Forest Hall Admirals have surged to the top of Division 1 with two spectacular wins, against Gosforth Empire (3.5-1.5) and Tynemouth A (4-1), thanks in no small part to GM Danny Gormally joining the club.
These two results put the Admirals one match point clear at the top of the league (11 match points from 7 matches, including 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss), ahead of Durham City on 10 match points.
Danny’s first two games for the team were very different: Against the Gosforth board one, the North East’s top junior, James Moreby, he was able to efficiently convert an advantageous endgame after breaking through to the seventh rank with a rook, while against Paul Dargan (Tynemouth) he emerged victorious in a complex tactical struggle.
Other key wins were scored by Zheming Zhang to overcome fellow junior Joe Dalton and then Mick Riding, respectively.
Forest Hall Admirals 3.5-1.5 Gosforth Empire
February 3, 2017
1 Danny Gormally (b) 1-0 James Moreby (w)
2 Tim Wall 1-0 David Armbruster
3 Zheming Zhang 1-0 Joseph Dalton
4 Martin Seeber 0.5-0.5 John Wheeler
5 Ravi Wariyar 0-1 Michael McBeth
Tynemouth A 1-4 Forest Hall Admirals
February 7, 2017
1 Paul Dargan (b) 0-1 Danny Gormally (w)
2 David Henderson 0-1 Tim Wall
3 Mick Riding 0-1 Zheming Zhang
4 Darren Laws 1-0 Ravi Wariyar
5 John Clarke 0-1 Mark Younger
The next match, against Durham City at home on Friday March 3, could well decide the league.
Danny Gormally – Paul Dargan
Forest Hall Admirals v Tynemouth A
Feb 7, 2017
Bogo-Indian Defence
[ctpgn]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 b6 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Bxd2 Bb7 7. Bg5 h6 8.
Bh4 d6 9. e3 Nbd7 10. Nd2 g5 11. Bg3 Qe7 12. b4 (12. f3) (12. Rc1 $5) 12… a5
13. f3 e5 14. d5 e4 15. f4 b5 16. fxg5 hxg5 17. c5 dxc5 18. Bxb5 Bxd5 19. bxa5
c6 20. Be2 Ne5 21. O-O Nfd7 22. Qc2 Nd3 23. Nc4 O-O 24. Nd6 N7e5 25. Nf5 Qe6
26. Qc3 f6 27. Rab1 Ra7 28. h4 g4 29. Bxd3 exd3 30. Qxc5 Rfa8 31. Rb8+ Kh7 32.
Qf8 Rxb8 33. Qxb8 Rf7 34. a6 Nf3+ (34… d2) 35. gxf3 Qxf5 36. e4 Bxe4 37. fxe4
Qc5+ 38. Bf2 Qxa3 39. a7 g3 40. a8=Q gxf2+ 41. Kh1 1-0
[/ctpgn]