Division 1 Stafford A 4 4 0 0 8 Newcastle A 5 2 0 3 4 Cheddleton A 3 2 0 1 4 H C Kings 4 0 0 4 0

Division 3 Cheddleton E 9 7 1 1 15 Kidsgrove 8 5 2 1 12 Meir A 9 3 3 3 9 Newcastle C 8 4 1 3 9 Alsager B 9 3 1 5 7 Stafford B 8 2 2 4 6 Cheddleton F 8 2 1 5 5 H Chapel Pawns 9 2 1 6 5

Division 5 Meir D 7 3 3 1 9 Meir C 6 2 2 2 6 Fenton D 4 3 0 1 6 Cheddleton I 6 1 3 2 5 Cheddleton J 6 1 2 3 4 Fenton C 5 1 2 2 4

Division 2 Macclesfield 10 9 1 0 19 H Chapel Knights 9 6 1 2 13 Cheddleton B 10 4 3 3 11 Newcastle B 9 5 0 4 10 Cheddleton C 10 4 1 5 9 Cheddleton D 8 2 3 3 7 H Chapel Rooks 7 2 1 4 5 Fenton A 9 2 0 7 4 Alsager A 8 1 0 7 2

Division 4 Fenton B 6 6 0 0 12 Newcastle E 8 4 2 2 10 Meir B 7 3 2 2 8 Newcastle D 7 3 1 3 7 Cheddleton H 6 3 0 3 6 Alsager C 6 2 0 4 4 H C Tiny Pawns 8 0 1 7 1

By completing the doubles over both Newcastle A and Holmes Chapel Kings, Stafford A have moved firmly into pole position in the first division, though the postponed match against Cheddleton A together with the outstanding scheduled match against the same opponents could still result in their title bid being derailed. Meanwhile Holmes Chapel need to win both their remaining matches not to be in sole possession of the wooden spoon.

Macclesfield retain their grip on division two, with only Knights now looking capable of mounting a challenge. Alsager A picked up their first pointsof the season in January, but still look favourites for bottom spot even though Rooks and fenton A are both also finding points hard to come by.

The third division is still free of postponements, but nothing happened in January to dispel the idea that the division is a two horse race between Cheddleton E and Kidsgrove. With no significant gaps in the table between the other teams, both bronze medal and wooden spoon places are up for grabs.

Fenton B extended their 100% record to six matches, and with all other teams having dropped at least six points it would now be a major upset if Fenton failed to land the division four title. Tiny Pawns are rooted to the bottom of the table, but now at least have a point to show for their efforts. The rest seem capable of beating each other, so their final positions are still unpredictable.

The Meir teams continue to lead in division five, but can hardly claim to have broken free of their pursuers so that a brief loss of form on their part, or inspired play by their opponents could easily shake up the current order.

There was no cup action in January, the one such match scheduled being one of five games postponed.

RR v Kevin Wilson after 11 ... cxd4

2rq1rk1/pb1nbppp/1p2pn2/3p4/2Pp4/1PN1PN2/PBQ1BPPP/2R2RK1 w
Nearly all moves require a decision of some sort, but this one feels a major fork in the progress of the game.
12 exd4 dxc4, 13 bxc4 and we're in hanging pawns territory. Would they prove weak or strong?
12 Nxd4 dxc4, 13 Bxc4 and I'm eyeing his e-pawn, though my queen is on an open file with his rook. However I have considerable control over b5, so should have time to move my queen somewhere safer before the pins hurt. Think I'll go this way.

12 Nxd4 dxc4, 13 Bxc4 a6 Now what. a4 would put a halt to any plan he has of causing my queen embarrassment. I could grind on from there. More exciting is grabbing rook and two pawns for knight and bishop. A material gain, yes, but in at least the short term he'll have more pieces buzzing around to annoy me. Be2 with intent to play Bf3 and blunt his b7 bishop? Or even Bd3 to exert some (mild) diagonal pressure on his kingside. I'm feeling materialistic.

14 Bxe6 fxe6, 15 Nxe6 Qe8, 16 Nxf8 Qxf8, 17 Qe2 A queen move seemed called for, though this one takes a retreat square away from the knight. I reckoned Qd2 would ask for Rd8, and I'm looking to move my queen again. I wanted to play Qf5, but lacked the courage to move her so far into the open board with so many enemy minor pieces ready to harrass her.

RR v Kevin Wilson after 19 ... b5

17 ... Qf7, 18 Na4 Rxc1, 19 Rxc1 b5 diagram right

Rc7 is now the move I want to play, but I'm concerned about Bxg2 before bxN4 opening up my king, but perhaps I should want more exchanges, particularly as it would break up his bishop pair. Anyway Nc3 can't be bad.

20 Nc3 Qg6, 21 f3 Bc5, 22 Kh1 Qh6, 23 Nd1 Rd1 is slightly better, though I wanted to keep my rook on an open file. e4 also considered.

23 ... Bd6, 24 h3 The alternative is f4. However both start opening up holes for his knights.

24 ... Ne5 The sensible move now is Nf2, the extra defender easing the pressure considerably. However RR is fixated on the g3 forking hole, so elects to create another square for his queen. Not the best decision he has ever made. After all he can even play Kg1 to evade the fork, also unpinning the h-pawn.

RR v Kevin Wilson after 24 ... Ne5

25 e4 Nh5, 26 Qe3 cannot allow black to play Qf4 and line queen and bishop up against h2.

26 ... Ng3+, 27 Kg1 Qxe3+, 28 Nxe3 Ne2+, 29 Kf1 Nxc1, 30 Bxc1 and I'm down a piece for two pawns. Moreover, he still has the bishop pair. Not healthy.

30 ... g6, 31 Ke2 Nc6, 32 Bb2 Be5, 33 Bxe5 No objections to removing the dark-squared bishops. Mine's doing next to nothing, whilst the presence of his restricts my knight. You never know I may be able to get down to a position in which he has the wrong bishop to force through his a-pawn.

. 33 ... Nxe5, 34 b4 Kf7, 35 a3 Although I don't want pawns on white squares this is premature - there are pawns on the other wing which could also usefully be moved into the dark.

35 ... Ke6, 36 Kd2 Nd7, 37 Kd3 Ke5, 38 g3 Nf6, 39 Ng4+ Nxg4
40 f4+ Kd6, 41 hxg4 Bc8, 42 g5 A move that either h6 or g5 from black would have prevented. Now I'm content for my king to hop between e3 and d4 for the rest of the game.

RR v Kevin Wilson after 42 g5

42 ... Be6, 43 Kd4 Bd7, 44 Ke3 Bg4 ½ - ½

9 Bg3 Qd7, 10 e3 Nc6, 11 Nbd2 Nxg3, 12 hxg3 c4
13 Qg6+ Qf7, 14 Qh5 Bd7, 15 Be2 Qxh5, 16 Rxh5

Stephen Philp v RR after 16 ... Rxh5

White clearly has a plan to cause mischief down the h-file, so black will want to play on the queenside. In the light of this RR's decision to castle long rather than play Kf7 with intent for the king to be a kingside defender is somewhat odd.

16 ... 0-0-0, 17 0-0-0 g4, 18 Ne1 Be8, 19 Rh1 f5
20 e4 Na5, 21 e5 Ba4, 22 Nc2 Be7, 23 Rdf1 Rdg8
24 f3 gxf3, 25 Rxf3 Bg5, 26 Ne3 Looks like a man intent an saccing his way to a passed pawn.
26 ... Kc7, 27 Nxd7+ exd5, 28 Rxf5 Bxd2+ The bishop is doing a good job restricting white's forward possibilities, but RR couldn't resist making the material position a piece for a pawn instead of two.

29 Kxd2 Rxg3, 30 Rf7+ Kd8, 31 Bf3 Be8, 32 Rf6 Bc6
33 Rhxh6 Rxh6, 34 Rxh6 Rg7, 35 Rd6+ Kc7, 36 Rf6 b5

Stephen Philp v RR after 16 ... Rxh5

37 e6 Too eager to push his central passed pawn. Yes, RR's knight will start coming across to defend against the pawns queening, but white should use the time to advance his king and g-pawn.

37 ... Kd6, 38 Rf7 Rxf7, 39 exf7 Ke7, 40 Ke3 The f-pawn cannot be saved - Bh5 simply draws Bd7 and Be6 from black.

40 ... Kxf7, 41 Kf4 Ke6, 42 g4 Be8, 43 g5 Nc6
44 Bg4+ Kd6, 45 Bf5 Ne7, 46 a3 a5 taking the bishop must win, but RR believes life will be easier if he can create some pawn weaknesses first.

47 Bc2 Ke6, 48 Bd1 RR had hoped to exchange bishops on g6, after which runs out of moves that allow him to defend the g-pawn. With that gone the win is trivial. But Stephen declined to allow that line.

48 ... Bg6, 49 Bg4+ Kd6, 50 Bh3 Bc2, 51 Bg4 Bg6
52 Bh3 Be4, 53 Ke3 Nc6, 54 Bg4 b4, 55 Bh5 bxa3
56 bxa3 Ke7, 57 Bf3 hastening the end
57 ... bxf3, 58 Kxf3 Ke6, 59 Kf4 a4, 60 Kg4 the only way to hold the g-pawn, but now

RR v Roger Butters after 7 ... Bb4+

r1bqk2r/pp3ppp/2n1pn2/3p4/1bPN4/1P2P3/PB3PPP/RN1QKB1R w
I do find these positions with Qa5 and Ne4 for black available an early test of nerves. I guess the more I play them the more likely it is that I'll find the best lines.

8 Bc3 Qa5, 9 Bxb4 (Qd2 is better though counter-intuitive as it invites Nd4. However
9 Qd2 Ne4, 10 Nxc6 Nxd2, 11 Nxa5 leads to black dropping a piece, whilst
10 ... Qb6, 11 Nxb4 Nxd2, 12 Nxd2 and white has three pieces for the queen)

9 ... Qxb4+, 10 Qd2 Nxd4, 11 exd4 awake enough not to play Qxb4
11 ... Qxd2+, 12 Nxd2 Bd7 diagram right

RR v Roger Butters after 7 ... Bb4+

Queens off, and a queenside majority, there is a forwards to the past feeling for me about this position, as I've played many games as white dependent on queenside penetration and/or promotion of a queenside pawn even though such games have been thin on the ground recently.

13 c5 Ke7, 14 Bd3 Rhc8, 15 Ke2 b6, 16 Ba6 Rc7, 17 b4 b5

The white bishop is cut off from play, but it is difficult for black to find a way of threatening to win it.

18 a4 Rb8, 19 Rhb1 Bc6, 20 Ra3 Nd7, 21 f4 Nf6
22 Rb2 Rd7, 23 Nf3 Rc7, 24 Ne5 Be8, 25 h3 Unnecessary. It really is time I opened the a-file with exchanges on b5

25 ... Ne4, 26 g4 f6, 27 Nf3 Surely Nd3, preparing to guard the b-pawn after exchanges on b5.

27 ... Bc6, 28 Nd2 Nxd2, 29 Kxd2 Kd7, 30 Re3 bxa4
31 b5 Kd7, 32 Ra3 chickening out of f5
32 ... Be8, 33 Rxa4 e5, 34 fxe5 fxe5, 35 Ke3 e4

RR v Roger Butters after 35 ... e4

OK, so we've both ot passed pawns, but can't help feeling mine is more threatening.

36 Rab4 Bd7, 37 b6 axb6, 38 Rxb6 Ra8, 39 Bb7 Ra3+
40 R2b3 Rxb3+, 41 Rxb3 Bc6, 42 Bxc6 Rxc6, 43 Rb7+ Kf8 The king can't come forwards as
43 ... Kf6, 44 Rb6 is a simple win, whilst
43 ... Ke6, 44 Rxg7 and black loses both kingside pawn (h6 would simply lead to white removing the rooks and creating a passed kingside pawn to go with his passed c-pawn.
Kd8 might have provided more defence against the c-pawn, but the g and d pawns still both die.

Time to turn right.

RR v Ian Jamieson after 23 Rac1

r4rk1/1p3pp1/5nbp/p2pq3/3N2P1/1P1PPB2/P2Q3P/2R2RK1 b
23 ... h5 This proved that the yellow light was working, flickering several times before Houdini decided that this was still just green light territory. Predictable exchanges ensued.

24 gxh5 Bxh5, 25 Bxh5 Qxh5 Now to tell the black queen she is unwelcome:

26 Rf5 Qh3, 27 Rf3 Qd7, 28 Qg2 Ra6, 29 Nf5 diagram left

RR v Ian Jamieson after 29 Nf5

Ian's efforts have served to give RR an initiative, with the white major pieces looking more dangerous than black's.

29 ... Nh5 Pressure does strange things, and it seems unlikely that the black knight will be able to maintain its position here for long. Certainly this is the first move to be given an unequivocal thumbs down by my silicon friend. Of course Rg6 is threatened, so

30 Qh3 also threatening a knight check with discovered attack on the queen.

30 ... Rg6+, 31 Kf2 Now the ice has been broken in the bad moves department, RR throws one in. Kh1 was called for, but RR was not comfortable leaving his king with no legal moves.

31 ... Nf6 the only refutation of the twin threats of QxN and Nh6+ winning the queen.

32 Rf4 black can't allow Rh4 so

32 ... Rg4 and RR realises he should have played Kh1 earlier. With K on h1 this black rook move would cost the exchange as white can simply take it. However with the K on f2
33 Rxf2 Qxf5+ and black wins material. Naughty words!

33 Qf3 Rxf4, 34 Qxf4

RR v Ian Jamieson after 34 Qxf4

We seem to be heading for an even endgame. On the other white hand has nice looking moves like Rg1 or Rc7, at his disposal, and the prolonged period of white material bearing down on the black king is bound to have had some mental energy sapping effect. So it proved:

34 ... Rc8, 35 Rxc8+ 1-0

RR v Ashwin Krishna after 5 Qc2

r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n1pn2/8/1bPP4/2N2N2/PPQ1PPPP/R1B1KB1R b
5 ... Bxc3+, 6 bxc3 d6, 7 e4 e5, 8 Be2 h6 With his dark squared bishop gone, black's motivation for this move is understandable, but can't help feeling he should be castling anyway.

9 Ba3 temporarily preventing castling as he'd have no useful response to dxe5.

9 ... exd4. Although a self-pin, Qe7 would have been a better way of answering my threat. Now I have a substantial centre:

10 cxd4 Bg4, 11 Rd1 Bxf3 Either this guy likes knights, or he thinks multiple early exchanges would lead to a draw.

12 Bxf3 0-0, 13 0-0 Re8, 14 e5 dxe5 Knight move required - can't be right to allow me to open the d-file against his queen.

Guido Baleani v RR after 14 h4

r2r2k1/pbqnbppp/3pp3/1pp1n3/4P2P/2PP1NP1/PPQ2PBN/R1B1R1K1 b
14 ... c4, 15 dxc4 bxc4, 16 Bf1 Rac8, 17 Bf4 Nc5 Determined to encourage white to open the d-file, though I feel that there should be a better way of exploiting the position. Things become tactical for a while. Not RR's strongpoint.

Guido Baleani v RR after 17 ... Nc5

18 Bxe5 dxe5, 19 Bxc4 Nxe4, 20 Bd3 f5 Wanted to play Nxf2 here, but lacked the guts. Perhaps just as well. Can you make it work?

21 Bxe4 Bxe4, 22 Rxe4 fxe4, 23 Qxe4 Black emerges from the smoke an exchange for a pawn up, though has doubled isolated pawns. Black needs to create serious threats of disrupting the white pawns before white rounds up the e-pawns. Unfortunately his chosen route is not best.

23 ... Bf6, 24 Ng4 Qb6 Rb8 better. Best would have been to try to remove the queens with Qc4 as with queens off the black rooks become the dominant forces on the board.

25 Rb1 Qa6, 26 a3 Rc4, 27 Qe2 Had seen this pin and had intended Qc6 now, with Re4 to follow. But
27 ... Qc6, 28 Ngxe5 Bxe5, 29 Nxe5 Re4 loses to Nxc6 though
29 ... Qe4, 30 Qxc4 Qxb1+ allows black to emerge exchange for two pawns. But in this case those white pawns look superior. Should bale out with Ra4 or Rc6, but found myself continuing:

27 ... Qc8, 28 Ngxe5 Bxe5, 29 Nxe5 Rc5 and I've achieved nothing whilst dropping the first of my isolated pawns.

30 Re1 Rcd5, 31 Nf3 Rf8, 32 Ng5 Time for a big think as I should not have allowed this and don't want to make further errors. the trouble with big thinksthough is that having seen a move you can't play, you then dismiss other options and return to the original unplayable move. True to type RR does just this:

32 ... e5 (silent mental scream as he remembers why this is not playable)

RR v Tony Shaw after 13 ... Rc8

2rqr1k1/p2nbppp/bp1p1n2/2pP4/P3PB2/2N2NP1/1P3PBP/R2QR1K1 w
RR elects to push further in the centre, though it is not obvious that this will achieve anything other than isolate the d-pawn. Nb5 looks a better bet, as black is all but forced to take, allowing white lasting pressure down the a-file should he so wish.

11 e5 dxe5, 15 Bxe5 Nxe5, 16 Nxe5 Bd6 With d-pawn blockaded black is comfortable

17 Nc6 Qc7 Lining queen and bishop up on b8h2 diagonal is not that threatening here. Better to take a pair of rooks off and play Qd7, ready for Re8

18 Nb5 Bxb5, 19 axb5 Ra8, 20 Qd2 White's turn to find an inferior line to taking off a pair of rooks - black can hardly recapture with the other rook as this gives up the a-pawn.

20 ... Qb7, 21 Ra6 Rxe1+, 22 Qxe1 Kf8 (diag right)

RR v Tony Shaw after 22 ... Kf8

23 Qa1 is now a simple win of the a-pawn.
(23 ... Bb8, 24 Bb8 Nxb8, 25 Qxb8 d6 picks up the exchange, with a-pawn still to follow)
But for some strange reason RR wants more control over e5.

23 f4 Nd7, 24 Qe2 (Qa1 still works)
24 ... Nb8, 25 Ra3 a5, 26 Qh5 Kg8, 27 Re3 Nxc6
28 dxc6 Qc7, 29 Qe2 Kf8, 30 Bd5 a4, 31 Qc4 Ra7
32 Bf3 (Qd3 would have been very annoying for black to have to answer)
32 ... Qd8, 33 Rd3 Qf6, 34 Qd5 Be7 Bc7 is better. Although it cuts off the rook from defending, it blocks the c-pawn.

RR v Tony Shaw after 34 ... Be7

RR now has a simple win, but doesn't see it, instead choosing to protect his b-pawn.
35 Rd2 a3 Black also misses white's win, so doesn't defend against it.

36 c7 at last Rxc8, 37 Qa8+ 1-0

1 e4 d5, 2 d4 exd4, 3 f3 e5 I believe that the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit mainlines have 3 Nc3 for white, but I'm still not interested in giving him his pet position by taking on f3.

4 Be3 exd4, 5 Bxd4 c5, 6 Bc3 Qxd1+, 7 Kxd1 exf3
8 Nxf3 Bg4, 9 Bb5+ Nd7, 10 Re1+ Ne7, 11 Kc1 Bxf3+
12 gxf3 0-0-0 diagram

We join the game with black having just developed his bishop to d7, rather than the b7 I had expected. Although I have a space advantage, black has chances of being annoying down the c-file. Nonetheless I feel it's a case of so far so good.

RR v Gary Jackson after 13 ... Bd7

r2q1rk1/3bppbp/ppnp1np1/8/2PP4/PPN2N1P/1B2BPP1/R2QR1K1 w
14 d5 Na5, 15 b4 weakens the c-pawn, but seems better than having to keep an eye on the defence of b3.

15 ... Nb7, 16 Nd4 Rc8, 17 Qb3 Subsequent examination shows that white can abandon this pawn with Bf3 since after
17 Bf3 Rxc4, 18 Nc6 not only is the rook is vulnerable, but more immediately so is the pawn on e7.

17 ... Re8, 18 Bf3 Qc7, 19 Nc6 e6, 20 b5 RR's first really bad move of the game, conceding c5 to an enemy knight. Whilst there are shades of my round three game with the knight on c6 finally being captured to give a supported passed pawn, it is surely better simply to centralise my other rook here.

20 ... Nc5, 21 Qd1 a5, 22 Na2 We're in buses territory here. wait 20 moves for a bad one, then a second follows almost immediately. Na4 would have ensured that the black c5 knight is not a long term problem. Whatever my thinking at the time, I now find it hard to discern any logic behind the chosen move.

22 ... e5, 23 Bg4 Talking of buses, here's a third one. Diagram right.

RR v Gary Jackson after 23 Bg4

23 ... Nxg4, 24 hxg4 f5, 25 g5 Ne4 He's after my g5 pawn, but in truth it's a relief - f4 and Bf5 and I'd be very unhappy.

26 f4 trading poor moves. Bc1 holds the pawn.

26 ... exf4, 27 Bxg7 Kxg7 Clearly this poition is difficult to play, as we're both missing best moves. Taking on c6 with intent to capture on g7 with the queen is better. Black would then be a pawn up and control an important long diagonal.

28 Qd4+ Kg8, 29 Nc3 Ra8 Perhaps a move in the same category as my earlier Na2

30 Nxe4 fxe4, 31 Rxe4 Bf5, 32 Rxe4 Somehow I'm a pawn up, though doubled isolated doesn't seem best possible way of possessing that value.

32 ... Qg7 (left)

RR v Gary Jackson after 32 ... Qg7

To take, or not to take. That is the question. I know not the answer, but for better or worse, I choose not to.

33 Qf6 Qxf6, 34 gxf6 Kf7, 35 g4 Re4, 36 Raf1 Rxf4
37 Rxf4 Bd3, 38 g5 Re8, 39 Ne7 Rh8, 40 Kf2 h5 I'm not taking that. Pawn up, supported passed pawn on sixth, and knight to go with my rook, traditionally a better pairing than bishop and rook. Yes, I need to keep an eye on his h-pawn, but even more I need to find a way into his position.

41 Ke3 Bc2 I'm now thinking in terms of c5 to create a passed pawn on the queenside. Indeed my silicon companion has been urging me to do this for some time. But I lack the courage as it gives him passed pawns on both wings too.

42 Rh4 Bd1, 43 Kf4 Bg4, 44 Kg3 Rb8 45 Rh1 Considered Rxg4 with c5 to follow at some stage, but decided I had other ways of making progress.

45 ... Be2= (right)

RR v Gary Jackson after 45 ... Be2=

For a man needing just a draw to win the competition outright, this offer has come pleasantly late, even though he must know I wouldn't have accepted earlier ones. Presumably he thinks that we're getting close to repetition, but I'm not finished yet.

46 Re1 Bxc4, 47 Rc1 Bxb5, 48 Rc7 Earlier I should have been saccing the c-pawn to create queenside play, now a double pawn sac gets my rook onto the seventh. can he survive this?

48 ... Re8, 49 Nf5+ Kf8, 50 Nxd6 Winning, but Nd4 much more powerful.

50 ... Re5, 51 Rh7 Rxg5+, 52 Kf2 Rf5+, 53 Nxf5 gxf5, but it is now simply a case of when will black resign, which turns out to be six moves later.