Jack Campbell Rosebowl - loss to Edinburgh West B

Crawford Macnab

17 April 2024

A tough match against Edinburgh West B in the semi-final of the Jack Campbell Rosebowl resulted in a 2-3 loss.

Thanks to Edinburgh West Chess club for allowing the match to be played at their premises even though it was technically our home match.

A mix of FIDE and Chess Scotland gradings but in the whole not too much difference in grading between the two teams.

Patrick was playing an improving junior and ended up with his pieces awkwardly placed trying to avoid a pawn loss. In the end, the pressure proved too much and a blunder led to a loss.

Ralph had some pressure against whites c3 square, control of the open b file but his opponent defended well and I believe a blunder led to a loss from a position Ralph would have hoped to hold.

Eric had some nice central control with pieces well placed. Did not see the conclusion but a good win for Eric.

Martin Robinson developed sensibly against my off beat opening and declined to take my knight on h6 with his bishop. I castled on the queenside to minimise the threats against my king sitting in the centre. This was risky but after a white pawn was won the engine reckoned I had equalized. Despite this I failed to follow up correctly and went astray in time pressure.

Allan’s opponent sacrificed material for an attack that he defended well against. Eventually an endgame was reached where Allan had rook and knight and pawns against rook and extra pawns. In the end Allan navigated the complications and pushed his pawn towards queening with his opponent resigning in a lost position with two seconds left.

Good luck to Edinburgh West B in the final.

	Civil Service		Civil Service		Edinburgh West B
1	Crawford Macnab	1863(f)	0 - 1	Martin Robinson	1925(f)
2	Allan McDiarmid	1751	1 - 0	Alastair Campbell	1966(f)
3	Ralph Jackson	1651	0 - 1	Tristan Del Mar	1708(f)
4	Eric Smith	1601	1 - 0	Callum Darling	1508
5	Patrick Miller	1413	0 - 1	Raguram Parasur	1220
				2 - 3

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