Warwick Wanderers: Who'd be a Skipper!

Wednesday night saw the A team travel to Warwick University, the only team to have taken points off us this season, and one of the few capable of catching us at the top of Division 1. An important game, to say the least!

In spite of the skipper’s excellent communication, featuring multiple emails outlining exactly where we were playing (the science building), both David and I still managed to turn up at the Students' Union. Who’d be a skipper! I eventually made it to the board 20 minutes late, with all the other games already in full swing.

Two things of note quickly became apparent: we outgraded Warwick by around 200 points on every board, and we were playing 90+0, so no increment.

First to finish was Javier, who looked to my eyes to have crushed his opponent from the off. His opponent was struggling with king safety, a problem he eventually solved, but only at the expense of everything else. An overwhelming win and a great start.

Keatan’s game on board two was much closer. He pushed consistently, with his opponent struggling but just managing to hold the balance. However, Keatan was relentless and clearly wasn’t settling for a draw. Eventually, the position distilled down to rook and pawn versus rook and pawn, theoretically a dead draw, but Keatan kept making life difficult. His opponent eventually cracked, and Keatan annexed the whole point.

I was next to finish. I eventually managed to equalise out of the opening and found myself in an unbalanced position, with kingside play in exchange for queenside weaknesses. My play eventually turned into an attack that practically played itself, crashing through much faster than the queenside counterplay. So, 3-0, and the match was secured.

Last to finish was David on board three. His play was as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar; at no point did his opponent have even a sliver of active play. David might have swapped off the queens a little early, but nonetheless found himself in a knight versus bishop endgame where his king was vastly superior and his 4-vs-3 kingside pawn majority was far more mobile. He quickly proved the knight was the better minor piece in the position, put his pawns on light squares, created a passed pawn, and relentlessly applied pressure. His opponent finally cracked while trying to force counterplay on the other wing, but David’s king and knight had absolute control. A few tactics later, and David had brought home the bacon.

All in all, one of the best team performances of the season, with all four boards never in trouble and showing some excellent fighting spirit.