Champions! We are going up!!!

 Last night saw our Division 2 showdown against Shirley B. We started the evening two points clear of Shirley, with a better (but not decisive) game point difference. Our task was clear. Win, draw or lose 1.5 - 2.5 and we would be champions. If Shirley won 3-1 or better, they would pip us to the post.

I had flown back from  the Menorca Open earlier in the day, somehow managing to miss all the power cut chaos in Spain. I did feel hopeful, as on paper I knew we had a great team. The thing with chess though is that you never know. We resolved to just play our games, but to keep a collective eye as to how the match was progressing. There is always a danger in overthinking these things.

The early play suggested that the night might not be entirely plain sailing. Dave seemed to be a fraction worse on Board 1 against Darren Whitmore, while Paul was really struggling against Owen Adams' Morra Gambit on Board 3. Yet Andy had a clear edge on Board 2 against Keith Ingram and my battle with Dave Thomas did not look like a game I was going to lose. So while not disastrous, the margins felt a little tight.

Time ticked on.

Andy led the way, picking up material and marching a pawn resolutely down the board. Meanwhile, I was a pawn up against Dave and with the better structure, but with opposite coloured bishops. Dave had turned down an early draw, yet when he offered me one now I hesitated. In normal circumstances I would have played it out, as it felt risk free (post-game analysis showed it was all a touch more complicated) but instead I waited and watched Andy's game while my clock ran down. 

Andy had crystalised his position and was a pawn up in a king and pawn endgame. It was impossible for Keith to defend on both sides of the board. I did not have enough time left on my clock for Andy to actually complete the win, but I was very confident that he would, so I took the draw.

A few minutes later Andy had won and we had the one and a half points that we needed to win the title! The evening got even better when Dave, who has done a fantastic job for us, exploited an error from Darren to give us victory in the match itself with a fine win.

Sadly Paul could not hold off Owen but it did not matter - Paul has won us plenty of other matches this season - and we had got the job done!

We had a drink with the Shirley players (including Gordon and Arnold who had been very welcome spectators) in the bar afterwards to collectively reflect on a season now done. Ultimately we had won the title by four points, having beaten Shirley in both our individual matches, and also held off the season long challenge from Coventry.

Next year will bring us an opportunity in Division 1 - we have earnt the chance to show what we can do. These are such exciting times for Kenilworth and truly a golden age for our teams.

A huge thank you to all who have played for the team this season. We've used 12 players and everyone has made a contribution at crucial moments. Our final stats for the year are...

Paul 6/11

Andy 5/11

Ben 7.5/10

Harry 5/8

Dave 3.5/ 5

Rhys 2.5/5

Bernard 2/3

Michal 2/3

Dhairya 2/2

Mike 1.5/2

Dan 1/1

Dylan 1/1

Here's to next season - albeit some of us will be trying to add cup glory to our League success before May is out!

Stop Press: Kenilworth C Division 2 Champions and Promoted to Division 1!

Our 2.5 - 1.5 victory against Shirley tonight means that we've done it!!! Full report to follow in due course...

Game of the Month - April 2025 (#2!)

Well, this is a first. Two Games of the Month in the same month, when we're typically lucky to get two in a year. But what can you do when one's inbox over-floweth with splendid offerings?

One of the big plusses for the club this season, when people were dropping like flies or heading for the hills, was the return to regular action of Andy Ward. While this further complicates matters by having 3 Andrews/Andys to differentiate, its a small price to play for the return of a strong player who has played a massive part in the C team's promotion challenge. Our game, though, somes from a recent Division 1 match against Olton A, when a somewhat under-strength Kenilworth B managed to win despite only turning up with 3 players! This was one of the decisive games that saw us overcome our numerical deficiency and secure a third place league position. Not quite matching last season's 2nd place finish for the B team, but probably an even better effort in view of our loss of players for much of the season. I don't suppose those of us in the A team will ever be allowed to forget that we managed to score just a single match point against the B team this season, and suffered our biggest drubbing (0.5-3.5) for many a year in the first encounter.

But back to the Game of the Month, and here - with Andy's own comments - is Andy's excellent victory over Richard Liszewski, who must be sick of the sight of Kenilworth players, having also lost to Bruce and myself earlier in the season. Here Black gets slowly strangled as Andy takes full advantage of some rather passive play by Richard, which ends up with Black having the worst pair of rooks you could ever see, and his light squared bishop is not much better. At the end, Andy is only a pawn up, but the Black rooks and king are so badly placed that it is impossible to avoid massive material loss. This was a very smooth and well controlled game by Andy. Black never seemed to have a chance!

Kids and Caissa to the Rescue

Sometimes it all comes down to luck. We naturally tend to think we get more bad luck than good, but that doesn't mean it always has to be like that. As Thursday night at Solihull proved. The task ahead of us was quite simple - win and Kenilworth A would clinch a fifth consecutive Division 1 title. But drop a point or, heaven forbid, two and we would likely be overtaken by Banbury A. Despite missing both Jude and Javier our super-sub captain had managed to assemble a pretty good team, and with Solihull missing regular Board 1 Don Mason (get well soon, Don) we looked in good shape to get the 2.5 game points we needed. But while our youthful boards 1 and 2, Billy (on his A team Board 1 debut) and Keatan, did exactly what was needed and scored good wins over Ray Carpenter and Julian Summerfield respectively, the more mature members of the team had a torrid time of things. It looked like they could not handle the pressure. Cue song number 1!

Andrew lost an important pawn on c6 right out of the opening against Solihull's own junior star, Akshath Shivakumar and faced a long and decidedly uphill struggle to get anything out of the game from a very early stage. I was sat next to him playing Tony Sadler and after a rope-a-dope opening Tony hit out at my big pawn centre with an f5 break. It got quite exciting and very good for me, especially when I jumped into f6 with a knight. But the very next move I overlooked a move that sent my queen away from defending the advanced knight and suddenly it just dropped off the board and I was completely lost. Andrew, meanwhile, had staged a bit of a rearguard action  and was desperately trying to hold on in a rook ending a pawn down. Thankfully Billy and Keatan had by now already won after very efficient and powerful games so we just needed half a point from the two old codgers on the bottom two boards to get over the line. But could we get it?

The answer, amazingly, was yes! Because Caissa, the goddess of chess, rather fortunately for us had decided to fly over Solihull on this particular night and - even more fortuitously - drop down a scattering of lucky dust that by total chance landed on me. Blessed by this good fortune it was indeed the case that we could do the impossible! Cue song number 2.

In a truly desperate position I sacked a rook to open up the Black king but it shouldn't have worked. But after just a couple of moves Tony managed to completely overlook my one move threat of mate and we had got our third crucial game point and the title was won. Just as well, since Andrew's defensive efforts ultimately came up short, giving Akshath his second win on successive nights against Kenilworth teams.

I felt completely exhausted by the events of the evening and not a little embarrassed by my disastrous blunder which turned a +4 position into -4. Thank goodness for Caissa's intervention.  And thank goodness for our two juniors. I think we can all agree that as far as KCC is concerned, the kids are alright! Cue song number 3.

At some stage I'll check the history books and see if any club before us has also managed 5 consecutive Division 1 titles - so far I've discovered one example of 4 by Leamington (1965-68), but I need to unearth the records for the years since 1996 to see whether either Stratford or Olton, who both enjoyed periods of some dominance, managed to equal or improve on this. Fingers crossed that we are the first!

Flash Report - Kenilworth win Division 1 title for a fifth consecutive season!

But my goodness, it was a close run thing. We somehow beat Solihull 3-1 tonight, but for around half an hour or so it looked likely to be a 2-2 draw, which would have opened the door for Banbury to overtake us by winning their remaining fixture. But from a completely lost position, I somehow jumped out to mate Tony Sadler and score our crucial third point - Billy and Keatan having already won far more convincingly and efficiently on Boards 1 and 2.

A fuller report to follow when I have recovered from tonight's anxiety and stress. Which will probably take until Saturday at the earliest!

But well done to everyone who contributed to this triumph, which was achieved in far more difficult circumstances than we expected. And especial thanks and congratulations to Andrew for stepping in to captain the A team in our hour of need when I had to step aside. Phew!

Victories on the Road

 It has been a really good week for the B and C teams, with victories on successive nights, away to Olton A and Solihull B respectively. I could write a book about how we ended up with the exact line-ups that turned out, but instead I'll just note that captaincy can sometimes involve more work than is immediately obvious! 

Even so, when we arrived in Olton, Rob Reynolds very affably asked me "where are all your players?" His question was both metaphorical and literal. We only had one B team regular (Keatan) and only three players in the building in total (myself and Andy making up the trio.) Unbeknownst to us, Mike's car had broken down and he wasn't going to make it.

So we clearly did not start the game as favourites, but ultimately brought home an excellent 2.5 - 1.5 victory, with a couple of fantastic games along the way (sadly neither of which was mine.) I was the first to finish on Board 4 against Richard Reynolds. As usually happens in our encounters, it was quite drawish throughout. We played down to an endgame, but it always looked like a point that was going to be split.

I would strongly encourage Andy and Keatan to both send their efforts to Mark, for publication in "Game of the Month," as both made for a terrific watch. On Board 3, Andy gave a master class against Richard Liszewski, completely dominating the files with his queens and rooks, and slowly squeezing Richard's forces with exquisite, risk free accuracy. It really was high-class stuff, and this pulled us back to 1.5 - 1.5.

On Board 1, Keatan unleashed a fantastic knight sacrifice against Alan Lloyd, which left Alan completely floored. It was very complicated, with many lines that needed calculating, but Keatan had it more than covered. Faced with Hobson's choice, Alan took the knight and was immediately lost. Hugely impressive on Keatan's part! 

That we had won in such circumstances underscored the strength and depth of the B team this year. We have now concluded our campaign as officially the third best team in the competition, which is something we can all be very proud of.

Yet my focus all week (and indeed over the last few months) was on the C team and our Division 2 promotion battle. We went into last night's match top of the table, level on points with Shirley B, but with a game in hand. Up against bottom of the table Solihull, this was our chance to put ourselves two points clear, prior to our final game showdown against Shirley. 

Andy was evenly matched ratings wise with Akshath Shivakumar on Board 1, but we had a big ratings advantage on all the other boards. Yet we were determined not to be complacent. We've all seen disasters happen. But this ended up being a reasonably comfortable evening.

Rhys was the first to finish on Board 3, at around 9.00 against Matthew Allen. I didn't see much of this one. It looked like a case of a very smooth workout for Rhys, who did a great job in putting us 1-0 up in pretty routine fashion.

On Board 4, I was playing Pavan Gowda, who threw the kitchen sink at me more or less from his first move. I always felt that his attack was premature. Ultimately, he took some space, but I had the better structure and the better development, and once I was ready to prise things open with a pawn lever, I was absolutely in the ascendency. I won a pawn and then a piece. Pavan had one last attempt to prise my king open but it wasn't sound. I pocketed a rook and was on the brink of winning the queen too, when Pavan called it quits. This was certainly a game when I was always in control, but it was complicated and engaging (and as per usual I got myself in a bit of time trouble, but no matter.) So 2-0

Paul finished next on Board 2, with what might be another contender for Game of the Month. Up against Paul Silverman, our Paul rolled his pawns to brilliant effect, absolutely gripping the board. The final position was very pretty. The pawns controlled everything and Paul S could not prevent Paul B from queening/ winning by some other means. Paul told me afterwards that it had been very enjoyable to play and it certainly looked that way. So 3-0!!

Unfortunately, Andy's game was a painful one. At one point it looked like he was going to win to make it 4-0, but unfortunately something went wrong, and he lost. Not his night, but Andy has been the hero for us on so many occasions, and in the context of the match it did not matter.

So, we host Shirley on Monday week. We are two points ahead and have a superior game point difference, which means Shirley would need to win heavily to overtake us. That said, we aren't going to worry about the maths. We'll just do what we've done all season, and take the game as it comes. Fingers crossed!

Playing in the Dark

Not sure if we should blame Putin, Ben (well he does work for National Grid!) or sabotage by a rival club, but there were no less than 4 power cuts during the A team's match last night away against Stratford A. But as my wife also experienced 4 power cuts while dining at the Ferry at Alveston, on the other side of Stratford, it looks like the finger is pointing decisively in Ben's direction!

On the first occasion it was still light enough for the games to continue (though only 3, as Javier and Ben Larkin had already agreed a draw in about 5 minutes) but on incidents 2, 3 and 4 we had to stop the clocks (though it was difficult to find the pause button in the dark!) and twiddle our thumbs for a minute or so till the lights came back on.

Thankfully, when they did the remaining three KCC combatants turned up the heat and hoovered up all the available points to secure a 3.5-0.5 win, which returned us to the top of the table, on game points. One match left for both ourselves and Banbury A, but a win for us against Solihull next week will ensure we retain the title.

Andrew chalked up our first win after a strange game against Alexander Roberts in which he didn't seem to do anything ...... except accumulate a healthy surplus of pawns. Wish I could win as painlessly as that. Because I was Black against Richard McNally, and Richard was in full kitchen sink mode. He sacked a pawn and then a piece right out of the opening, but it looked totally unsound to me - although the dreaded engine says it was not too bad. But luckily for me, Richard played the line I had analysed instead of Mr Stockfish's improvement, and I was left an exchange up. Once the queens came off I was winning easily as my rooks took over the board. The end came when Richard blundered into a back rank mate.

Which left Keatan in play against Richard Dobedoe. It was a hard fight, but eventually Keatan won a pawn and in the ensuing rook and opposite bishop ending he was able to annex most of White's pawns while promoting one of his own to win the White bishop.

We've already had one song this week, but the first was just a throw away item by my standards. So how could I resist adding this one? After all, its not every match that you end up Playing in the Dark! This is a great version, though yoiu do have to settle for Bruce dancing with his mum and sister rather than Courteney Cox as in the original video.

Stand In Stars

Should future chess historians ever decide to put together a Kenilworth club quiz, asking which enthusiastic member managed to captain the D, C and B teams in a six-day period, might be a good starter question. Albeit I’m guessing that keen students of this period, would probably correctly hazard a guess that it was me.You have already seen the write up of the D team encounter against Leamington B. I am going to draw a veil over Kenilworth B’s attempt to hold off Banbury A, suffice to say the night was about as cheering as the 3.5 – 0.5 Banbury victory suggests.

Yet in many ways, it was the Monday night battle between Kenilworth C and (again) Leamington B that was the most crucial. Coventry had slipped up last time out, which meant with three games to go (before this match) the promotion quest (and of course the Division 2 title) were back in our own hands.

It was our Board 4 stand in, Dylan, who proved to be the star of the show. Up against Alex (who is over 1700), Dylan played a fantastic game, building up a great attack in a really controlled way. It was one of those positions where I didn’t have to calculate anything to be pretty sure that Dylan was going to win. Ultimately Dylan took the very sensible decision to cash out his attack for a big material advantage and soon afterwards the point was ours. Undoubtedly Dylan’s best night as a Kenilworth player – and we are very grateful to him for stepping up.

The remaining three games were all very tense, but Dylan’s win seemed to settle our nerves a bit. I was playing Tom Cockell on Board 3 and was the next to finish, after a game I would rather forget. Up against 1.b4 and Tom’s deep understanding of the system, I played the opening very poorly and found myself in a very difficult position having made various mistakes along the way. A pawn down, I managed to turn the tables with a fork which gave an ending of rook and three (me) vs knight and four (Tom). My rook dominated the f file, cutting Tom’s king off from the action, while my king made the slow walk into white’s position. As per usual I hadn’t helped myself by having to play the whole ending on vapours time wise, but eventually I got my king where I wanted it. Faced with either losing his remaining pawns or being mated in the corner, Tom resigned. Not my finest hour, but I’d dug myself out and we were 2-0 up!

Boards 1 and 2 both went to the brink. Paul was playing Chris Ward on Board 2 and seemed to have marginally the better of a rook and pawn ending but it still looked drawn. Paul offered a draw when both players were below a minute on their clocks, which was turned down. My heart was in my mouth a bit as anything can happen in such circumstances, but a draw was agreed soon afterwards, so we had done it!

All of which meant that Dave’s game against Joshua Simpson was no longer key to the match, but it was still a fascinating tussle. Dave pressed all night and was a pawn up in another rook and pawn ending. However, his structure wasn’t perfect, and Joshua had a passed pawn of his own that needed to be carefully watched. So, a draw felt like a fair result – and both players deserve credit for a really good game.

Our win ended Leamington B’s faint hopes of winning the Division themselves. We are four points clear of Coventry A and Shirley B, with 2 games left to play (with Coventry and Shirley having 3 games left, albeit one of which is against each other.) Our final two games are away to Solihull and at home against Shirley. A win and a draw from these encounters would guarantee the title. We’ll keep our feet on the ground and just take them one game at a time.

Game of the Month - April 2025

I'm as surprised as you, but its time for another Game of the Month article. These generally come around with as similar frequency to Halley's Comet, as it takes something special to prompt me into action. and we have something special here as it features a splendid win by Dan, playing for Kenilworth D in a recent Division 2 match against Leamington B. Dan has been in splendid form for the club this season, which is essentially his first playing league chess in the Northern Hemisphere! So far he has scored a very impressive 9.5/13 across his D, E and U8750 Cup appearances, and has also found the time to play quite a few games for Coventry in the Coventry League. (For which we forgive him!)

The Game of the Month sees Dan despatching the much higher rated (+281 points) Chris Ward (but no, not the English GM of the same name!) in impressive fashion. Chris goes into the record books as the highest rated player that Dan has beaten in an over the board standard play game - at least for now! We can reliably expect even better things to come from Dan in the future. The game features what must be one of the queickest wins of a queen I have ever seen, followed by a suitably violent and brutal king hunt that drives the White king up the board, where it perishes when faced with the choice of being mated on a4 or a6.



A splendid game by Dan which deserves to be accompanied by a song. Something Antipodean is called for, I think. And they don't come more Antipodean than this!