The final 4NCL weekend of the 1997-98 season saw both Bristol teams in a precarious position. The first team lay in 11th place out of 12, with three teams due for relegation, while the second team was in 9th place in the second division - no relegation this time, but the bottom three teams would have to apply for reelection next season.
So, desperate times. But the first team did have a surprisingly good chance of pulling clear. We were due to play Northumbria (10th place) and South Wales Dragons (12th) in the final two matches. Our first match was against Invicta Knights - which we would almost certainly lose - but two wins in the other matches would give us a chance of survival. However, Guildford, who we needed to overtake, had turned up with a surprise weapon, GM Danny King.
Division 1 before Round 9
P W D L MP GP MMonarchs 8 7 1 0 15 43.0 Invicta Knights 8 7 0 1 14 41.5 Slough 8 6 0 2 12 39.0 Barbican 8 6 0 2 12 37.5 Richmond 8 5 1 2 11 35.5 Wood Green 8 5 0 3 10 37.0 BCM 8 3 0 5 6 30.0 NWEagles 8 2 1 5 5 30.0 Guildford 8 2 0 6 4 27.0 Northumbria 8 1 2 5 4 19.0 Bristol 8 1 0 7 2 24.0 SWDragons 8 0 1 7 1 20.5The second division position also looked pretty dire. We had four matches to play, and it looked like we could lose all four. Our last three opponents, Simpsons, Barbican 2, and Coulsdon, had all started the season with weak teams; especially Coulsdon, who were bottom of the table. But they all turned up in Birmingham with very strong sides.
Division 2 before Round 9
P W D L MP GP Barbican 2 7 5 1 1 11 35.5 White Rose 7 5 1 1 11 34.0 Simpsons 7 4 2 1 10 32.5 Wessex 7 5 0 2 10 27.0 Witney & Swindon 7 4 0 3 8 28.5 Gwent Dragons 7 3 1 3 7 28.5 Nidum Knights 7 3 1 3 7 24.0 Invicta Knights 2 7 3 0 4 6 27.0 Bristol 2 7 1 2 4 4 26.0 Kings Head 7 2 0 5 4 24.0 Guildford 2 7 1 2 4 4 23.5 Coulsdon & Purley 7 1 0 6 2 22.5
Bristol 1 Invicta Knights 1
1 w S Ansell 2380 0-1 M Sadler 2650
2 b C Beaumont 2335 0-1 J Speelman 2605
3 w G Copeland 2330 0-1 N McDonald 2485
4 b D Collier 2230 ½-½ A Ledger 2460
5 w J Rudd 2165 1-0 A Ivanov 2440
6 b S Buckley 2105 0-1 G Flear 2445
7 w D Buckley 2115 0-1 D Gormally 2415
8 b M Buckley (F) 2010 0-1 C Flear (F) 2240
1½-6½
Other results: Wood Green 5½-2½ Richmond; Midland Monarchs
6½-1½ Barbican 1; Slough 5-3 South Wales Dragons; BCM 6-2
Northumbria Vikings; North West Eagles 3½-4½ Guildford 1.
We could have done without Guildford winning. The bottom of the table now looked like this, with just two matches to go:
P W D L MP GP
Guildford 9 3 0 6 6 31.5
NWEagles 9 2 1 6 5 33.5
Northumbria 9 1 2 6 4 21.0
Bristol 9 1 0 8 2 25.5
SWDragons 9 0 1 8 1 23.5
Meanwhile, the second team were floundering against Gwent Dragons, the one match we thought we had good chances of winning. I threw away a win after saccing a bishop for an attack; my opponent consolidated and I had to resign after (just) reaching the time control. Meanwhile, we had a little luck on the next board when Duncan Grossett won on time. Alex Easton tried like mad to win with a queen against two rooks but had to concede a draw, leaving us 3-4 down.
The only game still going in the whole room was 14 year old Sophie Tidman, playing Gwent's 13 year old Ann Powell. Sophie had bishop and three pawns against knight and two, but it was a very difficult ending. The strong players in the room could not agree whether it was won or drawn, but Sophie kept plugging away and probing. Eventually, she decided on bringing her king round from the king side and down the centre. Sophie forced the win of the knight and, after a total of six and a half hours play, Ann resigned. The spectators were so impressed with both players' guts, stamina and application that, a rare event at chess matches, they broke into spontaneous applause.
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Powell,A - Tidman,S NCL978b Gwent Dragons-Bristol2 (9), 1998 63... b6 64.Na2 Be5 65.Nb4 Bd4 66.Nd3 Bf6 67.Nb4 Bg5 68.Nd5 Bd8 69.Nb4 Kh4 70.Nd5 Kg5 71.Nb4 Kf5 72.Nc2 Ke5 73.Kd3 Kd5 74.Nd4 Bf6 75.Nc2 Kc5 76.Ke4 Bh4 77.Nd4 Kc4 78.Ne2 Bg5 79.Nd4 Kc3 80.Ne2+ Kd2 81.Nd4 e2 0-1 |
Bristol 2 Gwent Dragons
1 w A Easton 187 ½-½ I Jones 2245
2 b A Cooper 182 ½-½ P Varley 2210
3 w E Player * 2115 ½-½ A Borg 2135
4 b S Dilleigh 175 ½-½ L Powell 181
5 w J Richards 2045 0-1 R Miles 2090
6 b D Grossett 164 1-0 D Vaughan 2050
7 w M Sellars 165 0-1 A Walden-Jones 1830
8 b S Tidman (F) 122 1-0 A Powell (F) 1825
4-4
Other division 2 results: Guildford 2 3-5 Kings Head; Simpsons 2½-5½
Witney & Swindon; Wessex 5½-2½ Nidum Knights; Invicta
Knights 2 2½-5½ Coulsdon & Purley; White Rose 2½-5½
Barbican 2.
Despite getting a match point, Kings Head leapt above us to force us into the re-election zone. Bottom of Division 2:
P W D L MP GP Invicta Knights 2 8 3 0 5 6 29.5 Kings Head 8 3 0 5 6 29.5 Bristol 2 8 1 3 4 5 30.0 Coulsdon & Purley 8 2 0 6 4 28.0 Guildford 2 8 1 2 5 4 26.0
They were also ripe for another giant killing! At one point, it looked like David Buckley had a big plus against Mortazavi, and newcomer Ed Player was playing well against Tozer. Duncan Grossett was beating Rita Hennigan and Sophie Tidman stood well in her game, despite some rather boorish behavior by her opponent.
Martyn Sellars had a fine win in just 19 moves to take us into a lead. Just when we were getting very hopeful it all fell apart. David lost, and then Ed fell to a back rank mate in a time scramble. Sophie's position drifted to a draw in time trouble. Duncan brought in a point, but we lost on the top four. Steve Dilleigh did well to draw against Bob Wade, but the final result was a defeat by 5-3.
Bristol 2 Simpsons
1 w S Buckley 2105 0-1 D Norwood 2515
2 b A Easton 187 0-1 M Hennigan 2415
3 w D Buckley 2115 0-1 A Mortazavi 2385
4 b E Player * 2115 0-1 R Tozer 2305
5 w S Dilleigh 175 ½-½ R Wade 2220
6 b D Grossett 164 1-0 R Hennigan (F) 2225
7 w M Sellars 165 1-0 N Chan 177
8 b S Tidman (F) 122 ½-½ Mario Houska 128
3-5
Other results: Invicta Knights 2 4½-3½ Guildford 2; Witney & Swindon 6-2 Nidum Knights; Barbican 2 5-3 Kings Head; Gwent Dragons 4½-3½ White Rose; Wessex 3½-4½ Coulsdon & Purley;
Northumbria Vikings Bristol 1
1 w G Lawton 2350 0-1 S Ansell 2380
2 b D Ledger 2255 0-1 C W Baker 2355
3 w N Pert 2320 ½-½ C Beaumont 2335
4 b R Pert 2235 ½-½ C Cobb 2300
5 w J Richardson 2315 1-0 G Copeland 2330
6 b C Waters 0-1 D Collier 2230
7 w S Ledger 2225 ½-½ J Rudd 2165
8 b L Barnes ½-½ M Buckley (F) 2010
3-5
Other scores: North West Eagles 1-7 Wood Green; Barbican 1 7½-½ South Wales Dragons; Invicta Knights 1 5½-2½ Richmond; Slough 6-2 Guildford 1; B.C.M. 3½-4½ Midland Monarchs.
A side effect of Chris Baker's victory was that he finally achieved a FIDE rating of 2400, which should result in him getting the IM title he has waited for for so long. Unfortunately, it also meant he could not play on the final day in case he lost crucial rating points.
The second team took on the division leaders, Barbican 2. They had an amazing afternoon, with fine wins by Simon Buckley and, yet again, Sophie Tidman, resulting in a 4-4 draw. Sophie, who has a BCF grade of just 122, was playing superbly, and made her win against a player with a FIDE rating of 2050 look easy.
Coleman,D (2240) - Buckley,S (2105) [B70]
NCL978b Barbican2-Bristol2 (1), 1998
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bg5 Bg7 7.Bb5+ Bd7 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 Ng4 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.h3 Qb6 12.hxg4 Bxd4 13.Bd2 Rb8 14.b3 Qc5 15.Qf3 a5 16.Nb1 a4 17.Bh6 axb3 18.axb3 Be6 19.Rd3 Ra8 20.Rhd1 Ra2 21.Nc3 Bxb3 22.Rxd4 Rxc2+ 23.Kb1 Rxc3 24.Rc1 Rxc1+ 25.Bxc1 Qc2+ 0-1
| Kieran,R (2050) - Tidman,S [C02] NCL978b Barbican2-Bristol2 (1), 1998 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 f6 7.0-0 fxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Qc7 10.c4 d4 11.Re1 0-0-0 12.Bf3 Be7 13.Nd2 Nh6 14.a3 g5 15.b4 g4 16.Be4 Nf7 17.bxc5 Nxe5 18.Rb1 Nc6 19.Nb3 e5 20.Bd2 Rdf8 21.Qe2 g3 22.fxg3 Bf5 23.Bh6 Bxe4 24.Qxe4 Rf7 25.Qd3 Bf8 26.Bd2 Qd7 27.Na5 Nxa5 28.Bxa5 Bg7 29.Qe4 Qf5 30.Qe2 Rhf8 31.Rf1 Qxf1+ 32.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 33.Qxf1 Rxf1+ 34.Kxf1 e4 (see diagram) 35.Ke2 Kd7 36.Bd2 Kc6 37.Bb4 Bf8 38.a4 Bxc5 39.Bd2 d3+ 40.Kd1 e3 41.Bc3 e2+ 42.Ke1 Bg1 43.h3 Kc5 44.g4 Kxc4 45.Bd2 Kb3 46.a5 Kc2 47.Bf4 Bd4 0-1 |
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Bristol 2 Barbican 2
1 w A Easton 187 0-1 A Lewis 2290
2 b S Buckley 2105 1-0 D Coleman 2240
3 w D Buckley 2115 ½-½ M Twyble 2205
4 b A Cooper 182 ½-½ D Sands 2255
5 w E Player * 2115 0-1 S Reuben 2230
6 b S Dilleigh 175 ½-½ P Williamson 2160
7 w D Grossett 164 ½-½ D Flower 2075
8 b S Tidman (F) 122 1-0 R Kieran (F) 2050
4-4
Other results: Guildford 2 2½-5½ White Rose;
Kings Head 5-3 Witney & Swindon;
Nidum Knights 3½-4½ Simpsons;
Invicta Knights 2 3½-4½ Wessex;
Gwent Dragons 2-6 Coulsdon & Purley.
Bristol 2 now looked doomed. In the final round we had to play Coulsdon. Coulsdon had been bottom of the table, but they had turned for the final weekend with a very strong side and had won all three matches fairly comfortably.
Division 2 - bottom of the table
P W D L MP GP
Coulsdon & Purley 10 4 0 6 8 38.5
Invicta Knights 2 10 4 0 6 8 37.5
Kings Head 10 4 0 6 8 37.5
Nidum Knights 10 3 1 6 7 32.0
Bristol 2 10 1 4 5 6 37.0
Guildford 2 10 1 2 7 4 32.0
Bottom of Division 1 - After Round 10
P W D L MP GP Guildford 10 3 0 7 6 33.5 NWEagles 10 2 1 7 5 34.5 Bristol 10 2 0 8 4 30.5 Northumbria 10 1 2 7 4 24.0 SWDragons 10 0 1 9 1 24.0
Then, just after I'd gone to bed at midnight there was a knock on the door. Martyn Sellars had brought a message from Reception, saying that Andrew Cooper's car had broken down and he could not make it for the next day. This was a disaster - I was already playing myself, so there were no reserves. Bristol 2 would have to play the very strong Coulsdon with only seven players.
During an unsettled night's sleep, I decided I had one last thing to try. Graeme Buckley had already turned me down once because he was busy trying to finish a book. But he did live nearby in Wolverhampton and perhaps he would consent to play just one game. I phoned him at 9:10 on Monday morning, from a phone in the hotel lounge. Yes!!!! Graeme agreed to come down for the game and play on board three for the first team. This strengthend the whole side and I now had a full second team as well. Little did I know what drama Graeme would bring to the final match.
At the team meeting at 10:30, I gave the squad the bad news first about Andrew Cooper, and then told them the good news! I pointed out that there were all sorts of mathematical calculations about who would go down, but we should ignore them; our sole concern had be to win the match.
The first team came out fighting. Early wins from Alex Easton and Jack Rudd made it look like we were going to do it.
Easton,A (2095) - James,D (2255) [A30]
NCL978 Bristol-SW Dragons (11), 1998
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Rd1 a6 10.b3 Nbd7 11.e4 0-0 12.Ba3 Nc5 13.e5 dxe5 14.Qxd8 Rfxd8 15.Nxe5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Bf8 17.Bxc5 Bxc5 18.Na4 Rdc8 19.b4 Bxb4 20.Nxb6 Bc3 21.Nxc8 Rxc8 22.Nc6 1-0
Zeidler,S (2255) - Rudd,J (2165) [B23]
NCL978 SW Dragons-Bristol (11), 1998
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.f4 Bg7 6.Nf3 d6 7.d3 Nf6 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe1 Rb8 10.b3 Nh5 11.f5 d5 12.g4 dxe4 13.dxe4 Nf6 14.Bf4 Ba6 15.Rd1 Qc8 16.Bxb8 Qxb8 17.g5 Ng4 18.Qd2 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Bxc3 20.Qxc3 Qf4 21.Rd2 Qxe4 22.Re2 Qf4 23.h3 gxf5 24.Kg2 h5 25.Qd2 Qxd2 26.Nxd2 e6 27.hxg4 hxg4 28.Nc4 Rd8 29.Rd2 Rxd2+ 30.Nxd2 Kg7 31.Nc4 Kg6 32.Ne5+ Kxg5 33.Nxc6 f4 34.Ne5 f5 35.Nd3 f3+ 36.Kf2 f4 37.c4 Kf5 38.Nxc5 e5 39.b4 e4 40.Nb3 e3+ 41.Kf1 g3 42.Nd4+ Ke4 43.Nc2 f2 0-1
Just when everything looked like it was going well, Chris Beaumont lost on time. It then became the most tense match I have ever been involved in. The 4NCL Web site report describes it well: "This might have been a relegation struggle, but to judge from the number of spectators, it was the match of the round! Bristol went two up but then John Cooper's fine win put the Dragons back in the hunt and spectators were spellbound by the do-or-die battles in progress on boards 3 and 4. Dyce-Buckley went to 138 moves(!) but the Bristol player's amazing effort to get the point despite horrific time trouble just failed to materialise. This left Dave Collier fighting to stave off what looked like a likely defeat against Charles Morris and get Bristol the vital two points they needed to draw level with Guildford on match points. Despite having to give up a piece he displayed incredible brinkmanship to hold on for a draw at which our attention turned to the last game to finish in the Guildford-BCM match ..."
In fact, Graeme Buckley's time trouble was so bad that he played 61 moves in his last five minutes! When Graeme took the half point, David's position looked dire:
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Collier,D (2230) - Morris,C (2245) NCL978 Bristol-SW Dragons (11), 1998 56.a5 Rh6 Now White has to give up the knight. 57.Ra1 Rd6+ 58.Kc3 Kxe2 59.a6 Nd5+ 60.Kd4 Nc7+ 61.Ke5 Rg6 62.Kf5 Rg8 63.Kf4 g3 64.Ra2+ Ke1 65.Kf3 g2 ½-½ |
South Wales Dragons Bristol 1
1 w D Cummings 2385 ½-½ S Ansell 2380
2 b J Cooper 2335 1-0 C Beaumont 2335
3 w A Dyce 2230 ½-½ G Buckley 2315
4 b C Morris 2245 ½-½ D Collier 2230
5 w S Zeidler 2255 0-1 J Rudd 2165
6 b D James 2255 0-1 A Easton 182
7 w J Saunders 2225 ½-½ S Buckley 2105
8 b A Cast (F) 2120 ½-½ M Buckley (F) 2010
3½-4½
The reason for moving to the Guildford match was that Bristol and Guildford were now level on match points. Guildford were 6-1 down to B.C.M., but if they won the last game, they would stay up as they would have half a game point more than Bristol. A draw would see Guildford relegated as, although level with Bristol on both match and game points, they had lost to Bristol by 5-3 earlier in the season. As Jack Rudd pointed out, it was a good job we had not won by just 4½-3½, as we would then not tie on game points.
Guildford were hopeful as Richard Webb had good winning chances against Tim Wall, but then (as the Web site reported):
"... suddenly Richard's advantage had begun to fade. Finally it came down to R+K v N+K. He tried for a while (during which his opponent's face was a picture of dejection - or was it battle fatigue?), then looked up in despair at his colleagues. They shrugged their shoulders. Richard finally accepted the inevitable and agreed a draw. Guildford and Bristol were dead level on both match and game points; but the next tie break to apply was the result of their individual match earlier in the season. Bristol had won it 5-3, so Guildford were relegated and Bristol lived to fight again. Anyone who thinks watching chess matches is boring should have been there between 4pm and 6pm - it was riveting!"
So riveting in fact that I could not watch and retreated to the bar. I had been the last one to finish in the second team match; which turned out to be one of the biggest upsets of the season. Once again, Duncan Grossett and Sophie Tidman turned in star performances.
Coulsdon & Purley Bristol 2
1 w C Dunworth 2310 1-0 E Player * 2115
2 b A Harley 2305 ½-½ C Jones 190
3 w D Rosen 2225 ½-½ D Buckley 2115
4 b G Moore 2215 0-1 S Dilleigh 175
5 w D Gunter 2185 ½-½ J Richards 2045
6 b R DeCoverly 2090 0-1 D Grossett 164
7 w J McGrath 184 ½-½ M Sellars 165
8 b S Turvey (F) 119 0-1 S Tidman (F) 122
3-5
The 4NCL Web site reported: "Like first team, like second team - Bristol teams really know how to turn a chess match into melodrama. All we need is Andrew Lloyd-Webber writing the music and we'd have a hit musical on our hands (damn, just remembered, it's already been done, hasn't it?). This was another desperate, skin-of-the-teeth effort, and this time a face-to-face battle between the two interested parties. Bristol had to win by 5-3; 4½-3½ wouldn't have been good enough. In the end, despite outgrading their opponents comfortably, Coulsdon found that their final weekend campaign to escape the ignominy of having to seek re-election had all been in vain. Appropriately it was left to Bristol manager John Richards to offer the draw that kept his team's guaranteed place in the 4NCL. Well done, Houdini, and commiserations to Coulsdon & Purley."
Other results: Guildford 2 1-7 Witney & Swindon; Nidum Knights 3½-4½ White Rose; Kings Head 4-4 Invicta Knights 2; Simpsons 6-2 Gwent Dragons; Barbican 2 3-5 Wessex.
Division 1 - Final Table
P W D L MP GP MMonarchs 11 10 1 0 21 60.0 Invicta Knights 11 9 0 2 18 57.0 Slough 11 9 0 2 18 54.5 Wood Green 11 8 0 3 16 54.0 Barbican 11 7 0 4 14 50.0 Richmond 11 5 1 5 11 43.0 BCM 11 5 0 6 10 46.0 NW Eagles 11 3 1 7 7 40.0 Bristol 11 3 0 8 6 35.0 Guildford 11 3 0 8 6 35.0 Northumbria 11 1 2 8 4 26.0 SWDragons 11 0 1 10 1 27.5
Division 2 - Final Table
P W D L MP GP
Barbican 2 11 7 2 2 16 53.0
Simpsons 11 7 2 2 16 51.5
Wessex 11 8 0 3 16 45.5
White Rose 11 7 1 3 15 50.0
Witney & Swindon 11 7 0 4 14 50.0
Gwent Dragons 11 4 2 5 10 41.0
Invicta Knights 2 11 4 1 6 9 41.5
Kings Head 11 4 1 6 9 41.5
Bristol 2 11 2 4 5 8 42.0
Coulsdon & Purley 11 4 0 7 8 41.5
Nidum Knights 11 3 1 7 7 35.5
Guildford 2 11 1 2 8 4 33.0
Match results for 1997/8 were:
| Date | Venue | Bristol 1 Opponents | Result | Bristol 2 Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 25-26 | Telford |
Wood Green Guildford |
L 3-5 W 5-3 |
Barbican 2 Wessex |
postponed W 6-2 |
| Nov 22-23 | Kenilworth |
Richmond NW Eagles |
L 3-5 L 2½-5½ |
Invicta Kts 2 Guildford 2 |
L 3½-4½ D 4-4 |
| Jan 24-25 | Birmingham |
BCM Slough |
L 3-5 L 3-5 |
White Rose Witney & Swindon |
D 4-4 L 3½-4½ |
| Mar 21-22 | Birmingham |
M Monarchs Barbican |
L 3-5 L 1½-6½ |
Nidum Kts King's Head |
L 3-5 L 3-5 |
| May 23-25 | Birmingham |
Invicta Kts Northumbria S Wales Drgns |
L 1½-6½ W 5-3 W 4½-3½ |
Gwent Drgns Simpsons Barbican 2 Coulsdon & Purley |
D 4-4 L 3-5 D 4-4 W 5-3 |
4NCL Pages
Rounds 7 and 8
Rounds 5 and 6
Rounds 3 and 4
Rounds 1 and 2
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