The roots of Anstey Chess club
I initially learned about chess at school but daren’t play due to the fear of losing – especially against younger players at the time! What got me first interested was the Short v Kasparov match in the mid-90s with Raymond Keene, Daniel King and Carol Vorderman providing analysis and stats. I was fascinated by this game that had everyone’s attention on Channel 4 at the time.
I re-connected with chess when my brother challenged me to a game on Facebook using chess.com. Unfortunately for me, my brother consistently beat me and I wanted to improve and try to beat him for a change! I engaged with chess.com’s content and met some other friends online and gradually improved with their guidance. I had regular battles with the same people and some of them are my Facebook friends to this day! I also met a couple of mentors online who taught me not to try and win after 10 moves but to develop pieces, fight for control of central squares and factor in King safety. Chess is a slow game and you won’t beat your opponent by merely throwing 2 or 3 pieces at them. Develop fully, get control of the centre and launch an attack. It sounds so simple!
Eventually I got the moral-boosting win over my brother and subsequently turned my attention to my mentors. I found it useful that I was explaining my thought processes during the correspondence games (3 days to make a move), whilst they were doing the same in the game chat. I built on the knowledge that I accrued and I found that I was talking much better during every game. My analysis got better and my visualisation improved. I eventually got a deserved draw against my main mentor Reini in a correspondence game, which felt like a win! Another mentor called Paul was banned for cheating (clearly not as good a teacher as he thought) but I still learned from him not to rush moves. It was okay to play a quiet ‘waiting move’ to allow your opponent to make a mistake. (He played a lot of such moves, clearly he was cheating and gradually crushed me using an engine to assist).
the author is an avid French defense player
Having improved quite a lot since my early chess days, I decided to join a chess club, back in 2010. I joined Wigston chess club in South Leicestershire – my second chess home. I became good friends with several members over the years there. I thought I would walk in and beat everyone but that certainly did not happen! It sounds silly but having played online for so long, seeing the pieces in front of me in 3D was actually quite a surreal experience!
I was schooled for a few weeks but they decided I was good enough to play for them. I won my first competitive OTB game for them, which added to my ego trip! I went on to lose or draw the next 6 or 7 games after that. The point was that I kept coming back week after week and I learned very quickly that you learn from your losses and not from your wins.
I moved to the Glebelands estate in North Leicester where I found that the chess bug would not go away. I put an article in a local magazine targeting areas like Cropston, Woodhouse Eaves, Rothley and Mountsorrel and I was pleased to receive some interest about chess in the area. I then started teaching chess to adults and children that were keen to learn at the library in Anstey.
Eventually there was enough interest from 6 or 7 players to start up a chess team. I really had no idea that I had it in me to start a chess club but I owed it to myself and my fellow chess players to try. I made enquiries with businesses in Anstey about hosting us for competitive chess and we had the ideal offer from the Stadon on Bradgate Road. We had the use of a room upstairs and this was paid for by drinks purchases. It really was too good to be true! Throughout the process I have tried to make the club non-profit as I did this for the players, not for myself.
We made our competitive chess debut as Anstey Chess Club in 2018. With the accrual of a Leicestershire stalwart or two plus little old me, we won the Division 4 trophy in the 19/20 season (that ended early due to COVID-19). We were deservedly awarded the title after we had the highest points average during that season.
Since then, more people have joined the club and we have now moved to the Methodist Church in the village, due to a long-term let at the Stadon. When I started this, I really didn’t think that we would grow as much as we have – it really is quite humbling.
Ben Vaughan
Anstey Chess Club 