WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE” Round 5 report!
WORLD CHESS LEAGUE “LIVE”
Time-Control – 10 minutes + 5 seconds (Two matches each player)
Round 5 – Sunday 22nd January 23
Dundee City B 7 – 3 Fiji Chess Federation Rapid Team (9.03am)
We were expecting 4 boards, but we had two players standing by just in case Fiji had more players available. They did and with about 5 minutes before kick-off they had 6 players, so Dundee City B matched them, only for one Fiji player to pull out at the last second (have no idea why?), leaving one of our regular players (Ray Flood) without a game! Instead the stand by player (Ray Noble) got the game as he was not bottom board.
Team average grading wise Dundee City B had the edge by 231 points (1740 – 1509), but board wise the top 3 boards were close, with the bottom two boards favouring Dundee City B!
Congratulations to all Dundee City B players for winning this match which was a lot closer than the score-line suggests. At one point it could have gone either way but for our players holding their nerve under severe pressure from the Fiji players.
Alan Borwell on board one did well to get a half point as his opponent was on fire (metaphorically speaking!)! Rishi Vijatakumar J11 on board two was ruthless to say the least, even cut throat, to win 2 – 0.
James Anderson on board 4 fell into a draw in game one, but out manoeuvred his opponent in the latter stages of his second game to take a very important point for the team!
Ray Noble probably had the easier of the games and won his first game quickly after a blunder from his opponent. His opponent rallied in the 2nd game and even went a pawn up after an error from Ray. It was not looking good for a while as his opponent seemed to find inspiration after that, only to go pawn grabbing at the end and fall for a mating net, and Ray Noble is not one to refuse a gift like that, 2 – 0, Ray. Phew!
The finish of the match was a great little mate by Graham Mooney under extreme pressure; it was a beauty and deserving of the win!
Commiserations to our Fiji opponents who left nothing on the board trying for that win and made us work hard to get over the winning line! It seems the Republic of Fiji, famed for their rugby and hospitality can also play chess to a high level. Imagine playing chess in the South Pacific with coral reefs and clear lagoons as your back drop? Mmm…Sounds like heaven!
Good luck to Fiji in the next round and let’s hope we can build on this win in round six! Well played everybody!
Cuba live Chess Team (2141) 2½ – 5½ (2204) Dundee City B (8.03pm)
This was a tough match with noting between the teams grading wise. Four boards were in play with 7 of the players graded over 2000+, including one IM, Richard Polaczek for Dundee City A!
While grading wise there was nothing between them, I got the impression that our players had more experience at this level.
On board one, Richard Polacezk IM got 1½ points, while Andrew Wright on board two kept everything steady with two draws.
David Findlay shared the points one each, but Ed Spencer on board 4 was inspired and took the double, winning 2 – 0!
What looked like being a close match, turned out okay in the end for Dundee City A and its players who all played their part!
The Republic of Cuba was the birth place of arguably one of the greatest Chess world champions ever, Jose Raul Capablanca from 1921 to 1927. Indeed he never lost a single game of chess from 1916 to 1924, and at the time, was considered invincible!
Thankfully the Cuba live Chess team were not invincible!
We wish them well in their next round match and hopefully Dundee City A can continue winning in the next round!
Cannot ask for more with both Dundee City teams winning their round 5 matches! I cannot give you more of an update as the official website is not working at the moment, but as soon as it is I will up date link!