Club champs heat up in penultimate round

The penultimate round of the Club Championship saw the juniors perform admirably. Roy got the better of Robert in a close game which went to a king and pawn endgame. Jacob prevailed in his clash with Tim, winning a lively game with a nice back rank mate. Brock had a tough match against Brandon, who played a solid game and eventually won in 49 moves. On top board, Gordon had a small advantage against David, with pressure along the half open file after the opening. However, David defended accurately and emerged with a definite advantage heading towards the endgame when he overlooked a tactical motif which handed the game to Gordon. Results and standings can be found here. All games are available on Lichess Study, including a full analysis of the top game, at the following link: https://lichess.org/study/OARe49y6

Top game in the junior club championship was a excellent game between, Brock and Jingwei, which went all the way to a K+R+P versus K+R. With the only pawn on the h file, the game was possibly a technical draw. However, Brock managed to convert the endgame, and he now leads with 5 points from the six rounds completed. On board 2, Jacob prevailed with the Black pieces against Isaiah, while Daniel and Cobus played out a nice game to a drawn endgame. With one round to go Brock leads by half a point from Jacob (4.5) and a further point to Jingwei on sole third (4).

In the junior grade, Tua playing black got the win against tournament leader Ronan. Orlando prevailed on board 2 against Milo, and Charlotte had a good win against Alex on board 3. Tua now jumps to the top of the table with 5 points from 6, Orland and Ronan are close behind on 4.5, with Charlotte and Ewan on 4 points each.

With only one more round to go it is set up for an exciting finish to all Club championships, with no guarantees and everything to play for!