Friday, May 15, 2015

Brighton and Hove win Knock Out final

A grading difference of 62 meant we needed 2½ to win the match (a drawn outcome is not possible in the KO, any more than unfinished games). Knock out matches usually go to the stronger team, in spite of the grading handicap - this year's results bear this out with only one upset in seven games. So 62 grading points - we were expecting more - was still enough to wipe us out. Most of the difference was on board one where Callum took on Feliks as black with a board difference of 43. Feliks was already struggling and two pawns down when the snatch of a particularly poisoned pawn led him into a trap and his queen was cornered. Robin narrowly lost a tricky and time-pressured ending on board two with a 20 point difference. Paul S. drew on board three, Michael H. lost on four and Jan won on five. We had 2½. A great result for Callum who is fast becoming one of our strongest players.


Congratulations and thanks to everyone who's played in the KO this year. As well as last night's team that's Michael C., Terry, Rob, Mustapha and Seb (and me).

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PS The results posted below from the MSCL website use last year's grades which makes the grading difference 74 (with 49 on board one), whereas the results form is preset using the January grades. Rule changes to clarify this are apparently being sought at the MSCL AGM.

14 May   Brighton       Haywards_Heath  
1 163 Brewer, Callum D 1 - 0 Kwiatkowski, Feliks J 212
2 163 Jones, Robin A 0 - 1 Boardman, Jeffrey 180
3 161 Selby, Paul R ½ - ½ Cole, Vivian J 169
4 152 Hamilton, Michael J 0 - 1 Faulkner, Martin J 161
5 129 Ten Sythoff, Jan 1 - 0 Fitzgerald, Neil A 120
grade diff: -74   2.5   2.5    
    Required to win: 2.5   3    

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