Bedford D vs Milton Keynes D, 2025: Super sub and super sacrifice
A last minute withdrawal saw us scrambling for a last-minute sub. Mark Osborn came to the rescue and made the long dark trip to Bedford and played a solid draw to help us with the 3.5-1.5 victory.
You can View the official results on the results page
Board 1 - Thomas Evans vs Abigail Mangarayi
Once again Thomas thrilled us by first spending most of his clock on the first 9 moves, leaving an exciting time-pressured game full of tactics after a shocking looking Bishop sacrifice without immediate amunition to back it up. I was hugely impressed by this willingness to run with a dubious idea in the search for a dynamic position.
Abigail showed great fight with counter tactics and accurate defense but Thomas remained solid under time pressure once more to clinch the victory and the match (with everyone else finished and watching the game).
Result: Thomas Evans (W, 1715) won 1-0 against Abigail Mangarayi (B, 1636)
Board 2 - Peter Gill vs Dominic Watson
I played a solid opening to develop an edge in this game before completely collapsing in two moves.
Here I “spotted at tactic” to defend the a5 pawn, moving my bishop to e7 so that after Nxa5 then Bb4 wins the game. But of course, white can just take with the Queen and after Peter did so, the surprise knocked me dizzy and I continued to blunder left, right and center.
I had probably 25 minutes more on the clock at this point and had no excuse for not taking more time at this critical point in the game to play with more purpose and accuracty. That said, well played Peter, a deserved win. Hopefully a lesson learned for me for the future!
Result: Dominic Watson (B, 1710) lost 1-0 against Peter Gill (W, 1606)
Board 3 - Rikin Burse vs Stephen Bennett
Rikin’s game was over very quickly. After facing a modern defense/Pirc, he appeared to play solidly, though losing a pawn, before his opponent missed a tactic to end the game immediately. Congratulations Rikin on your first team win :)
Result: Rikin Burse (W, 1656) won vs Stephen Bennett (B, unrated)
Board 4 - Andrew Avern-Love vs Olajide Mabogunje
Jide proved his metal once again making it 4 out of 4 games. An agressive pawn sac opening in which his opponent was then refused the right to castle proved a winning tac - the exposed king proving to be the deciding weakness which Jide took full advantage of.
Congratulations again to our MVP so far :)
Result: Olajide Mabogunje (B, 1469) won against Andrew Avern-Love (W, 1500)
Board 5 - Mark Osborn vs Andy Evans
I only got a chance to see Mark’s game well into its development and by this time it looked a very quiet position with most pieces traded and an even pawn structure. It came as no surprise when Mark informed me of the draw. An excellent result for us and a huge thanks once again to Mark for making it out to Bedford with short notice.
Result: Mark Osborn (W, 1315) drew ½-½ with Andy Evans (B, 1445)