Division 2 round-up

Colchester C finished in 6th place (out of 7) in NECL Division 2; with three wins, four draws and five defeats in the league. Positions 3 to 6 were very close together in this division, so the C team were not far away from finishing 3rd - despite having a low average grade compared to most of the other teams in the division. The team scored particularly well on board 1.

The player statistics (by board) are:

Board 1 (Total 8/12)
Mike Wagstaff	5.5/8
Clive Bellinger	2/2
Felix Schnell	1/2

Board 2 (Total 3.5/12)
Clive Bellinger	2.5/7
Brian Remmer	0.5/1
Pete Smith	0.5/2
Phil Daley	0/2

Board 3 (Total 5.5/12)
Phil Daley	2.5/4
Pete Smith	2/5
John Duff-Cole	0/2
Default	1/1

Board 4 (Total 5.5/12)
Pete Smith	2/3
Brian Remmer	1/3
Phil Daley	0.5/1
John Duff-Cole	0.5/2
Ed Goodman	0.5/2
Default	1/1

Below is the finish from the game played on board 1 in the match against Braintree B. Black's king is exposed and White takes advantage quickly and effectively.

[Event "League"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.03.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Wagstaff, Mike"] [Black "Delieu, Tom"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C18"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1b4r/ppqk1pp1/4p1n1/3pP1Bp/2pP1P1P/P1P3Q1/2P1B1P1/R4RK1 b - - 0 16"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2017.05.29"] 16... Kc6 17. Qf3 $1 {[%cal Re2c4]} b5 18. a4 {renewing the threat} Ba6 19. axb5+ Bxb5 20. f5 $1 exf5 (20... Nf8 21. fxe6 {wins at least a pawn} Nxe6 $2 ( 21... fxe6 22. Qf7 {not the best move, but simple and good enough} Qxf7 23. Rxf7 g6 24. Raxa7 Rxa7 25. Rxa7 Nd7 26. g4 hxg4 27. Bxg4 $18 {the extra pawn and bishop pair mean white is winning easily}) 22. Qxd5+ $1 {the queen can't be taken} Kxd5 $2 23. Bf3#) 21. Qxf5 Raf8 22. e6 Ne7 23. Bxe7 Qxe7 24. exf7 Rh6 ({the bishop is safe} 24... Qxe2 $2 25. Rfe1 $1 Qg4 26. Re6+ {and mate follows in a few moves}) 25. Bf3 Rd6 26. Bxh5 Rf6 27. Qg5 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Qxg5 29. hxg5 Kb6 30. Kf2 Bd7 31. Ke3 Bf5 32. g6 Bxc2 33. Kf4 Be4 34. g3 Ra8 35. Ke5 Kc6 36. Rxa7 1-0