Grantham-1 beat West Bridgford-1

Having been recently defeated in an away match by West Bridgford-1, Grantham-1 team was longing for a "revenge". Just two weeks time later, West Bridgford arrived to Grantham with the same "line-up" attempting to repeat their previous success. This time, however, Grantham team performed very well and prevailed deservedly 3½:1½.

Grantham-1		3½:1½	West Bridgford-1
Birtwistle N	192	½:½	Richmond RJ	194
Mangione C	192	1:0	Walker TD	175
Dilley J	172	½:½	Heane R	179
Payne N	184	1:0	Webster RJ	172
David I	164	½:½	Truman RG	172

Claudio Mangione playing against Tim Walker on the board 2 was in fighting spirit. In the English Opening he did not chose the best line leading to a "small advantage" which could be gradually fostered but he went for imbalances leading to positions with tactical chances. This sort of "little gamble" has paid in the end. Claudio won in 26 moves.

Playing against Richard Truman two weeks ago I had blundered in slightly better position and had lost. This time I played with Black pieces. Richard opened with 1.d4 and we played a popular Slav Defence. The game was an exhibition of lost chances and time troubles on both sides which resulted in mistakes, so the final draw was a fair result and was agreed when both flags were hanging. Both players felt that to continue in fight would mean to play a Russian roulette instead of royal game... As grandmaster Miguel Najdorf long time ago used to say: "Chess my friend is an art, a science and gamble."

The other games from the match will be published as soon as they become available.