Limewooders won 2 games and drew a third in the 2nd round of the Appleby Trophy held at Alwoodley clubroom on 11 January 2017, with star performances from Barry Fulthorpe, Philip May and Chris Tatham.
Barry was outgraded by Chris Terrington by 28 points but was soon a piece up and in a strong position. Chris, experienced player that he is, clawed back some ground and, as the endgame progressed, was clearly hoping to salvage at least a draw. But Barry brought that effort to an abrupt end with a checkmate that his opponent hadn’t seen coming.
Philip (outgraded by 20 points) was playing Peter Brennan. At first this was the Dept of NMH (Nothing Much Happening) with both players avoiding risk in a Queen’s Gambit Declined , Slav Exchange. In the middle game the rooks were exchanged and a draw looked on the cards. But then Philip summoned up a mating attack seemingly from nowhere, flagged off by an imaginative knight sacrifice that broke Black’s defences. His game can be viewed here.
Chris was playing Pete Farrell who, at 128, was the highest-graded player of the three opponents. It was a long and demanding game, evenly balanced for most of the time. It finished with a king-and-pawn ending and a deadheat in the race to queen a pawn, at which point a draw was agreed. A game expertly played by Chris against a strong opponent. It can be viewed here.
Congratulations to all three: Barry, Philip and Chris!