At the top of division two Cheddleton C have extended their unbeaten start to the season by a further two matches, and now need just a single point from their remaining two matches to secure at least a share in the title, two to win outright. Macclesfield continue their improvement, but it is too late for them to reach the top.

Division 3 Cheddleton E 13 7 2 4 16 Cheddleton D 12 7 1 4 15 Fenton A 12 6 2 4 14 Stafford B 11 7 0 4 14 Newcastle D 13 5 3 5 13 Meir A 13 5 2 6 12 Kidsgrove 10 4 3 3 11 Alsager B 12 5 0 7 10 H C Pawns 12 4 1 7 9 Newcastle C 14 3 2 9 8

Division 4 Fenton B 11 8 3 0 19 Cheddleton F 12 7 3 2 17 Cheddleton G 11 7 2 2 16 Alsager D 13 5 4 4 14 Alsager C 11 5 3 3 13 Meir B 12 5 3 4 13 Meir C 10 3 2 5 8 Fenton C 12 3 2 7 8 Newcastle E 12 1 2 9 4 H C Tiny Pawns 12 1 2 9 4

In contrast to division two, the likely outcome of division three is still as clear as mud. last month I wrote that the most likely candidiates for the top are Cheddleton E and Stafford B, but each dropped points during the month, to allow Cheddleton D and Fenton  A in particular into the hunt. Kidsgrove have some catching up to do, their only February match having been postponed whilst others were fitting in two or even three matches.

Plenty of matches played in division four over the last month, with Fenton B moving into poll position in their battle with the Cheddleton twins thanks to picking up seven points in four games played. The Alsager combines now look well placed to be declared the best of the rest, whilst Newcastle E and the Tiny Pawns are still locked in their private battle for the wooden spoon, the gap to the teams above them having doubled to four points over the month.

Newcastle's Open Cup team had a second board count victory to reach the final in which they will visit Cheddleton. Fenton will host the Perry final after defeating Meir, their visitors to be Newcastle as Cheddleton suffered a mix-up over dates.

Assuming I haven't overlooked anything there was only one defaulted board last month, with Rooks visiting Cheddleton C a man short.

RR v Malcolm Armstrong after 11 ... Qe7

r1b1r1k1/pp1nqppp/2pb1n2/3p4/3P4/1PN1PN2/PBQ1BPPP/R4RK1 w
Rooks on c1 and d1 looks natural, but persuaded myself I wanted one on e1. Also though of Nh4 to be followed by Nf5 if allowed, which is perhaps best of the lot.

12 Rfe1 Ne4, 13 Nxe4 not wanting to allow support from the other knight hopping into f6
13 ... dxe4, 14 Nd2 Nf6, 15 Nc4 Bc7, 16 a3 I ask you, what sort of move is that? Am I really going to play b4 and play a minority attack on the queenside? Besides what's wrong with Ba3? That would delay his wish to line up artillery against h2.

16 ... Ng4, 17 Bxg4 (Fearful that h3 would lead to a later bishop sac by black. Definitely in wimpy coward mode.)

17 ... Bxg4, 18 Ne5 Bc8, 19 Rac1 Chasing the glimmer of exchanging material, but continually chopping and changing plans is no way to play he game. My original thoughts were to play f4 which if taken frees my central pawns, and if not reduces his dark-squared bishop's influence.

19 ... f6

RR v Malcolm Armstrong after 19 ... f6

r1b1r1k1/ppb1q1pp/2p2p2/4N3/3Pp3/PP2P3/1BQ2PPP/2R1R1K1 w
The sensible move now is Nc4 as it can reach f1 before the black queen can line up against h2. However for once RR follows the same plan for two moves in a row, chasing the glimmer of exchanges spotted before.

20 Nxc6 Qd6
(In fact black can play 20 ... bxc6, 21 Qxc6 Bb8 as white would regret taking the rook on a8)
21 Ne5 Re7, 22 g3 Horrible. Opening up all sorts of holes around the king. Taking the e-pawn must be better or even f4. It's now just a case of how quickly white can lose.
22 ... fxe5, 23 dxe5 Qg6, 24 Qc5 Rf7, 25 Qd5 Qf5, 26 Rf1 Bb6
27 Bd4 making life easy by blocking off the queen's useful retreats.
27 ... Be6, 28 Qb5 Qf3 I've had enough 0-1

Simon Edwards v RR after 13 d5

r1b2rk1/ppqnbppp/2p1pn2/3P2B1/2P5/P1N2N2/1P2BPPP/2RQ1RK1 b
For reasons that are not entirely clear I rejected Ne5 or Nb6 in favour of e5, presumably hoping that a further push of this pawn might be possible later.

13 ... e5, 14 b4 A relief, as after I had pushed e5 I became concerned about my prospects after Ne4 - can I stop Simon getting in d6?
14 ... Re8 Protecting the bishop negates the threats posed by Ne4.
15 dxc6 bxc6, 16 Bd3

RR's position, which he has taken considerable time to acquire, is tenable but passive, not ideal when facing a stronger player. Hence he decided to offer a pawn for some crude activity, fully aware that a piece sac might be necessary later. Simon was up for it:

Simon Edwards v RR after 16 Bd3

r1b1r1k1/p1qnbppp/2p2n2/4p1B1/1PP5/P1NB1N2/5PPP/2RW1RK1 b
16 ... Ng4, 17 Bxe7 Rxe7, 18 Bxh7+ Kxh7, 19 Ng5+ Kg8, 20 Qxg4 That's the end of the pawn losing combination. Now to see whether my pieces have been freed up enough to make any worthwhile threats against h2.

RR v Dave Price after 11 Qe1

r1bq1rk1/1pp2pb1/p1n1p1p1/3pPn2/PP1P1P2/2PB1N2/2PB1N2/6PP/RNB1QRK1 b
Dave's first attempt at undermining the pawns with d5 was ignored with the white e-pawn continuing to e5. His second attempt, f6, is bound to have some effect.
11 ... f6, 12 g4 Another pawn rushes up the beach.
12 ... Nh6 The black knight runs from the latest wave, but in the wrong direction. A positional deficit is about to become a material one.
13 exf6 Black wakes up too late. He now has the less than delightful choice of recapturing and setting up a fork, or retreating the bishop to h8, from where it may not escape for the rest of the game. Dave elects to capture.
13 ... Bxf6, 14 g5 (fork) Bxd4+, 15 Nxd4 Nxd4, 16 cxd4 Nf7
17 Nd2 Kg7, 18 Nf3 c6, 19 Bd2 b6, 20 Qh4 Rh8, 21 Ne5 The rest of the game turns into a show room for simple tactics. RR's g-pawn is not pinned against his queen as attempts to advance the black h-pawn are met with gxh6+.
21 ... Qc7, 22 Rac1 Bb7, 23 b5 the c-pawn is pinned
23 ... axb5, 24 Bxb5 still pinned
24 ... c5, 25 dxc5 bxc5, 26 Bc3 threaetening a discovered check
26 ... d4, 27 Bxd4 Sorry, the c-pawn is still pinned!
27 ... Kf8, 28 Bxc5+ with threats of discovered attack against the queen
28 ... Nd6, 29 Nxg6+ Did I tell you I like pins? This time its the h-pawn suffering.
29 ... Kf7, 30 Ne5+ Ke7, 31 g6+ I've run out of pins, so I'll try a discovered check instead.
31 ... Kf8, 32 Bxd6+ a fork of king and queen which deflects the queen from the defence of the seventh rank.
32 ... Qxd6, 33 Qf6+ 1-0

Roger Edwards v RR

The b4 knight is now attacked twice. RR's turn to think. Ignore, retreat, or provide a second defender? What do you think? Go on, think before reading on. RR saw the best move, and the reasons behind it, but convinced himself it didn't work (wrong!) so instead came up with
10 ... Qd6

Over to Roger. By now he had a little over half an hour left. Not time trouble, but much thinking has already been done, with more to follow. Now what? Fearful that the line
11 Bxb4 Qxb4+, 12 Qxb4 Bxb4+, 13 Kd1 would lead to rook appearing on d8 with unpleasantness consequences for white, he selected a move he had rejected earlier.
11 Ne2 Clang!! Nd3+ 0-1 The white queen is not long for this world.

(11 Be2 would have left black ahead but not devastatingly so as say
11 ... Nxe2, 12 Nxe2 Nd3+ and white has the f1 square for his king.)

But backtrack a mo. Why was Qd6 wrong for black? Because Qh4 is better, as it creates threats of discovered attacks on the white queen. Try
10 ... Qh4, 11 Bxb4 Bxb4+, 12 Qxb4 Nf3+
or
10 ... Qh4, 11 0-0-0 Ne2+, 12 Kb1 (Bxe2 Nxa2+) Bf5+, 13 Ka1 Nc2+
or
10 ... Qh4, 11 Be2 Ndc2+, 12 Nxc2 Nd3+.
Hitting black's queen doesn't work for white either:
10 ... Qh4, 11 Nf3 Nxf3+ wins the knight as recapturing allows Nd3+ and
10 ... Qh4, 11 Qe4 is unfriendly.

There was only one other chess player, Paul Tew from Cardiff, staying at my lodgings for the weekend, so we had a civilized chat over breakfast, before making separate ways around the corner to the venue to discover we were drawn to play each other.

We join the game with RR considering his tenth move after the sort of typically nebulous opening he tends to play.

RR v Paul Tew after 9 ... c6

r1bqr1k1/pp1n1pbp/2pp1np1/4p3/1PP5/3PPN2/PB1NBPPP/R2Q1RK1 w
Time to offer black the chance to give me doubled pawns, giving me his d6 pawn as a target in return.

10 Ne4 Nf8 Declining the offer
11 Qc2 d5, 12 Nxf6+ Bxf6, 13 cxd5 cxd5, 14 Rac1 d4, 15 e4 Reducing my future options. Better to redevelop the knight to e4 and the bishop to f3. Fortunately Paul didn't see fit to play Nf4 at any point, as that would have tied me down even more.
15 ... Ne6 16 Rfe1 Bd7 17 a4 Not proud of this - I'm hardly going to want to advance b5 in the immediate future.
17 ... Rc8, 18 Qb3 Qb6, 19 Rxc8 Rxc8, 20 Rc1 Rxc1+ Draw Offered

Tim Chapman v RR after 16 ... Qe8

20 Qc2 Nd7, 21 Qe2 Nf6, 22 Rc1 Ne4, 23 Qf3 Bf6
24 Rfd1 Rc8, 25 Kh2 Rc7, 26 g3 Bxe5, 27 dxe5 Rff7
28 Bb6 Rcd7, 29 Qe3 Rxd1, 30 Rxd1 Rd7, 31 Rd4 Kf7
32 a4 Qc8, 33 g4 g6, 34 Kg2 Ke8, 35 Kf3

Much manoeuvring, some of it doubtless inferior, leaves me in a position where I can disrupt his queenside pawns and so hopefully secure a superior endgame

RR v Peter Wood after 8 ... Nbd7

16 a3 Ng4 diagram right

RR v Peter Wood after 16 ... Ng4

4kb1r/pp1r1pp1/2p1p1p1/8/6n1/PPN1P3/1B1PKPPP/R6R w
By now I'm getting the impression this is not going to be one of my better congresses, this move inducing unnecessary panic. But if I had't wanted to face this move why not play h3 or even f3 last move instead of keeping the bishop out of b4? In the cool light of the analysis area I have no problem. At the board I did. Nxh2 is no big deal as I can play f3, and it will take him forever to extract his knight, which is pinned against the h8 rook.
17 something Rxh2, 18 Rxh2 Nxh2, 19 f3 is a similarly unattractive pawn win for him. So I should be concentrating on preventing any problems after Nxf2 from black - I can see that currently that is a concern. d3 or d4 solves that. But instead RR's attention is fixated on solving the h-pawn non-problem, even though he'd seen the danger to the f-pawn. Think most of the brain cells must have been on strike.

17 h3 Nxf2, 18 Rhf1 Nd3 19 Nd1 Nxb2 That's a relief. After Nc5 things would have looked really ugly.
20 Nxb2 Rh5, 21 e4 There are so many squares I don't want the rook swinging across to. Elect to stop the doubling on the d-file.
21 ... Rb5, 22 Rf3 Rc5, 23 Nc4 b5, 24 Ne3 Re5, 25 d3 Rc5
26 Kd2 Be7, 27 b4 Re5, 28 Ke2 Bf6, 29 Rc1 Rd6, 30 Rc2
Rcf1 with threats of Ng4 winning a pawn back clearly better, and considering that much of my play since dropping the pawn was based around keeping alive hopes of doing damage on the f-file should have been found and played.

30 ... Rh5 draw offered by black, and turned down. Understandable if I had doubled the rooks on the f-file, but do I truely believe I have anything going beyond my opponents lack of a wish to play for a win?

31 g4 Rh8, 32 Nf1 Bd4, 33 Nd2 Ke7, 34 Nb3 Bb6, 35 Nc5 e5
36 Rg3 g5, 37 Kf2 Rf6+, 38 Kg2 Rd8 39, Rc1 Bxc5 Another draw offer, this time accepted.
Rather like my round one opponent who I also outgraded, Peter seems oblivious of the principle of "don't offer draws to stronger opponents, as they'll only accept when you're clearly winning". Not that I'm suggesting that I have infallible capabilities of assessing the drawing possibilities in positions.

RR v Andrew Farthing after 5 ... c5

11 ... Kc7, 12 Nd3 b6, 13 Nf4 Bf7, 14 Be2 Nd7, 15 Nd5+ Kc8
16 e4 e6, 17 Ne3 Ne7, 18 f4 Kc7, 19 Kc2 Rad8, 20 Bc1 Rhf8
21 Rd3 Lots of sparring so far, but this is where I feel I should be doing better. My main claim to potential fame here is my bishop pair. Surely I have something better to do than set up rook exchanges.

21 ... Nb8, 22 Ng4 Rxd3, 23 Bxd3 Ng8, 24 h4 h5, 25 Ne3 Nh6

RR v Andrew Farthing after 25 ... Nh6

1n3r2/p1k2b2/1p2pppn/2p4p/2P1PP1P/2PBN3/P1K3P1/2B4R w
It would be nice if I could get my knight into d5, so pushing the f-pawn is designed to allow this. That it also sets up the threat of a discovered attack on his knight is a bonus. Needless to say Andrew has other ideas.

26 f5 Ng4, 27 Nxg4 hxg4, 28 fxg6 Bxg6, 29 h5 I wondered later whether g3 and trying to conserve my passed pawn is better, but Fritz agrees with my choice at the time.

29 ... Bh7, 30 Bh6 A stronger player than RR might like the positions that can occur after e5 by white, but I confess to not even having consideed the move. If Black exchanges bishops the need to control the h-pawn limits black's future play, whilst pushing f5 takes the h7 bishop out of the game.

30 ... Rg8, 31 g3 Nd7, 32 Rf1 Kd8, 33 Kd2 Ke7, 34 Ke3 Not spotting the danger
34 ... Ne5, 35 Be2 so blindly keeps the light squared bishop on the board. Nice in principle, pity about
35 ... Nf7 as the dark squared bishop has no retreat.

Jamie Morgan v RR after 8 ... Nd7

12 Bd2 (phew!, wipes sweat from forehead) Qc7
13 h3 O-O-O (0-0 more solid, but I've had enough draws)
14 Bf1 h5, 15 Qe2 Ng4

Jamie Morgan v RR after 15 ... Ng4

2kr3r/ppqn1pp1/2pbp3/7p/3P2n1/5N1P/PPPBWPP1/R3RBK1 w
Were it not for my g4 knight we would still be in hostilities at arms length mode. As it is I have an aggressive looking position with h2 in my sights, but I think he can safely ignore me and get on with a queenside expansion, for how do I add bite to my intended attack?

16 hxg4 hxg4, 17 Ne5 f6 Jamie goes for a line in which we effectively exchange knights and I end up with weaker pawns and he a slightly more exposed king, or so I assume, but ...
18 Nxd7 You can't play that and live.
18 ... Bh2+, 19 Kh1 Bg1+ 0-1 (20 Kxg1 Qh2#)