On March 23rd, Skerries came to Naomh Barróg GAA club to play the A team in the round 9 game of the BEA Cup North. This was one of the most crucial games of season, as Skerries were in 1st place and the A team in 3rd place. The top two teams from the division will move up to Division 4, so a strong result was essential for our promotion hopes. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
On board 1, Paddy unfortunately lost his game.
On board 2, Des opened with d4 and entered a drawish middle game. However, inaccurate defending lead to the loss of the e pawn and from there, his position collapsed.
On board 3, Sean played the Sicilian and his opponent responded with the b4 wing gambit, leaving Sean a pawn ahead but his opponent had the centre. It was a hard fought and enjoyable battle but in the end, his opponent’s rooks and queen were better placed and Sean had no choice but to resign.
On board 4, Suzanne opened with the English Opening and built up a strong pawn centre. However, in doing so she weakened her kingside which eventually lead to defeat.
On board 5, Seamus achieved a strong mid-game position after a Czech Defence opening and an early exchange of Queens. He lost his way after a strong attack in response by his opponent who went 2 pawns up and completed the win in 35 moves.
The A team drops to 4th place in the league and will next face Balbriggan away on April 22nd.
The B team had better luck in their game against Elm Mount B at the Artane Beaumont Family Recreation Centre on March 27th.
On board 1, Harry had a good opening and a nice kingside attack but unfortunately in his enthusiasm he blundered a knight and it was downhill from there.
On board 2, Martin played the Caro-Kann defence and succeeded in tying up all his opponents pieces. Using a discovered attack, he won his opponent’s Queen and the game.
On board 3, Robert responded aggressively to his opponents Caro-Kann and was able to use his pawns to dominate the centre. His attack ended up winning a knight and leaving the opponent’s King exposed. After forking the King and winning a full Rook, his opponent resigned on move 17.
On board 4, Gary faced the Polish opening and took the lead once they exited the opening, winning a pawn. His opponent forced a Queen trade but didn’t realise at the end of the combination that Gary could fork his King and Rook, which won him the game.
On board 5, John played the London with an early c5 that lead to a very even game. He won a pawn on move 29, but his opponent threatened back rank mate, so the game ended in a draw.
The B team rises to 5th in the league and their next match will be on April 13th at home against Aer Lingus.
