Jaguars edge visitors Albany!

Wednesday 19 February, 2020

Captain Andrew Medworth reports:

This is a great result, and a big step towards avoiding relegation from Division 2.

We now have 4 match points, which last season would have been sufficient to avoid the drop. That’s not guaranteed to be the case this year, so I’d like to pick up at least one or two more points to be on the safe side, but with three matches left, all at home, we have every chance.

The evening began poorly, when I blundered a piece on move 12 and soon lost. David drew on Board 8 and Salvatore seemed to have a lost position on Board 6, so things weren’t looking good.

However, JC won on Board 7, Salvatore’s opponent somehow managed to lose on time (despite the fact Salvatore arrived 15 minutes late so started with a significant time disadvantage!), and Boards 3 and 4 were drawn, so we needed just one point from the top two boards to win the match.

Kennan unfortunately lost some pawns in a rook ending and had to resign, but Tomer had a good position a piece up, which he duly converted, clinching a precious victory!

Many thanks to everyone for playing, and especially to those who helped set up and clear away the equipment! This really helps. Congratulations to Tomer, JC and Salvatore on their wins!