Essex v Kent match Report

This was the deciding fixture in the group and one which Essex had to win to keep any slim chances of a final appearance alive. Things didn't start well for Essex
when Natasha Bogoda and Angelo Cassar (illness) pulled out at short notice.

This was always going to be a hard task for us and it wasn't long into the first session that Essex were up against it. Only Nikhil on board 1 and Siddharth on board 5
were winning, the rest of the games were looking extremely uncomfortable.

Jamie misplayed a combination to win a pawn which resulted in the loss of a piece, he fought on bravely but lost in the endgame. Walton on board 2 was up against a really
strong player who was really on form and wrapped up the win fairly easily a piece to the good.

Jonathan Newby played really well only losing after the full two hours of play, a real effort for the team. Arjun was up against a player almost 30 points higher. The game
was quite wild but a long term pin proved fatal when Arjun's Queen was unfortunately taken.

It was nice to see James McCallum play slowly this time for the team and though his play was much improved from the last match the opposition was just too strong.

At the half way point Kent had completely dominated us and the score of 10 - 2 was a fair reflection of the gap between the two teams.

For Essex the second half was all about pride and fighting for as many points as possible. Siddharth was really on form notching up his second victory of the day and the only
Essex player to score 100%. Nikhil was struggling against the in form Kent board 2 and lost a hard fought game.

Jamie had a wild encounter on board 10 in which he reached an interesting ending. It looked like the Kent player was going to promote a pawn, however the Essex player had it
all under control playing some really good moves to liquidate into a winning endgame, though this still required some precise play, he was up to the task and converted the full point.

Walton on board 2 wasn't given any leeway and was gradually ground down. George Horan and Elliot Moule had difficult games also, both edged out in the log run.

Rory fought well on board 9 however he ended up in a Rook ending a pawn down and good technique by the Kent player scored the full point. William and Edward were drafted in to the
mix for the second half and though they gave it a good go they also found Kent much too good on this occasion.

Selina battled away on board 7 which put her right up with some really good players. Edward Ballard managed to outplay his Kent rival in a Rook ending which resulted in the scalp of a
player 21 points higher rated than himself.