Picture Post

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so here are 4,000 words! First, we have the belated presentation of the Club's three Leamington League trophies from last season. 

Ben presents the Division 1 Trophy to yours truly

Ben presents the Open KO Cup to Jude - one of our two winners in the final against Olton 

Ben presents the U-8750 Trophy to Roy - who certainly didn't play in our winning team! But it's nice to share the glory around, don't you think?

There was actually a fourth KCC triumph as Andrew Paterson won the Stanley Gibbins Trophy (best performance in the League last season, 11.5/13!) - but as there was no presentation and no pictorial record, you'll just have to take my word that he won it!

And so to the by now traditional league curtain raiser, as our A and B teams clashed at The Abbey Club on Monday night. And what a momentous night it was, as it saw the first appearance on Board 1 for the A team of Jude, at the ripe old age of 12. What took you so long??  This must be a record for the youngest ever A team Board 1 in the Leamington League, and comes after he warmed up with a season in Division 1 on Board 1 for the B team last year.

Kenilworth A (Right, front to back, Joshua, Andy, Mark, Jude) v Kenilworth B (Left, front to back, Ben, Phil, Bernard, Mike) Responsibly, everyone with soft drinks - except me and my pint of Guinness!

Attentive readers will recall that this match produced a mini-sensation last season when the B team secured a shock 2-2 draw, after Phil sank Joshua to offset Andrew P's win over Bernard C. In the return fixture in January, order was restored with a (totally undeserved!) 4-0 whitewash by the A team, but there were definitely a few nerves jangling amongst the A team (oh alright, probably just me - no-one else cares as much as I do) as the 2022-23 season kicked off.

Normal service continued in the latest season opener, as the A team ran out 3.5-0.5 winners, but once again the score line was grossly misleading. Phil secured the B team's solitary half point, holding Andy seemingly without much difficulty, while Joshua was the only convincing A team winner against Ben. But both Jude and I had dodgy moments before annexing the full point against Mike and Bernard respectively. Indeed, Bernard turned down a repetition offer from me - despite being a pawn down at the time - and followed up by blundering into mate when a draw was there on a plate for him. Mike was much better against Jude at times, but it is difficult to withstand the momentum of history, and Jude was not going to be denied on his A team top board debut.

This week's song is a real yawn-fest, I'm afraid, but it obviously nominated itself on the basis of the first line! I promise to choose something much better next time