Our very first division one game away to Aigburth ended in narrow 4-3 defeat, but could hardly be considered disheartening. If anything, it served as timely (and it doesn't get more timely than immediate) notice that better is both possible and required of us. My somewhat partisan report:
Board 1: R. Williamson (JL) (2213) vs. I. Campbell (Aigburth) (1953) 1-0
In the eternal struggle of man vs. the Modern defence, the latest battle saw yet another early deviation that, nevertheless, still resulted in a standard King's Indian/Benoni-type middlegame. Ian had problems trying to activate his bishop on c8, whereas I had to be alert to the danger of black trading pieces and relieving his space disadvantage. Reciprocal mistakes ensued, but white's slight advantage out of the opening told relatively early on.
Board 2: S. Lee (Aigburth) (1927) vs. J. Kumar (JL) (1921) 0.5-0.5
White isolated queen's pawns. What are they good for? White kingside aggression, the books say. That is of course true at a higher level. At our level, however, uncommon skill is required of the owner of the IQP in order to bear this out. Here, Steve offered an unfavourable trade of knights where he should have been maneuvering to attack. A Nakamuraesque ...f5 by Jamie then saw black seize the initiative. Post-mortem, the engine found a quickish win for black in response to a more reflexive f4 by Steve. Regrettably, in the living world, this opportunity having escaped, Jamie would go on to offer a slightly mysterious draw with approximately three minutes left each and many pieces remaining on the board. I say slightly mysterious, because I fancied our man to win from the final position!
Board 3: J. Lee (JL) (1764) vs. B. Kane (Aigburth) (1842) 0-1
Our captain looked as if he was going to win in the opening. Jordan had nicely rigged a French Tarrasch position for demolition, only to depress the plunger too soon with a premature sacrifice on c4. After a few necessarily precise moves from Brendan, Jordan was left buried under his own tumbling pieces.
Board 4: D. Pearcey (Aigburth) (1824) vs. J. Ormrod (JL) (-) 1-0
This one also got away from us. If white's position out of the opening is book, then call for the state censor, because some books belong under lock and key. An apparently standard black gambit vs. the Bird saw Dave's king stranded in the middle of the board and his a1 rook shut out of the game. Alas, punishing this proved easier said than done. Joe made one of those mistakes presumably the product of both rustiness and that feeling of invulnerability that accompanies the gain of a quick advantage. Dave pounced. And, despite a little technical wobble or two, converted.
Board 5: R. Frith (JL) (-) vs. D. Eisen (Aigburth) (1807) 0.5-0.5
A standard treatment of the Benko Gambit led to a late middlegame of remarkable complexity. The draw seemed a fair outcome, as, on closer examination on the slab, there wouldn't have been enough time in the world for either side to play the resulting endgame with any degree of accuracy. At one point, very briefly, white looked better, but that's as far as it went. Shall we say that black probably missed more chances than white, but that the draw didn't just feel fair, but also somewhat inevitable?
Board 6: B. Dineen (Aigburth) (1734) vs. S. Hanlon (JL) (1722) 0-1
Another isolated queen's pawn for white that very quickly turned in black's favour. Shay got a decent grip on the position after Bhincent neglected to push his d-pawn on to d5. Black having freedom for his pieces meant that white had the freedom to misplace his. Shay won the d-pawn and an exchange, but started to feel the pressure that comes with a material advantage in a technical endgame. An illegal move followed. Fortunately, the time it took the home team to reset the clock for the two-minute time penalty incurred, coupled with the respite of the penalty itself, allowed Shay to settle his nerves and get the job done. The high point of our evening.
Board 7: B. Gannon (JL) (1415) vs. A. Tamboi (Aigburth) (1597) 0-1
I missed much of this one. By the time it had my full attention Ben was a pawn down but with a very active rook in a rook and pawn ending. Upon closer examination, I don't think he had anything better than a draw. Sadly (the exhaustion of synonyms for 'tragically' is complete) for us, Andre managed to free his position and win, adding yet another what-might-of-been to a list of near misses.