Loughborough edges Anstey in ‘The Charnwood Derby’

This year’s Wylie cup has not been the easiest of campaigns for a growing Anstey Chess Club. Due to unforeseen circumstances and other competitions in the way, Anstey was never able to assemble a full team to compete. Following the previous three defeats and one win, a relatively strong Anstey team welcomed to our spacious venue in the Anstey Methodist Church a strong, similarly rated Loughborough team. Julian ‘Mr. Engine’, Brian ‘The Griller’, Mick ‘Just Mick’ and Ben ‘El Presidente’ worked hard to get something out of the game, but the opposition proved to be in great form and too hard to beat.

Julian Tarwid (Anstey) vs Henderson Mullen (Loughborough) 1 – 1

With Anstey playing as Black in the first round, Julian had to face the Reti leading to an English opening. White managed to take the edge in the opening and further utilised Black’s weak king position to deliver a fork resulting in material loss for ‘Mr. Engine’. Our teammate had decided to keep it solid and fianchetto both of his bishops, and tried to quickly activate his pieces in order to create some counterplay. Unfortunately for Julian, his opponent completely ignored the arising attack from Black and continued with great pressure leading to mating attack on the black king. With the inevitable end in sight, Julian did the honourable thing and resigned.

Playing with the white pieces, ‘Mr. Engine’ was determined to get back in the match and started pressing from the very beginning. Our teammate opened with his characteristic d4 setup leading the position into very tactical waters where he shone with Tal-like style, sacrificing a pawn and furthermore a bishop for the initiative. His opponent declined the bishop sacrifice and tried to solidify his position but under the immense pressure from our teammate’s fierce attacks, the Loughborough player fell victim to a discovered attack leading to the loss of the black queen. Understanding the severity of his position, Julian’s opponent gave our teammate the respect he deserved and swiftly resigned.

Another great performance from Julian who secured our team’s only win for the evening against a very strong opponent in form.

Brian Foreman (Anstey) vs Stephen Morris (Loughborough) 1 – 1

Brian had to face what appeared to start as the Colle system in his first game, when his opponent decided to leave the opening theory and took the c5 pawn. ‘The Griller’ enjoyed a very comfortable game straight from the opening and easily equalised. The pieces started being traded off leading to a very solid middle game. Both players managed to create pawn majorities entering the endgame but neither was able to make any progress. Understanding the very drawish nature of the position, the players decided that there will be no way for either of them to attempt to seize the win without taking a very big risk, and naturally agreed to a draw.

With the white pieces, our teammate was slightly taken aback by his opponent’s Bogo-Indian and after playing Nd2 Brian found himself feeling a little uneasy, albeit in a solid position. Black tried to seize the initiative and in the process brought his queen in the centre, thus providing the perfect opportunity for ‘The Griller’ to take control of the game by attacking the black lady around the centre of the board with his pieces. Still feeling uneasy about his position, Brian found a perpetual attack on the queen to secure his second draw of the night.

Another good experience for returning Brian who is looking to be the top board for the second team in the upcoming league season.

Mick Sandham (Anstey) vs Glyn Ward (Loughborough) 0.5 – 1.5

The first game for Mick ended being a very solid display, as the players engaged in a normal St. George with both players keeping the pressure in the centre and developing normally. Heading into the middle game, the players kept the solid position, only to exchange most of the pieces without anyone taking the edge. Eventually, with only a few pieces left on the board, the players decided that nothing exciting is going to come out of the game and agreed to a draw.

Seeing that the team is behind 3 – 1 after the first round, Mick went for the Italian game where he was surprised by the Ulvestad-Kirke gambit. Our teammate made a slight inaccuracy at the beginning, unaware that the best move according to theory for his bishop at some point would be to undevelop itself. Mick’s opponent continued with an inaccuracy himself, providing ‘Just Mick’ the opportunity to execute a beautiful, albeit dubious, “Fried Liver” attack, sacrificing his knight for the f7-pawn and luring the black king towards the centre. The Anstey third board loaded attacks from all sides of the board and the pressure started increasing against the black king and his few defenders. Unfortunately for our teammate, he made a few slight inaccuracy, giving his opponent the chance to withstand the pressure and consolidate his position. Without the exertion of immense pressure and material down, Mick fought hard to at least stay in the game, however, the Loughborough player managed to turn the tide and gradually improved his position to win the game.

Another difficult day in the office for ‘Just Mick’ as he finished without a win in spite of his valiant efforts. Nevertheless, Mick showcased again beautiful tactical gameplay which was a joy for the eye.

Ben Vaughan (Anstey) vs Kajus Mikalajunas (Loughborough) 0 – 2

(Games reported by Ben himself)

On board 4, ‘El Presidenté’ faced young Kajus Mikalajunas. The first game was a traditional French exchange but Kajus was able to mount a Kingside attack with his Knight and Queen that ‘El Presidenté’ tried to fight off, but a neat tactic found by the young man (that is not ‘El Presidenté’!), won him a clean Rook and despite bravely (or pointlessly) fighting on, pieces were forcibly exchanged and Ben resigned in a totally lost position.

With the white pieces, ‘El Presidenté’ made more of a fight of it in a Ruy Lopez opening. Kajus castled Queenside and underestimated ‘El Presidenté”s response to a pawn push which was to push the pawn instead of re-capturing, thus allowing him to trap the dark squared Bishop. A piece for a pawn down, all that Kajus could rely on was a cheapo bank rank mate, which unfortunately, El Presidenté walked straight into.

It has not been the best of summer campaigns for our chairman as he suffered the effects of a combination of factors, including rustiness, lack of time for preparation, hard work for the improvement of our great club, and busy private life as a hard-working professional and an amazing father and husband. Nevertheless, with three teams and plenty of games lurking around the corner of the new season, we are sure that he will be back in the game in no time.

The Wylie cup came to an unfortunate conclusion for our team who fought bravely in all games but ended on the wrong side of the majority of them. Nevertheless, it has been a hard fought battle against similar or higher rated opposition in each encounter and all players should be proud of themselves for their courage and hard work.