Bournemouth vs Poole – A narrow victory
Last year with normality not yet returned, Bournemouth and Poole were missing the two towns match and took the opportunity to play a friendly between two thriving clubs. This is the second year that this trophy has been up for grabs, with the winner able to get suggestions for the best use of its unorthodox shape. The match was very close with lots of interesting games throughout the evening and the score going right down to the final game.
10 players per team braved the storms and visited Bournemouth’s well stocked venue. With grades averaged, a result of 6-4 was needed for Poole to win.
Dragi was playing against the stalwart of the Bournemouth club Paul H Errington. Paul put forward compelling evidence that the H stood for ‘Hard-to-beat’ as he locked Dragi into a draw.
Perhaps the trophy could be used as a prism in a science lesson.
With Dragi and the selection of Mike’s, it was 2.5-1.5.
Perhaps the trophy could be placed under a car tire to stop it rolling.
John was facing the London system. Don’t play the London system against John. Steve Bolton put up a brave fight but John was prepared and took the win.
Steve played a new player to the league in Adem Avci who managed to repel all attacks Steve could throw at him and held out for an advantage of a few pawns which slowly pressured the win.
Tony seems to be bidding to make a Tony’s section of the report, with both Sanderson and Ackerman in the same competition. Sanderson won whereas Ackerman fell short to Mike Minvalla, so Sanderson wins the award for the most successful Tony of the night. We just need to figure out what we can call that award.
Zander was up against Paul Jackson, and the game was down to two rooks and a splattering of pawns apiece. Zander could hold a masterclass on this as he held a better position and manipulated the situation to 2 pawns against 1, all of the passed pawns, and forced the win. Board shown after Paul played g4.
5.5-2.5
Maybe the ideal use for the trophy is to put it on a chair as a seat reservation prong.
Dave was feeling considerate to the spectators and decided to spice his game up with a sacrifice. See the board below for the position and your chance to judge where Nxd5 is on the dubious-ometer.
It turns out the computer was in favour of the sac with the threat of getting the queen to d5 with checkmate being remarkably strong. However, 1 missed move in the continuation swung the needle into the more dubious category. Full credit to Dave and Daniel Miles for very accurate play throughout, and we’ll done to Daniel for surviving the pressure and converting the win.
5.5-3.5
My toddler suggests sticking the trophy to a horse to make it a unicorn.
A draw would win it for Poole, and all that was left was Simon with a board displaying 3 passed pawns.
(board is rough interpretation and should be considered an artistic impression)
Unsurprisingly a draw was agreed and Poole won on the narrowest of margins with excellent games being played by both sides.
Final score: 6-4 win for Poole.
I uploaded a photo of the trophy to Google and asked its image recognition what it could be used for….it said it can be used as a trophy. I was really hoping for a more interesting suggestion.
Well done to all. Thank you to all the Poole players taking part so we can take the trophy for the first time splitting the ongoing score to 1-1. We shall bring the dubiously shaped trophy next year for more suggestions and to battle for it again. I do like that trophy, it is more interesting than a standard shield. Thank you Bournemouth for hosting and being gracious competitors.
Tarik
September 8, 2022