Milton Keynes D vs Open University, 2025: Exciting finish
View the official results on the results page
Board 1 - Thomas Evans vs James Alexander
Thomas once again entertained us with a late finish with clock ticking, having completed ~20 moves after most of the other boards had completed. The many spectators were presented with an apparently locked up board and Thomas wondering whether or not to offer the draw for the team.
The game opened with an English and by move 2, was in rare opening territory with the “Drill variation”:
Black launches an attack on the kingside, perhaps too early – WikiBooks Entry For Drill Opening
By move 21, the board was looking very tightly locked up with both players making few or no mistakes:
However, as the clock continued to tick down, white allowed an advanced pawn that spelled the end of the position after accurate play from Thomas who found an attactive Bishop “sacrafice” to finish the game in style:
Here Thomas played: 36.. Bd1!! 37. Ke1 Bc2 to seal a fantastic win against the OU captain and win for the team.
Result: Thomas Evans (B, 1715) won 1-0 against James Alexander (W, 1857)
Board 2 - Dominic Watson vs Vincent Edwards
My game against Vincent was a tale of a misplayed ending. The game progressed rapidly in an open old Sicilian with pieces traded early on ending with a bishop vs knight endgame. I made a positional error advancing an h pawn too far where it could not be defended and then failed to find the right counter argument to Black’s attack; Vincent confidently capitalizing on my inaccuracies to seal the win.
A critical miss from me came in this position, white to play:
Here, the computer wants the King to continue to go after black’s a and b pawns (31 Kb4 for a distinct advantage), giving up the right side of the board. My calculation fu was weak and exhausted and I gave up on the idea in favour of trying to do something to prevent the hopelessly lost right side of the board - thinking that Black easily had the race to promote won otherwise. It didn’t work :)
I’m going to try to play the computer from this position and calculate harder with the hope of learning a lesson for next time!
Result: Dominic Watson (W, 1710) lost 0-1 with Vincent Edwards (B, 1642)
Board 3 - Richard Keane vs Dexter Caplin Lazard
Dexter is a rapidly improving and tricky young player and so Richard was happy to accept a draw in what he thought was a good position for Dexter (who was worried about the dangers that the board presented).
The game was finished fairly quickly and I didn’t get a chance to see the board, but a solid result from Richard.
Result: Richard Keane (B, 1614) drew ½-½ with Dexter Caplin Lazard (W, 1520)
Board 4 - Rikin Burse vs Matthew Jacques
Rikin’s first match for the D team and first team match since his school days and came after a self-confessed awful day. Still, he arrived with chipper attitude and happily took an early draw securing us the half point.
Final position:
In Rikin’s word: “If I was playing an individual game, or had a less awful day, I would have played for the win”. Well done Rikin!
Result: Rikin Burse (W, 1656) drew ½-½ with Matthew Jacques (B, 1499)
Board 5 - Olajide Mabogunje vs David Phillips
Jide found himself significantly up in material after finding .. Rc2 in this position in a Queen’s pawn game:
The moves that followed resulted in David being down a full piece and this advantage continued and improved into the end game with Jide winning multiple pawns along the way. He displayed fantastic composure in sealing the win with a lot of spectators furtively checking the position (including Thomas who was wondering whether to go for a draw on Board 1).
For one awful moment, it looked like the position might end in a Knight and Bishop endgame late into the evening:
But with an extra pawn on the board, Jide finished the game with confidence, meticulously advancing his pawn and placing his pieces on the light squares before advancing into a winning promotion with no hope of stalemate.
2 wins from 2 games for a great start to the season!
Result: Olajide Mabogunje (B, 1469) won 1-0 against David Phillips (W, 1444)