Senior Chess 2010 - sixth round digest
If I may jog your memories, provided memories are not jogged too much already this week.
Round 5 ended:
F 10; M 8; G 6; Mn 5; A 4; U 3; P 2.5; S 1.5
The big crowd-puller was of course MvF where Mackenzie had an outside chance to draw even. Plimmer vs Smith was a relegation battle with the losers quite possibly entering the year 4 championship next year. Mawson still fancied their chances to play catch up with an easy draw vs Uttley and AvG offered both the possibility of improving their overall placings.
So, round 6.
SMITH RUN INTERFERENCE ON FERGUSON! PLIMMER FIND FORM! MAWSON STILL AWESOME! GLASGOW ENTER FOOTBALL TEAM! CHARLES ASKS TO BE LEFT OFF EMAIL LIST!
Aitken vs Glasgow
The surprise of the tournament was Antoniadis on board 2 for Glasgow. Not surprising in that he won, because he didn't, but that he bought nearly the whole 1st X1 to watch. Richard Parsonson was not giving in to crowd pressure and easily cemented the win, which also qualified him to play striker this weekend. Henry Lawrence vs George Lin on board 1 was only ever going to end one way. G 1 A 1
Plimmer vs Smith
The capable Wolyncewicz proved himself capable and dominated the centre from start to finish. Tim Rowe plays chess like a rugby, a massive scrum in the centre with the wings picking up and finding holes in loose play on the edges. Saagar Patel tried his utmost to stifle the flowing play, but a solitary rook was not enough to turn back a rolling maul. Negotiations with the prep school over running a 5-house championship 2011 are continuing. P 2 S 0
Mawson vs Uttley
Barton and Wyatt are not the frontier raiding bank-robber pair, but boy these guys have out-gunned most other houses this year. Ryan, per usual, soundly thrashed his opponent, but Toby was a little off his game this time and missed lots of decisive moves. Karl Kessell played well below his usual level and blundered his way to defeat. Uttley remain in contention for ... (aside to RFD - what else is left in the house sport calendar?) Mn 2 U 0
Mackenzie vs Ferguson
If you weren't interested in this match up, you're probably tired of life. The press build up has been astonishing - the Chen's had a centre-fold in Seatoun Chess Monthly and Dan Rumbal has been the talk of greater Tawa. Even the relatively unfancied Robert Cartwright was interviewed live by some unknown trespassing across the back of the college. On paper Ferguson were ahead by a country a mile with Chen and Chen having a good record against Rumbal and Cartwright. Wei Shian was a no-show! Jeremy Wong is good and tried his utmost but Rumbal rumbled him in 15. Cartwright-Chen was going to the wire and looked like Chen was ahead 4 pawns to 2. Next I hear Robert shrieking incomprehensibly something about winning. After a slapping from his house-mates and a bucket of cold water, it becomes clear that he has beaten his bugbear and scored the second win for Mackenzie. Mackenzie have drawn even. M 2 F 0
So the big picture:
M 10 F 10
G 7 Mn 7
A 5
P 4.5
U 3
S 1.5
Next week - can Mackenzie and Ferguson both win everything? Will Smith edge infront of Uttley? Can Aitken hold off a vengeful Ferguson? Will Plimmer upset Mackenzie? Is it possible to be funny and not offensive? Stay tuned.
A v F, G v Mn, M v P, U v S
SEW