4NCL: 20-21 November 1999

Before I begin the weekend’s report, I’d like, briefly, to dwell on interesting differences in perspectives between rival viewers of matches. Any of you reading the account of our first weekend will have come to the conclusion that we were a tad unlucky in losing to South Wales Dragons. However, for an interesting alternative view, trying having a look at http://wkweb1.cableinet.co.uk/jsaunders/swd.htm. This is the South Wales Dragons web-site, maintained by the indefatigable John Saunders (Webmeister extraordinaire).

"A comfortable victory against Wessex"? Hmmm, I beg to differ but, hey, they won the match, so kudos to SWD (who, by the way, are now flying high with 100% after four matches).

Dave Neil couldn’t make the weekend, so we drafted in another newbie, David Pye, for a baptism of fire. David has a reputation for tenacity – great! Tony Corkett was also back. While the weekend’s matches were against a couple of tough-looking teams, we were all feeling "up" for it.

		Wessex			Poisoned Pawns
1	w	Rossiter, Philip	2369	½-½	Harley Andrew	2294
2	b	Corkett, Anthony	2295	½-½	Swanson Stephen	2283
3	w	Simons, Martin	2264	0-1	Hammond Andrew	2212
4	b	Upton, Ian	2238	½-½	Rosen Daniel	2239
5	w	Yeo, Michael	2201	½-½	Moore Gerald	2202
6	b	Pleasants, Allan	2072	0-1	Ledger Stephen	2162
7	w	Pye, David	2072	0-1	Hansen Hans-Peter	2056
8	b	Howard, Emily (F)	2037	½-½	Vann Monica (F)	1624
				2½-5½

In the meantime, here is one of the least exciting games any member of our team has ever played. Yes, it's my very short draw against Rosen. Enjoy it! A Study in tedium

yeo_rd3.pgn Mike and Ian cannot play each other - why Mike turned down a fearsome opponent

		Kings Head			Wessex
1	w	Jossien, Arnaud *	2314	0-1	Rossiter, Philip	2369
2	b	Thomas, Richard	2265	0-1	Corkett, Anthony	2295
3	w	McMichael, Richard	2261	½-½	Simons, Martin	2264
4	b	Okike, David	2170	0-1	Upton, Ian	2238
5	w	O’Shaughnessy, Conor	2195	½-½	Yeo, Michael	2201
6	b	Mackenzie, Colin	2138	1-0	Pleasants, Allan	2072
7	w	Compton, Alistair	2093	0-1	Pye, David	2072
8	b	Kelly, Alexandra (F)	1576	0-1	Howard, Emily (F)	2037
				2-6

Mike Yeo had a fascinating encounter, which evolved yet further his ongoing affection for a particular variation of the Exchange Ruy Lopez. Here are his thoughts on the issue ... yeo_rd4.pgn