	C Jones
			1½ - 4½

Very dire, with Phil's game being the only high spot. Martin and I are still kicking ourselves (JR).

 

Division 1				28/9/2006
		South Bristol A		Horfield A
1	b	Michael White	1 - 0	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	Ernest M White	½ - ½	Alex Easton
3	b	D Frydman	0 - 1	Chris Jones
4	w	Bob Radford	0 - 1	John Richards
5	b	Chris Evans	½ - ½	Roger Pearce
6	w	D Neagle	½ - ½	Mike Levene
			2½ - 3½

We were two players short, so Roger and Mike stepped into the breech, and I stood in as captain for Martin.

Roger got a good position but was well behind on the clock. He won a piece, but it petered out to a drawn ending. Mike had an edge but also not sufficient. My attempt to keep moving quickly ran into trouble when it lost a pawn, but Bob blundered immediately to enable me to crash through on a long diagonal. 2-1.

Chris neatly made it 3-1, so it was all on the top two boards. We had at least equality on both and time in hand, but two draw offers got declined by the opposition. This is partly an effect of the new time limit - people know that the clock is a big factor.

Alex ended up on the wrong side of a rook and pawn v rook ending, but managed to cling on for a half to win the match. Meanwhile, Steve had converted his game neatly to a totally won position. He had queen, rook and pawn v rook when ... his flag fell. It was particularly tragic as his opponent had only seconds on his own clock. How this can be fairer than adjournments I do not know. Steve may have been our first casualty of this ridiculous time limit, but he certainly won't be the last. (JR).

Division 1				18/9/2006
		Clevedon A		Horfield A
1	b	Peter Chaplin	0 - 1	Steve Dilleigh
2	w	Jeremy Hart	0 - 1	Alex Easton
3	b	Shane Roberts	0 - 1	Chris Jones
4	w	Andrew Borkowski	0 - 1	Phil Nendick
5	b	Jon Calverley	½ - ½	John Richards
6	w	David Painter-Kooiman	0 - 1	Martin Davies
			½ - 5½

Our first match under the new "let's make chess fun" time limit of 'all moves in 90 minutes'. Better still, why don't we make it two games of 'all moves in 45 minutes'; would be fairer on the colours. On the night it worked well for us; I think we were up on the clock in all the games. Somewhat surprisingly, all the games went to endings. I may have missed a trick in my game that would have made it 6-0. Mustn't be greedy - a nice start against a Clevedon side that had beaten Downend A the previous week. (JR)