Spens Cup - lost to Bank Of Scotland

Crawford Macnab

25 February 2023

We lost 4½ - ½ against Bank Of Scotland in the Spens Cup.

Bank Of Scotland were significantly higher rated on all boards but despite this the games were well contested.

Great result for Andrew Wright getting a well deserved draw against Nigel Chapman. With both players having rook and two knights care was needed to avoid nasty knight forks.

Gerry had equal material for a while but with opposite side castling, his attack was much slower to get going than Jamie’s.

In Eric’s game against Mike Chisholm an Alekhines defence was played. Mike found the crushing Nc3 move that effectively finished the game.

Richard Scott was doing well against Jorge Blanco on board two though his king looked a little less secure.

My Morra gambit saw a number of exchanges that much reduced any attacking chances. A slightly blockaded position was reached with my knight having choice of nice square on e5 or e7. Perhaps leaving the knight on e5 was the better choice but I later managed to trap my rook having to destroy my position to avoid it being lost.

Well done to Bank Of Scotland who have a great chance to win the Spens Cup this season!

	Civil Service		Civil Service		Bank Of Scotland
1	Crawford Macnab	1760	0 - 1	William Bennett	2175
2	Richard Scott	1677	0 - 1	Jorge Blanco	2119
3	Eric Smith	1601	0 - 1	Mike Chisholm	1893
4	Gerry Brown	1485	0 - 1	Jamie Mollison	1870
5	Andrew Wright	1367	½ - ½	Nigel Chapman	1746
				½ - 4½

Click here for a list of news stories about this competition.