Oh Yes! - Joshua Has Left us as Well

Its not only Bernard Charnley who has headed off for pastures new in the last few weeks, as we've also suffered a second blow by losing club legend Joshua, who has gone in the completely opposite direction to Somerset-bound Bernard and headed off to Manchester. Which reminds me of a song!

Of course, this is the second time that Josh has done exactly this, though he returned fairly quickly the first time and we've got to hope that history repeats itself. Though one thing which didn't get repeated was a farewell dinner in his honour. Maybe that's because he didn't so much leave as disappear into thin air, with only a couple of people entrusted with the news of his departure. Typical. As our B team captain, Webmaster, loyal and committed player, Thursday night regular(-ish) and all round interesting and entertaining guy he was a linchpin of the club. He remains as our (remote) Webmaster but his absence does leave a large void in the club. Like Bernard, he was very much his own man and its sad to say goodbye to two such independent personalities in such quick succession. That almost his last act as B team captain was to play his team in an illegal board order against Shirley A and transform a 3.5-0.5 win into a 0-4 loss was an unfortunate way to say goodbye, but we'll forgive him one administrative cock-up after his great contribution to the club over many years. (Though, of course, we'll never let him forget it!)

His first appearance for KCC was in Division 2 for the B team in December 2012, since which time he has made 123 competitive appearances for the club, chalking up some terrific performances along the way - and taking nearly 2 years to lose his first game! The complete record looks like this:-

2012-13 P3 W3 D0 L0

2013-14 P16 W13 D3 L0  (Player of the Year! - and Stanley Gibbins Trophy winner!)

2014-15 P16 W9 D3 L4

2015-16 P10 W7 D1 L2

2018-19 P16 W13 D3 L0 (Player of the Year again!)

2019-20 P13 W9 D3 L1

2021-22 P13 W7 D3 L3

2022-23 P15 W9 D3 L3

2023-24 P17 W8 D3 L6

2024-25 P4 W4 D0 L0

To have gone undefeated through 2 full seasons (plus two more partial seasons) is one hell of an achievement - and he didn't do it by playing stodgy chess, as the win percentages show only too clearly. Indeed, playing for a draw was absolute anathema to him, as was playing long lines of theory. On Boards 3 or 4 in the A team he was basically a points machine. The two times he won the club Player of the Year trophy he scored a fantastic 90+%, and he was top scorer in the whole Leamington League in 2013-14, winning the Stanley Gibbins Trophy. And he'd made rather a good start to the current season, too!

Joshua had a wide range of idiosyncratic offbeat openings that seemed to serve him rather well in practice (1 Nc3 anyone?), however dubious they may be in theory. I recall with great clarity our match away against Banbury B in 2014 when we needed a draw to clinch our first Division One title for 26 years and he turned down a draw offer that would have secured the championship! I was apoplectic, but thankfully the night had a happy ending as we eventually won 3-5-0.5 anyway, though Josh was himself unable to annex the full point, try as he might.

Of course, we can't overlook his split loyalties, as he played for Coventry in the Coventry League and never worried too much about turning out against us, even playing - and beating! - Javier in the final match of the 2022-23 season when we needed a draw or win to secure our first ever title. Luckily for future good relations with Joshua, Jude and Mike won that night to win us the title anyway!

With me saying all these nice things about him, this is looking far too much like an obituary for my taste, so lets finish by bringing a touch of harsh reality to proceedings. I have played Joshua hundreds of times at club nights and online, while in standard play over the board games we have had 8 encounters, of which 2 were Kenilworth v Coventry encounters (2-0 to me and KCC!!). Surprisingly, the majority of our meetings were in Coventry A v Coventry B matches (from that long gone age when we didn't have a Coventry League team) and I remember one of them especially fondly as for once it saw a total massacre of one of his typically dodgy openings. If this were an obituary I would have had to include a nice Pink victory, but as we have established its not, I don't feel at all embarrassed about sharing this crushing win. Or in mentioning that our overall score stands at 6.5-1.5 to me (5 wins and 3 draws).

Now, if I knew any songs by Pink I woujld include one here, but as I don't it will have to be another random choice by me to mark the end of KCC's second Pink period. At least I can be very confident that Josh - as a confirmed Grobster in his approach to the chess battle - would totally subscribe to the sentiment of the title. You cannot win, if you do not play!

Thanks to Joshua for everything he has done for the club over the last decade plus and hopefully he will be reunited with KCC in the not too distant future. In the meantime, best wishes to him for his latest northern interlude!

A Rook, A Bishop, And a Passed Pawn That Didn't Quite Make It

Kenilworth D were at Home to Leamington B on a very cold and rainy Monday night. We ended up 2-2, but that scarcely tells the story of what was a dramatic match.

Proceedings started with us being in the somewhat unorthodox position of having five players in the house. Roy Watson thought there was another game on, but when he found out there wasn't, he stayed for the evening. It was lovely to see Roy and we all appreciated his support and company.

So first to the rook. I was white on Board 2 against Joshua Simpson when we reached the position below. 

 

I suspect if I had been playing 3 minute chess on Lichess, I would have played Rxf7 in a heartbeat and seen what happened. But in a League game, you need to be sure it actually works, or you can end up looking rather foolish. I probably broke my record for my longest ever think (certainly in a 3 hour game) and spent 45 minutes looking at the variations. At the end of which, I was convinced it worked. I still needed to give myself a pep-talk that I couldn't really leave the venue at peace with myself if I didn't play it. So I did! There really is no defence - and Fritz scores white as +7! A few minutes later we were 1-0 up and I was very happy!

Now to the pawn. On Board 3, Bernard Rogers found himself in a fantastic position against Alex Kagkalis. His pieces and pawns were completely suffocating Alex, and it seemed only a matter of time until Bernard broke through and either queened a super-strong passed pawn or cleaned up enough material to make the victory inevitable one way or another. Unfortunately, Bernard hesitated, ran very low on time and missed a couple of chances. This allowed Alex to wriggle free and bring home an unlikely point. Bernard has been unlucky of late, frequently getting into great positions and not converting. But as they say in football, if a striker keeps getting into the box, the goals will follow. It's clearly only a matter of time until Bernard starts securing the results his early game dominance has deserved.

On Board 4, Dan Bayliss was eventually squeezed out, following a good game against Tom Cockell. A slight weakness in Dan's pawn structure and marginally less active pieces were enough to keep Tom plugging away to good effect. An interesting game, but unfortunately we were now 2-1 down.

Finally to the Bishop, which proved decisive in Paul Badger's Board 1 game against Chris Ward. There seemed to be no prospect of Paul securing more than a draw (and indeed Paul had offered one back when Bernard seemed to be winning.) However, at the death, Chris missed a tactic... Paul found a Bishop check which forced a back-rank mate, to give us a share of the spoils after all!

A very lively night, with lots of twists and turns. After which we put all the pieces back into their bags. The rooks, bishops, pawns and all the rest of them, inanimate objects once more. Doubtless waiting for their next opportunity to add further chapters to their stories.

The Shirley Double

Back-to-back away matches at Shirley saw impressive victories for the first team. Last Thursday, in the KO Open Cup we won 4½ – ½ (5 board match) and last night in the league, a 4-0 sweep.

2 out of 2 for Keatan (the machine), Bruce and myself. 1 out of 1 for Paul and 1½ out of 2 for Javier against 2100+ opposition.

Javier won the interim captain’s best game prize for his win against Phillip Purcell. A kingside attack against the dragon was well defended by Phillip, but Javier pivoted decisively to infiltrate on the queenside. It was wonderful to see and sublimely played. Chess can be a beautiful. Gelfand would be proud.

Goodbye and Good Luck, Bernard!

As most of you will already know, Bernard C is heading off for pastures new in deepest Somerset and his departure is now imminent. He has been a great presence in KCC over the last ten years and we will all be very sad to see him go. I am so pleased I was able to help smooth his departure from the club by gifting him a "going-away point" in this season's Ken A v Ken B match! 

The records show that Bernard's first game (a win!) for the club was in February 2015, since which time he has amassed the following stats in club matches, playing exclusively in Divisions 1 and 2, except for a solitary Div 3 appearance in his debut season:-

2014-15 P3 W3 D0 L0
2015-16 P6 W4 D1 L1
2016-17 P6 W2 D3 L1
2017-18 P6 W3 D1 L2
2018-19 P8 W3 D5 L0
2019-20 P5 W1 D1 L3
2021-22 P11 W4 D3 L4
2022-23 P12 W4 D4 L4
2023-24 P16 W6 D5 L5
2024-25 P6 W3 D2 L1
Overall P79 W33 D25 L21

A very acceptable +12 score (57.6%). Initially we had to share Bernard with Coventry, but in more recent years he played exclusively for Kenilworth and so the match appearances increased markedly. But there is very much more to Bernard than chess, as he is a highly accomplished artist who had his own one man exhibition at Rugby Art Gallery in 2018 and something of an all-round independent and creative thinker and iconoclast who always had an interesting and wry take on any topic which came up at Thursday social chess nights. He has also been a big supporter of the Coventry Chess Academy. For those who need a reminder of his artistic vision (and I warn you - it can be quite disturbing! Think dystopia and multiply by a large number!!) why not revisit this review I posted of his Rugby exhibition.

Bernard has penned a few words of his own on his association with Kenilworth Chess Club and asked me to share them with everyone, so here is what he has written:-

Dear Kenilworth Club members, As some of you know, I’ve been in the process of moving home and that is now, all things being well, completing in a couple of weeks. While I will be nearer family with this move (Frome nestles in the pastoral climes of Somerset), there are many things I will miss and membership of Kenilworth Chess Club is one of them.

Apart from the great friendships made during my time as a member, I simply want to say a few words about those in the club who gave and or presently give of their time to allow players like myself enjoy the pleasure and (a bit too often) pain of having a chess scrap every one or two weeks. In this respect, without doubt, standing on a pedestal of honour should be Bernard (no no not me, the other one)) Rogers and Mark Page. I’ve always been impressed by their double act with Bernard R the ever resourceful backroom manager, especially securing our various hangouts on a Thursday, with Mark flying the flag upfront with a fine blend of wit, creativity (think blog) and all round leadership of the gang. It’s a dynamic duo that has seen a brilliant growth in membership and playing strength. The alchemy with that other bit of magic down the road, the Coventry Academy led by Paul (Lam), has added a phalanx of strong juniors battling on the club’s behalf as well.

The roll of honour, of course, extends to those members who take on the, let’s face it, ongoing headache of team captain, subjecting themselves to recalcitrant late arrivers, non-turnerruppers, rebellious clocks, dubious claims and occasional, always good for gossip, fallouts. So thanks as well to those I have had the pleasure to know such as Mark, Josh, Ben and Harry.

I will be returning now and again to Coventry and if the stars align, drop in to a Thursday session. In the meantime, its farewell and best wishes to all!

Bernard Charnley

The only good thing about Bernard's departure is that we now revert to having just the one Bernard in KCC, so the opportunities for rib-tickling/trouser-dropping Brian Rix-like misunderstandings and confusions have been eliminated.

Clearly Bernard demands a special farewell song. Something which encompasses his creative and independent side. I hope he's not disappointed with my choice!

Leviathan Wakes

On Monday, the A team entertained Stratford. Javier was black on 1 against the dangerous Ben Larkin, but after 5 minutes of play, and 20 moves of theory, a draw was agreed and Stratford’s main threat neutralized. A good start to the match.

Next to finish was Keatan on 4. His opponent sacked a piece for a kingside attack but Keatan cooly neutralized the threats, swapped queens and easily converted the full point.

I was next to finish and managed to win my first game of the season by boring Richard McNally to death. So, match secured with just David on 3 still in play.

David pressured Richard Dobedoe’s English style setup and won a pawn, but Richard played well and fought back. With both players short of time and the game chances swinging move by move, a draw was agreed.

3-1 winners, hopefully the start of a much needed march.

Fireworks and Terrible Decisions

But enough about the US election...

The D team was at Olton last night, with a new look line-up. Bernard Rogers has now taken over from me as the captain, so I can lead the C team, and Daniel Bayliss got a late call-up to make his D team debut.

At 7.45 I was the only Kenilworth player in the building, and getting a little nervous, but bad traffic was the culprit. Soon afterwards we had a full team and proceedings got underway.

Bernard was the first to finish, with a pretty quick, very solid looking draw. The other three games were more dramatic. On Board 2, I was up against Trevor Holt. I was in a terrific position out of the opening and despite then making several sub-optimal choices, landed in a relatively routine endgame two pawns up. Somehow I drifted into time trouble, and was conspiring to make it harder than it should have been. However, Trevor unfortunately missed that he was in check, and the only legal move he could replace his illegal move with, lost instantly and he resigned. I would much prefer that this hadn't happened, and having looked at the game briefly this morning, I was still clearly winning. But the rules are the rules, and certainly on the couple of occasions when I've made the same mistake, my opponents have had no hesitation in enforcing touch-move. So we were up 1.5 - 0.5.

On Boards 1 and 4 respectively, Paul and Daniel were both a pawn down, but their prospects looked very different to me. Daniel had a nice tactic to win back his pawn, after which his opponent Kacper Durkarczyk had to contend with a a terrible pawn structure in a double rook and pawn endgame. Daniel played with real fluency, getting his rooks on just the right squares. He then used a pawn lever to excellent effect to break through. A very good debut win, which put us over the line at 2.5 - 0.5!

On Board 1, I really feared for Paul. There was no way for him to get back to material equality, but queen and pawn endgames are always tricky. Paul showed a great deal of imagination in sacrificing more material to open up more lines for his queen. It was pretty high-stakes stuff and made for a nail-biting watch, but Paul had judged the position brilliantly and Rob Reynolds could not escape a perpetual check. A draw ensued.

So 3-1 and a second victory in a row for the team, which has moved us up to 4th in the table. Planning all our teams this season remains a complex task. So, I did just want to echo Bernard's previous plea to some of our less frequent players, to help us out where they can, and to ask that everyone responds promptly to availability asks. A lot of work is going into our selection processes, and everyone can help to make this a little easier... 

I would much rather things had landed more happily on the other side of the Atlantic, but at least it was a good night in Olton.