After playing both matches in Group D of the William Brennan Cup, Naomh Barróg has finished top of the table. Even more impressively, they did so without losing a single game, winning 10 and drawing 2. The second game was against Elm Mount B on Monday the 23rd of June.
On board 1, Robert played the Sicilian Dragon and although his opponent got two strong centre-pawns, Robert put heavy pressure on them. The game was very even with a lot of positional manoeuvring as Robert tried to gain an advantage but his opponent blocked his moves. Robert doubled his opponent’s pawns, but still couldn’t turn it into an advantage. It was only towards the end of the game when he opened the f-file that he finally built up a strong attack. Robert found a tactic where he sacrificed his Rook to pull the King forward and into checkmate.
On board 2, Des started the game with a Catalan and got great activity with his pieces. He put pressure on his opponent’s e-pawn and when his opponent blundered a piece, he resigned.
On board 3, Gary‘s opponent played a standard Kings Pawn opening while he played the Sicilian. Early on in the middle game, he took his opponent’s d-pawn with a good tactic. In frustration, his opponent played very fast in response and allowed Gary to trade Queens whilst also doubling his pawns on the b-file. The game proceeded with trades until Gary forced a trade of Knights which doubled his opponent’s pawns on the f-file too. However in the endgame, starting with a Rook and 6 pawns with good structure against a rook and 5 pawns, two doubled, Gary made a couple of mistakes and with my 1 pawn and rook against a Rook, he allowed his opponent to get a perpetual check or win the pawn.
On board 4, Shane played the Jobava London, and after d5 followed a known line where he advanced his Kingside pawns early, going after his opponent’s light-squared bishop. His opponent tried to block this with f4, but he captured en passant with his pawn. After she recaptured with her Queen, he developed my Bishop, leaving her unable to castle Queenside and with a weakened Kingside. Later, after mutual Queen threats, he found a tactic: sacrificing his Knight with check, pinning and attacking her Knight to win a pawn. Her King was forced to f5, where it became trapped in a mating net. He missed a mate in 4, but she had to give up her Queen for a Rook to avoid mate. With her King still stuck in the open, he continued the attack and delivered checkmate a few moves later.
On board 5, Suzanne had a long match. Unfortunately, she missed a chance to fork her opponent’s Queen and Rook with a Bishop. She had a weaker position for a while but she forced an exchange in the endgame and ended up a Bishop up with 2 pawns each. Her opponent resigned soon after.
On board 6, Séamus’ opponent lost a Rook and some pawns in the first 10 moves and gave up after that.
