Wolverhampton were nearly at full strength for what was always going to be a difficult Pittaway Cup tie away at Stafford.  Just under two grading points per board were all that separated the teams.  Phil Porter and Gordon Sands made good starts, both managing to double up their opponent's pawns, while Peter Pearson-Jones moved quickly into an endgame with opposite coloured bishops and became one of four draws to occur in quick succession.  Phil Porter, Mike Townsend and Frank Wood all agreed draws to leave the match score at 2 - 2.  With the time control looming, Gordon Sands made the first decisive move of the evening, going a pawn up, but then Dave Wightman blundered while in severe time trouble.  Fortunately, his opponent played the moves which would have won a piece and destroyed the black position in the wrong order, allowing Dave to win a rook and the game.  With Ilan Dwek a pawn ahead and Gordon going two and then three pawns ahead, victory seemed certain.  However, the drama was not over as Ilan was pegged back and Gordon had to sacrifice a pawn to avoid a breakthrough.  However, with some accurate play, Ilan Dwek fashioned a breakthrough with a passed pawn and won.  Gordon had to settle for a draw, unable to advance through accurate defending.

 

With the match decided, the final game could easily have been an anticlimax but Rob Marshall, with a knight and six pawns against a bishop and six pawns, fought for nearly an hour and about 70 moves trying to fashion a breakthrough.  When it came, under extreme time pressure for both players, pawns charged and were cut down on both sides of the board until, now without any pawns at all but with a crucial time advantage, Rob finally accepted the draw.

 

Thanks to Stafford for a pulsating night of chess.  Wolverhampton now progress to the semi finals, but having used up a large slice of luck in the process.