Don't Dream It's Over

Whilst the wall between us and League victory has got a little higher today, following last night’s 2-2 draw with Shirley, it can still (just) be climbed… And we are definitely the team to give it our all!

The task before us now is to beat Leamington 4-0, to finish the season in a dead-heat with Olton at the top, on both points and Board count.. So in our hands and down to us.

Just like at Agincourt, the fewer of us, the greater the share of the glory to be had. One way or another, we will be able to look back and say we were there! We also beat Leamington 3-1 recently. Surely we can go one better now???

Particularly as last night’s man of the moment, Mike Donnelly has re-discovered his winning touch. After I had drawn I told Mike he had to win and he duly obliged in style. If he carries such form into next week, we have to have a chance. But this is to get ahead of ourselves a little…

The evening started quite promisingly. Phil was winning out of the gate, Mike looked better and Dave and I were both pretty comfortable. Phil even turned down a draw (rightly as he was best placed of the four of us at that point) and has been in amazing form.

Unfortunately whether we were going to win the match became more problematic as the night went on. Dave couldn’t find a way through against John Asbury and was the first to finish with a draw. (By the by, John holds the record against me for the longest period of time between our first and second games. I played him in a Congress when I was twelve and then played him again more than twenty five years later…) Anyways, I was next to finish against Dave Thomas. The good news was that Dave played down a line I’d been watching a video on quite recently. The bad news was, he played it very well and we reached an opposite coloured Bishop ending. We both manoeuvred around for a bit, but the draw was pretty inevitable. So 1-1. Mike played beautifully to beat John Freeman. A really nice game. But the problem was Phil…

Phil’s recent form is the main reason our title challenge has remained on track, but last night it wasn’t to be. Something seemed to go badly wrong somewhere and a winning position became a losing one against Frank Jiminez. Phil battled back to something extremely unclear, but unfortunately lost on time in the end. He deserved more, but we couldn’t have asked for more from Phil this season and we’re done yet.

So onto Leamington. It’s a tough chance but it’s a chance. A lot of teams would love to go into their final game of the season with a chance of glory still on. Well this year, that’s us!

Game of the Month, April 2017

If any sensitive reader of the KCC blog felt I had been a tad unfair to Bernard C, in my report of the recent match v Banbury A, then I hope this article will put your concerns to rest. I bow to no man in my admiration for our much loved and highly revered senior citizen - though I have to admit I do find his paintings rather unsettling! But that is just the worthless reaction of a conservative philistine - Bernard walks an altogether more intense artistic path. After all, he is a man seemingly so charged with creative impulses that, in order to spark his muse to even greater heights, he apparently decided to enact the sentiments of some lines from a song by an equally gifted and tortured artist:-

I'm going to hurl myself against the wall,
Cause I'd rather feel bad than not feel anything at all.

("Ain't That Pretty At All" by Warren Zevon - which I am sure was not in anyway a comment on Bernard's art!)

He said he tripped, but we all know he would never do anything as banal or cliched as that. Thank goodness he didn't follow Van Gogh's even more extreme example and cut off his ear! We were all very relieved and pleased to learn that Bernard suffered no lasting damage from his "domestic accident" - although there was clearly a temporary effect at Banbury the other night.

Anyway, when he is in the zone, Bernard is a very dangerous opponent at the chess board, as I have found to my cost, managing just two grovelling draws from 3 games. In this April Game of the Month we see him at his most inspired, as he performs a brutal hack on an extremely strong (ECF 216) opponent from Warwick University's all conquering A team. Indeed, with a grading gap of 58 points this is the biggest giant killing yet featured on this website. Regrettably, it was achieved on behalf of Coventry rather than any Kenilworth team, but you can't have everything.

Sit back and enjoy a real demolition job - given the date it was played on, I think we can all agree that this is a contemporary Valentine's Day massacre!


A real tour de force by Bernard, and a game anybody would have been delighted to play.

We're Half Way There!

We’re Half Way There…

… and maybe now living on more than a prayer! Why use a visit from Stratford to quote Shakespeare, when a line from Jon Bon Jovi sums it up perfectly! We ran out 3-1 winners on Monday against Stratford A, to complete the second leg of our four leg challenge. Namely, to beat Solihull, Stratford, Shirley and Leamington to claim the Division 2 title. Given the subsequent Division 1 debacle against Banbury, this is now our only shot at League Silverware – albeit we also have a Cup Final to look forward to.

The game was far from a dead rubber for Stratford, as they started the evening second from bottom, with Leamington closing in on them, and this was their last game of the season. Hence it was no great surprise to find we were facing a strong team. Richard McNally, Colin Searle making a welcome return, Richard Dobedoe and Steve Henderson showed up, meaning the average grade difference was insignificant and we were outgraded on 1 and 2.

However, in practice it was one of those nights when it always looked like we were going to win. Regular readers will be shocked to hear that Mike finished first against Colin Searle, with a draw. But actually, that doesn’t do justice to what was a good game. Moreover, Colin’s speed meant they played a lot of moves. Mike said. “Black’s play may have overturned a view of the opening repeated in all books that the line [of the Dutch Stonewall that was followed] is good for White based on the classic game Petrosian-Korchnoi Leningrad 1953 (which both players knew.) Instead of Q-e7, Colin played what turned out to be an often used pet line featuring an early Rf6-h6. The repeated threat to penetrate along the h-file in several complex ways, and despite White getting an ideal Nd4 v B-d7/ pawns c6 and e6 set up, hindered White’s queens-side break with b5. Of the 11 opportunities to play this move only one was winning even though this opened the a-file against my King. Missing this by attempting to exchange queens meant when b5 was threatened, and even when White plays Kh2-a6 the Stonewall held and there was no way through hence a draw was agreed. Disappointed to miss yet another win but Colin thought the game was a very good one.”

Dave was next to finish on Four. His position was magnificent out of the opening and whilst Steve did well to hang in there for a long time, it looked pretty brutal to me. Dave said – “Playing White my opponent chose the Alekine’s defence. I think that his choice of opening may have been influenced by the fact that we had already played four times in the last two years and he wanted to play something different. Unfortunately, his choice of move order allowed me to wind a pawn and forced him to sacrifice a second to allow him to castle into safety. After this the game settled down but black was unable to avoid me exchanging off pieces to get into a double rook and opposite coloured bishop ending. I succeeded in getting my rooks onto the a file and won a third pawn and then doubled my rook on the seventh rank leaving black with a very passive position. With three additional pawns the game essentially played itself and I won in 55 moves.

I didn’t see much of Phil’s game – but it looked like another ruthless demolition job. Phil is on fire at the moment!

I was the last to finish on Board 1, with the points already in the bag for the team, after a long struggle with Richard McNally. For a long time, I’d been looking at the fact that Dave and Phil were heading for wins with some relief as my position was terrible. Richard clearly knew the opening better than I did, and I was left with my King hopelessly trapped in the middle of the Board with Richard’s Rooks and minor pieces looking poised for the kill. I found a few “only moves,” to hang in there. Richard then seemed to miss a great shot, which I think would have been overwhelming for him and the game turned. He snatched at a pawn and I ended up trapping a piece. After a forced set of moves he had three pawns for the piece and we were in an ending with Rook, Knight and 3 pawns (me) vs Rook and 6 pawns him. Suddenly, I was the one going for the win. I positioned the Knight and King extremely well and was making a lot of progress – even picking up a pawn on the way. I’m pretty certain I missed a win of my own and Richard was able to construct a fortress. I couldn’t keep enough pawns on the board, and as he forced those off, my winning chances receded. It was impossible for me to make progress with the Rooks on and with the Rooks off, I thought I would be probably losing. I’m sure a computer would have put me ahead at the end, but we’d won the match and given how delighted I would have been with the draw earlier in the evening, it still felt like a reasonable effort.

So 3-1. Next up Shirley!  

2017 AGM - Advance Notice

This year's KCC AGM will be held on Wednesday, May 24th at the Abbey Club, with a 7.45 pm start. Bernard R will be in the Chair. Please mark this exciting social event in your diaries now to ensure a bumper attendance!!

If anyone (paid up members only, of course) has any items for inclusion on the agenda or - gasp! - wishes to put their names forward for any club position, please let me know within the next couple of weeks. I will circulate a full agenda and accounts nearer the time.

That Just Takes The Biscuit

So last night we went down to a 2.5-1.5 defeat to Banbury A. It looks pretty bad with second place Kenilworth losing to second bottom Banbury, but things were not that simple. With three of our five man squad missing, the two teams were equally matched on ratings, as Banbury had successfully wheeled out their usually absent big hitter James Jackson (221), in an effort to stave off relegation. He duly brought home a full point on Board 1, but only after a titanic effort from Andrew on the White side of a Modern Benoni which took the game right to the wire. A brave exchange sac to eliminate a monster Black knight on d4 just failed to get any reward, despite the fragile looking Black king.

On Board 2 I failed to make a similar 30 point grading advantage count against Dan Rowan. I could have won first the d pawn, and then an exchange in the early middle game, but rejected both as they would each have given White plenty of compensation. and left me very passive But the attempt to exploit my edge positionally foundered as Dan defended well, and although I got to a queen ending a pawn up I couldn't prevent perpetual check.

Ben made no such mistake on Board 3. After a very pianissimo Giuoco Piano, he played an excellent exchange sac (theme of the night?!) on f6 against Nathan Manley and with a monster bishop on c3 cutting the Black position to shreds, he followed up with a crushing king side attack for an excellent win.

Which brings me to Board 4. What can I say? No really, what can I say? After 9 moves of very well known Sveshnikov theory, Bernard (C, of course, not the perpetually absent R) reached a position which he has had twice against me on a Thursday night at The Engine. Then he had twice sidestepped the one trick that is White's only hope for an advantage in this line, and gone on to win both games. I felt confident. About three minutes later he had resigned. Either he hadn't known the trap at all and had just luckily avoided it against me, or he was overcome by the futility of life, the universe and everything (especially chess) and wanted the game over quickly.

So there you have it, a disappointing result, but these things can happen when one team is highly motivated and mobilised, and the other not so much so. I wasn't too upset last night, as I was already reconciled to the fact that we were not going to catch Olton at the top of the table anyway. They only needed to avoid defeat in their final match against bottom placed Solihull B to win the league title. So what went and happened at Olton last night, while we were going down to Banbury? Yes, you've guessed it - Olton A 1 Solihull B 3.

I guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles, but I am definitely not a happy bunny (Easter or otherwise!) this morning.

So No Pressure Then…

These were Mark’s words on hearing the task that faced the B team in the season run in. Owing to some sort of glitch on the part of the fixtures computer, Olton competed their program earlier in the week, leaving the destiny of the title in our own hands. The more challenging news being that we would need to win our four remaining fixtures against Solihull, Stratford, Shirley and Leamington to take the prize. There was to be no celebrating on the streets of Olton last night, as we completed the first leg of our mission with a 2.5-1.5 win away to Solihull. And it should have been more!

Early on it was clear that me, Phil and Dave were all in strong positions. Regular followers will be stunned to learn that Mike’s game looked pretty drawish. (Albeit of course his contribution ultimately ended up being much more useful than mine was…) Mike takes up the story of his match with Geoffrey Stokes: “ I played complex chess but he met my Dragon in a very solid/sensible way with an early c3 thus retaining a knight on d4. Instead of heading for a solid and level position with little chances of a win I devised a tricky pawn sacrifice for some tactical chances against his king. He did take the pawn but still playing quick sensible moves for the next 10-12 moves I was then forced to allow several exchanges to recover the pawn and then potentially win another. This would however have allowed his rooks to double on the 7th with a perpetual. As Phil’s and Dave’s games as well as Ben’s looked good at this point I agreed a draw.”

So Mike was back in the club house when Phil notched the first blow. He looked to have all the pressure in a relatively closed position and it wasn’t a surprise to see him break through on the kingside to land the full point and to put us in the lead.

Then heartbreak struck for me. Having completely dominated Nigel Bryne for the whole game, I was within a whisker of victory, when disaster struck. Deep in time trouble, just before the time control I blundered badly and that was that. Nigel has done the same against me in the past in a very similar situation and I guess what goes around comes around. It’s definitely easier to be philosophical about the games you win that you should have lost, than vice-versa. It was a very painful one for me, that’s for sure.

However, the key was of course the team and it was all down to Dave, who played really well, to get us home against John Green. As Dave described it: “My opponent played the English opening. The lack of urgency in his moves meant that I had an almost free hand to develop as I pleased and I built up quite an aggressive position. Unfortunately I was unable to find the correct forcing sequence in the time that I had left and ended up having to play the last 15 moves in about 18 minutes. This enabled white to free up his position during the time scramble where both sides had less than three minutes towards the time control. Luckily for me, white's 35th move allowed me to centralize my queen giving me control of the center. Unfortunately white response to this was to leave a piece en-prise and the game concluded.” I think Dave undersells himself, I don’t think John could have saved the piece and Dave well and truly ground him down.

So job done. Stratford next. I’ll try and avoid any Hamlet style introspection re my own game last night. Monday promises to be a Tempest, that’s for sure! As the Bard himself might have said, uneasy is the head that nearly wears the crown, for so long as Kenilworth can keep winning!

Boring

I would hate everyone to think that all our matches are really as exciting as I make them sound. Some are, to be frank, quite boring. Tuesday night's encounter with Coventry A in the semi-final of the Cov League KO Cup was a case in point. Add to that the fact that we lost 2.5-1.5, and you'll understand why even I can't raise enough enthusiasm to write a report. Plus, its almost time for Bargain Hunt and I wouldn't want to miss that, would I?

Sent To Coventry

We are going to be spending a lot of time in Coventry over the next few weeks, with matches coming up against their A team in the KO cup and the C team in the Divisional Cup. Last night we were in action against Coventry B in the Divisional Cup and ran out 3-1 winners, to consolidate a pretty good run for us in this competition.

It probably wasn’t the most eventful of matches. I was the first to finish on 1, with a win against Drago. He walked into an opening trap and I pocketed a piece early on, but there were some imbalances and I had a pretty shattered pawn structure. It was all a bit messy, but in the end it was fine so 1-0. We had the Champion of all Hereford (I think that’s his official title now, and the most appropriate way for non-family members to address him) in action on Board 4 and Roy continued his red hot streak. I didn’t see much of the game, but once he’d got over the shock that Coventry had fielded an opponent against him (often opposing teams don’t bother to in this competition) he seemed to make pretty short work of John Conway to put us 2-0 up.

Mike’s game with Nigel Morris looked extremely boring. They got down to Queen, Rook, Bishop and five vs Queen, Rook, Knight and five, without obvious opportunities for either side. Mike manoeuvred around for a bit, before agreeing the draw around the time control. Dave’s game against Kate Donegan was a lot more interesting. I think Kate tried some sort of sacrifice early on, but Dave defended well and was up the exchange. It ended up in a heavy wood ending with Queens and Rooks still on the board and Kate’s Knight able to defend Dave’s two potential entry points on the a and c files. No question Dave was better, but equally no question that Kate defended well and had a lot of defensive opportunities. (One of those positions where proving the benefit of the exchange is far from easy.) With Dave better on the Board, but very short of time a draw felt like a fair result.

So a pretty competent night from us. Perhaps not one that will live in the memory, but we are much more consistently doing what we should be doing than we were at the start of the season. Coventry B also deserve credit for a good effort. Onwards!

Hacked Off; Hacker; Hacked. A Thoroughly Memorable Evening!

Well, I won't be forgetting last night in a hurry. We ended up beating Banbury B 3-1 to reclaim second place in the league table, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

It started with me getting thoroughly hacked off with A team stalwart Andrew P. At 7.40pm he still hadn't arrived, so I gave him a call to see where he was. He was in Meriden - on his way home. "I thought the match was tomorrow!" Since when have we ever played our Leamington League home matches on a Tuesday?? Who'd be a match captain? Thankfully, Meriden isn't that far away, so he did a quick U-turn and made it comfortably before default time. But he was well down on the clock, of course, and his game against Nick Martin got a bit hectic towards move 35. Indeed, Andrew had a feeling he had lost on time in a terrible scramble, but the digital clock said he hadn't. And then mysteriously the game was drawn. Andrew apparently thought he had a winning position, but was wracked with guilt at having previously lost on time! He hadn't - the clock never lies!! But he agreed a draw, anyway.

Amongst the madness, Carl played a sensible and restrained game (by his standards) against Arthur Hibbitt. He was already better with the bishop pair when he forced the win of a piece. His rook, though, was completely incarcerated on a4 by black pawns on a3 and a5 and a bishop on b4! It took a few moves for Carl to extricate the rook, but once he did, it was an easy win.

A bit later Andy B, on one of his rare appearances anywhere near a chess board, was held to a draw on Board 1 by a very resolute Neil Staples. The game was an English, and White erected a serious central barrier to anything Black could come up with. Andy did manage to win a pawn eventually - maybe it was even two? - but White jumped out just in time to secure the draw with counterplay against Black's king.

So now we come to the hacker - me! For the umpteenth time, I was Black against Gary Jackson, and for the umpteenth time it was the Be3 line against the Najdorf. Perhaps foolishly I tried a different approach in case he'd come well prepared, and it worked reasonably well in the opening. Then I decided to sac a pawn to keep his king in the centre, which was possibly OK. But when I decided to sac a second pawn to unleash my dark squared bishop it definitely wasn't OK. Suddenly White had a solid pawn majority on the queen side, and his king looked quite safe on g2. The clock was ticking and the only course for me was to randomise. At a crucial moment Gary grabbed my a pawn (4 connected passed pawns now!) but it gave me just enough time to break the position open in the centre and an exchange sac set his king up for a ruinous double check. There was no way for Gary to save his queen and by the time control white had two rooks and five pawns against my queen, bishop and three.  It took a couple of moves to co-ordinate, but I managed to disconnect his rooks, drive his king around a bit, snaffle his kingside pawns and then reduce his rooks to complete immobility. He couldn't successfully advance his queenside pawns, and meantime my h pawn strode down the board unmolested to secure the win. Unsound and undeserved, but I'll take it!

So home to bed, only to find that my e-mail had been hacked! Some 4,500 spam messages had landed. Shame I didn't wear a hacking jacket to the match last night to expand the theme still further, but I'm really pleased not to have a cough at the moment, as I know what kind it would have been!

Game of the Month, March 2017

Only two months after the previous instalment, I'm pleased to bring you another KCC game of the month, and most appropriately it features our man of the moment, Roy Watson. The game shows the two sides of Roy's play, as he manages to mix the sublime with the absolutely appalling within the space of a few moves. On this occasion Good Roy had the last word, but I think we can all see only too clearly, how Bad Roy can sometimes get the upper hand!

Anyway, the game was played just before Christmas in the C Team's away match against Solihull C, when a spirited 2.5-1.5 win was secured against the (grading) odds.




Vigorous play at the end by Roy, especially for one of such advanced years! There's life in the old dog yet. And talking of old dogs, the next Game of the Month will feature a sensational piece of giant killing by another of our "senior" members. Well worth waiting for, I assure you.