Colchester B

Colchester B have had a good start to the season in Division 2 of the NECL. They finished in 2nd place last season (behind Colchester A) and are currently top after a 3-1 away win against Braintree B and a 4-0 win over Dunmow.

Last minute reserve Martin Harris had a quick win in the match against Dunmow, annotated in the viewer below.

[Event "Colchester B v Dunmow"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.11.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Harris, M."] [Black "Birdi, P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C21"] [WhiteElo "120"] [BlackElo "110"] [Annotator "Harris, M"] [PlyCount "35"] 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 {As I am sure you know, I hate gambit openings but just this once I thought I would try it out!} dxc3 4. Bc4 d6 5. Qb3 (5. Nxc3 Nf6 6. Qb3 $11) 5... Qf6 (5... Qd7 6. Nxc3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Na5 $11) 6. Nxc3 c6 7. Nf3 Bg4 $4 8. Bg5 Qg6 9. Qxb7 d5 10. Qxa8 {I didn't want to goof up here and spent a relatively long time over this move. But really there was no need to be concerned because here, all roads lead to Rome.} (10. h3 f6 11. hxg4 fxg5 12. Qc8+ Ke7 13. exd5 Nf6 14. O-O-O cxd5 15. Rhe1+ {was a better way to win but I could not see this variation clearly over the board, though I did look at it in part. There were a great many sacrificial lines and I didn't want to allow some finesse that would lead me to disaster.}) 10... Bd6 11. exd5 (11. e5 Bxf3 12. exd6 Qxg5 13. Qxb8+ Qd8 14. d7+ Kxd7 15. Qxa7+ Ke8 16. gxf3 dxc4 {was something I looked at but it didn't seem totally conclusive even though I had a clear material advantage. So many options!}) 11... c5 (11... Bxf3 12. h4 {was better for Black but White still has an attack so Black's actual move was understandable in a way.}) 12. Bb5+ Kf8 13. O-O (13. Qxa7 { might have been better but I didn't want to reveal my hand too early as I had seen some interesting options with the rook, sacrificing the knight and even sacrificing the queen. Style over matter!}) 13... Bxf3 14. Rfe1 {Take that!} f6 (14... Nf6 {was the only way to keep the game going but after the following sequence, Black is hopelessly boxed in.} 15. Qb7 Kg8 16. Qc8+ Bf8) 15. Re8+ Kf7 {I was honestly expecting 15...Qg6xe8 here, because the alternative is a complete rout.} 16. Qxa7+ Ne7 17. Rxh8 Qxg5 18. Be8# 1-0