We did not expect the English Capital to be in a Republican United Workman’s Club in Inchicore, but boy, did we get the message. loud and clear!!! They all played the London opening……..even some of our team followed suit, with Randolf playing an opening which is quite similar to ……….the London. Talk about Group preparation,, but this soon degenerated into Anarchy as the Dinosaur eyed Inchicore’s board 3 with intent….and that was not even his opponent. Poor Mark got caught in the middle as both players threw pens at each other…..bouncing them off our Captain. It was realised that similar moves were being played on both boards….and probably all the others as well.
Nevertheless, it was a vital league game and tension was bound to run high. The Dinosaur was the first to finish for once, accepting a draw offer after all the pieces were being swapped off. Piotr came back from a dreadful opening phase where an early Qb5+ would have decimated his Queenside. Fortunately, this did not happen and a difficult central position was eased when his opponent released the tension in an attempt to open up the kingside. A clever King retreat, momentarily trapping his own Rook was justified when his knight hopped into g6 holding everything. Piotr then marched his h pawn down the file displaying good endgame technique to defend and move the “little beastie” forward, culminating in a resignation. Michael was basically ground down after trying to open the centre as early as move 1…doesn’t get any quicker than that folks, but Karl has come off the back of a huge win last week against Elm Mount, and made sure. he was getting another….back to all square!! Our own Vermeer, Randolf, played for complications and threw in a Rook move which stopped him from Castling anywhere, which was not his intention, but it sure made for an interesting match. Inchicore’s Captain Eamonn looked at the Elvis figure above their stage and almost burst into a rendition of “It’s now or never” with a draw offer. Despite being “all shook up”, Randolf displayed a “wooden heart” and “suspicion” before making a combative Inchicore Captain feel like a “hound dog” with another excellent end game finale. Mark played beautifully throughout, pressing the Evil Pen Thrower back, but when just about to deliver the winning blow, overlooked a complication losing a piece, and this turned the match Christy’s way. “Jammy B”…….yelled the Dinosaur, and he must be, because the Inchicore Captain burst into an Elvis refrain of “men with broken hearts” followed by “pieces of my life” and “shout it out” ………”Christy is a Jammy B”…….but somehow I don’t think Elvis recorded that one!! The match is finely poised at 2.5 each with one game to play.
Not at the Top Current league standings are:
Blanchardstown P7 Pts. 17.5.
Malahide P6 Pts. 16.5
Ruy Lopez P7 Pts. 16.5.
Naomh Barrog P6 Pts. 15.
St Benildus P7 Pts. 14.
Inchicore P7 Pts. 12.5.
ps. The Dinosaur bounced 3 pens off Mark to 2 pens for Christy……….but he threw more pens……..so we agreed a tie!…………….not that Mark was the real target………….No, never let it be said!!
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