2 January 2019
Team B was our only team playing tonight. They were massively outgraded by a strong Pudsey team – as apparent below:
| Limewood B | Pudsey A | |
| Grade range | 126 – 138 | 154 – 184 |
| Average grade | 132 | 167 |
Readers with a mathematical turn of mind will instantly spot that Pudsey’s bottom board was more highly graded than our top board.
Pudsey might well have expected an easy set of victories and an early night. If so, they were wrong. Team B fought them every inch of the way with 3 games extending well into the last-gasp saloon.
In the end the scale of the grade deficit could not be overcome but Team B’s tenacity and determination made Pudsey work exceedingly hard for their win. The final scoreline of 4½ : ½ doesn’t do justice to the quality of their play.
Chris Tatham overcame a grade difference of 28 to secure a draw – our only score of the evening. But arguably the most thrilling game was that of John Grasham at board 4. John was playing his very first game for Limewood and put up a terrific performance against a 158-grader, pushing it to a nailbiting finish. For a while it looked as though he might bring something away but he couldn’t quite manage it.
Forget the scoreline – the team did us proud: Paul Anderson, Herbert Lockwood, Bob Maltby, John Grasham and Chris Tatham.
New members: As well as John Grasham, another new member was present tonight: Matthew Harris who was playing casual chess against various opponents. Welcome to both of them!