Anstey Chess Club wins two trophies from three competitions as the club grows stronger by the day

Last Thursday (15/09/2022) Anstey played their last game in Chapman cup, thus bringing their summer cups campaign into conclusion. Following the amazing conclusion of the league season and the significant increase in the number of players willing to play OTB competitive chess, ‘El Presidente’ decided to enrol the club into three competitions. Anstey Chess Club participated with one team in each of the elite rapidplay format Wylie Cup, and the classical format with rating handicap Chapman Cup. In addition, two teams from our club took part in the popular rapidplay format Harrod cup.

All Anstey teams played their best during the matches, often outrated significantly by the opposing team. The Wylie cup proved to be too big a bite for our ever improving players, partially contributed by the fact that our top two players never managed to play at the same time. However, our strong first team in the Harrod cup managed to bring their A game and finished joint first with Ashby 2 and both teams agreed to share the trophy following full equality across the stats and a draw in the very last game of the round. The cherry on the cake was the Chapman cup where our team (admittedly with the help of the handicap) finished unbeaten at top of the table, having secured the trophy in the penultimate round and drawing only against Loughborough in the very last game.

Wylie cup:

Anstey vs Thurnby Result: 3 – 5

Arguably the biggest disappointment for our team in the elite rapidplay cup came in the first round as the match was a missed opportunity to start on the front foot. Straight after the end of the league season, a solid Anstey team went on to play against slightly higher rated Thurnby. The match marked the debut of Valdas in rapidplay format and saw him getting his first win as well. Unfortunately, Thurnby managed to get good wins on the middle boards and won the match decisively. Full report of the match following this link.

Wigston vs Anstey Result: 5.5 – 2.5

The visit to Ben’s former club Wigston happened to be an almost impossible task as a solid Anstey team with his top player ‘Mr. Engine’ on board one found themselves outrated on every board, with the third Wigston board already higher rated than any of our players. Nevertheless, Julian and Boris kept the game alive in the first round as Anstey emerged 2-2 after the first four games. Unfortunately, the class of the Wigston players showcased itself in the second round as our team managed to get only half point from all three games. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey vs Syston Result: 1.5 – 6.5

Unfortunately for our team, the bad results continued with the visit of Syston to our home venue. The away team brought some of their best rapidplay competitors while our team was crippled by COVID-19 and had to play two players from the trenches in Boris and Mike. Unsurprisingly, Anstey could only get half point from the first round. The bad day in the office continued in the second round, as three of our four boards lost again, while Mick brought some light with his amazing win. Full report of the match following this link.

Kirby Muxloe vs Anstey Result: 2 – 6

Although the absence of Matt meant that Boris will play again for Anstey in the Wylie cup, a solid team went to Kirby to face the home team. As expected, the battle was hard due to the similar rating on almost every board (admittedly on board 4 Boris significantly outrated his opponent). Nevertheless, our players showcased an amazing play to seal the deal with the biggest win in the Wylie cup, and one of the top three wins of the whole summer campaign. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey vs Loughborough Result: 2.5 – 5.5

Sadly, the win against Kirby ended being the first and the last one for our team in the Wylie cup. In the last game, we faced Loughborough at our home venue in the Anstey Methodist Church. Unfortunately, our northern neighbours managed to steal the win in “The Charnwood Derby” edging our team with strong performances on all boards. Full report of the match following this link.

Harrod cup:

Ashby 1 vs Anstey 1 Result: 3.5 – 4.5

In their first game of the Harrod cup, our first team found themselves outrating their opponents on every board. However, after the first round we were trailing the home team by a full point after some dubious performances from Mick and Boris. The great leadership by the captain on the night Matt turned the tide and with three brilliant wins our team claimed their first win. It was an unfortunate moment for Mick as in spite of “The Anstey Tiger” being quite up on time, an illegal move from his opponent created the most dramatic moment of our whole campaign. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey 2 vs Ashby 3 Result: 6 – 2

And while the first team was struggling against Ashby’s first, Anstey 2 had their second best performance in the Harrod cup in the very first round, completely demolishing the solid Ashby 3 team. The match also marked the return of Brian “The Griller” who, although still rusty, quickly adapted to OTB rapidplay chess to draw both of his games. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey 1 vs Market Harborough 2 Result: 5.5 – 2.5

In the next round, Anstey Chess Club celebrated a double home fixture in the competition. The first team hosted Market Harborough 2 who arrived with a solid team, albeit outrated by our players on every board apart form board one where Mick found himself almost 100 points lower rated than his opponent. Nevertheless, running through both rounds to finish without a loss, our players claimed their second win in a row in the competition. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey 2 vs Wigston Result: 2.5 – 5.5

While Anstey 1 was slowly grinding out their opponents, our second team had a hard time against one of the favourites in the competition – Ben’s former club Wigston. Although the players fought hard, the team suffered defeats on all four boards as Black and in spite of their valiant efforts could not turn the tide in the match. Full report of the match following this link.

Ashby 2 vs Anstey 2 Result: 6.5 – 1.5

With the format of the Harrod cup, the bad luck for Anstey 2 continued with our second team facing another favourite to win the trophy and eventual joint winner – Ashby 2. It was an unfortunate evening for our players as their suffered a loss against a very strong team. Nevertheless, the match marked the debut of Young John who had been itching to play competitive chess and finally got his moment. Full report of the match following this link.

Wigston vs Anstey 1 Result: 4 – 4

In the following week, the first team went to Wigston to try and claim the top spot from them. A hard fought battle between the two teams led to an overall draw leaving the top spot open for contesting, with the aforementioned Ashby 2 lurking around. Full report of the match following this link.

Loughborough vs Anstey 2 Result: 2 – 6

The fourth round was the best round for our club not only in the Harrod cup, but throughout all competitions. First, our second team travelled to Loughborough to claim the victory in “The Charnwood Derby”. In spite of defaulted fourth board, Mike and Leo “The Lion”, led by their captain Oskar “El Capitan” defeated their opponents in every single game to claim the win. The result was one of the top three wins for any Anstey team in the summer campaign. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey 1 vs Ashby 3 Result: 7.5 – 1.5

And while the second team were demolishing Loughborough, Anstey 1 were not any less merciful against their opponents from Ashby. Turning up with a strong group of players, our first team left only half point for their opponents to take as Boris missed to capitalise on his winning position with the white pieces. Nevertheless, the team achieved the biggest win of the summer in any competition. Full report of the match following this link.

Ashby 1 vs Anstey 2 Result: 6.5 – 1.5

The unfortunate draw for Anstey 2 continued in the last round as they had to face another very strong team in Ashby 1. As expected, in spite of their valiant efforts, our players could not hold on their strong opponents and conceded an overall loss. The competition concluded for our second team leaving them on ninth place having played three of the top four teams in the competition and won against the other two they faced. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey 1 vs Ashby 2 Result: 4 – 4

Eventually, it all came down to the game between Anstey 1 and Ashby 2 to decide the fate of the Harrod cup. Both teams entered their final bout equal on points and “goal difference”, having won three and drawn one. The first round found our team on the back foot, having lost two games, won one and drawn one. Boris made it even worse as he lost his second game, but just when everything seemed lost for our team, brilliant wins from Mick “The Anstey Tiger” and Leo “The Lion” combined with a solid draw from John “The Torturer” levelled the field and the teams ended pretty much at the same place where they started – equal on points and “goal difference”. What followed was further deliberation between the captains, only to agree to share the trophy leaving Anstey 1 as one of the Harrod cup winners. Full report of the match following this link.

Chapman cup

Anstey vs Market Harborough Result: 3.5 – 3

The Chapman cup campaign for Anstey kicked off with a win. In this particular game the handicap played massively in our favour as we started with a 2.5 – 0 lead. This meant that the team needed only one win or two draws to secure the overall win. Nevertheless, the rating difference showed itself as our team conceded on the bottom three boards, but Julian “Mr. Engine” stepped in to deliver the necessary blow to our opponents on the night. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey vs Braunstone Result: 3 – 1.5

Although outrated again, our team did not need the help of the modest handicap (0.5 – 0). Brilliant performance from Julian combined with a lucky turn of events for Boris helped our team to secure a second win in a row to take the lead in the table. Full report of the match following this link.

Loughborough vs Anstey Result: 1 – 3.5

As the matches kept coming, the team appeared to gain momentum and in our visit to Loughborough the players did not need the favourable (0.5 – 0) handicap again. With two solid draws on the top two boards, the brilliant performances from Matt “The Dark Destroyer” and Mike led to a decisive win for our team in “The Charnwood Derby”. The game marked the halfway point of the competition as our team seemed very comfortable at the top with Braunstone emerging as the only team to challenge us. Full report of the match following this link.

Market Harborough vs Anstey Result: 2 – 3.5

The second half of the tournament began with an away game against Market Harborough. Outrated again on most boards, the Anstey players started with a comfortable lead due to the handicap 1.5 – 0. Good draws from Boris and Julian combined with a brilliant win from Matt secured an overall draw over the board and with the handicap the team secured a fourth win in a row to remain the table toppler. Full report of the match following this link.

Braunstone vs Anstey Result: 1.5 – 3

In the penultimate round of the competition our team found themselves in a situation where their fate was in their own hands. The match represented a great opportunity for the club to put forward the team to compete in Division 2 for next league season and met with the perspective, our chairman did just that. Our top rated players delivered and following brilliant performances from Matt and Julian combined with a solid draw from John, our first team did not need the favourable handicap. The game secured the top spot for our team as they emerged as a Chapman cup winner with a round to spare. Full report of the match following this link.

Anstey vs Loughborough Result: 2 – 2

The last game of the tournament and of the summer campaign found our team facing Loughborough again. The match started brilliantly for Anstey as Matt stood up shortly after the games began having checkmated his young promising opponent. Unfortunately, Julian did not have much play on board one while Boris managed to transform a completely winning game into a drawn endgame which he was about to lose when his opponent offered our teammate a draw. With Mick suffering an unfortunate defeat, our players did not manage to capitalise on their advantage and shared a point with the away team. Full report of the match following this link.

Stats

Anstey Chess Club finishes the summer campaign having won two out of three possible trophies, marking a successful continuation of an already amazing year of growth and improvement for the club. The best performing team in the rapidplay format competitions was Harrod cup’s Anstey 1 as the team finished unbeaten with three wins and two draws. In terms of individual game performance, Anstey 1 achieved an astonishing 50% win rate, with 20 wins OTB. In the Chapman cup our team was unbeaten with five wins and only one draw, although handicap helped in a couple of occasions.

The biggest win for the club came from Anstey 1 in the Harrod cup as they delivered a crushing 7.5 – 0.5 defeat to Ashby 3. Anstey 2 were second with their 6 – 2 win over Loughborough and Wylie cup’s Anstey team took third place with 6 – 2 win over Kirby Muxloe.

The best player throughout all competitions was Matt “The Dark Destroyer” who finished the campaign with a total of 10.5 points following nine wins and three draws, having lost none of his games. His runner-up was Mick with the same number of points but with a significantly lower win rate.

Congratulations to Anstey Chess Club for winning the Chapman and Harrod cups!!!

If you want to be part of our exciting journey, join us every Thursday from 7:30 pm in the Anstey Methodist Church. All abilities welcome!