In contrast to the Coventry League, where our recent Division 1 win was secured in the final match, a 3.5-0.5 win away to second placed Olton A last night delivered a third consecutive Leamington League title with three matches still left to play.
Our title success in 2019-20 was rather fortunate, as the season was truncated by the arrival of covid, and we won on average points per game, when we had still got two very strong teams to face. There was no competition in 2020-21, but 2021-22's success was very convincing - unbeaten and seven points clear of Olton A in just a ten match season.
Thanks to the massive blip against Banbury A, we can't go unbeaten this season, but in terms of points amassed and games won, our performances have been at least as convincing - apart from that bizarre night against Banbury, we have won every match, and not a single individual game has been lost. And everyone of our 8 players - heroes all - have scored a minimum of 50%. I don't think my time as captain has ever been as easy, since when key players have been unavailable, others have been more than able to stand in. Just when we lost Jude for a few games post-Xmas, Andrew returned from his sabbatical and Javier arrived from Spain as if by magic. In addition to last night's four, Joshua, Andy and Bernard C have also appeared in the A team this season, and have made up a formidable and successful squad.
But what about last night's match, I hear you cry? Olton had a pretty useful team out, but we were collectively in inspired form. I was first to finish, beating Nick Roberts on Board 3 with the same variation I used to beat Mike in the Kenilworth A v B match last season. Nick made a few rather dodgy moves and then made a big oversight in a very difficult position, but the speed of his resignation still surprised me. Mike then drew on Board 4 against Gary Hope after a game where he tried a few things to enliven proceedings, but Gary was very solid and was able to keep the position under control and even take a slight initiative before the draw was agreed. The match - and title - was then secured by Javier, who comprehensively dismantled Mark Cundy's King's Gambit on Board 2. Not sure what King's Gambit advocate, and possible next World Champion, Ian Nepomniatchi would have thought of this, but I doubt his Chessable course on the opening recommended the line adopted by Mark! By far the longest struggle was on Board 1, where Jude eventually completed a tremendous double this season over Alan Lloyd, after a game which saw a difference of opinion amongst the KCC players. Javier and I thought Jude had been worse for most of the game (an opinion shared by Alan) but Jude was having none of it! Anyway, the clock intervened decisively at the end, as Alan got himself half an hour behind Jude, and when he was down to less than 2 minutes, it was almost inevitable that Jude would jump out and win. Which, of course, he did!
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| The title-clinchers! L-R: Mike, Jude, Mark and Javier. Quite a divergent demographic - no-one within 20 years of the team's average age! (Must have a word with Jude about his Adidas connection - I'm expecting a big sponsorship offer for KCC from Reebok any day now, so that will have to go.) |
So it was happy journey back home to Kenilworth, but little was I to know that - title success or no title success - the real drama of the evening was only just about to start! Having dropped off Mike and Javi, I got back home and thought I'd just check my e-mails before going to bed, as I hadn't switched my phone back on after the match. Rather disturbingly there was an e-mail from Javi saying he had lost the key to his flat. Could I check my car to see if it had fallen out of his pocket there. I checked and it hadn't. I sent a message to Olton to see if anyone had found a key, but obviously Javi needed rescuing from the prospect of a night on the mean streets of Kenilworth (his car keys were in his flat, so he couldn't even retreat to that, and the contact details for his landlord were on his work phone - yes, you guessed it, also in his flat!) So off I went to pick him up and bring him to my house for the night. No sooner had we arrived back than he took off his jacket and, possibly by a complete stroke of luck, happened to feel something in the lining. Oh yes, it was his flat key, which had gone through a small hole in the pocket and ended up deep in the lining. Relief all round. So back to his flat to drop him off again, and then back home to post the result of the match - only to find that Mark Cundy had beaten me to it.
Anyway, a happy ending, but a late night drama I would prefer not to repeat! I always knew Javi was a key member of the team. So in honour of last night's events, and to commemorate our three successive LDCL titles, we have a triple musical contribution to this report. See if you can spot a theme!
If you thought that was a bit weird, you ain't heard nothing yet!
And from the totally ridiculous to the sublime
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