The Naomh Barróg A team had a strong 4-1 victory away to Aer Lingus on April 8th in round 10 of the BEA Cup North.
On board 1, Eric’s opponent went for a King’s Indian Defence, leaving the centre to the white pawns. In the midgame Eric took a pawn on the Queenside, but this created some trouble on his Kingside as black started to move pieces into a coordinated attack. With a good defensive move, Eric managed eventually to stop the attack and traded Queens to get into an endgame where he had all the activity, at which point his opponent resigned.
On board 2, Paddy’s game started with d4, which he tried to steer unsuccessfully into the English Defence, with b6. The early exchanges left him with a cramped position, so he pushed his Kingside pawns to attack the opposing King. This resulted in an open g-file which Paddy commanded and tied up two of his opponent’s pieces. His opponent attacked on the Queenside which he managed to contain. With both sides nearing the time limit and no quick breakthrough likely, they agreed a draw.
On board 3, Robert played an aggressive version of the Advanced Caro-Kahn, succeeding in tying down his opponent’s pieces and forcing him to weaken his pawn structure. He kept applying pressure until he succeeded in winning a Bishop, thanks to a pin on the Queen. After trading pieces, they entered an endgame, but Robert’s Rook was far more active and could pick off his opponent’s pawns one-by-one. As his opponent had little hope for counterplay, he resigned.
On board 4, Zoltan made his debut for the club and secured a draw.
On board 5, Oliver had a hard-fought game. He zig-zagged with his Queen around his opponent’s King until he landed a winning fork.