Every Cloud

You can tell when spring is approaching. The air is a little less sharp. Glinting yellow daffodils cover the ground. And of course, as always, our annual battle to keep as many of our players eligible as possible, is inevitably lost. (Don't worry, I wasn't planning on going all Wordsworthesq on this blog!) 

Still, eligibility challenges always create opportunities for others, and while the D team narrowly lost to the much higher rated Leamington B last night, it was a good effort all round.

Dan has been a revelation this season. He was conceding 300 points to Chris Ward on Board 2, but you would never have known this to watch. Dan set himself up well, and had a few early attacks on Chris's queen. All perfectly logical, developing moves, that should have been easily dealt with by Chris. It occurred to me that Chris had the potential to get his queen completely trapped. I barely had time to think "surely he won't," when this was replaced by the thought "Oh, he has." Chris could have resigned on the spot, but elected to play it out. Dan did everything right, playing very calmly and comfortably and the victory was inevitable. An impressive performance and 1-0 to us.

I didn't see much of Patrick's game, but unfortunately he was the next to finish on Board 3 with a loss, to make it 1-1. My game against Joshua Simpson on Board 1 was extremely interesting. There were a lot of middle game tactics, and I ended up with a rook and two vs bishop and four. With a few more pawns I'm sure it would have been a win for me, but as it was, Joshua's connected pawns were very tricky to deal with. We played to close to the wire, at which point it was clear I had a total blockade. Joshua couldn't make any progress, but neither could I. So a draw felt fair, and that made it 1.5 - 1.5.

Deema's game against Alex Kagkalis on Board 4 was highly entertaining. Frankly the time scramble could have gone either way, and there is some work to do on the LDCL rules concerning illegal moves which I will look to take forward. It was very messy. However, on the night, Alex just edged it at the death - but Deema had put up a brilliant effort. I could definitely see her playing chess on television!

So not quite our night, but Dan, Patrick and Deema are all growing as players - as we look to bring through our next generation of talent. Moreover, take a look at the other Division 2 results last night... They absolutely went the way the C team would have hoped. All of which makes Monday's C team game (by chance also against Leamington B) a really big one. The Division 2 promotion chase is well and truly back in our own hands...

We're in the Final!

Having used the word "pain," in successive Blog titles, I am delighted to be able to write a more cheering header today! We managed to win last night's U8750 semi-final against Stratford, albeit by the skin of our teeth. So, this will be the third season in a row when both the U8750 and the Open team are involved on finals night, as we seek an unprecedented "double-double." Another milestone for the club history books!

Dhairya put up the most convincing display, making relatively short work of Aiden Keavy on Board 2. I didn't see a lot of it, but it was clear from very early on that Dhairya was overwhelmingly better on the board, and his swift conversion came as no surprise. Another terrific performance from one of our players of the season.

Dylan was the next to finish against Oliver Gray on Board 4, but it sadly just wasn't Dylan's night. Somehow Oliver seemed to find a way to fully permeate deep into Dylan's position and it looked very difficult to find a meaningful defence. Dylan gave it a good go, but not to be. There will be better nights ahead I am sure.

Paul then went down on Board 1 against Alexander Roberts. Paul's game was being played in the corner of a packed room, and as a result I did not see a single move of it. Paul told me afterwards that Alexander had played really well, and it sounded like a good tussle.

So we were 1-2 down. I was slightly better on Board 3 and Dan's position looked very unclear to me on Board 5 and we had no margin for error...

I found my defeat on Monday night very painful, but the reality is that we all lose to weaker players from time to time. All you can do is dust yourself off and try and do better in the next one. I'll still look back at this as a week when I wasn't at my best, but the cup game has certainly made me feel a bit better. I was somewhat sluggish out of the opening against Oliver Budd. A lot of material came off, and we ended up in a heavy piece late middle game, with a queen and two rooks each, which did not abound with winning chances. However, I was a little bit more active, and had potentially the more threatening pawn breaks. I was also the player who was pushing harder to make something of it. 

I got into time trouble as per usual, and saw parallels with the previous night when I'd over pressed and gone wrong. But my current theory is that if you play positively, it might not always work, but the percentages are likely to favour you over the longer term. After extensive manoeuvring (of which I was quite proud) I set the pawn break up very nicely and was threatening to crash through on the kingside. I threw in a decoy tactic, which meant that if Oliver played the most logical move to block the pawn break, I'd spring a very nice trap and pick up a lot of wood. Oliver missed the tactic, and I won a rook for a pawn. Looking back at the moves now, it all looks pretty straightforward from this point on, but it was a bit nerve-wracking in the moment as I had so little time. Eventually I got the queens off, and then his rook. Oliver's pawns weren't fast enough to take on my remaining rook. So we were back to 2-2!

A big crowd gathered to watch the crucial Board 5 game between Dan and Peter Stiff. Material was level, but it was a messy position. Dan's structure was a bit compromised and he had an advanced isolated pawn that needed a fair bit of looking after. He was also very short of time. These endgame positions are very hard to play if you are not a GM, and to be fair to Peter, he did come up with some nice moves but just wasn't quite accurate enough. Also credit to Peter for turning down a draw as Stratford needed to win the game, while we only needed a draw. 

Eventually, Dan managed to find a way to get his pawn chain working very effectively, and his pawns sprang into life on the queenside in a way that suddenly made them look a lot more menacing than Peter's passed central pawn. Some nice tactics followed, as Peter was forced to round up Dan's queenside pawns, which left the kingside at Dan's mercy as his doubled g pawns transformed from a weakness to an unstoppable force. A really great result - Dan's fighting qualities and his skill had got us into the final!

Details are yet to be confirmed, but it will certainly be a night to look forward to.

Fairly Brutal

March 17th was a busy night for the club, with three teams in action. Ben has already written about the C team's win away at Rugby, while we had a double header at the Abbey Club, with the A team playing Shirley A and the E team Shirley D. It was honours even (2-2) in the Division 3 encounter - where congratulations are due to debutant Phil Dean for securing our only win - but in the Division 1 match up, the A team dealt fairly brutally with Shirley A, finishing with a 3.5-0.5 win, which for much of the night looked sure to be 4-0. This returned us to the top of the table on game points and kept our opponents rooted to the foot of the table and facing relegation - which would have already been confirmed but for Joshua's now infamous board order blunder that converted a 3.5-0.5 win for our B team into a 0-4 loss. Shirly A now have only one match left to save themselves, against fellow strugglers Stratford A, with whom they are equal on points but with 3 more matches played. Should be quite a tense encounter between the two teams on March 31st, when nothing less than a Shirley win will give them any chance of avoiding the drop!

Last night, though, we were not in the mood for being charitable to our guests, and from quite early on it was a race to see who would win first. For all the world it looked like it would be Javier on Board 2, who took a gambitted pawn in the opening and completely dominated the game thereafter. But Jonathan Dale is never one to resign early and here he continued up to and beyond Javier queening a pawn. This delayed proceedings sufficiently for Jude to win the race to the finish line, after a really excellent game against Phil Purcell on Board 1. He seemed to play really precisely against Phil's London (yawn) set up, ending up in a completely dominant rook and bishop v rook and knight ending where several of White's pawns proved indefensible. A really convincing win against a strong opponent. 

I'm pretty sure that I played less moves than either Jude or Javier, but I was still only able to claim the bronze position on the podium after beating Gordon Christie. I ganged up on and won an advanced White e pawn in the opening and when Gordon made a two tempi losing move in the middle game I had a combo to win 2 pieces for a rook, which not long after became an extra piece. 

Which left our skipper Andrew in play on Board 4 against Dave Thomas. Every time I glanced over at the game, I was sure Andrew was about to win a piece, as Dave had an errant knight which was hopping about on c3 and b5, defended mainly by a queen on a5. Somehow, though, the knight proved to be uncatchable and the game eventually went into a rook and bishops of the same colour ending. Even when all the pawns got exchanged on the queenside and it was only 3 v 3 on the kingside White seemed to have chances, as the Black king was very uncomfortably placed on h6. But with only rooks on it was impossible for the White king to avoid checks and the position was drawn. Good defence by Dave, but it was a mighty close run thing.

Its lucky dip time on the music front this week. (Which means I can't think of anything even remotely connected to the title or theme of this report!) It might be 12 years old, but it still qualifies as modern by my standards!

Winning Pains

 Having picked up only one point from the last six on offer, the promotion chasing C team knew we badly needed a win last night, away to Rugby A. We got it, but I will keep this write-up brief. Rugby defaulted a board (thankfully telling us in advance and thus saving Dhairya and Sagar a trip.) So 1-0 to us before a piece had been moved.

We were very grateful to Harry for turning out on Board 2. He seemed to drop the exchange against Dave Riley, but even so had too much quality and brought home the full point. Paul played out a solid draw on Board 1 against Mark Gilbert, to secure both match points.

Many hours later, my absolute determination not to draw with James Peel saw my wishes granted when I screwed up in the time scramble and missed a tactic. Excruciating - it's about a year since I last messed up on such a colossal scale, but credit to James. Part of me thinks this is the occasional price for always playing to win, part of me would prefer not to think about it at all. (I am not finding writing any of this particularly cathartic - too soon I guess...)

Ultimately as a team we did what we needed to do and are now three points clear at the top of the table. All eyes will be metaphorically on Coventry when they play on Thursday. The classic question as to what is worth more - games in hand or points on the board. Time will tell.

The cup team are in action against Stratford tonight, so hopefully I'll be in a cheerier mood after that, but as we all know - nothing in chess is ever guaranteed.

Either way, now this report is written, I would be grateful if this match could never be spoken of again.

Pain On The Road

 Kenilworth C wrapped up what has been a disappointing week for the club, with a narrow defeat away to Banbury B last night. On paper we probably had the edge, but that counted for little when the action got underway.

Andy got us off to a decent start, with a very solid draw against Nathan Manley on Board 1. If this game was relatively sedate, it is fair to say that the other three were anything but... Paul and Michal both seemed to be losing (against Mal Waddell and Francesco Poderico respectively). Meanwhile, I was winning, but battling against the clock and some resolute defending on the part of Nick Martin.

Eventually Michal seemed to stabilise proceedings on Board 3, and I had some hope that he might scrape a draw, but the improving Francesco held his nerve to put us 0.5 - 1.5 down going into the final 10 minutes of the match.

At this point I had two minutes on my clock to Nick's eight. After two and a half hours of having the better position I still did, but I was continuing to struggle to find the decisive blow. Nick offered me a draw and I was tempted, especially as I suspected Paul was going to lose. But, this is the new look positive me (to a point!) so I decided to play on. GM Ben Finegold once said that the secret to chess is to play as if you never want the game to end, and there must be something in that. Yet it was ultimately a Garry Kasparov observation that most resonated. Namely, that it is easier to attack than it is to defend, and if a defender has to continually find saving moves the pressure often tells eventually. So it was here. The difference on our clocks diminished rapidly, and Nick finally missed a defence which enabled me to break through - and sportingly Nick allowed me to play a nice finish through to checkmate.

Yet while this was a decent effort for me personally, sadly it wasn't enough. Paul's game had been completely wild from the opening salvos. Frankly I had no idea what was going on (beyond thinking that I much preferred Mal's position, which was the correct assessment.) Paul ended up two pawns down in an endgame, and Mal converted comfortably enough. So 1.5 - 2.5. 

Unfortunately, this means that the promotion chase is no longer in our own hands. Yet perhaps the great thing about chess is that however badly a game or a match goes, a shot at redemption is never very far away. The C team are in action against Rugby next week, and we also have a big U8750 semi final, as we continue our defence of that title.  Looking further ahead there are still a handful of  League games left, so it's all to play for. We'll dust ourselves off and go again... 

Golden Ace Wins at Cheltenham - KCC Blow Golden Opportunity at Coventry

Yesterday the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham produced a shock result - the starting prices of the first three horses were 25/1 (Golden Ace); 66/1 (Burdett Road) and 150/1 (Winter Fog).

And yesterday evening, the Coventry League KO Cup Final saw a shock that was arguably bigger still, when Division 2 Rugby A, who I would have made at least 10/1 outsiders in a 2 horse race, managed to hold off the might of KCC to lift the cup. Sure, we won the match 2.5-1.5, but Rugby had a 1.25 points handicap advantage, so they ended up edging us out by 2.75-2.5. Full credit to them, but this was an open goal - of Ronny Rosenthal proportions -  missed by us.

Our rating advantage, by board, was 319, 417, 337 and 409, but on the evidence of this match, you need at least 410 points in hand to be sure of winning, and I was the only one on the right side of that thresh-hold!

Things started to go wrong when Mike bailed out on Board 3 with a timely draw offer against Martin Wilson - as he was a pawn down; miles behind on the clock and probably losing, this was a wise decision, and thankfully Martin was happy to take the half point. But it already reduced our margin for error, as we needed to score at least 3 points to overcome Rugby's handicap advantage. So we could have two small accidents, or one big accident and still win - and surely with such enormous rating disparities on all boards we could score 2.5 out of the remaining 3 matches?

Well, next to finish was me, with what - quite improbably - turned out to be our only win of the evening. Dave Riley sacked a pawn in the opening as Black to double the pawns in front of my king, but there was very little play for the material, and I soon annexed a second pawn, then a piece, then a third pawn and when I threatened mate and it could only be averted by giving up a queen, Dave had to resign.

But now that I had time to look at the positions in the remaining two games I started to get a bit nervous, as it wasn't obvious where our second win was coming from. Keatan was trying to push on top board against Mark Gilbert, but Paul seemed to be clearly worse against Leslie Williams on bottom board, with rook and knight against rook and bishop, with plenty of pawns. It looked like Paul's opponent could have forced a draw by repetition to me, but instead he went for a convoluted manoeuvre that saw his rook mysteriously end up on h8. So some hope for us yet. But then I glanced back at Keatan's game to discover that, short of time, he had dropped two pieces for a rook and things looked distinctly bleak here. But Keatan, in his typical fashion, gritted his teeth and dug in to get a draw - though he may well have been losing in the final position.

However, it ended up not mattering, as Paul's position had not improved - and in fact had seemingly become dead lost! He'd dropped a pawn somewhere along the way and ended up with a lone rook against Black's rook and g pawn. But Paul's king was cut off, and the Black king was in front of the pawn safe from any checks. And then the gods cruelly intervened and Black - with plenty of time - simply unprotected his last pawn and Paul was saved from defeat. But a third draw of the night meant we weren't!

So no Coventry League silverware for KCC this season, when the opportunities were right there in front of us to do the double. But thanks to a major cock-up in a league match against Coventry by me and this cup catastrophe (not guilty, m'lud!) we ended up empty handed instead. My sombre mood demands some suitably soulful music. And you can't get much more soulful than this epic blues rendition by the Allman Brothers. "They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad!" In fact it was even worse!! 

A Point Well Made

 We are at the stage of the season where selection is becoming something of a challenge for the D team. Paul and Rhys are no longer eligible. Going into last night's game against Olton, Bernard was also away. We then lost Dhairya in the days before the game. All of which meant that our line up had something of a patched up look to it. A bit akin to an injury hit Premier League team on the final stretch. Given the challenging circumstances, I could not be more proud of our players, who secured an excellent 2-2 draw and a very helpful League point.

Dylan got us off to a great start on Board 2 against Rob Reynolds. This is the highest Dylan has ever played for the team and he looked completely at home. I thought Rob was possibly a little better when he offered a draw and Dylan did exactly the right thing in accepting it. Another very promising step in Dylan's development as he continues to make great strides in his chess.

Patrick was a last minute call up on Board 4, for his first D team game of the season, and we are very grateful for his efforts. He always looked very comfortable against the higher rated Warren Archibold and another draw ensued.  It really speaks to our strength and depth as a club and a great night's work on Patrick's part.

Dan played the game of the night on Board 3 against Richard Evans. I did not see all of it, but Dan just seemed to build up a very powerful attack, which ultimately culminated in the threat of a forced smothered mate. A very nice finish to put as 2-1 up, as Dan's excellent season continues.

All of which left me on Board 1 against Mike Hollier. I was worse out of the opening. Then I was winning. Stupidly I got over optimistic and unwisely snatched a pawn. I think a product of feeling like I deserved something from the superior position, but unfortunately it was a poor decision. We ended up playing to the last few seconds and I did think I might hold it, but I'd given myself too much to do. So back down to earth with a bump after my weekend exploits. It was ever thus...

Still - a very good result for the team in the circumstances. Well done to Dan, Dylan and Patrick for a really good effort.

Every Dog...

 All chess players think about why they play and what they want from the game. For most of us, our relationship with the sixty-four squares is double-edged. Who wouldn't want to be a little better or to win a bit more regularly? We all know that the pain of losing hurts more than the positive buzz that comes when we win. All too often chess is a game of disappointment or coming up just short - and that is the price we have to pay for playing. 

I am sure my biggest critic would not dispute what chess means to me. I've made so many friends, had lots of wonderful experiences and much of what I have done as a writer in terms of my books and articles is closely bound up with the chess world. Yet the gap between being the player I am and the player I want to be has been a challenge at times. Especially at a club like Kenilworth. On the one hand, I see and delight in seeing so much world class talent coming through our ranks. On the other, this accentuates my sense that I'll only ever be a journeyman. Someone who is capable of beating better players (and losing to weaker ones) but rarely consistent enough to suggest I am going to make much progress.

Indeed after a terrible season a couple of years ago I was at a very low ebb. Thanks to Paul Lam's help, I have improved my chess psychology, my opening repertoire and how I prepare. Essentially I now spend more time looking at my own games, do more tactical puzzles, and play a little less online blitz. All of which has helped me have a pretty reasonable season. Yet in the many years I've played prior to yesterday, my sum total of tournament victories (outside the LDCL Individual KOs) consisted of a junior open victory, an LDCL rapidplay major win and a share of first place at a Shropshire major (with Ed Goodwin as I recall). Not a great return on the zillions of tournaments I have played in. 

It is true of course that I don't enter tournaments because I expect to win. If that was the case I would have stopped playing chess years ago. But it is nice to think that sometimes it might be your day - and most unexpectedly for me that day turned out to be yesterday, as I ended up the joint winner of the Open section of the Swindon Rapidplay!

I had set off with some hope, as I was down as the number 1 seed in the U1900, but arrived to find that the Open and U1900 had been merged. I said to Mrs G "there goes that then," but she said "just try and win the Open instead," so I did!

I started with two routine wins before a bit of heartbreak in round 3 against Ben Ogunshola (the number 1 seed and tournament organiser who is in the photo). I unbelievably managed to throw away a won position at the death in the time scramble. This has become a bit of a habit of late, especially as in round 5 I did the same thing, but this time managed to cling on for the draw. I just tell myself that like a striker who doesn't always score from good positions, the fact that I am consistently getting into them must mean something...     

So I was on 3.5/5 going into the final round. A point behind the tournament leader and talented England junior Zack Norris (2058) who had just downed the slightly misfiring and out of the money tournament IM Petr Marusenko. I knew that a win would guarantee me a share of second, and would be good for a share of first so long as Ben Ogunshola did not win his final game (which he didn't!)

I think previously I would have been a bit overwhelmed. Zack is obviously the stronger player. But I resolved just to play. Twenty moves in, I could not help but think to myself, this looks pretty good. Still, given I knew I wasn't always holding onto my good positions, I did not take anything for granted. I found a nice tactic and won a piece for two pawns. A wildly complicated middle game ensued, but I was better co-ordinated and could see that Zack was very unhappy with his position. Eventually I forced another tactic and won Zack's queen for rook. A lot more moves followed, but by this point I knew I'd got this!

So a £100 prize and a trophy (to say nothing of a TPR of 2002!) Ben said to me afterwards that I looked happier than any of the kids. I'm sure that was true. They haven't suffered like I have. Mrs G says it is not sufficient to suggest I should pack it all in and go professional, and we are still negotiating as to whether the trophy can be displayed in the sitting room. In all seriousness I doubt that this is going to be the start of me winning lots more tournaments. But it was a very nice feeling, which I will always remember. Every dog and all that!

I Guess it Doesn't Matter Anymore

Or at least so I thought before during and immediately after our final Coventry League match of the season against Warwick Uni B last night. Until Paul told me that if Warwick Uni A had lost against Nuneaton A in their final match, we could have overtaken them and won the Division 1 title for the second time in our history. Regrettably, though, it subsequently transpired that Nuneaton could not even muster 4 players for their match, let alone inflict a defeat on the University A team, and so the title eluded us again and we had to be satisfied with 2nd place, two points adrift but 4 pts clear of 3rd place Coventry A.

So in the end I was right, and last night's match really didn't matter anymore. Which was a shame, as we rounded off the season with a 4-0 victory, though the match seemed a lot harder work than the final score line implied.

Keatan, sporting some natty new Isle of Wight Open merch, was tghe last to arrive and the first to finish on Board 1, winning with the Black pieces. I missed the denouement, but previously I had seen that the position was getting quite tactical and the White queen was running short of squares. But who knows what actually happened? Only Keatan, I imagine!

Paul followed soon after, crashing through to victory with a kingside pawn storm that was not to be denied. I was the next point on the score card after an absolute rollercoaster of a game, where I built up a +5 advantage; gave it away; got a completely winning position again but gave that away too, and finally clinched the point after getting my third winning position of the evening. It was all very exciting - just not very good! And then Mike completed the clean sweep though not before failing to take a whole rook with check, which would have left him a rook and bishop up. As it was, one extra piece was enough and the win soon followed.

So that's the Coventry League season over for another year, except for the small matter of the KO Cup Final next week against Division 2 team Rugby A, when we will have to try and overcome the handicap disadvantage, which means we need to win 3-1 to annex the trophy.

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to guess what our song is going to be this week.

Black is OK. Kenilworth D slightly less so...

 There was a moment at the British Rapidplay, after I threw away a third winning position, when I inwardly compared myself to the hapless banker in the film Notting Hill. You might know the scene? The poor chap staggers home only to declare "Another disastrous day at the office... millions down the drain I fear...I never did understand this job," or something along those lines. Fortunately, my tournament picked up with 3.5/4 at the finish, which meant that my personal takeaway from the proceedings ended up being a lot more positive. Namely I noticed that I had scored 4.5/5 with black and 1.5/6 with white. So perhaps black really is OK? 

Partly this was the vagaries of playing stronger players with white and weaker players with black in the early rounds. But not entirely... Indeed had my 1950 opponent not missed N-f6+ in the final round, my tally with the white pieces might have been even worse. Heck, I wouldn't presume to say that the chess gods owed me one, but it was certainly a very satisfying final move to play in the tournament.

Just by way of reference, it is possible for games with black to resemble puzzle rush on chess.com. I very much enjoyed playing Rh1# in the below in an earlier round. (My opponent asked me afterwards where I thought he had gone wrong and I did gently suggest he should have given the material back and chopped off the black bishop when that had still been a possibility...) 

So when Kenilworth D travelled to Shirley on Monday night I was intrigued to see if black would prove to be OK once more - and indeed it was - even though as a team we we weren't. Black ended up with 3/4 on the night, and while both our half points came with black, it obviously wasn't enough...

I finished first on Board 2 against Keith Ingram. While playing down a line I knew well, I tried something different to see what would happen (that's what a weekend of fast chess will do for you...) It wasn't great, but I untangled myself reasonably easily, a lot of wood came off and we were the first to finish.

Dylan was playing the very strong Owen Adams (who I suspect is going to be much higher rated very soon) on board 3. A tactical melee ensued. It was very complicated and very difficult. I went through the game in the bar afterwards with Owen and a couple of the Shirley players. Dylan put up a good fight, but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough - still a good effort though.

Which left Dhariya up against Darren Whitmore on one, and Dan playing Dave Thomas on four. There was a time when I thought both Kenilworth players were winning, albeit I now suspect Dhariya never was. Dan was up the exchange against Dave, but Dave had a central pawn break and a bishop that controlled the key queening square. One of those positions where it was hard to see what else Dan could have done. Ultimately he had to return the material and ran very short of time, so a draw was a fair result. A great game for the spectators though.

Dhariya's was even more so. A whole host of pieces were en prise, but what I had probably overlooked in my initial assessment was the strength of Darren's passed b pawn which managed to find its way to the second rank. A whole host of tactics suddenly went Darren's way despite Dhariya's excellent resistance. A really terrific battle - but one that left us 1-3 losers, with Shirley (and black) as the winners!

It doesn't matter too much as the team is safe from relegation and can just enjoy our chess between now and the end of the season. We're next in action next week, when we will see once again if black continues to be OK!