WARWICKSHIRE
HOME (BCF SEMI-FINAL)
WANSTEAD HOUSE
5 JUNE 1999
| ESSEX | WARWICKSHIRE | ||||||
| Board | Colour | Home team | Grade | Score | Away team | Grade | Score |
| 1 | W | Tim Hebbes | 174 | ½ | Alan Lloyd | 174 | ½ |
| 2 | B | Rod Nixon | 170 | 1 | David Garner | 174 | 0 |
| 3 | W | Ivor Smith | 173 | 1 | Martin Smyth | 172 | 0 |
| 4 | B | Bill Saunders | 171 | 0 | Colin Green | 164 | 1 |
| 5 | W | George McNally | 172 | ½ | Keith Thomas | 162 | ½ |
| 6 | B | David Millward | 169 | 0 | David Kearney | 161 | 1 |
| 7 | W | Ian Hunnable | 166 | ½ | Ed Goodwin | 161 | ½ |
| 8 | B | Peter Doye | 166 | ½ | Andrew Price | 160 | ½ |
| 9 | W | Dave Pearse | 163 | 1 | David Thomas | 160 | 0 |
| 10 | B | Lawrence Trent | 151 | 1 | Ron Drury | 0 | |
| 11 | W | Paul Barclay | 165 | ½ | Ian Fisher | 160 | ½ |
| 12 | B | Roy Heppinstall | 162 | ½ | Ed Lee | 159 | ½ |
| 13 | W | Neville Twitchell | 162 | 0 | Karl Forman | 157 | 1 |
| 14 | B | John White | 161 | 1 | Default | 0 | |
| 15 | W | Les Crane | 159 | ½ | Robert Wallman | 153 | ½ |
| 16 | B | Colin Ramage | 153 | 1 | Lee Collier | 152 | 0 |
| TOTAL - Home | 9½ | TOTAL - Away | 6½ | ||||
Another extremely tense afternoon of fluctuating fortunes. Warwickshire surprisingly agreed to travel to Wanstead House instead of insisting on a neutral venue and were handicapped by the failure of their Board 14 to arrive. Essex were ahead for most of the afternoon, but after David Millward and Neville Twitchell (after being two pawns up) both lost and George McNally had to settle for a draw after coming close to winning the ending, Warwickshire managed to level the match at 6½ - 6½ with board count clearly in their favour. Then within seconds Essex recorded wins in two of the remaining games ti wrap up the match. One of these points had long seemed secure as Rod Nixon, in what proved to be his last game for the team (he is now living in and playing for Oxfordshire) continued his outstanding form by outplaying his opponent with the Caro-Kann defence, offering a n interesting long term pawn sacrifice in the opening and keeping control of the position throughout. However, Lawrence Trent's game against the now late Ron Drury saw both players make mistakes in the ending after Lawrence had declined an earlier draw offer. It was with considerable relief to the home contingent that it was the Warwickshire player who made the final mistake in a position that he might otherwise have won. Ivor Smith's subsequent win made the margin of victory seem more comfortable than it really was.
David Garner v Rod Nixon
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 Nc6 5.Bb5 e6 6.Be3 Nge7 7.c3 Nf5 8.Bd4 Qg5 [provoking a weakness which will be important later on] 9.g3 Bd7 10.Nf3 Qg4 11.h3 Qe4+ 12.Be2 Nfxd4 13.cxd4 Be7 1 4.Qd2 f6 15.Nc3 Qg6 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.h4 0\endash 0 18.0\endash 0 Rad8 19.Rae1? [boxing the other rook in, and making it vulnerable to an attack from a bishop on h3 should Black get round to playing ...e5] 19...Bc8 20.Bd3 Qh5 21.Qe2 Qf7 22.Nb5 [22.Ne5 was White's best try] 22...Be7 23.Ng5 Bxg5 24.hxg5 a6 25.g6 Qf6 26.gxh7+ Kh8 27.Nd6 Nxd4 28.Qe3 Nf3+ 29.Kg2 Nxe1+ 30.Rxe1 e5 31.f4 exf4 32.Qe7 Qxb2+ 33.Re2 f3+ 34.Kh2 Qf6 [of course not 34...fxe2?? 35.Nf7+ Rxf7 36.Qxd8+ mates] 35.Qxf6 Rxf6 36.Re7 Rdf8 37.Nxc8 Rxc8 38.Rxb7 f2 39.Kg2 f1=Q+ 40.Bxf1 Kxh7 and Black had no difficulty winning the ending.
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