Victory on the Road

 We were at Rugby last night, in sombre circumstances, following the untimely death of Rugby's Club Secretary Malcolm Harding. Malcolm did so much for chess in this area, both at club level, and to support the Coventry League. He will be missed by many. On behalf of all connected with Kenilworth Chess Club, I wanted to share our condolences. Malcolm and his family and friends are very much in our thoughts. Life really is precious and to be cherished. 

At the Board, we were certainly a team in need of a win, and after previous nights of frustration this was one where everything clicked. Dylan led the way brilliantly against Chris Badley on Board 4. Dylan picked up the exchange and liquidated a 2 rook v rook and bishop endgame with ruthless efficiency, giving the material back in exchange for an unstoppable passed pawn. Thus putting us 1-0 up and getting his just rewards, after several previous good games where he might have got more. A terrific first Division 2 point for Dylan - I have no doubt that many more will follow!

Dhairya was on Board 2 against Patrick Reed, who must be glad to now see the back of Kenilworth players for a bit, having lost to me in the Birmingham Rapidplay the day before. Another excellent game from a Kenilworth junior. Dhairya played really well, and created a beautiful mating net in a heavy piece endgame, to put us 2-0 up. With players like Dhairya and Dylan in our ranks, the future looks very positive for the club.

I was on Board 3 against Dave Riley. Usually I would be happy to have White. However, having scored 3/3 with Black and 0.5/4 with White at the forementioned Rapidplay, I was in two minds as to whether to change up my openings. Ultimately I elected to "stick," and as ever against Dave a wildly complicated affair ensued. Fritz unsurprisingly notes we could both have played better, but I always felt I had a slight edge. Eventually a raging kingside attack translated into a more prosaic ending where I was up the exchange but very short of time. However, a knight is never much of a match for a rook in these circumstances, and the final moves proved to be comfortable enough. So 3-0!

Paul was up against the very strong Paul Colburn on Board 1. Down a pawn and down on the clock, I feared the worst. However, our Paul played terrifically and with lots of energy to completely neutralise Colburn's advantage and a draw was agreed. 

3.5 - 0.5 is always a great result, and especially so given we were the lower rated team. I'm now stepping back from D team captaincy duties, to captain the C team. However, I'm still hoping to play in the team's future fixtures, so more posts on our exploits will follow!