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!