Average ratings of the teams were approximately equal, but Northenden had a much greater spread of ratings compared to ours, so it would have been expected that we would struggle on the top boards, but do well on the lower boards. And we did indeed win on boards 4, 5 and 6 - but to score 2-1 on the top three boards was most unexpected. Simon's was the standout performance on board 1, winning the exchange against a player over 200 rating points higher, and converting comfortably. On board 2 Guy reached an endgame where each had minor piece and pawns, which looked level, but Guy lost a pawn which proved crucial. John meanwhile had no trouble converting an endgame a piece ahead. Taarush allowed his opponent a dangerous attack, but his opponent missed the winning line and succumbed to Taarush's counterplay (see below). Reg exchanged Queens early to obtain steady pressure which ultimately led to winning pawns and the game. Tony managed to negotiate his time trouble to win with his extra piece.
[Event "Stockport League Division 2 - Northenden A v Altrincham A"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2026.11.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nathan Harvey-Jones"]
[Black "Taarush Goel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "1838"]
[ECO "C26"]
[EventDate "2026.11.02"]
[WhiteElo "1732"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 Bb4 6.Bd3 d6 7.Ne2 Be6 8.Bd2 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 Qxd5 12.O-O O-O 13.Rfd1 Qc5 14.Nc3 Rad8 15.Qf4 Ne5 { ? } 16.Bxh7+ Kh8 { Even worse is } ( 16...Kxh7 17.Qh4+ Kg8 18.Rxd8 ) 17.Rxd8 Rxd8 18.Qh4 Rd4 19.Be4+ Kg8 20.Qh7+ Kf8 21.Qh8+ Ke7 22.Qxg7 Ng4 23.Rf1 Rd2 { Looks dangerous, but the Rook is vulnerable... } 24.Nd1 { ? } ( 24.b4 { ! The point is that White has Qg5+, picking up the Rook, so Black must either prevent this by ...Qh5, or protect the Rook by ...Qd4 or ...Qd6. In either case, the threat to f2 is removed. } ) 24...Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Qxf2+ 26.Kh1 Qe3 27.Rf1 Nf2+ 0-1
12/10/2026 - Altrincham A 4 Stockport B 2
A winning start for our Stockport League A team. Simon had a fairly quick draw on board 1. Guy was a pawn up on board 2 in a Queen ending, but his opponent's dangerous passed pawn forced him to take a draw by repetition. I won on board 3 after losing a pawn in the opening due to getting my variations mixed up, but the inadvertent 'pawn sacrifice' gave me good pressure, causing my opponent to blunder. Taarush played his first game for the A team - he has gained 400 rating points in the last year, and is now our highest rated player, but I didn't want to throw him in at the deep end on board 1 straight away, and he won comfortably on board 4, as did Nick on board 6. Tony seemed on course to make it 5-1, but in his customary time trouble allowed his opponent to gain the advantage. They then both traded blunders (even though his opponent had plenty of time left) and the advantage swung back and forth, until a position was reached where it seemed Tony should at least draw, but the long period playing on 15 second increments finally took its toll, and his flag fell.