Naomh Barróg A team hosted DCU at home on Tuesday October 29th in round 3 of the BEA Cup North.
On board 1, Eric’s opponent lost a bishop early in a Philidor Defense trap, but he had some counterplay in the shape of two pawns and more space and activity. But thanks to another tactic, Eric could recover one pawn and regain activity, which quickly led to a third and final tactic that was a checkmate!
On board 2, Paddy played a Jobava London and his opponent played an early c5 allowing him to attack c7 with a potential fork of King and Rook. His opponent had to play his Knight to a6, which left it out of the game. In an effort to activate the Knight, allowed Paddy to win the exchange. However, Paddy then proceeded to misplay the middle game very badly, losing an exchange and 2 pawns. In a totally lost position, his opponent played a perpetual check to draw.
On board 3, Robert played the Slav Defence and quickly built up a strong attack on the Kingside. After opening a hole in his opponent’s defences, he sacrificed a Rook for a Knight and two pawns in order to keep his attack going. Although he couldn’t find a knockout blow, he was left with two connected passed pawns. His opponent fought on with multiple checks but Robert eventually brought his King to safety and promoted a pawn, forcing a resignation.
On board 4, Ola played white in a Chigorin variation in a game where he was on the attack but where his opponent defended well. Black managed to hold a draw by a forced threefold repetition since the Queens were both still on the board and White’s h-pawn was missing, leaving Ola’s King open to perpetual checks
On board 5, Suzanne played a standard opening but blundered a knight early on. She was never able to get her King castled and later lost a Rook for a Knight and so resigned.
This victory brings the A team to 1st place in the league and the next game on November 9th is against 2nd place Drogheda.