After months of battling it out in the BEA Cup North in Naomh Barróg’s quest for promotion, the final decisive match was played on Tuesday the 24th of June. As runner-ups in the BEA Cup North, we played against Bray/Greystones, the runners-up in the BEA Cup South, with the winners earning promotion to the O’Hanlon Cup.
On board 1, Eric faced an English opening with the Black pieces. As White decided to castle early, Eric took the risk not to castle and sent an attack against the White King instead. In doing so, he let White push their Queenside pawns, which led to a space advantage on that side of the board for White, while Eric was not able to find a way to continue his attack on the other side. Luckily, White offered a few exchanges that reduced the pressure, and even allowed a Knight fork resulting in a final with a pawn advantage for Eric. Later, in an attempt to recapture their pawn, his opponent did not see another tactic where their Knight became trapped, sealing the win for Eric.
On board 2, Robert played White against the Petrov Defence and both sides mirrored each other for the first 12 moves. Gradually pieces were traded off which opened some space and Robert was able attack with his Knight and win an exchange. To shut down counter-play Robert traded Queens and entered an endgame with a strong advantage. Robert attacked his opponent’s King, who should have retreated. Instead, he advanced into the centre, which allowed Robert to keep attacking and eventually find a tactic that won a Rook.
On board 3, Paddy‘s opponent opened with b4, the “Orangutan”, which is the first time he has ever met it in a competition. Luckily, he played the correct responses, locking the Queenside and centre. His opponent switched his attack to the Kingside but as he hadn’t castled, Paddy had time to gather his defences. On move 21, in an effort to trade pieces, Paddy moved his Queen to g3 to support the trade, instantly realising it could be diverted by a pawn, losing a piece. Luckily, in time trouble, his opponent didn’t notice this tactic and traded two pieces, blunting his attack. Paddy was able to reinforce his position and as no clear progress for either side was possible, a draw was agreed.
On board 4, Ola played White in a London system opening. He put pressure on the Black King by moving three pieces and the Queen to the fifth rank. The game was very balanced and equal with no mistakes done by either player. Ola calculated a sacrifice on f7 for 15-20 minutes just to figure out that it would not work and with no perpetual check to escape if the plan would fail. Players ended up repeating moves in a closed position where none of the two could progress. At the same time Robert had won on board 2 which made a draw offer a bit more attractive
On board 5, Des opened with a Caro-Kahn and following an exchange of Queens, Black had some pressure against White’s d-pawn. Black missed an opportunity to put further pressure on and instead attacked on the Queenside. White responded with a tactic which won a pawn. Black then mistakenly moved a Rook from the back rank which allowed White to win a second pawn and open up the King’s defences.