NATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2002/3
In the second season of the new grading limits, entries in the National Club Major have picked up considerably and the Club found themeselves one of 28 entrants. The Committee agreed that two teams could be entered in the Handicap Rapidplay, where we are defending champions.
MAJOR.
Round 1 - 8 December 2002
The originally drawn fixture of Milton Keynes away was replaced by a pairing with Metropolitan B after the controller admitted some late entrants to the competition. Although we were still technically the away team, the match was switched to Wanstead House because of Metropolitan's venue difficulties. When the match got under way, Julian Winkworth played out a solid draw with Peter Doye, who had been his team mate the previous day in the Essex U175 victory against Middlesex. Larry Marden soon established a winning advantage of two minor pieces and two pawns for a rook on top board. But, with boards 3 and 4 both looking hopeless, your webmaster was faced with the prospect of winning a dead drawn ending of bishop and four pawns against knight and four pawns to salvage the match. However, Terry Whitton brought off a swindle to win in his opponent's time trouble and with the match now at worst secured on board count I was able to agree a draw in my game.
| METROPOLITAN B | WANSTEAD | ||||||
| Board | Colour | Home team | Grade | Score | Away team | Grade | Score |
| 1 | B | G Dickson | 177 | 0 | Larry Marden | 173 | 1 |
| 2 | W | Peter Doye | 164 | ½ | Julian Winkworth | 170 | ½ |
| 3 | B | Noel Stewart | 144 | 1 | Steve Gilmour | 162 | 0 |
| 4 | W | Collins Young | 133 | 0 | Terry Whitton | 151 | 1 |
| 5 | B | Peter Szabo | 129 | ½ | John Philpott | 142 | ½ |
| TOTAL - Home | 2 | TOTAL - Away | 3 | ||||
Round 2 - 9 February 2003
Wanstead had a very big advantage on paper, and the result looks extremely convincing, but the afternoon was much closer than this suggests. Ian Hunnable won on time after losing his queen, while Graham Brown contested a double edged king's gambit on Board 2 that could easily have gone the other way.
| WANSTEAD | TUNBRIDGE WELLS | ||||||
| Board | Colour | Home team | Grade | Score | Away team | Grade | Score |
| 1 | W | Li Wu | 187 | ½ | John Fagg | 148 | ½ |
| 2 | B | Larry Marden | 173 | 1 | H Trevor Jones | 147 | 0 |
| 3 | W | Ian Hunnable | 156 | 1 | Russell Goodfellow | 142 | 0 |
| 4 | B | Paul Barclay | 147 | 1 | David Hancock | 136 | 0 |
| 5 | W | Graham Brown | 136 | 1 | Richard Haddrell | 132 | 0 |
| TOTAL - Home | 4½ | TOTAL - Away | ½ | ||||
Graham Brown v Richard Haddrell
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.d4 g5 6.h4 g4 7.Ng5 Nh6 8.Bxf4 Bg7 9.c3 0-0 10.0-0 Ne7 11.Nd2 Ng6 12.g3 Bd7 13.Qb3 b5 14.Bd5 Rb8 15.e5 dxe5 16.Bxe5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nf5 18.Nxf7 Qe7 19.Nh6+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Rxf7 21.Bxf7 Qxe5 22.c4 Nxg3 23.Rae1 Qc5+ 24.Rf2 Bd4 25.Qxg3 bxc4 26.Nxc4 Bb5 27.b3 Rf8 28.Ne3 Qe7 29.Bc4 Rf3 30.Rxf3 gxf3 31.Qg8# 1-0
Round 3 - 29 March 2003
A long trip to Wroughton in Wiltshire (near Swindon) ensued to take on a Brown Jack team that had wom both their previous matches on board count. The match strategy was to neutralise Brown Jack's strong top two boards and to shade the remaining three boards. For a long time it looked possible that all five games might end in draws, necessitating an instant rapidplay rematch. However, Paul Barclay won after the Brown Jack captain went on the attack when seriously short of time, and Li Wu and Larry Marden drew the long games to see Wanstead through to the semi-final.
| BROWN JACK B | WANSTEAD | ||||||
| Board | Colour | Home team | Grade | Score | Away team | Grade | Score |
| 1 | W | Tim Headlong | 191 | ½ | Li Wu | 187 | ½ |
| 2 | B | Richard Haydon | 187 | ½ | Larry Marden | 173 | ½ |
| 3 | W | David Tomboline | 150 | ½ | Ian Hunnable | 156 | ½ |
| 4 | B | Fenella Headlong | 134 | 0 | Paul Barclay | 147 | 1 |
| 5 | W | Daniel Hall | 130 | ½ | Mark Murrell | 120 | ½ |
| TOTAL - Home | 2 | TOTAL - Away | 3 | ||||
Paul Barclay v Fenella Headlong
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Nbd2 0-0 10.a3 Ba5 11.0-0 Bg4 12.Be2 f6 13.h3 Be6 14.Bd3 Ng5 15.Nxg5 fxg5 16.Qh5 Bf5 17.Bxf5 Rxf5 18.Nb3 Bb6 19.Be3 g6 20.Qe2 Qe7 21.Rad1 Rd8 22.Rc1 a6 23.Rfd1 Nxe5 24.dxe5 Rxe5 25.Nd4 Re4 26.Qd3 Bxd4 27.Bxd4 c6 28.b4 Re8 29.Be3 g4 30.hxg4 Rxg4 31.g3 h5 32.Bc5 Qh4 33.Kg2 Qg5 34.Re1 Ree4 35.Rcd1 h4 36.Rxe4 Rxe4 37.Qf3 hxg3 38.Qf8+ Kh7 39.Rh1+ Rh4 (time)1-0
Semi-final - 1 June 2003
| WANSTEAD | LICHFIELD | ||||||
| Board | Colour | Home team | Grade | Score | Away team | Grade | Score |
| 1 | B | Li Wu | 187 | 1 | Ralph Allen | 179 | 0 |
| 2 | W | Larry Marden | 173 | ½ | Carl Hibbard | 168 | ½ |
| 3 | B | Ian Hunnable | 156 | 0 | Peter Collins | 167 | 1 |
| 4 | W | Paul Barclay | 147 | 1 | Andy Grant | 130 | 0 |
| 5 | B | Graham Brown | 136 | 0 | Sandy Wilson | 128 | 1 |
| TOTAL - Home | 2½ | TOTAL - Away | 2½ | ||||
This match was played at a neutral venue in Aylesbury, alongside the Aylesbury v The Holt Major Plate semi-final. Li Wu made admirable use of the Black pieces, penetrating with his rooks to the 7th and 8th ranks, and severely inconveniencing his opponent who had not yet managed to develop his queen bishop or move his d pawn. This win on board 1 gave Wanstead's board count prospects a real boost and more than made up for the loss on board 5, where Graham Brown had gone astray early and lost a piece in a bout of tactics from which he could not recover. Larry Marden had a messy game and although he reached the ending a pawn up, could not make it count. Paul Barclay essayed the 2 d3 variation against the Caro Kann, as played (at least once) by Fischer, but struggled to remember the analysis and was soon getting the worse of the position. He stuck at it though and eventually Black went astray, allowing Paul two extra pawns in a R & P ending which Paul duly converted; this point effectively won the match and rendered Ian Hunnable's loss in the last game to finish academic.
Final - 29 June 2003
| WANSTEAD | BASINGSTOKE JUNIORS | ||||||
| Board | Colour | Home team | Grade | Score | Away team | Grade | Score |
| 1 | B | Li Wu | 187 | ½ | Sam Williams | 171 | ½ |
| 2 | W | Larry Marden | 173 | 0 | Matthew Harborne | 165 | 1 |
| 3 | B | Ian Hunnable | 156 | 0 | Oliver Payne | 163 | 1 |
| 4 | W | Paul Barclay | 147 | ½ | Peter Roberson | 149 | ½ |
| 5 | B | Graham Brown | 136 | 0 | Oliver Coddington | 147 | 1 |
| TOTAL - Home | 1 | TOTAL - Away | 4 | ||||
Just as in 2001 against Aylesbury, home advantage at Wanstead Library counted for nothing as the club were comprehensively beaten by Basingstoke Juniors, who by this stage of the season were almost certainly much stronger than their published grades suggested. Wanstead lost the first three games to finish, although Larry Marden missed a win in his game. Paul Barclay then averted the whitewash by achieving perpetual check after being a pawn down and Li Wu played almost the full 5 hour session before being forced to settle for a draw. Still, it is always a privilege to participate in a National Final, and this was a good day's chess, culminating in a prizegiving by Tony Banks at which the consolation for Wanstead was the announcement that Ian Hunnable was the first winner of the BCF website of the year award for www.essexchess.org.uk
HANDICAP RAPIDPLAY
This took place on 27 April in Kettering.