Results

Alex: All was going well until Steve left his bishop wide open... it was too tempting so it was eaten but then all of a sudden, Steve pulled of the rook double attack with his knight. I had no option to give up one. I didn't handle the pressure well and an ugly situation turned worse when his knight was able to walk out of enemy territory with ease, stopping to eat some small pawns on the way. The game went down from there with Steve's superior straight line attack force... the marathon 2 week game is officially over. Both sides are relieved.

stevep: One of the quickest games on lunch time while peregrine meeting is under go on skylounge. best moment would be taking a revenge of my king-or-a-rook situation. Then after that somehow or somewhat took away my horse then I just lost my momentum. Rook then pawns taken away... then... bit of my reputation.. well done

stevep: another quick game in the lunch break rush but well done

Alex: quick game maybe not.... we both thought it was check mate but sadly not, the game continued for another 10 minutes, pushing pawns around and sacrificing pieces... my lone bishop was the only advantage.

Alex: I think we played twice

Alex: Oh yeah i remember, it was very even but I was outnumbered in pawns, I almost had check mate a few times too but his queen kept putting me in check.

Alex: I can't remember the game at all but I know I lost.

stevep: This was the second game right after the incident.... Well formed defence on both sides. Nothing can infilterate without being taken... All of a sudden a thunder paper ball struck down the board. nothing left but scattered, injuries and despair... What a finale... so that was until we started a new game which ended up my troops being taken one by one. Havent seen such guerilla strategy.. good job

stevep: One move i remember, it was the time i defended. All half his troops got through passed my pawns. Had a trickery move letting his pawn to get my knight but at the same time letting his queen go.... to rest on the side of the board game.... my side. Fastbreak happened to fast, didnt give enough time to think properly lost few rooks and queens... dont remember. well done.

stevep: everything was steady and under control ... i thought ...took alex only to do some tricks to keep me busy and focusing on the board hard enough not realizing that one of his pawn crouching to the other of the board rescued the queen.. nasty

Alex: Back to his best, he got an early advantage and proceeded to knock out my pieces one by one until there was no protection left.

Alex: I can't believe I have beaten Ben, we were playing a quick game so no time for thinking, neither of us realised that I had a checkmate move until I had done it.

stevep: explicitly exchanging... Pawn with pawn, bishop with bishop, knight with knight rook with rook... until benl was going to rescue the queen, my king had to block it but underestimated his lurking rook from the other side or the board ... well done

Alex: This game was pretty even all the way through. The difference was that my king was on the attack while bens hid in the corner. Eventually I was surrounded with no hope... checkmate.

Alex: The fastest checkmate possible... 4 moves and it was over... I'm not going to fall for that again.

stevep: I got few pawns, queen... what else you need for a good start...? But there is one more important thing that i needed to finish the game with winning outcome.. some thing that I hadnt thought before.. a nice, calm free from R-rated britney's youtube music video clip playing on the 46" HD screen + quite amount of volume while Tim M is suggesting me for a quick look... kind of skylounge atmosphere. Alex got his focus... every move I made was his in his plan.. It only took one rook and few bishops for some finishing touch just after his revenge of the queen.

Alex: A breakthrough... and the most stressful game of my life. I had it won when Steve's queen was caught... or so it would seem... one hour later and the game was still playing, and it was Steve doing all the attacking. The crowd had become a factor at this stage, becoming restless with the slow pace of the game. A loss of concentration and few foolish moves by me gave Steve his queen back again, but my bishops finally stepped into action, trapping her and leaving the king to make a final run for it. After 1.5 hours, it was check mate in a marathon game.

Alex: Beer o'clock game, Steve had the early advantage, as my pieces wandered aimlessly into obvious traps. The result was confirmed when the beer spilled, putting both players out of their misery.

Alex: This game is going to haunt me forever... the one that got away. Steve was dominating but I fought back and it looked like I was going to take it. But I made one critical error, under pressure I was forced to make a choice between my star bishop or a knight who had sat in the corner for the whole game. I thought the knight was due for something big so I saved him... big mistake. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure if my bishop could have saved the situation, Steve is deadly with the rook. Hopefully I'm wrong but there's a good chance this will be the closest I will ever come to beating Steve. :(

stevep: too lucky to be won.. it began with cruel fight between queens. No option given, but to move my king for survival.. there goes my lucky charm 'rook-king' position exchange move. Mid way through the end.. somehow one of alex's rook just almost breached my great wall of peons.. however.. trapped in between and my bishop was standby and simply had the advantage. Bloodshed on the 8x8 black'n;white board for few minutes... bishops, knights and rooks strangled.. every single move was crucial. Each one had to bond its sense of survival and aggressiveness. Tried to blockade his king with my rook.. but Alex slipped away with attacks.. few chops.. I came down to 1 rook and a king... There was no hope .. until somehow he 'let go' his bishops and one last knight... King alex stepped on the edge of the cliff.. 1on1..then finally forced by my other rook but this time.. for good.

Alex: Seemed like a close game, I was on the attack and decided to go for the bishop/queen combo attack, but Steve was straight onto it. Not only did he force me to retreat, he pulled the same move against me a few turns later for the win.