Somerset Division 3 East: Frome vs Trowbridge

Somerset Division 3 (East) got rolling tonight (19th October 2010) as Frome welcomed an experienced Trowbridge squad propped up by relative newcomer Louis Burton on board 4, who was paired against youngster Rhys White.

Frome	Grade	Grade	Trowbridge
White, Mike	ung	126	Ludlow, Roy
Jones, Nick	94	116	Davis, Adrian
Nicholls, John	92	84	Crucefix, Nigel
White, Rhys	40	70	Burton, A Louis

Board 4 had all the action, starting with a well-played Closed Sicilian opening. Louis set up a Dragon formation, but White responded by (also) fianchettoing kingside. After this solid opening set-up the game quickly became tactical with White winning the exchange and a pawn with a knight fork. However Louis fought back and his opponent committed a mistake in return dropping a bishop. In the resultant endgame Black was very comfortable and won with nearly an hour to spare.

Roy Ludlow won a pawn in the middlegame. After some exchanges more of Black's pawns disappeared to leave White with an overwhelming advantage in a King and pawn ending.

Frome 1 - 3 Trowbridge

Board	White	Result	Black
1	Ludlow, Roy	1-0	White, Mike
2	Jones, Nick	½-½	Davis, Adrian
3	Crucefix, Nigel	½-½	Nicholls, John
4	White, Rhys	0-1	Burton, A Louis

Somerset Division 2 East: Frome vs Norton/Radstock

The opening Division 2 match was contested last night (12th October 2010) as Frome played host to an under-strength Norton Radstock team. On paper Frome were clear favourites to win on the top 4 boards.

Frome	Grade	Grade	Norton Radstock
Purry, Chris	169	147	Humphreys, Paul
Jepps, Gerry	162	123	Cooper, Graham
Leonard, Mark	152	119	Cook, Stephen G
Paine, Kevin	139	106	Horne, Peter
Fisher, John	118	95	Parish, Graham
White, Mike	ung	82	Cooper, Catherine

On the night, however, it was a different story. Although Gerry Jepps won quickly, both Paul Humphreys and Peter Horne punched above their weight to turn the tables. Stephen Cook put up stiff resistance but eventually succumbed to lose a king and pawn ending. So the fixture was decided on boards 5 and 6:

Frome 3½ - 2½ Norton/Radstock

Board	White	Result	Black
1	Humphreys, Paul	1-0	Purry, Chris
2	Jepps, Gerry	1-0	Cooper, Graham
3	Cook, Stephen G	0-1	Leonard, Mark
4	Paine, Kevin	0-1	Horne, Peter
5	Parish, Graham	½-½	Fisher, John
6	White, Mike	1-0	Cooper, Catherine

Wiltshire League Fixtures 2010-11

Wiltshire 4-a-side

Day	Date	Home	Result	Away
Thu	21 October	Trowbridge	3-1	Swindon
Thu	25 November	Nationwide		Trowbridge
Thu	9 December	Trowbridge		Brown Jack
Thu	20 January 2011	Swindon		Trowbridge
Thu	10 February 2011	Trowbridge		Nationwide
Mon	28 March 2011	Brown Jack		Trowbridge

Wiltshire Minor
In this league no player graded over 148 is eligible. Swindon have entered two teams.

Day	Date	Home	Result	Away
Tue	12 October	Westinghouse	2.5 - 1.5	Trowbridge
Mon	25 October	Brown Jack	1.5 - 2.5	Trowbridge
Thu	4 November	Trowbridge		Swindon A
Thu	2 December	Trowbridge		Swindon B
Thu	27 January 2011	Trowbridge		Brown Jack
Thu	3 February 2011	Swindon A		Trowbridge
Thu	24 February 2011	Trowbridge		Westinghouse
Thu	24 March 2011	Swindon B		Trowbridge

Mark Leonard vs Roy Ludlow (2010.09.30)

Spot the tactic #0. White to play and win.

Move 28 will be played and you have 5 minutes left to reach the first time control (move 35). I had missed a number of ways to win up until this point, but I am very pleased to have found a nice continuation here.