Job Done

So there you have it. The Division 1 season has finally come to an end, with the A team - after already clinching a fourth consecutive title after beating Stratford A on March 25th - playing two competitively meaningless fixtures in the last week. Our star top two boards took a well earned rest, and with the B team's season already concluded there was no problem in still being able to field strong line-ups in each match. Even if they may not have looked that strong with me on Board 1!

Last week we travelled to Solihull, and returned home with 2 more points after a 3-1 win. Bruce and Andy B packed too big a punch for the home team on Boards 3 and 4 and took us most of the way to the winning line. I especially liked Andy's clean transition to a winning bishops of the same colour ending, while Bruce's victory was gained in typically chaotic/creative style. And talking of chaos, we were actually losing on the top two boards for quite some time. I dropped an exchange against Don Mason after overlooking that a tiny little move by him (pawn from f7 to f6) suddenly set up a cheapo that I had seen didn't work the move before. Thankfully I got a pawn in compensation, but I was dead lost nevertheless. But Don got himself into serious time trouble and made a couple of inaccuracies which enabled me to get an equal position. However, I then went wrong again and grabbed a second pawn which gave him the edge again, but as he was down to 20 seconds by this stage - and the correct sequence was not easy to find - he felt obliged to offer a draw. Andrew's game against Ray Carpenter on Board 2 was even more erratic. Andrew was clearly better but completely overlooked a big knight fork, which cost him an exchange. Somehow, though, he fought back so strongly that he ended up in a winning position thanks to a monster passed pawn and a very active king. But just as it looked like he would pull off a win, there was another change of fortune, and Ray somehow salvaged a draw.

And then last night it was off to Olton for the final league match of the season. The team was the same as against Solihull, except that Joshua came in as a replacement for Andy who - of course - could not possibly be available for two matches in a row! And in an uncanny repeat of the previous week, his Board 4 game also came down to a bishops of the same colour ending where he was able to annex some White pawns to achieve victory. A most un-Joshua like sort of game, with scarcely an outrageous move to be seen! Which was not the case in Bruce's win over Richard Reynolds on Board 3, where his pet opening seemed to have somewhat misfired at one point, with the Black position looking preferable to me. But massive confusion inevitably soon took over the board, and while Joshua tells me that Bruce could easily have dropped a piece in the time scramble, what actually happened was that Richard overlooked that Bruce could play the move Qa8 mate! Though by that time Bruce was winning anyway.

Things did not go so well on Board 2, though, where Andrew had a distinct off night against Mark Cundy and came under persistent pressure on the kingside while having little or no counterplay in return. I missed the denouement, but apparently a Black knight dropped off and that was that. Luckily, however, I was playing Alan Lloyd on Board 1, and after achieving a breakthrough win against him last summer in the Phil Holt Memorial Team Tournament (after previously losing 5 and drawing 5 of our first 10 encounters!) the chess gods have clearly decided to balance the score. We had a very exciting game (as I said to him afterwards, "People of our age really shouldn't play that sor of chess!") where it was equal; then I was worse; then I was winning; then it was equal; then I was better; and then I was winning. His resignation looked a bit premature, to me even though I was winning a clear exchange, but I was especially glad to take the point, as a loss would have taken my rating below 2100 for the first time in very many years. And so it was 3-1 again, which meant that we had won every match this season by either 3-1 or 3.5-0.5 ....... except the one we lost to Banbury A! The (almost) final league table really tells the story of the domination of the two Kenilworth teams - and especially of the A team, given its huge game points difference.

As they used to say in 18th century English horse racing circles: "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere."

And talking of which, here is the animal himself, as captured for posterity by George Stubbs.

Regrettably, the A and B teams won't be joined in Division 1 next season by the C team who just missed out on promotion last night, but 2 Kenilworth teams in Division 1 is probably quite enough for the rest of the league.

That just leaves the little matter of 3 Cup Finals for the club to contest. We won 2 of the 3 when we last managed to reach 3 finals in 2022, and 2 out of 2 last year, so there is a chance for history to be made on May 8th. May the force be with us!

So, four consecutive Division 1 titles demands an epic musical contribution. And if this isn't epic then nothing is! But please note the special Club rule that applies here - once you start watching/listening you have to play the WHOLE video. And - you lucky people - that means instead of the 9 minutes 5 seconds of the album cut, you get 11 minutes and 48 seconds on this 1977 live version! And if you don't like the music, you can always enjoy the scenery.

Game On

The C team travelled to Solihull last night, knowing that victory against their B team followed by a win against Leamington A next week, would secure promotion to Division 1. A quest that seemed improbable at the start of the season and still unlikely at Christmas, has certainly gathered momentum in recent weeks...

With Harry away, I stepped into the team as captain, perhaps becoming the first player in League history to play Solihull B four times in the course of the season! Having won 0.5 - 3.5 away to Solihull B with the D team recently, and with Solihull's team actually being slightly weaker than on that night, we were certainly hopeful that we would get the job done. 

In the end we ran out 0 - 4 victors, but as ever there is always a little more to an evening than the final score. I was the first to finish, against Mike Warden on Board 4. We'd got out of the opening with me having the better pawn structure and some interesting kingside play, and I was manoeuvring to find a break though when Mike attempted to simplify by offering an exchange of queens. In so doing, missing a tactic that enabled me to rip open his king, chase it up the board and deliver checkmate.

Paul finished a few minutes later against Matthew Allen on Board 3, who since his excellent win against Solomon earlier in the season hasn't had much joy against Kenilworth players. Having lost spectacularly quickly against Dhairya last week, there weren't the same fireworks here, but 15 minutes in I thought Paul had a won position. He'd picked up a pawn, had much the healthier queenside structure, and Matthew lacked any obvious counterplay. Following which Matthew proceeded to swap everything off at lightening speed. With no realistic hope left, Matthew slowed his pace, but Paul's excellent technique meant that victory was just a matter of time and by 9.00 we were 2-0 up.

Bernard's game against Akshath Shivakumar on Board 2 ebbed and flowed and was not a great deal of fun to watch. I certainly thought Akshath was better at the halfway stage, and complexities abounded. Bernard gradually assumed control. It seemed to me and Keatan that Bernard missed a stone cold kill, when Rb8 would have lined Bernard's queen, rook and g7 bishop up on white's b2 pawn and king on c1 in a way that would have ended the game on the spot, but chess is always an easier game to watch that it is to play. Bernard might not have been totally clinical, but he still had enough, and around 10.20, he brought home the full point against a very talented junior.

Which just left Keatan against Julian Summerfield on Board 1. Keatan played brilliantly, and in winning deservedly lifted his rating over 2000, which is a tribute to his commitment, talent and dedication this season. I expect when the game is analysed, people will be full of praise for the way in which Keatan slowly squeezed Julian out of squares over approximately 1000 moves. However, as a watching captain, it was nowhere near as much fun in the moment. With the match win so crucial (and Bernard's game uncertain) I found myself praying that Keatan (who was very short of time) did not buckle, as Julian had offered a draw that would have won us the match. Clearly Keatan has much stronger nerves than me, and the way in which he eventually broke through was terrific. He thoroughly deserved his win. 

So the best two teams in Division 2 will go head to head for the title and automatic promotion next week. Kenilworth C need to win. For Leamington A a draw will do. It promises to be an interesting evening. 

Whatever happens, the team's exploits this season highlight the sheer strength and depth at the club. We have come a long way and can truly celebrate all that has been achieved.

A Visitor from the East!

A couple of weeks ago we had the great pleasure of welcoming back, just for one night, a KCC member from pre-covid times, Algis Toleikis. Algis was visiting Kenilworth with his family from his home land of Lithuania, and found time to pop into the Ale Rooms to catch up with a few old friends and play some chess. I say a few, because only Joshua and I of the older club members were there initially, though Bernard did hot foot it back from Solihull, after a crushing win for the D team, to join in the reunion. But thankfully there were several newer KCC members also in attendance to join in the welcome. A shame that more of Algis' old friends from the Gauntlet days weren't around, but  - no names mentioned - they are bound to miss out on such enjoyable occasions if they opt to sit in a dark room in, say, Fen End instead of socialising with their mates on a Thursday evening! Anyway, I can report that Algis was in excellent spirits and reported that things were going very well back home, where he is once more in the world of academia, but now running his own team and research projects. He certainly looked in good health!

Algis, flanked by Dylan and - lurking in the darkness - Joshua 

Algis' chief enemy was always the clock, but there seems to have been a remarkable transformation in the last few years, as within about 90 minutes of arriving at The Ale Rooms, he was doing the unthinkable, and playing a bullet game with Steph! As preserver of club morals (and club chess clocks!) I have since had to outlaw this practice on club nights as being far too exciting for a respectable chess club, but it was certainly quite a sight on that particular night.

I was extremely fortunate to win my single rapid encounter against Algis that evening, as he was giving me a very hard time for most of the game. There's no doubt he would be a very useful player for us if he ever gets the urge to return to Warwick University!

But the really big news he was able to tell us was that he had recently notched up a GM scalp. It was in a simul, but it was still a GM - and not any old run of the mill GM, but quite a celebrity in the chess world. His victim was Viktorija Cmilyte, a former European Women's Champion who has been a (full) GM since 2010, with a peak FIDE rating of 2542. She is also well known as the former wife of GM Alexei "Fire on Board" Shirov and, since 2013, as the wife of Peter Heine Neilsen, Danish GM and chief coach/second of Magnus Carlsen for many years. She is largely inactive in the chess world these days, as her career has taken her into politics where she is currently Speaker of the Seimas - the Lithuanian Parliament.

Algis in play against Viktorija Cmilyte. Little does the GM know what is about to happen! 

Regrettably, the whole game has not been saved for posterity ...... but the conclusion has! In this complex position, both teams are on the verge of landing knockout blows to the opposing king. Despite the excitement, the all seeing chess engine tells us - almost inevitably - that it is a dead draw. The evaluation, of course, is 0.0! But you still have to find the right moves, and even for a GM that can sometimes prove to be too difficult a task!

Bravo, Algis! A great scalp. Best of luck for your life and career in Vilnius from everyone at KCC. It was great to have had you as a club member for a few years, and it was a real pleasure to see you again. And hopefully it was not for the last time!

Season Review/Double Quick Time!

 Kenilworth D completed their League program last night with a convincing 3.5 - 0.5 victory away to Solihull B. While we rightly celebrate the fact that our A and B teams are first and second in Division 1, and that the C team is vying for promotion from Division 2, it would have seemed fanciful not so long ago that we could also have a D team that is so strong. 

Yet we were right up there with the Division 2 pacesetters until quite recently, and are ending the season comfortably in mid-table, with a Cup final to look forward to. As well as Solihull B, we've also triumphed against Banbury B and Olton B and have drawn one of the two matches against every other team in the Division (including Leamington A) - with only Kenilworth C doing the double over us (with a little help from our star player following Keatan's promotion.)

Dhairya has topped scored for the D team with 5/8 and secures my captain's award, as our team's player of the season as a result. Without doubt, Dhairya has a very bright future ahead of him. 

We've used ten players in all, nine of whom got on the scoreboard. In terms of the other 6 who played more than one game - Keatan's help on Board 1 in the first half of the season was terrific, and he thoroughly deserved his subsequent promotion to the C team. We were very fortunate that we subsequently picked Michal up out of nowhere, and he proved to be an excellent replacement on Board 1 in the final stages of the season. Bernard Rogers, Phil and Solomon all played a decent number of games to good effect. I played the most of all (10 of the 12) and if far from spectacular was pretty solid. Hopefully I have something to build on after a steadier season than the previous one. 

So how did we beat Solihull having lost to them 0.5 - 3.5 at home a matter of weeks ago? Well, the short answer is very quickly. Dhairya was stuck in traffic so we kicked off a player down, with Dhairya arriving at 7.45, prior to the single most eventful 15 minutes of the season.

Bernard was playing Paul Silverman and Paul walked headlong into an awful trap, with multiple pieces including his queen under attack. It was just horrible for him straight out of the gate. I settled down to think about my move against Shivakumar Akshath, when I heard an end of game conversation breaking out, and the sound of pieces being tidied away. I assumed Paul had decided to call it a night, but to my amazement saw that Matthew Allen had resigned his game against Dhairya, after ten minutes of playing time. Dhairya literally hadn't even taken off his coat! Again, Matthew had walked into a trap and couldn't face playing on. So Dhairya was able to head for home barely before he had arrived, having put us in a great position.

There is no better player when he is ahead than Bernard. In hindsight, Paul probably wished that he had followed Matthew's example and resigned earlier... With a glint in his eye and a ruthless level of efficiency on the board, Bernard spent the next 45 minutes or so brutally demolishing his opponent. It was a joy to watch and we were 2 - 0. It wasn't even 8.30!

I had a slight edge against Shivakumar and I thought Michal also looked better, so I offered the draw that would secure us the two points, and wasn't that surprised when it was accepted. The team had achieved a famous scalp!

I actually headed home at this point so I could enjoy the end of Chelsea - Man Utd. (I am a Man Utd fan, so I didn't, but that's another story...) But Michal's subsequent text to tell me he had won against Julian Summerfield was welcome news indeed! 

Hopefully the U8750 team can repeat this triumph when we return to Solihull to play Olton on the 8th May. It really has been a very good season. While the D team won't grab the headlines, all involved should be really proud of their efforts.

 

One More than a Threepeat is Presumably a Fourpeat?!

Normally I'd not have waited some 10 days or so to report on a League winning victory for one of our teams, but these were not normal times, as I flew off to Dubai the day after our A team clinched the title with a 3.5-0.5 win over Stratford A. And even I am not so sad that I was willing to spend my exotic holiday slaving over a hot blog!

But all good things are worth waiting for, so now the full story can be told. I decided to leave myself out of the team (a) because I thought I would be too excited to play on the eve of my trip to the Middle East; (b) because I'm not playing very well; and (c) because Billy was available, and it was the first time he and Jude had played together in the A team - an historic occasion! With a 20-something in the shape of Javier also in the team, it was left to Bruce to play on the Oldie board, as the team's average age came in at around 28. Not exactly in keeping with the KCC demographic of recent years!

I adjourned to the bar to chat to Billy's Dad and Jude's Mum, but before you could say Jack Robinson, two games were finished. First Javier drew with Black on Board 1 against Ben Larkin. Both players bashed out a lot of theory; Javi got the move order wrong; Ben didn't notice; and it was a draw by perpetual. Al most immediately Richard McNally gave up a piece for a couple of pawns against Jude on Board 2, but followed up by then getting his queen trapped, and so it was 1.5-0.5 to us and we just needed another half point to clinch the title.

But it wasn't exactly plain sailing. Both the remaining games were very complicated and it wasn't clear to me who - if anyone - was better. Especially when Bruce didn't quite manage to trap a White knight that had got itself stranded on g7. But I shouldn't have worried, as Sam Cotterill got into serious time trouble and couldn't hold the position together once Bruce's rooks got motoring. So the Division 1 title was ours - for the fourth consecutive time - and only Billy's game against Richard Dobedoe was still in play. I wasn't entirely convinced that his earlier attack had been entirely sound, and as material reduced I became even more concerned.  I re-entered the room while Billy was thinking in the following position. (Actually it may not be the exact position, but its as close as I can recall. All the key pieces are certainly on the right squares.)

It wasn't at all obvious to me how he was going to continue, but when he played Rf5!! it all became clear. I had to leave the room in case my excitement gave the game away, but by the time I returned it was indeed all over as Billy had been given the chance to finish things with a beautiful queen sacrifice.

There are still 2 league matches to go for the A team, but we are now unassailable in first place, as the B team has finished its fixtures - and is guaranteed to finish second for what is - I very much suspect - an unprecedented 1-2 for the club. And maybe for any club. I shall have to do a bit of digging to see if this is correct.

No music this week, because there's something much better available - a recording of my horse Diligent Harry (and when I say my horse, I really mean my 7% share of my horse) running a stormer in Dubai last Saturday to finish third in a Group 1 race on Dubai World Cup day. As he was named well before our own diligent C team Captain Harry joined KCC, I can confirm that any similarity is purely coincidental. And I'm sure you'll all approve of this change from music to horse racing, if only because the video is much shorter than normal!

The Killer Queens of Coventry

How did that happen? We were winning on at least 3 boards in the final of the Coventry League KO Cup on Tuesday evening, but when the overweight person stopped singing, we had lost the match 1.5-2.5, and our first chance of silverware for the season had disappeared.

Mike finished first, drawing with Black against Ed Goodwin on Board 4 - a result the smart money would have been on at the outset. I saw virtually nothing of the game, but I gather Mike equalised and held a slight edge, but Ed just played very solidly and shut the game down to a draw.

I finished next, being the first victim of a sudden swarm of Coventry Killer Queens which attacked the Kenilworth team. I was much better out of the opening against Jonathan Fowler; missed an absolutely crushing, but very complex, piece sac; then missed a more prosaic way to establish a won position; before falling to equality around move 30. By move 33 I was completely lost, as I had a total mental blank and failed to notice that an obvious move of Jonathan's was check. Even after he'd played it I tried to make an illegal move. However, the fact it was check made rather a big difference, and I was virtually forced to give up my queen (and a pawn) for a rook and knight. But my king was unsafe and I couldn't find anything better than to force him to sac an exchange to secure two monstrous central passed pawns which - shepherded forwards by a killer queen - overwhelmed by two rooks and won the game.

But we could still win the match on board count if we could muster 1.5/2 on the top two boards. One point was in the bag, as Javier had simply taken a gambit pawn in the opening and held on to it without any semblance of counterplay for Black. By the time I could take a look at the game again, he had won a second pawn, and when he added a third - in what was now a single rook ending - Francis Sagyaman decided enough was enough.

But it didn't save us, as tragically Bruce had succumbed to another Coventry killer queen, this time in the hands of a certain Joshua Pink. Joshua started the inevitable madness early in the game, and Bruce made a fatal mistake in going along with him on his crazy adventures in Pinkland. This time round the Kenilworth player got a rook and two pieces for the queen, but that was hardly important - what really mattered was that Joshua was in his element and subjective assessments were pretty irrelevant given the massive material imbalance. When the White queen rook and knight all advanced to the 7th and 8th ranks, the large but hopelessly uncoordinated collection of Black pieces couldn't hold the balance, and Bruce lost on time when unable to find a defence to the White invasion. Score 2-0 to the Coventry Killer Queens!

This was all very disappointing (we did have a rating advantage on all 4 boards - particularly pronounced on my board!), but other than mea culpa, there's not a lot more I can say.  The only thing we can do now is to make sure we win the Leamington League Open KO Cup, where we are due to play Stratford in the Final on May 8th (at Solihull).

I think you all know what song's coming up. Though don't make the mistake of thinking that I like it. Far too popular for my tastes! Still, at least its blissfully short.

Top of the League (Temporarily) - Part 6 (the finale)

 Not much to this post, other than I want to put this here for one last time:

If we all agree to end the season now, then the most deserving team will win the league. I should also point to the extremely surprising fact we managed to have a +7 match results difference, with only +6 game points, which can't have happened many time before.

I don't wish to dwell too much on our last couple of games (a loss to Banbury and then a victory over Shirley), as my teammates decided to cram a whole season's worth of captaincy stress into the last two games; with late arrivals, blundered pieces, and a refusal to take pieces when our opponents blundered them. Therefore, I thought I would focus more on overall achievements for the season.

My task was definitely made easier by having 3 players who managed to play every game in the season, with the following results:

• Andy P - 6/14
• Myself - 7.5/14
• Mike - 9/14

Andrew definitely gets the excuse of having by far the hardest competition, but Mike will clearly have to be awarded our MVP trophy. Board 4 is much more complicated, with 6 different players (Paul B, Andy B, Keatan, Bernard, Ben and Harry) having made appearances, with all scoring points along the way. Once you add up the totals across all those players, you end up with:

• Motley collection - 8.5/14

In many ways, I feel this is a good metaphor for my life. I thought I had quite a good season, but in fact I am just a little bit worse than a random selection of people from the club.

Economy of Effort

In our final two matches of the Coventry League Division 1 season I am pleased to report a massive, aggregate score for Kenilworth of 8-0 against two Warwick University teams - and this without actually winning a single game over the board. Now that is what I call economy of effort!

In our penultimate match we turned up at the University to play their B team. Imagine our surprise when the top 3 players were identical to the top three in the University A side we had played the week before. Especially as on this night, Warwick Uni A were supposed to be playing away against Nuneaton. Hmm, suspicious - unless 4 even stronger players had been rounded up (quite possible given the strength in depth at the University's disposal) to play for the A team. As to the match, Bruce went down spectacularly and very quickly against Arya Cont on Board 1, and Ben went down much more slowly on Board 4. Mike's game against Tom Brown was very interesting and he very nearly crashed through with a winning attack, but had to settle for perpetual. I was in  desperate straits against Damirali Magzumov - who had already beaten me earlier in the season - but thanks to sheer bloody-mindedness, a couple of good moves by me and some missed opportunities for my opponent, I somehow held on for a draw. So 1-3 on the night, but what would the League make of the composition of the University B team? Well, since the University A team did not show up at Nuneaton that night, the answer was not very much. Fortunately, though, there was no need to get into any row over whether this default and transfer of players to a lower team was within the rules (still don't know the answer to that!), as there was a more simple rule transgression with the University Board 1, and captain, being ineligible to play for the B team. So his result, and that on all boards below, were scored as 1-0 to us! Which is how we won 4-0 without winning a single game. The ruling didn't help anybody get back their lost grading points, but it did give us 2 match points in our quest for second place.

And then to cap it all, this week's home match against University A was also reduced to a non-event when our opponents were unable to raise a team at all - despite finding 15 players to play in 4 other teams fielded that night, all of whom were eligible to play in their A team! This is, of course, all highly unsatisfactory from a competitive perspective, as random defaults by the League's strongest side play havoc with the integrity of the final table, which shows us to have finished in second place, within 1 point of Warwick University A, even though they were clearly miles better than us.  I expect a discussion on this at the League AGM, though I'm pretty sure we've been down this road before.

So 8-0 to Kenilworth, with not a win for us to be seen anywhere!

In keeping with the bizarre events of the last two matches, I couldn't think of a more appropriate piece of music than this!

One more match remains in our Coventry League season, as we face Coventry A in the final of the KO Cup next Tuesday. I am pretty confident that they will at least show up for this, as they have - yet again, and for unspecified reasons - been given home advantage.

They Couldn't.......Could They?

4 wins on the bounce has seen Kenilworth C come out of the pack into a clear second place in the 2nd Division and this run, combined with Leamington A losing their penultimate game of the season has opened up a slim possibility of the league title ......we just need to win our remaining 3 games of the season.

First up - Solihull B, who we had yet to play as their season started after Christmas. It all started smoothly, games looked very balanced, Keatan playing a symmetrical English as black, Bernard was facing a lot of pawn advances but looked ok to me, I had negotiated the opening with an edge as black and Ben looked like he had the edge on Board 4. 

Bernard then took advantage of his overstretched opponent and won a couple of pawns, Keatan was taking the initiative (although it had eaten into his time) and Ben looked threatening although still equal. Great, I thought, as my edge had fizzled out due to some smart play by my opponent. This left me thinking a draw would be enough and indeed my opponent offered me one which I declined as I wanted to see how the games played out and my position contained no real risks.

But Bernard then got on the receiving end of a series of checks by the opposing Queen that he could not escape - 1/2 point. Ben contrived to lose a pawn heading into the end game but solidly stopped his opponent progressing and gained another 1/2 point. Keatan's game looked in a good place but could he win with the time remaining on his clock? Suddenly my game might need to be won....

I tried to create some pressure in a Queen and Bishop vs Queen and Bishop (same colour) endgame with plenty of pawns on the board - computer says draw (obviously) but I find playing computer moves to be difficult and hoped this was the case for my opponent too. Indeed he abandoned his King's defence to snaffle a pawn and suddenly I spotted a mating trap. With 1 minute each left on the clock, I confidently moved thinking it was in the bag but he simply sidestepped the issue (note to self - the opponent does not have to take pieces when they are offer!) and I was left floundering with very little time and could feel the pressure getting to me........

Fortunately for me, Keatan (not for the first time this season) came to the rescue - I did not see how but he secured the much needed win, leaving me to immdiately take the easy perpetual I had and secure the draw needed for the overall win....phew. Nerves a bit frayed to be honest, but our hopes are still alive (with our 3rd 2.5-1.5 victory in a row). One more win (against Solihull B again) would leave a winner takes all title decider against Leamington A.....

PS - Only when I got home did I find out I had a (pretty simple) win at the end as my nerves over time got the better of me. At least I could reconcile this as the team win was secured so I was happy with my decision to take the half point and it was probably a fair result.

And Then There Were Two

For the gazillionth time this season the A team vaulted over the B team and returned to the top of Division 1 after a 3.5-0.5 win over Solihull A on Monday night. Its fair to say that we fielded a very strong team while our opponents, sitting unusually low in the table, were clearly missing some players. Nevertheless, we've seen in the past that rating gaps seldom convert that smoothly into victories, but on this occasion there were not too many alarms along the way.

Javi scored a very convincing win over Ray Carpenter on Board 2. Ray went wrong in the opening and Javi simply won a pawn with an overwhelming position. In no time at all he was three pawns up, and as these were 3 connected and passed pawns the result was never in doubt.  Bruce was next to finish against Tony Sadler on Board 3. I only looked at this game twice - the first time, Bruce was a pawn up and the second he had added an exchange. Plus he had all the play against White's long-castled king. Andrew - more at home on Board 1 for the B team - found himself on Board 4 against a very promising Solihull junior Akshath Shivakumar, who has already made a winning 4NCL debut for Warwickshire Select 2 in Division 3 of the 4NCL. Paul will have to check his records and see if Akshath has broken Jude's record (or is it Billy's?) for the youngest player in Division 1 of the LDCL. Andrew seemed to get a very big plus in the opening, and landed a monster knight on e6 where it was forking 2 Black rooks. He had to be careful about his king safety, as his fianchettoed light squared bishop had disappeared, but he avoided the potential banana skins and wrapped up the victory soon after.

But things had gone less smoothly on Board 1, where Jude had not found a great set-up against Don Mason's slightly innocuous opening set-up, and was soon in some difficulties. He tried to tactic his way out of the problems, but Black had too many loose pieces, and as we all know Loose Pieces Drop Off. But just as one of them was about to, Don offered Jude a draw because he was already in serious time trouble. Jude, being in a lost position, could hardly decline, and was probably very relieved toi take home a half point.

The upshot of this latest A team win is that the Division 1 champions will definitely come from Kenilworth - its just a question of whether it will be the A or B team that gets the trophy.

LDCL League Table as at 05/03/24. Pleasant reading if you are from Kenilworth!

So, to paraphrase a Little Feat song, "Now there's 2 trains running on that line, One train's the A team and the other's some friends of mine."

Top of the League (Temporarily) - Part 5

I feel the title should be self-explanatory by this point. A minor point of note that we (Kenilworth B that is) actually won 3-1 in this match against Olton instead of our usual 2.5-1.5, but I’m in a thoroughly bad mood about the whole thing.

The start of the evening did at least produce some amusing early stress, as our two home matches in one evening became something of a space problem once we realised there was already an AGM taking place in the main bar area, meaning we had to fit 8 boards into the space usually taken up by 4 (or, to be precise, 7 boards there and one in the corridor). The confusion was then confounded by Steph and her opponent’s decision to sit on opposite sides of the table from everyone else in the room, meaning I was constantly confused by which team was doing well on that board every time I looked.

However, focusing on our match for a bit, it all seemed (with one specific exception to be covered later) to go quite well. Andrew as black against Alan Lloyd played an excellent looking gamer, neutralising Alan’s traditional English, winning a pawn in the middlegame and then converting. Keatan also had a nice win in his debut B team game, pushing a pawn up to f6 as white early in the game which, although it never quite led to a mating attack, did stay there for most of the rest of the game, and eventually cost black a piece in the endgame. 2-0 and looking smooth.

3-0 followed not long after, with Mike converting a game I assume he must have been much better in for quite some time. Relatively early on as black, after white had castled kingside, he played Bg4 attacking a white knight on f3. White responded with h3 to attack the bishop, and black captured the white knight. So far so normal, except that white had no piece defending the knight, and so had to play gxf3 in front of his own king. It took a while for this to prove catastrophic, but it looked very ugly for most of the game, and did eventually cost Olton a third point.

The match should have ended 4-0 to us – it did not. I was playing Mark Cundy and, after a not very impressive game from either player, I eventually bumbled into a better rook endgame, normally something I am not that terrible at.

In that position, I played the quite exciting (I think) move Rc7+, sacrificing the rook to get the passed pawn moving as fast as possible. Not a necessary move, other things also worked, but it is winning for me, and I would argue the most fun way to do so. A few moves later, we reached the following position.

You will see three noted possible moves in the position. I spent most of my last 3 minutes deciding between Kb1 and Kb3, thinking they were both winning, and eventually settled on Kb1 it looked the simplest win. It turns out both moves lose for me. I played Kb1, and after b3 I do indeed get a queen, but it turns out I then get mated by c2+, Ra1+ and c1=Q+. The move Kd3 wins for white, but this is a move I did not even notice was a legal one to play. So, a loss from a winning position, and the fancy rook sacrifice wasn’t even the move to blame. What a disappointing way to go back to the top of the table.

Eyes down for the British Rapidplay - and you can watch us live!

This Saturday and Sunday, the British Rapidplay takes place in Peterborough. There are currently 210 runners and riders, with several Kenilworth players in the mix. If you fancy a flutter, I probably wouldn't. But if you must, back the youngsters. Our current seedings are Billy (18), Jude (27), Joshua (91), Keatan (113) and me (131), albeit clearly I am just lulling everyone into a false sense of security! Apologies, of course, if I have inadvertently missed anyone from this list.

The great news is, you can watch the action live. Every board will be streamed in real time, via this link (or some such.) Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2024 British Rapidplay Championship

Mark watched last year as myself, Josh and Bernard Rogers strutted our stuff. He said it was quite an experience, albeit on reflection this might not have been a ringing endorsement of our technique! It is certainly a fun event. Last year I managed to beat WGM Sheila Jackson and to lose to a 1200 within the same afternoon. Albeit, I normally only tell people the first part of this story.

So if you've got time on your hands and fancy watching some weekend chess, check us out. Alternatively, if this has whetted your appetite, perhaps even explore putting in a late entry...

That'll Be a No, Then ......

 ..... if the question is "will Kenilworth retain their Coventry League title?" A narrow 2.5-1.5 defeat against a still 100% Warwick University A team this week finally extinguished any small hopes we might have harboured in this direction Though if truth be told, we have been highly unlikely to mount a serious challenge since our slip up against the University's B team before Christmas. So with two league matches left - return fixtures against each of the University teams - our only target is to hold on to second place. We'll probably know where we stand on that point after next week's round of fixtures when third place Nuneaton A play Uni A, and we take on Uni B. But at least we have a Cup-Final to look forward to!

Bruce was our sole winner on Tuesday, after another very entertaining and wide-open game - albeit rather more sound this time than his game on the previous evening! Javi chose a bad night to record his first loss of the Cov League season (against Arya Cont) while Ben lost against an opponent he had drawn with the previous weekend. I got rather excited when one of my opening weapons actually got to be fired against Tom Brown, but whereas it had worked brilliantly for (apologies for mentioning him) Sergey Karjakin, my opponent played a much better move than Baadur Jobava had, and the position was just dead equal for the entire game. Even though a draw was only agreed as we were about to go down to bare kings.

So there we have it - no league double for us this season, as we kiss our CDCL title goodbye. A sentiment which brings to mind this week's song - " you call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye." As Don says in the intro, "the history of western civilisation in 6 minutes." Though its actually nearer 7! But who cares? Definitely one of the Eagles' best ever songs.

Fortune Favours the Brave

On paper this should have been a mismatch - the all-conquering (well, all except Banbury A!) Kenilworth A team against bottom of the table Shirley B. But all was not entirely as it seemed. For a start, I was on Board 1 for us, so you can immediately tell that we had at least 2 players missing! Nevertheless, we still managed a rating advantage averaging very nearly 250 points per board, so you'd think the match was guaranteed to go our way, wouldn't you? Not so fast, I'm afraid!

It all began swimmingly with one of the most remarkable carve ups I've seen in a long time, as Andrew put the late arriving Keith Ingram completely to the sword with a devastating king side onslaught. If I tell you that by move 10 Andrew's queen's knight had captured a Black pawn on h7, you can tell this was no ordinary game! The finish was swift and brutal. 

Not surprisingly there was then a long wait for the next point, which arrived when I checkmated Jonathan Dale to get some revenge for my loss against him in last season's KO Cup Final. After winning a pawn in the opening, and with the Black c8 bishop becalmed on its starting square by a White knight on c5 for nearly the whole game, Black was reduced to a rather unconvincing kingside attack, but as his own king opened up it was me on the attack and the end was inevitable for several moves.

Meanwhile, on Board 2 Bruce had launched a kingside pawn storm of his own against Darren Whitmore, which looked likely to win the game in short order. And Keatan, making his A team debut  (after starting the season in the D team!), was much better/maybe winning from the opening, against Gordon Christie. So it all looked like plain sailing - but as soon as I retreated to the bar for a well earned drink, the wheels began to come off in spectacular fashion.

So on my return what do I find but Bruce a queen and a rook down (and White with 2 queens!) and Keatan facing disaster with a mighty White pawn on c7. Gulp! We're only going to draw the match. But cometh the hour cometh the men.

Given a sniff of opportunity Bruce somehow forced the White king out into the middle of the board, where it was hounded by Bruce's queen and rook, while a bishop on h6 threatened to join the fun if it could just get to give a check. But it was still losing for Bruce (-8.1 he tells me!), but despite having more time on the clock, Darren chose the wrong escape route for his king and after first turning the win into a draw, he then fell into mate by avoiding a perpetual. Phew! And all the time White's 2 queens just looked on from h3 and a8, powerless to intervene!

So I adjourned back to the bar, happy we had somehow managed to claim the match victory, but expecting news of Keatan's loss any moment. Only it never came, as right at the end Gordon apparently went wrong and Keatan's tenacity was rewarded with what had seemed an impossible draw.

Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of disaster. In other circumstances you'd have to feel for the Shirley team, but with us still trailing the B team before last night, the best I can offer them is a song dedicated to their misfortune. "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all." Ain't that the truth!

But on a more upbeat note, the A team has regained the lead at the top of Division 1 and has a 1 point advantage, with a game in hand. Its over to the B team now, who are in action against Olton A before the A team return to action against Solihull A another week later.

A Night to Forget...

 In order to draw a hasty veil over last night's proceedings, we will keep this match report relatively brief. We were reasonably evenly matched on paper against Solihull B, and actually outpointed them in terms of our grading average, but it was fair to say that little went our way.

I was the first to finish, on Board 2 against Julian Summerfield. Not the most exciting of games, it has to be said. A lot of wood came off early, and there was no real way for either side to make progress. I've not had the best of records against Julian in the last couple of years, so was happy enough. We retreated to the bar and had a very nice drink and a catch up. I think both feeling that Kenilworth probably had the edge in the other three games. Still, as we all know, there is many a slip between cup and lip...

Michal had snatched the poisoned "b" pawn, on Board 1 against Tony Sadler, but seemed to have digested it pretty well. Unfortunately, a slight miscalculation saw a promising position turn to dust, and we were down 1.5 - 0.5.

Dhairya's position out of the opening against Ian Brodie on Board 3 was as wild as ever. However, for once, I feared it wasn't better. Yet Dhairya seemed to gradually improve the situation and was certainly winning at one point. However, post my return from the bar, something had clearly gone awry, and he was down a piece. Credit to Dhariya for proceeding to make Ian work exceptionally hard, before finally succumbing when both were below a minute on the clock.

The heartbreak of the night award goes to Solomon, who completely bossed his game against Matthew Allen. At every stage he had the initiative and seemed to be making good choices, without yielding a breakthrough. Finally a pawn race ensued. Matthew queened a move earlier, but Solomon queened with check and still seemed to have the play. However, when the checks petered out, the key factor was the better positioning of Matthew's King. Ultimately the black monarch and consort worked exceptionally well together. Solomon's pawns dropped off and the game was lost. Painful to watch and I'm sure even more so to play. We've all been there. Such is the life of a chess player.

So, a disappointing evening, but these things happen. We know we can do better, and will look to put things right in next week's cup game against the same opponents.

  

6 Match Reports in One Week - Another New Record!

I'm having trouble keeping up with all these matches, but I've finally got around to last Thursday's A team league encounter away at Banbury A. So for two whole days I'll be up to date, until yet another two matches crop up on Monday and Tuesday and its back to square one.

For the second Thursday in succession, Jude, Javier and Joshua (the 3-Jays, not to be confused with The O-Jays!) found themselves facing an away trip to Banbury, which must be just about our longest trip of the season. After a good win in the KO Cup Semi-Final, the previous week, it was back to league action this time around, as the A team set about trying to bridge the yawning 3 point gap which the B team had established at the top of Division 1 a few days earlier. 

Banbury have a pretty strong and solid team, which can become very strong when IM James Jackson makes an appearance, as he did when Banbury beat us in the reverse fixture earlier this season and administered our only loss to date. He was missing this time, though, which left us rating favourites, but with tough games likely on all boards.

Joshua played his normal gung-ho style on Board 4 against Nathan Manley, sacrificing a pawn (modest by his standards) but he had failed to notice that the queens could instantly be forced off, and it was soon a rook and pawn ending where he was just a pawn down. However, he seemed to defend quite easily and eventually a position was reached where Joshua could claim a threefold repetition. With about 40 minutes on his clock, though, to Nathan's 2, he decided to wait and see what happened on the other boards first. What a team player!

And in fact things were certainly going our way elsewhere. Jude looked right back to form as he had won an exchange against Tom Day on Board 1 and soon made the extra material tell, while on Board 2 Javi played yet another excellent game against Georgs Vikanis and his pieces jumped all over the White position to make decisive material gains. Very impressive stuff. 

So Joshua was able to take the draw and clinch the match victory, which left me in play against Danut Joian. The game was level for a long way, but I had an extra pawn, so obviously I was trying to win. Eventually Danut allowed me to open up a kingside file for my rook to come into the game and this should have been decisive. But I played one careless move in time trouble and after an excellent response it was suddenly level again. At which point I played what looked like a crushing pawn sac to get a new queen, and this so confused the situation that it did indeed win - even though a hidden resource meant it should have been just level again. And even then there was time for me to go wrong again and blunder back into another drawing line, but by this time Danut's clock situation was as bad as mine and he failed to find the draw.

This was another big win for us against tough opposition on a very rainy night in Georgia, sorry Banbury. (Can you guess what song's coming?) So the B team's lead is back to 1 point again, and its then 5 points back to third place Stratford A. The A team is in action again next week, so it could be all change. Watch this space! 

5 Match Reports in One Week - a New Record!

There's been a virtual tsunami of match reports on the website this week - so many in fact that I felt obliged to step aside for a day or two for fear of being swamped. But - finally - there seems to be a bit of breathing space, so the story of our Coventry League KO Cup Semi Final win over Coventry C can now be told.

Truth to tell, there isn't a lot to report. We had to win 3-1, because as a Division 2 team, Coventry C got a 1.25 handicap start, but in the end we managed 4-0, so we made it comfortably enough into the final, where we will play Coventry A on March 19th. Yet again, Coventry have been given home advantage, which I find slightly irksome, but at least this time they will have to play with increment and not that absolutely awful G90 time control they are allowed to get away with in the league.

The story of the Semi-Final essentially boils down to the bizarre happenings on board 4 - of which more later. Bruce was first to win, delivering mate with a rook on the seventh and a swarm of minor pieces around the Black king which had been driven to the queenside. I'm sure that I've already seen Bruce play that exact attack about 3 times this season. Once his g2 bishop escapes down the diagonal, he is like a man possessed! I won on Board 3 against David Copson, though not without some anxiety, as I allowed/forced a piece sac in the opening which should have netted 3 pawns (I only bargained on 2!) but a terrible oversight by White did indeed keep it at 2, and at the cost of a second piece to boot. I subsequently won an exchange, and then a whole queen, at which point the game ended. Javi had a tougher task on Board 1, with Black against Katia, whose presence in any Kenilworth teams this season has sadly been very rare. Javi just did what he seems to do in every match at the moment - played a number of good moves and won! This time in a rook ending with two extra pawns and a dominant king.

So having reached the target of 3, I was relatively relaxed as I watched the conclusion of Harry's game against former long-time Kenilworth resident Simon Weaver. For the early part of the game, though, I was anything but relaxed, as Harry put his queen on a rather dodgy square in the opening, and I was somewhat concerned it might drop off at any moment. Additionally, he had played g3 on about move 4, but then never got around to putting his bishop on g2. Or h3. Or anywhere, in fact! But I shouldn't have been concerned, as it was, bizarrely, actually Simon who got his queen trapped on b6, and it could only be extricated by giving up a knight. Game over, I thought, especially when Harry got to a position of Rook and 2 bishops against Rook and knight. Until, that is, Harry forked a rook on e8 and a pawn on c6 with a bishop on d7, having failed to notice the Black knight on f6 which simply took the bishop. game on! Thi9ngs then got further out of control, as Harry swapped bishop for knight and gave Black a passed d pawn, supported by both his rook and a strong king. He was fighting this with a passed e pawn of his own and it soon developed into a race. Harry played the complications really well, though, and eventually reached the most winning king and pawn ending you could ever wish to see. And indeed he won it, but not without some serious brain fade moments along the way!

But now for the extenuating circumstances - it turns out Harry had had a very intensive day of board meetings at work and also wasn't feeling at all well. So it was a bit of a miracle that he actually made it to the match and kept awake long enough to get the win! Thanks Harry - but I'll still have to take the mickey out of you about this for a while yet!!

Some great music to accompany this report - prompted by Harry's condition and a couple of lines in the song:- "I make sure I work till I'm so damned tired; way too tired to think."

Not Our Knight...

Sometimes it is when you come up short, that you realise how much progress you have actually made. Leamington A v Kenilworth D would have sounded like a real mismatch in years gone by. However, this season sees us as rivals at the business end of Division 2. 

We went into the match unbeaten in the League against all teams other than our own C team, but it was clear from the outset that it was going to be tough. Leamington's Board 4 was higher rated than I was on Board 1 for Kenilworth, but the match itself was very competitive, even if it was clear that Leamington always had the edge.

Solomon answered the call at short notice, and resisted well on Board 4 against Andy Collins. However, credit to Andy who built up a blistering kingside attack. Pawns rolled, rooks occupied menacing files, and eventually the defences around Solomon's king were breached. Certainly a decent game.

On Board 3 Bernard and Ola played out a very complex and double-edged encounter. It was not entirely clear to me who stood better (at a pinch I would say Ola) but possibilities abounded for both players, and I was unsurprised when the two of them decided discretion was the better part of valour and agreed a draw.

All of which left me against Tom Darling and Phil against Ben Egid. My game with Tom was very interesting. I had the bishop pair and the better pawn structure, Tom had the attack. When he sacrificed a pawn that I had no choice but to take, I feared the worst, but managed to build a good defence. With my king on g2 and my own rooks on the h-file, I certainly had equality, if not slightly more. However, bafflingly given the amount of Bullet chess I play, for the second night in a row I was running on vapours timewise. Phil's position looked pretty dire to me by this point, so with the match looking lost, I agreed the draw.

Phil and dodgy knight moves have a bit of a history (as I recall from my own Leamington days.) Last night, we had a variation on a theme, when Ben Egid moved his king into a knight check and pressed the clock. Tom immediately intervened and we agreed to give Phil an extra two minutes. However, while this gave Phil 12 minutes to Ben's 2, Phil's position was still horrible. Ben could not stop laughing at his inadvertent error and there were twenty seconds or so when I wondered whether Phil might win on time, but sadly for us Ben composed himself. Once he had, pretty much anything won and so it proved.

So not our "knight". But this doesn't detract from a really good season and we'll be back in action next week against Solihull! 

My debut post....(pt2)

 Can you really make a debut twice...not sure about that but anyway to continue from where I left off.

This week saw the C team take on Banbury B. They are bottom of the league with only 1 win all season and we were on a run of 3 victories in a row. Plus the D team powered to a 3-1 victory against them just the week before. Easy victory then, points basically in the bag. Well, if only chess was as simple as that.......

Firstly I should add that their only victory this season was against us in the reverse fixture. Secondly, they are actually a strong team who have lost 5 of their games by 2.5-1.5 (Note to Joshua, some teams have to be on the receiving end of that scoreline.......) so it was never going to be easy.....

And then there is my personal form which is all over the place. I have played a coupe of good games that I have lost and a number of poor games that I have won - not sure what to make of that.....

So, first result on the Board was mine again. Another fast playing opponent in Chris Evans. Actually he did not like my Sicilian defence which slowed him down (he told me afterwards he has been playing the Vienna for 40 years so I am glad I didn't play e5!) but unfortunately I did not like it either and ended up very cramped and pushed the wrong pawn at the wrong time to try to create some space. Luckily for me he got over-excited and instead of taking a marginally better endgame a pawn up he went for broke sacrificed a Knight and the position promptly fell apart, handing me another exchange and simultaneously losing all attacking threat. Lucky me! 1-0.

This left me plenty of time to see the other games which all looked very tight. Ben on Board 4 (Paul Badger now being in warmer climes waiting for some cricket action - I hope you enjoy Paul!!) had a Queen vs Queen plus lots of pawns endgame and was very low on time but found a perpetual. A wise choice by Ben and a 1/2 point secured (as an aside - I thought it was very amusing when Ben announced a draw offer to his opponent, after the position had been repeated once, who then got up and checked out the state of the remaining games as if there was potential to play on for more!)

This left Keatan on Bd 1 vs Mal Waddell in a Rook and Pawns endgame, and Bernard on Bd2, in another very complicated position with lots of pieces on the Board. Slight problem was that Keatan had 2 minutes versus his opponent 25 (!) and the position was far from clear. When Keatan was down to 1min27 secs he offered a draw (having earlier had one turned down) and to my surprise it was accepted - Keatan was definitely not better at that point in the game). I think that his opponent was probably aware of Keatan's higher grade but also had looked at Bernard's game where he had just lost a pawn and may have thought they were going to get something out of the game.....anyway all gifts are well received - so game state was 2-1 with Bernard still playing.

I thought Bernard's game looked tricky and set for a long drawn out affair but Bernard expertly sacrificed another pawn (temporarily) to exchange off everything but an opposite coloured pair of Bishops, took back one of the pawns and was suddenly in a dead drawn position. A great liquidation to secure a half point and the game for us so our run continues.....

We are now clear in second in the League but have 3 tricky games left and Leamington A are in a very strong position at the top.....but you never know.....

My debut post.....(pt1)

 Clearly I can't live up to the standard set by my fellow bloggers but I thought it bad form to leave the C team without updates on here.....

Since the turn of 2024 the C team have been following the trend of all of the other Kenilworth teams this year, we have been winning. Turning our pre-Christmas draws and losses into narrow wins. Now, I am happy to claim full credit for this as this turning of the tide has corresponded with my self-demotion to Board 4, but that would be to not recognise the impact of Keatan who has moved from Board 1 on the D team to Board 1 on the C team and continues to have a very strong season.

Last week we defeated Olton B 2.5-1.5 (we drew with them earlier in the season). My game finished first as my opponent Andrew Cottom plays at a rate of knots (mainly due to his discomfort with sitting down I think) that meant our 45 move game was over while Bernard was still on move 12....anyway I was not playing very well (another theme of the season) but got into a Bishop vs Knight endgame where my opponent overstepped thinking he was going to fork me with his pesky Knight but actually helped me secure an outside passed pawn which, when I exchanged the minor pieces, won the game for me. This left me plenty of time to see Keatan squeeze Robert Reynolds on Board 1 (much to my amusement, I thought Keatan had overlooked an earlier winning move but on review of the game I was wrong and Keatan's play perfectly pushed home his advantage - what do I know!!). Paul then delivered a solid draw from slight time pressure in a Bishop vs Knight endgame that secured the point. This left Bernard playing what looked a(nother) very complicated position with a lot of pieces still on the Board. It suddenly took a turn for the worst as the time got low and his opponent emerged with a won position but the points were already secured by then....onwards and upwards....

Top of the league (temporarily) - part 4

After a win against Shirley A last week (2.5-1.5 of course, with Paul Badger our match winner), another match victory over Stratford somewhat miraculously puts Kenilworth B 3 points clear at the top of the table. It won’t last, but why spoil a good time with the truth.

My game against Sam Cotterill was, not unusually, the first one to finish. It ended rather abruptly as a contest on move 16, with white to play in the position below. 

Black has just played Qd8-Qe8 to break the pin along the d file, and try and deal with the currently uncapturable bishop on g5. Unfortunately, this seems to lose immediately, after a trade of bishops and Qb7. 

Suddenly, with Ne5 to follow and no way to break the new and worse pin, black is losing material and the game. After I played an incredibly boring Colle System opening to reach that position, I may have discovered something no-one else has thought of in chess history – if you play sound openings and positions, tactics often work out in your favour. I’m sure it won’t last, but I feel good to have had an entirely original chess idea.

Andrew Paterson was playing with against Ben Larkin, and they reached a to me slightly confusing position. Basically, it was normal-ish Queen’s pawn position, but black for no clear reason had pushed his a pawn all the way to a3. For quite some time it looked like that pawn should just drop off, but it never did, and became more and more of a thorn in Andrew’s position. Eventually he decided to sacrifice a rook, for tactical compensation that unfortunately did not exist. He ended up with three pawns for a piece, but unfortunately Ben’s remaining queen and bishop were able to whip up some very nasty threats against Andrew’s king, so down he went. 1-1 for the match.

Andy Baruch was next to finish, with a very nice win with the black pieces against Richard McNally. Andy played a slightly off-beat and slow double fianchetto as black, which was an excellent choice as it prevented Richard from launching his trademark sacrificial attacks. In a slow manoeuvring position, Andy was always on topic, obtaining a good knight against a bad bishop, winning a pawn, and winning the game. The endgame a protected passed pawn up took longer to win than I had expected, but result was never in much doubt. 2-1 and looking good thus far.

Mike, meanwhile, was paying the black side of a Benoni against a new Stratford recruit, Alex Roberts. White played in a trademark Benoni style, playing 35 and building up some scary pawns in the centre. Mike, by contrast, instead of the standard Benoni queenside counterplay, managed to end up with double, isolated, passed d pawns – not something you see very often. Unfortunately, white’s more active pieces started to take over the game, and Mike was soon very much on the back foot and short on time, with pawns starting to drop off. Just as I was resigning myself to a drawn match however, his opponent got overexcited, pushed his king forward too quickly, and Mike was able to arrange a perpetual check to win us the match. He may even have had more, but I for one am very happy with Mike for taking the draw to win the match at this point.

However, no-one really cares about the games; what we care about is this table.

8 wins in the season, and 7 of those by a 2.5-1.5 margin. It also means if our A team starts to lose some matches, we could yet end up winning the league. By coincidence, I happen to have been roped in to play for our A team against Banbury this Thursday. For some unaccountable reason, I just have this nagging feeling that I might not play very well in that match.

A tale of two rules violations

In Mark's absence gallivanting around the healthcare system, just putting in a quick report on the recent KO cup semi-final. I'll get the boring chess out the way quickly; we beat Banbury 3.5-1.5, with wins for Javier (comfortably), Andy P (concerningly, from a dubious position where he had 6 isolated pawns) and myself (very dubiously, winning a pawn down endgame for one of many times in my life). That takes us into a final against Stratford, for which hopefully Mark will be back to write something more interesting than I can manage.

Speaking of uninteresting things I'm writing, the main thing I wanted to bring up were two rules issues that occurred on the night, which others may know more about how they should have been resolved than I did.

1) About 2 hours into the match, it was noticed that two of the clocks had been set up incorrectly (by our Banbury hosts I hasten to add, and not by us), and did not have an increment on them. For anyone particularly boring who wants to know how, they had been set up as 15 minutes and 10 seconds with a 0 second increment, rather than 15 minutes and 0 seconds with a 10 second increment. The question then was what to do. In my official position as the only man who can work the clocks, I suggested we put the increment on from that move onwards, but not add any time for the moves that had elapsed. Was this correct? You could have added back the increment time, or left it without increment because it had started that way. No-one had any better suggestions at the time, but I'm certainly not sure of the correct rules.

2) Andy Baruch was playing Nathan Manley on board 4. In Nathan's traditional style he got short of time very quickly (this was also one of the boards without increment, which didn't help him at all). He got down to less than 5 minutes and so correctly stopped recording his moves. Andy, I think slightly thrown by how fast his opponent was now playing, also forgot to record his moves. A couple of times Nathan reminded him and Andy would start again, but forget a few moves down the line. I took no action at this as I'm fairly confident I'm not allowed to interrupt the game unless one of the players stops the clock to raise something. However, if Nathan had done this, what would have been the correct response? Give him two extra minutes and remind Andy to record from that point on. Make Andy catch up on all the moves he has missed before he plays again? Something else?

Fortunately, none of this affected our overall victory in the match, but I would be interested in knowing the answers, if anyone has them.

A Win's a Win for A' That .....

 ..... as Ayrshire Match Captain Robert Burns wrote back in 1795, after a narrow victory over Clackmannanshire in the Lowland League. A sentiment echoed by my good self after last night's narrow 2.5-1.5 Coventry League victory over a hitherto pointless Rugby A.

It all seemed to be going pretty well (myself excepted!) early on, with Bernard R in seeming total control against Dave Riley on Board 4, Mike doing what Mike does with the White pieces on 3 and Javi slowly getting the upper hand on top board. But then total calamity - Bernard's crushing position suddenly became a lost position after a terrible mistake and we were one down. Thankfully, I had just about crawled into a playable position, but it was very complicated, as I had a queen for two rooks. There was an exchange of mistakes, and suddenly I was winning, but then it was level-ish. Then I was winning again after cheapoing the exchange, but I blundered a pawn and had to bail out with perpetual.

But almost immediately Mike delivered checkmate against Tom Burgess. He had been up two exchanges, and despite dropping one was still winning when Tom moved his king to the wrong square and the game ended dramatically. So all square and everything rested on Javi's game against Paul Colburn. Thankfully he was always better after an Alekhine's Defence and played what looked like an excellent, controlled game, making a big queenside advance, winning an exchange and then giving it back to force liquidation followed by a pawn promotion. Classy, match winning stuff!

This has cemented our second place in Division 1, where we trail 100% Warwick Uni A by a point, but have played a game more. With three matches left, we now have University teams only to play, including two against their hitherto all conquering A team. We'll just have to give it our best shot.

Which leads very nicely on to this week's song. And just be thankful that I cut out 60 seconds of audience clapping and cheering at the start! Got to love the hairstyles, though, haven't you?!

Hat-trick Heroes!

 Last night the D team completed the double in the League against Banbury B, to add to our triumph against the Banbury squad in the cup. Three matches we can most definitely be very proud of!

We were delighted to welcome Michal Bylica, who made his debut on Board 1, of which more later...

By some quirk of fate I was the only Kenilworth player to play in both League games, which really underscores our bench strength. As in the previous two fixtures, I was white against Mal Waddell, this time on Board 2. Mal had to take a call before the game started, and was late to the Board, but in many ways this was the least interesting of the games in our mini-series (albeit that was more than compensated for by the fireworks elsewhere!) An early queen exchange was followed by more wood being swapped. We eventually reached an ending where we both had a light squared bishop, a knight and six pawns. Mal had the edge as my pawns were essentially all on the light squares, but he had no entry points. Once I had demonstrated that I had a full blockade, we split the point and focussed on enjoying the melee in the other three matches.

Dhairya played brilliantly against Chris Evans on three. As if often the case in games involving Chris, the position was ablaze within moments of the start. Dhairya landed his queen on h4 and knight on g4 and both sides appeared to have a host of wild tactical threats at their disposal. Chris is normally a speed merchant, but the fact that he was taking his time, said a lot about how complex the game truly was. Essentially after the dust settled, Dhairya appeared to be well on top, but a slightly inaccurate capturing sequence allowed Chris back into the game. A queening race ensued, with the rarest of sights, four queens in play in a game that was still in the balance. Dhairya was very short of time, but had the tempo and bravely turned down the draw to bring home the full point. An absolutely fantastic effort, and this was the game I've most enjoyed watching as the captain this season. Well done Dhairya!

On Board 1, Michal also battled the clock. I thought Paul Rowen was better out of the opening, and he appeared to have strong threats against Michal's king. I did not see the critical moments in this one, so I'm not sure if Paul tried a sacrifice that did not quite come off, or if Michal landed a tactical blow of his own, but either way, Michal repelled Paul's attack and ended significantly up on material. Unfortunately Paul had a perpetual (but not much else). The drama was heightened as Paul let his clock run, while watching Solomon's game against Barry Kagan on Board 4, but the reality was he had no option but to force the draw or lose, and after a few minutes peace was agreed. A terrific debut by Michal, to hold the draw on Board 1 with black (with Paul being the one who had ultimately clung on.)

All of which left the score at 2-1 to us, with Solomon and Barry battling it out in front of a cluster of spectators. I thought Solomon had been better the whole game, and when he found a nice tactic to pick up a pawn, and opened up Barry's king, it seemed victory was close. However, with both players at about three minutes, Solomon slightly lost control, and Barry landed several tactical blows which narrowed Solomon's advantage. In the dying moments, Solomon gave up his queen for two rooks and the combination of his grip on the seventh rank and Barry's collapsing queen side proved too much. Barry lost on time in a position where he was a handful of moves away from losing on the board. A really good effort from Solomon. Strong play throughout and he really held his nerve at the end in a situation where a strong temperament was vital. 

So we continue our climb up the table. We have two more League games and a cup semi-final against Solihull to come this month. We always said this team had the ability to have a good season, and a strong League finish and silverware remain in our sights! 

Half a match report

To try and once again provide a contrast to Mark's laziness in often combining 2 matches into one report, I present here information from the first half of Monday's Kenilworth B game against Solihull.

The first game to finish, not unusually was mine, though for this case the incompetence that caused this was not my own. I was playing the white side of a Ponziani, what we can all agree is one of the most dynamic and exciting openings in chess, and somehow my opponent (John Raouf) managed to bungle into losing a piece by move thirteen, as in the position below:

I can't say I did much to earn it, but I'm certainly not going to complain about the result. Although the game did last for another 16 moves and until my opponent had 11 seconds left, he remained at least a piece down for the entirety of that time.

At that point I had to leave the b=venue for the evening, with the state of play in the other games as follows:

Don Mason - Andrew Paterson: One of those weird Sicilians where white castles queenside, and Andrew as black leaves his king in the centre, plays gxf6 after a bishop captures a knight, and it all looked very scary. Captain's prediction - any result other than a draw

Ray Carpenter - Mike Donnelly: An opening where both sides basically ignored what the other person was doing, with Ray adopting a Stonewall setup and Mike initially some kind of Benoni. After some maneuvering it appeared that Mike was losing a pawn, which white then very generously appeared to give straight back for unclear reasons, to leave a fairly level position. Captain's prediction - draw

Bernard Charnley - Julian Summerfield: It was good to see Bernard back at the board, and with a new found appreciation for unsophisticated hacking attacks. He played a King's Indian Attack, and proceeded to have pawns on f6, g5 and h4 extremely quickly, with some heavy pieces ready to join the attack. Captain's prediction - Bernard victory.

I saw no further action after this point. I have no idea what happened. However, the results were:

Don Mason - Andrew Paterson: Draw

Ray Carpenter - Mike Donnelly: Mike wins

Bernard Charnley - Julian Summerfield: Bernard loses

Good to see my grasp of chess positions is as accurate as ever. Still, that makes yet another 2.5-1.5 win for the team, and continues our record of only losing against our own club colleagues.

Best of the Rest?

Having already slipped up once against Warwick University B, our chances of retaining our Coventry League title now seem to depend on us beating the University A team twice, which I very much doubt is going to happen, given the strength in depth they have at their disposal. So we are, realistically, probably playing for a best of the rest finish and second place - although you can never be sure that the perennial student aversion to administrative matters might just leave the door open for us. But I'm not banking on it!

Which is a long winded way of saying that a second successive convincing victory has elevated us to a second place Division 1 standing that is unlikely to be transformed into first place any time soon. 

But as we even improved upon last week's 3-1 win over Nuneaton A this time around, by seeing off Coventry A 3.5-0.5, there's still plenty to be pleased about.

Despite the wide margin, this was a well fought match. Javi was first to strike, beating Francis Sagyaman after an interesting battle in a Spanish opening. Well, the name says it all really - clearly that is one opening where Javi has to be favourite! Harry, on his Coventry League debut, had a tough task on Board 4 against our very own Katia (it is customary for us to have to face at least one of our own members in these matches!) but successfully navigated lots of complications - bishops and rooks were raging across the board! - to win. Though Katia was rather kind in resigning when Harry only had a couple of minutes left and - crucially - no increment!

Mike's win over Ed Goodwin - a match up that has been going for over 40 years by Mike's reckoning - yielded our third full point, so you'll now be able to work out that yet again it was the Club Organiser who failed to complete the clean sweep of victories. I only drew against Jonathan Fowler despite being two pawns up in a knight v bishop ending, as the pressure of the clock, and the realisation that if he had even one pawn left on the board at flag fall I would lose on time, meant I failed to convert a very tricky position. But 3.5-0.5 is still a pretty good score. I'd certainly settle for it every week!

And there has been more good news for the club this week, as the C team - newly invigorated by Keatan's elevation to Board 1 - chalked up a 4-0 win over Rugby A on Monday, and the D team - still just about hanging onto Keatan for a match or two! -  then beat Olton B 2.5-1.5 on Tuesday, with Solomon the hero of the hour. So double Division 2 success which consolidates our two teams in the top half of the table.

Such positive news demands that we have some truly excellent music to round off this report. I just discovered this today, and it seems mean not to share it. Former Allman Brothers guitarist Dicky Betts on stage with the Tedeschi-Trucks Band, playing an old Allman's classic. Its truly epic!

Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No, it's Another Twofer!

Monday night at the Abbey Club and Shirley A are the visitors for a Leamington League match. Kenilworth A has its four nominated players out, though whether its actually our strongest team is anyone's guess! But never mind, on the night it was strong enough to keep the show firmly on the road, as we ran out 3-1 winners to extend the lead over our B team at the top of Division 2, to 3 points.

Yet another reverse for Jude on Board 1, this time against Phil Purcell, took some of the shine off proceedings, as his bad run of results continued. But as we all know, form is temporary, class is permanent. Like General Douglas MacArthur, he will return! And rather sooner than MacArthur, I predict!

My game against Darren Whitmore on Board 3 was also nothing to be too proud of. I was taken aback when he sacked the exchange for no obvious reason, but one or two inaccuracies on my part soon gave him full compensation as a White knight on f5 was more than a match for my rook. But quite sensibly - yes, it surprised me too! - I found a good way to return the exchange for a better ending. It should have been a draw but in defending all his loose pawns Darren went very passive and allowed me to put him into a virtual zugzwang, and my passed e pawn soon won a whole rook and the game.

Bruce was hardly more convincing on Board 4, though he also eventually brought home the full point against Dave Thomas. After giving up two knights for a rook and pawn right out of the opening, he was clearly leaving all 3 results on the table. When a White rook got onto the 7th rank, though, the Black position started to creak at the seams and a timely exchange sac let the White queen in with decisive material gain.

But standing well above all this dubious play on the other three boards, Javier was in complete control against Jonathan Dale on Board 2. Somewhere in the middle game, he turned back a hopeful Black kingside attack and just started collecting pawns. By the time he reached a queen ending he had 4 or 5 extra pawns. Never one to be accused of resigning too early, the Shirley player played on until Javi's two queens delivered checkmate. 

Twenty four hours later, three of the team reassembled for another home match, this time in the Coventry League against Nuneaton A. Elevated to Board 2, Bruce played a wholly convincing game against Maurice Staples, gradually taking control of the centre and queenside (where the Black king had optimistically sought shelter) and then totally routing the Black position. I followed suit not long after when time pressure saw Tony Green collapse against me and blunder a piece, after a very interesting game in which I stood slightly worse for some of the time. Ben then went under against Colin Green after needlessly converting his light squared bishop into a big pawn by pushing d4-d5. Colin occupied the half open e file and trained all his sights on White's e4 pawn while also finding squares for his two knights and eventually Ben's position collapsed. But fear not, because for the second night running, Javi played a high quality game, this time against Phil Brigg's typically unorthodox play, and exploited his better pawn structure and more active pieces in the ending to wrap up another 3-1 win. Unfortunately, our chances of retaining our title are virtually zero, as we have already dropped 3 points and still have to play Warwick Uni A twice, but it would be nice if we could at least come out best of the rest, so this was an important win against perennially strong opponents.

On Monday night I wasn't able to pay much attention to the Division 4 table-topping clash between Kenilworth E and Daventry A while it was in progress, - if I had been, this report could have been a threefer! But - alas - I did see enough to notice that our 100% record went down the drain, as Nigel and Roy lost, meaning Patrick's victory was in vain. We still lead the division, but Daventry A (and Stratford C) are now only 1 point behind, though we have a match in hand on both of them and remain in the driving seat.

Let's finish with a musical offering. It suddenly dawned on me that I'd never featured a song by the late, great Tom Petty, so its clearly time I corrected that omission. Lots of fantastic songs to choose from, so why not this one? Before Suella Braverman or Robert Jenrick gets it banned because of its title!

Guess the opening (part 1)

As revenge for Mark's Christmas quiz (at which I did depressingly badly), I thought I would introduce some questions of my own. Quite simple - I'm going to show you a position after 10 moves of one of my recent games, and all you have to do is work out what opening the position came from.

Question 1 is below. To my surprise, it turns out this is actually a known theoretical position, but since it is not one I had any idea about, I still think it bears inclusion.

Question 2 will come as soon as I next play a ridiculous game of chess, so I doubt it will take very long.