Another win for the A team last week, but this time "only" by 3-1 against Olton A, which spoilt our run of 4 consecutive matches where we had dropped just half a point in each. But still no individual losses for the team yet, which is a splendid record after 5 matches.
In fact, things could easily have gone pear shaped, as Joshua e-mailed me around 5.30 on the evening of the match to say that he was stranded in London with no trains for at least 2 hours, so he wasn't going to make it back to Kenilworth in time. I don't like to say it, in case he gets a bit of an inflated ego, but this was a bit of a blow, as he has resumed his role of points machine (4/4) this season. More to the point it left us with only 3 players, but thankfully Bernard C agreed at very short notice to ride to our rescue and bring us back up to full strength.
This was our first encounter with Olton since the tragic passing of both Phil Holt and Richard Smith, so the mood was obviously a bit sombre as play began. And we could certainly have done without Richard Liszewski's phone making some beeping noises a few moves into the match. The Leamington League rules are quite explicit that this results in instant loss of the game, but for the second season running we were simply too nice to our perennial rivals and play carried on as though nothing had happened.
And this time there was a happy ending, as Bernard proceeded to build up a very big kingside attack and eventually won the black queen with consecutive moves of his knights to f5 to give us an early match lead. I was getting nowhere against Mark Cundy on Board 2 and decided to offer a draw before I did anything really stupid. Thankfully this was accepted.
But then came the evening's truly historic moment as Jude, with the Black pieces, beat Alan Lloyd on Board 1. So at the age of 12 he has already achieved something which I have failed to do in 15 years of trying over 10 attempts - 5 of which I have ended up losing! It's now official, in case it wasn't already, that Jude is better than me. Which is why he is playing on Board 1, of course! Anyway, big congrats to Jude on taking one of the biggest scalps in the League, and in the process wrapping up the match victory for us.
One game remained, and this went right down to the wire, as Mike put Rob Reynolds under considerable pressure in a pawn up rook and knight ending. Eventually it became a two pawns up rook ending, but with both players frequently down close to the 10 seconds increment, Rob defended very tenaciously and his active king and rook were able to secure the draw. This was the second consecutive game where Mike couldn't make his extra material tell in the end. Let's hope this is not one of those sequences which come in threes.
It takes a Nobel Prize Winner for Literature to do justice to the historical significance of this match. And it's also the only song I know with "Changing of the Guard" in the lyrics/title. So there wasn't much alternative really, was there?! Anyway, it's a hell of a song, and if anyone has the slightest clue what on earth it's all about, please do let me know.
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