"When you see a good move, look for a better one"

These words of wisdom from Emanuel Lasker came back to me this week as I analysed a game that I played in the Leeds League on Wednesday. Take a look at the position below. It’s Black to move. What would you play?



I think that the real point behind Lasker’s motto is that if you think you’ve found a good move then it follows that your position must be reasonable and that usually means there are numerous possibilities. If there are numerous possibilities then that might mean you’ve missed an even better option. How many times do we miss killer moves because we think we’ve found the best move in the position and stopped looking?

Ok, that’s today’s lecture over. Now, let’s move on to the latest league results from Monday night. John Kerrane picks up the tale.

"With the end of the Calderdale Chess Evening League approaching, Hebden Bridge Chess club’s two second division sides found themselves drawn against each other at the Trades Club.

The ‘D’ team put up a valiant struggle, with Matt Levy on board 3 taking Steve Priest to the very end of time allowed, but the greater strength of the senior team told and the ‘C’ team came away with a 5-0 victory.

This match also saw the second outing for the ‘D’ team’s new junior prospect, 9-year-old Kyle Sharpe. Although he did not win, he did enough to show that he will be a serious problem to senior players in a year or two."

The full score card is given below:

Hebden Bridge ‘D’ – Hebden Bridge ‘C’

J.Todd 0 – 1 D.Sugden

P.Dearden 0 – 1 J.Blinkhorn

M.Levy 0 – 1 S.Priest

K.Sharpe 0 – 1 P.Leonard

D.Crampton 0 – 1 P.Rawlings
0 – 5

Next week sees the season end hove into view as all four teams will be in action. Both our Division 1 teams are playing away with the ‘A’ team still hoping that their rivals Huddersfield will slip up and allow them to retain their title and the ‘B’ team hoping they can hold their nerve against Brighouse and stay in the top flight.

Meanwhile the ‘C’ team are the only ones at home as they face Huddersfield ‘B’ needing a win to keep alive any hopes of promotion and the ‘D’ team finish off the season against Todmorden ‘C’ as they aim to score a few more board points to offer them some encouragement for next year. Of course full results and, hopefully some games, will appear right here as soon as they are available. Anyone wanting to see current league standings ahead of the last round can do so at the Calderdale Chess League website (their is a link on the tool bar on the right).