The good news is we won the semi-final but not as easy as the scorecard may suggest.
Andrew Dovey lost a piece but fought back for a brilliant draw, the first game to finish. The second game to end was Anthony Barnett’s. With only 10 minutes left against his opponent’s hour, Anthony achieved a remarkable two-move forced mate position on the board which prompted a resignation.
This still left work to do as with a 2-2 result, a board count tie-break would have eliminated Anthony’s Board 4 win.
My own position was doubtful. Relief was fairly speedy however as Ian Mills on the next board produced one of his best games to win the match. The computer tells him he had just one inaccuracy!
This left me playing with the match won (again), my sacrifice of two pawns for the attack never ultimately tested as my opponent offered a draw, hurriedly accepted.
We progress to the Kent Finals Day in June to play a team from Maidstone or Lewisham who meet in the other semi-final.
Grateful thanks, by the way, to Alan Hanreck, a FIDE Master from Charlton, who oversaw the match for us for no personal reward. What a nice act of kindness!
Match card: https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/98753
Martin Newman – 5th team captain