Oxford 4NCL

All, these are our results for Round 5:

Our games are available for scrutiny here.

Ox1 secured Division 1 safety, skip reckons, with victory over Atticus A earned by a standard K win and Ben’s win on time in a near-winning position.

Ox2 leapfrog their opponents in the Division 2 Pool D table with a useful win. Caro-Kanner skip was pleased to see the Blackmar-Deimar Gambit decimated by James on top board. Oscar’s win takes him to 4/5 for the season.

Ox3‘s promotion aspirations took a hit as we went down to Downend 2. Chris F extended his winning run to 4, he’s on 4.5/5 for the season, but there was little to cheer elsewhere.

Ox4 were in the metaphorical clubhouse early, winning 3-1 with skip liking Killian’s game.

For the second round running, Ox5‘s juniors earned a 2-2 draw as their older colleagues ran into little tactics mid-game – well done to Jan & Alex. They are both on 4/5 for the season.

All, these are our results for Round 4:

Our games are available for scrutiny here.

Ben’s game was all about stopping nasty sacrifices on g4. Black did eventually throw his knight onto that pyre, but only to save Her Majesty. K’s quirky 20. … Bc1 is worth a second look as Ox1 scored the maximum.

Skip has an odd feeling he saw Oscar win an exchange in a Congress recently with a near-identical Nf5 move attacking Q & Ne7+ fork. Deja vu, if he’s right. It was the only bright spot in a match loss; Nakul may feel better that his blunder didn’t cost Ox2 anything.

Ox3 scored a useful win against top-of-the-table Ashfield Anonymous B: 1800s > 1900s. Guildford Gatekeepers are keeping pace on maximum points but Ox3 are top of the Pool for now.

Ian had the misfortune to run into the oppo 2300 number – “he’s listed in chessboxing, glad this is online” was his verdict. Asif’s Kings Gambit victory was the only bright spot. Skip disliked Graham’s early exchange sac but Graham did achieve a promising-looking endgame. Something went wrong in there, skip knows not what.

Ox5‘s senior pair lost to higher rated oppo but skip was super-pleased with juniors Alex (who scored a nice pawn mate after his opponent risked keeping the queens on with a wide open king) and Jan (who controlled his game very well – almost Oscar-esque).

All, these are our results for Round 3:

Our games are available for scrutiny here.

Before skip was properly settled into game-viewing mode, Edgar had won for Ox2 in ten moves. It seems Black tried to play the Latvian against the Vienna – unsuccessfully. Oscar & Nakul both scored emphatic Black wins – just look at the embarrassed White bishop in Oscar’s game – and James, having pushed for a win, settled for a draw.

In Ox1, Arya’s game was extraordinarly complicated after Black invested a rook. Arya had foreseen it and put up his defence, whereupon a further bishop sac came his way. Both players took ages over moves 24 and 25 while skip’s head hurt trying to figure out the variations. Arya had it all under control and a mini queen-sac brought home the point and the match with his senior colleagues all drawing.

Ian was another quick winner as his opp grabbed a hot pawn on move 10 in the Morra and got his fingers burnt. With Chris E& Asif also winning by five past eight, Ox4 can argue they were top of the division momentarily.

Ox5‘s winning run was halted by Throw In The Tal. Sam won an exchange but lost it back and cashed in a draw, thereby averting a whitewash. Alex & Kev lost but that wasn’t for want of effort or time spent at the board. Skip wrote Jan off around move 40 but he kept it going for a long time, past the 2-hour mark and almost turned his game around. If you play through that one, bear in mind both players were “on increment” from around move 50 and sympathise with Jan, as skip does.

Four match wins out of five is excellent – well done, troops!

All, these are our results for Round 2:

Our games are available for scrutiny here.

Mayhem was to be found in David & Neil’s games, particularly the former. Skip wondered if David was planning to offload both rooks at move 22 (Qxd5 Qxc3 23. Bxc4 Qxa1+ 24. Kc2 Qxh1 25. Bxc5 and maybe mate with those raking bishops?). Ironically just as his bishops got involved, a mate happened at the wrong end of the board. Neil won handsomely, but skip was screaming for … Nxa3 to be played a bit sooner. When it was played, resignation immediately arrived.

Ox2 scored a long-overdue win – it seemed fairly smooth although Edgar’s game featured the exchange being handed back and forth. His pair of knights ultimately proved too strong for White’s rook.

Ox3 and Ox5 both maintained their winning ways – particular kudos to the fifth team who could well have made it 8/8 for the season but Kev became bogged down in a R+P endgame where his opp had enough activity for his pawn minus. Ox4 have three match points from four and are well-placed in the division, Asif making up for last time’s lone draw by scoring our lone win.

All, these are our results for Round 1 (a large pic, I’m afraid – not much to be done about it)

Our games are available for scrutiny here.

Not much commentary from your skip tonight, he’s been busy watching 136 games in total. I would like to say that I’m pleased that our five teams ran smoothly (organisationally) and that we scored three match wins. The second team result looks grim but skip reckons it flatters the Tigers.