Derby B's Bubble is Burst!
After dropping only 5.5 points out of a possible 36 in their first nine matches of the season Derby B faced off against joint league leaders and fellow undefeated Burton & Lichfield A on Tuesday 18 March.
Unfortunately our bubble of invincibility was decisively burst in a 4-0 thumping!
Skott's game was a tight tussle against a very strong opponent who squeezed his position in the middle game and forced an error.
David didn't pay heed to the maxim "loose pieces drop off" and lost some material and control of the game after his opponent found a tactical sequence in an otherwise slow and manoeuvring game.
George played a Scandinavian as black and was marginally outfought in a complex and sharp middle game.
I had a good opening with a reversed Grunfeld as white but neglected to spot my opponent sneakily preparing a diagonal battery. I stoutly defended a subsequently inferior position all the way down to a knight and pawn endgame, which should have been drawn, but unfortunately i could not calculate the final knight manoeuvres quickly enough and lost on time.
On the bright side however we are still placed a strong second with everything still to play for in terms of both the league and promotion. (Also there is an opportunity to avenge the result in the corresponding away fixture on 28th April! - KD)
Start Marshall 26th March 2025
| Derby B | 0 - 4 | Burton & Lichfield A | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May, Skot K | 1790 | 0 - 1 | Mesesan, Mircea-Marius | 1988 |
| 2 | Smith, David | 1844 | 0 - 1 | Anderson, Richard | 1926 |
| 3 | Burdell, G | 1830 | 0 - 1 | Pickering, David J | 1711 |
| 4 | Marshall, Stuart | 1723 | 0 - 1 | Hoddy, John D | 1784 |
(Apologies for the late publication of this report)