Stoneham D v University B - 3 March 2003

For this match which was switched to Eastleigh Railway Institute I was able to field probably my strongest lineup of the season.

I thought I was tempting fate in my last report by saying that we drew first blood in six matches out of seven. The first match to finish was that involving Keven Lamb who agreed a draw in a game which although even was fairly open. On board 5 Jeff Langran never recovered from being a piece down in the opening and so on this occasion it was the opponents who drew first blood.

When Graham won after his French opponent resigned when faced with the possibility of going into an endgame two pawns down.

The top two boards were both very interesting games. Sam Murphy played an excellent combination which won his opponents queen for a rook and knight as well as exposing his king. However just as he appeared to have victory in his sights he lost a further rook and the game was eventually lost. Dudley Clark lost a piece early on, but kept the pressure on throughout the game and after a long struggle he was just able to achieve the breakthrough to ensure a drawn match.

The result leaves Stoneham Park D in midtable with a record of 3-2-3-20-20 and University C sweating on what happens between Eastleigh (WMC) and Winchester C to know if they have won the league.

The quality of the chess was as good as I have seen in the division this season.

Malcolm Clarke - Stoneham Chess Club