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On the 8th April, Banbury 2 finished off their season with a 4:2 win against Witney 2.
Banbury 2 finished second in Division 4. A good result for their first season.
Dave Bull, Egils Vikanis, Keith Freshwater and Chris Fox getting the wins.
Banbury A lost ½:3½ to Olton A on the 15th April. Only John Vickers managed the draw.
This was a match they had to win to avoid relegation, so, unfortunately, Division 2 beckons next year.
The result was worse than it might have been since they were playing for wins.
Banbury C were luckier, on the same night they beat Stratford C at home by 2:1.
Nigel Barson and Keith Freshwater getting the wins. Unfortunately, on the next night they were less lucky against Kenilworth E,
going down ½:2½. Only Nigel Barson managing the draw.
From the week beginning 23 March, Banbury A just failed to secure a point against Leamington A,
going down 2½:1½. This pushed Banbury A nearer to relegation.
Also a weakened Banbury B lost to Chipping Campden B 3:0. We were struck with illness and had to default a board.
Then on the 27th March Banbury C lost to Leamington D 3:0, concluding a rather dismal week for Banbury teams.
On Tuesday 1st April, in the Oxford League, Banbury 1 beat City 2 3½:2½.
This ensures that they won't be relegated from Division 1.
On the same night in the Leamington League, Banbury B beat Daventry B 3:0 extending their lead at the top of Division 3.
The following night Banbury A drew against a strong Kenilworth A.
This was a crucial match if Banbury A is to avoid relegation.
It leaves Banbury A one point behind Kenilworth A and Nuneaton A with one game left
for Banbury and Kenilworth and two for Nuneaton. Both Banbury and Kenilworth have to play Olton A,
and Nuneaton has to play Leamington A and Shirley A - the top 2 teams.
Banbury must get a draw against Olton otherwise they will be bottom.
If they manage that and Kenilworth or Nuneaton lose their remaining matches then Banbury survives.
If they manage to win against Olton, then Kenilworth has to win and Nuneaton has to get 2 points
from their last 2 games to keep Banbury at the bottom of the table.
Also on the 2nd Banbury C won 2:1 against Daventry C, to complete a pretty successful week.
Banbury C lost 0:3 to a strong Shirley & Lucas C on Monday 17th,
then on Tuesday 18th Banbury 2 drew 3:3 against Cowley 4
and on the same evening Banbury B beat Rugby A 2:1.
This means that Banbury B have won Division 3 of the Leamington League.
Banbury 1 lost 1:5 to a strong Cowley 1 on the 4th March, with Gary and Malcolm getting draws.
Banbury 1 must win against City 2 on the 1st April to avoid relegation.
On the same night, in the Leamington League, Banbury B beat Chipping Campden B 2½:½,
with Paul Trewhela and Michael Campling getting the wins.
In the following week, on the 11th March, Banbury C won against Leamington C ½:2½
with Nigel and Michael getting the wins and Chris a draw.
On the same night at Banbury, Banbury B continued their winning streak against Kenilworth D with a 2½:½ win.
Dave Bull and Paul Trewhela getting the wins.
Banbury A's match against Leamington A has been postponed until the 26th March.
Banbury 2 continue to progress in the Oxford League, but the results in the Leamington League are dire.
On the 26th February, in Division 4 of the Oxford League Banbury 2 beat Bicester 2 2:4,
with Paul Trewhela, Steve Rumsby, Steve Gill and Chris Fox getting the wins.
On Monday 25th a strong Nuneaton crushed Banbury 5:0 in the Open Knock Out semifinal,
although the games were closer than the score line suggests.
On the 27th Banbury were unlucky to lose on board elimination in the semifinal of the U625 Knock Out,
Gary Jackson and Steve Rumsby getting the wins and Nick Martin the draw.
Another mixed bag this week.
Banbury 2 held MCS/Blackbirds 2 to 3:3 draw. Dave Bull, Steve Rumsby and Steve Gill getting the wins.
In the Leamington League Banbury A were a little unlucky to lose to Nuneaton A.
Malcolm getting the win and Gary a draw. Neil unfortunately lost on time in a good position.
This was a match they had to win, and relegation now looks a real prospect.
Only two Oxford League matches this week.
Banbury 2 scraped a 3½ : 2½ win over Wantage 3 on the 12th February.
Keith, Michael and Chris getting the wins and Paul a draw.
On the 14th a weakened Banbury 1 were crushed by Oxford University 2 5:1,
only Dave Bull preventing a whitewash. This was a disappointing result, at least a draw should have been on the cards,
especially as Banbury won the home match in November.
Banbury teams have been getting a bit of a battering over the last few days.
On the 28th January Banbury 1 went down 5½:½ away to City 1 in the Oxford League,
on the following day Banbury 2 produced the only win by beating Wantage 2 3:3 in the Frank Wood Shield.
On the 31st January Banbury A went down 1:3 to Shirley & Lucas A, (game moved from 27th March)
and due to a mix up in the fixtures Banbury C didn't play Rugby B, who had turned up on the 29th.
In the following week, on the 5th February Banbury 2 had a disappointing loss to University 4 by 2½:3½,
and Banbury A lost to Olton B by 1½:2½.
Last week was quite a good week for Banbury teams.
On Tuesday 22nd Banbury A drew against Solihull A, with Gary and Nathan getting wins.
On the same night Banbury went down 1:3 to Kenilworth I in the U100 knockout, Paul and Nigel getting draws.
On Thursday 24th, at Kenilworth, Banbury B won ½:2½ against Kenilworth C, with Malcolm and Nigel getting wins
and at the same time Banbury C also won by the same margin against Kenilworth E, with Michael and Chris getting wins.
A good result for both teams.
A slightly belated New Year entry.
Banbury A got off to a bad start losing 1:3 to Stratford A on the 8th, only Malcolm getting a win.
On the 10th Banbury 2 won convincingly against Witney 2 by ½:5½.
Last night, Banbury 1 won 4:2 against Didcot 1. This was a good win,
and one Banbury needed to maintain their chances of staying in Division 1 of the Oxford League.
Also Banbury B suffered their first defeat of the season against a strong Shirley & Lucas B,
going down ½:2½. Only Paul getting a draw.
This is probably the last posting of the year and it was a mixed week for Banbury teams.
On the 17th both Banbury A and Banbury B were in action. Banbury A lost 3:1 to Shirley & Lucas A, only Gary managing a win.
Banbury B beat Rugby A 1:2 with both Malcolm and Paul securing wins to maintain Banbury B's unbroken record.
Banbury C continues their losing streak with a 2:1 loss to Leamington D on the 18th.
Keith securing a nice win against Jason Madden (see games page).
If anyone has an interesting game then if you send send it to me I will put it on the games page.
Don't forget the annual Christmas quick play is on Thursday the 27th at 7.00.
Things have picked up a bit this week.
Banbury A managed to draw against Stratford A.
Gary came up against a sharp opening in the Morra Gambit and Richard McNally also sacked a bishop, which exploited Gary’s position.
Although there was still some chances, it was a very tough position and Gary eventually succumbed to the pressure.
Malcolm had a solid game and built up a significant positional advantage with his opponent’s space restricted.
A gradual assault on the kingside was proving fruitful, although a blunder quickened the winning process.
Neil had a slight edge throughout the game, and having refused two draw offers, approached the endgame with confidence.
In the end game a mistake by his opponent allowed a nice pin on his bishop which subsequently put Neil a knight and pawn up.
Nathan played well and pushed Paul throughout, but Paul gradually built up an edge. The game went on to both were short of time,
but in the end Nathan lost to strong pressure from his opponent with a well supported passed pawn.
Banbury B continued their winning ways by beating Kenilworth D 1:2, despite being a player short.
Both Nick and Steve had fairly comfortable games. Nick eventually overwhelmed his opponent with a neat combination.
Banbury C postponed their match against Kenilworth E, due to non availability of players.
Another disappointing week for Banbury sides.
On Monday the 3rd Banbury 1 lost to City 2, 5:1.
This was a match Banbury should have at least drawn, as the two sides were fairly even matched.
Only Malcolm saved the whitewash by winning, and even Georgs lost - his first loss of the season.
As if this wasn't bad enough, Banbury C also lost 2½:½ to Stratford C,
in a match where one would have expected at least a draw, with only Keith getting a draw.
After the Lord Mayor's show....
Only one match to report this week, this was Cowley 1 v Banbury 1.
Hopes were not very high that Banbury could pull off a second defeat of Cowley 1, and so it proved.
Cowley 1 won by 5:1. The only points were scored by Georgs, who drew - an impressive result against a 173 graded player,
and Nick who also managed a draw.
This has been a really great week for Banbury teams.
On Tuesday 22nd, Banbury 2 faced Cowley 1 in the Frank Wood Shield.
Cowley outgraded us by over 60 points on every board, but due to the handicapping system had to win by 5:1 or better.
The top 4 Banbury players all succumbed after a good fight, but Chris Fox drew on board 6, in a very solid game,
and the star of the evening, Michael Campling, won a tense game against Lester Millin to leave the final score as 1½:5½.
So Banbury won and go through to meet Wantage 2 in the next round.
On the following evening, in the Leamington League, Banbury were playing Leamington in the Open Knock Out.
Georgs (who else!) won first with a good win over Steve Burnell. Although Georgs had an edge, there was some play for both sides, but as the end game materialised, Georgs was a pawn up with a passed pawn and took advantage of this proficiently.
Neil was next to finish. He had a marginally worse position earlier, but battled well and the game could have got towards an ending with opposite coloured bishops.
Given the position and us being 1-0 up, Neil offered a draw. His opponent looked around the other games and probably made the team decision by declining.
Two moves later he gifted Neil and piece, which give us a 2-0 lead and a draw on any other board would secure the win on board count.
Nick had a very double edged game and got greedy snatching a pawn, which unfortunately gave his opponent a mating net with two knights and a rook.
In his game, Malcolm had a clear positional advantage, with his opponent short of time before the first time control.
After some tactics his opponent had to give up a rook, which left Malcolm a rook for a knight and pawn up with queens still on the board.
He was desperately trying to get pins on his opponent's knight, but then carelessly missed an opportunity to win the knight.
Given a draw was all that was required to win Malcolm offered a draw, which his opponent accepted.
Nathan, as usual, played to the wire with literally one second left before the time control on the digital clock.
He did have the best of the game by this stage and although his opponent had some play, Nathan played well and got to an easily won endgame.
The final score, then, was 1½:3½ to Banbury. Banbury meet Nuneaton next in the semi-finals.
On Thursday the 22nd, Banbury were in action again in the U625 Knock Out at Chipping Campden.
Last year, Chipping Campden just pipped us in a match won on board count, so we were out for revenge.
Gary had a good game and won against Richard Dobedoe,
Steve and Nick won on the bottom two boards, which was enough to win the match.
Neil had a tough match against Gordon Mills and they eventually agreed a draw.
Malcolm misjudged his position in a tense game against Peter Drury and eventually lost.
So a good win for Banbury 1½:3½. Banbury now meet Leamington in the semi-final.
Sorry for the interruption in news, but I have been on holiday, so there is quite a lot to report.
In the Leamington League, Banbury A narrowly lost to Olton B 2½:1½ on the 30th October,
then scored an impressive 1:3 win over Solihull A on the 7th November.
Banbury B's match against Chipping Campden B was postponed by them.
Banbury C lost 1:2 to Rugby B on the 22nd October.
In the Oxford League, Banbury 1 narrowly lost to Oxford University 1 by 2½:3½ on the 8th November,
but scored a useful win over Oxford University 2 by the same margin.
Banbury 2 scored another good win against MCS/Blackbirds 2 on the 6th October, and managed to hold Bicester 2 to a draw on the 30th October.
Their performance deteriorated in the next two matches. They narrowly lost, 3½:2½, to University 4,
and due to 3 defaults lost 5:1 to Wantage 3 on the 13th November.
Quite a good week for Banbury teams again.
On Monday 8th Banbury 2 beat Cowley 4 1½:4½ at Cowley, with wins for Steve Rumsby, Paul Trewhela, Keith Freshwater and Egils Vikanis.
On the Tuesday, the 9th, Banbury B beat Kenilworth C 2½:½ with wins for Paul Trewhela and Steve Rumsby and Keith Freshwater getting the draw.
On the same night Banbury 1 lost to City 1 2:4, with Malcolm Waddell and Georg Vikanis getting wins.
Considering City 1's top 3 boards were all rated over 200, this was a very impressive result.
A good week for Banbury A in the Leamington League, as they beat Nuneaton A 1:3, to record their first win of the season.
Nathan Manley had another good result drawing against a player over 30 grading points higher than himself.
Both Gary Jackson and Malcolm Waddell got wins and Neil Staples drew against a higher graded player.
Banbury C on the other hand lost 0:3 at home to Shirley C. Mind you Shirley C have yet to drop a point in Division 4,
so it wasn't as devastating as it seemed.
On Wednesday Banbury 1 beat Didcot 1 2½:3½ in the Oxford League.
It started well with Paul Trewhela and Nick Martin getting quick wins. Georgs Vikanis then went into an end game and won having used only 35 mins on his clock!
So, all 3 bottom boards won and the opposition were clearly rattled. As one of them put it, "we didn't know what hit us!".
However the tide started to turn with Malcolm Waddell getting outplayed in the endgame, eventually losing.
Neil Staples equalised with some skill to force a draw out of his opponent who was graded some 20 points higher!
Unfortunately Nathan Manley dropped his queen for a rook and knight. However, he brilliantly fought back and alas missed a mate-in-two at the end.
It should be added that both players were playing instantly at the end to avoid losing on time.
So a good start to the Oxford season.
A good week for Banbury teams.
On Wednesday Banbury B beat Daventry B 1:2, with Nick Martin and Paul Trewhela getting the wins.
On Thursday Banbury A held a strong Olton A side to 2:2 draw.
John Vickers played the wrong move in an opening and was always under pressure in his game.
Malcolm Waddell had an attack down his opponent’s king side, but ‘chickened’ out of sacking a bishop to open his kings rook file.
He retreated instead and his opponent didn’t need a second invitation. So that was 2:0 down after just 2 hours.
Gary Jackson had a double edged game, but he got the exchange up. They castled opposite sides and both had pressure.
However, Gary ’s opponent relinquished his defence and it was 2-1 after 2 hrs 20.
Nathan Manley played a good solid game, but was down on time. He ended up with only his last few seconds left with his opponent still having a couple of minutes.
But his opponent's time kept ticking, Nathan moved instantaneously and won on time with 2 seconds left and still 4 moves to the time control.
In contrast Banbury C won 3:0 by default against Nuneaton B.
Apparently they had missed the entry in the handbook!
Banbury A are in the middle of Division 1, Banbury B are at the top of Division 3 and Banbury C are second in Division 4.
Banbury B got off to a good start against a stronger Shirley and Lucas B side, winning ½:2½ on the 17th.
Steve Rumsby and Paul Trewhela getting the wins.
Banbury C also got off to a good start at home against Daventry C on the 18th winning 2:1
Michael Campling and Chris Fox securing wins.
Banbury A went down to very strong Leamington A on the same night 1:3, Nathan Manley and Malcolm Waddell managing to salvage draws.
It is going to be a busy season this year as we have entered 2 teams in the Oxford League.
Banbury 1 was promoted to Division 1 and Banbury 2 comes in to Division 4.
In addition, Banbury A, now in Division 1 of the Leamington League, has 16 matches, as does Banbury C in Division 4.
Banbury started the season a bang at the Jamboree on the 4th September.
We had 5 players entered - Banbury 1, Banbury 2 and Banleam.
Banbury 2 - Steve Rumsby and Paul Trewhela were clear first with 5/6,
Banbury 1 - Neil Staples and Nick Martin were equal second with 4/6,
and Banleam with Chris Fox scored 2/6.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
In the Leamington Rapidplay on the 9th September Gary Jackson was first in the U120 category with 5.5/6.
Nick Martin has been elected Chairman of the Oxford League.
In the Leamington League, Banbury A played their first game against a strong Kenilworth A and ended up on 2:2.
Natham Manley scoring an impressive win against a higher rated player.
The first B and C team matches are this coming week, the first Oxford League matches are at the beginning of October.