Crowborough v Uckfield 1

A mixed night for our First Team, ending in a draw overall.

Chaski seemed to have some advantage from the opening, his opponent having doubled e-pawns.  However it was hard to actually make inroads and after a long period of manoeuvring the game was agreed drawn

Arran on Board 2 looked to have an equal position but it quickly resolved into a pawn endgame while I was busy elsewhere, which couldn't be held because his opponent had a passed pawn that kept Arran's king busy while his king penetrated.  I'm sure there was more to it than that.

Mark on Board 3 was basically lost but sacrificed a knight in order to create a bit of uncertainty, in the hope that something would come of it.  My opponent reacted in the wrong way and needed to bail out into a (lost) R+B v Q ending, but didn't realise the alternative was a forced checkmate.  So finally a win, hardly deserved but gratefully received.

Benedict on Board 5 played a wild and aggressive game, an Evans Gambit with h4.  This ended up being a liability, not because it lost but because it allowed his opponent to open the h-file, requiring a lot of time to counter the mating threats.  When the dust settled his opponent used that time to create a passed a-pawn which decided the game.

Michael on Board 4 continued his excellent form, playing our old friend Chris Dunn.  Michael took  charge of the open d-file, allowing him to win a bishop and setting all sorts of problems.  Chris was down to a few seconds on the clock, made a move and Michael calmly played the winning moves in a forced checkmate.  Another excellent game.

So a mixed evening ending in a tie, which was probably fair overall.