Captain's Report

By Mark Adams

 Round 5 Dragons v Guildford

This was a difficult weekend for us. We needed some points. Due to the hotel overbooking we had to stay away from the venue. In fact, despite being told that the three teams who moved were drawn from the hat, the three Welsh teams were the ones to leave. The led to numerous 'conspiracy theories' and didn't help our preparation. We were up against a very strong Guildford in round 5 who turned out, for the first time, GM Danny King on board 1. The final score of 6½-1½ was undeserved. Peter tried against his GM opponent, but what can you do?!? Nigel played a great game against Kinsman, very nearly holding the game. Andy forgot to play his chosen move which would have given him a clear plus. Lloyd was disappointed not to win, having a won position at least twice. Ulrike pressed and pressed and very nearly pulled off the win. We were very impressed with her tenacity. It's a great pity that she's only here for this year. David's opponent was simply the better player. John was unlucky to have to rely on public transport to get him to Birmingham. He was nearly an hour down at the start - clearly too much. I had the dreaded flu and was just trying not to blunder horribly.

We were quite optimistic for a victory in this match. Especially as Nidum were well below strength. We were looking for full points on the lower boards, but this just didn't happen.

Peter, tried valiantly to rescue something from his game, but his material deficit was too telling. Andy was lucky when his opponent accepted a draw in a better position. Ulrike held out against relentless pressure from Musson. She hung on where most would have just keeled over. She even missed a forced win. This was terribly bad luck. The team really felt for her as she was clearly upset afterwards. Lloyd showed his class against a tricky opponent and had a winning position for most of his game. Nigel drew quickly with Jones and David must have been disappointed to drop a half with white against Sinnett on a key board. I tried my best, but at the risk of sounding like a wimp, I'm afraid the dreaded flu got the better of me. Thank goodness 'Fletch' did the business on 8.

Rating Changes so far (please note, these are not performance ratings).

John Fletcher playing against former Dragon, Annie Powell

Nigel Saunders and Peter Varley

Ulrike Heyman - German recruit