Depleted 'B' battle to a draw

Monday night was 'Match Night 2' in Calderdale Evening Chess League Division 1. Hebden Bridge Chess Club had two sides in action. Today we’ll tell the story of the ‘B’ team’s home match against Halifax ‘A’ and tomorrow we’ll cover the ‘A’ team’s match away to Todmorden ‘A’.

John Kerrane picks up the narrative for the ‘B’ team’s match.

The ‘B’ team had to face Halifax without their three strongest players, two of whom (Dave Shapland and Andy Leatherbarrow) were doing duty for the ‘A’ team. Drawing heavily on ‘C’ team regulars, they still managed to finish with a drawn match, with Dave Sugden and John Kerrane winning long games when their opponents, both in difficult positions, ran out of time.

The individual results were:

Hebden Bridge ‘B’ – Halifax ‘A’

M.Syrett 0 – 1 D.Ursal

J.Kerrane 1 – 0 H.Wood

T.Sullivan 0 – 1 C.Velosa

D.Sugden 1 – 0 P.Moss

S.Priest ½ – ½ A.Dawson

2½ – 2½

This was a great result for the ‘B’ team considering the circumstances. Dursan Ursal is the strongest player in the league and therefore board 1 was always likely to be a positive result for Halifax. Needing to score at least 2½ points from the remaining 4 boards was always going to be tough but they did it. Well done chaps!

Here are the two Hebden Bridge wins.