Surprisingly, in spite of the busy season featuring three Anstey Chess Club teams, last Thursday (22/12/22) was fixture-less and a busy club night took place instead. Well in advance, our chairman Ben started the organisation of a blitz tournament to celebrate the last club night of 2022. Hesitant about the number of people to turn up, ‘El Presidente’ left the details open until the very end, only to find himself overwhelmed by the interest in the tournament by our players and members. In total of sixteen players were eager to take participation in the event, with Mick and Ben himself watching from the sidelines and attending to the organisation of the tournament. The club saw a diversity of casual players, competitors in the league, prospective juniors and seasoned experienced chess players. Julian “Mr Engine”, John “The Torturer”, Matt “The Dark Destroyer”, Boris “The Toaster”, Bob, Leo “The Lion”, Aarav and his dad Amit, Oskar “El Capitan”, Young John, Sev, Aristotle and dad Damien, newcomers Tom and Luca, and returning for the holidays Glasgow student Ashton all started their clocks around 8pm and embarked on a five-round Swiss style tournament under the critical eyes of “El Presidente” and “Just Mick”. After a brilliant performance, naturally Julian won the tournament with 4.5/5 points, but the important outcome of the event was the excitement for all of our regular, returning and potential new members. After the tournament had finished, a fair number of our players went to “Passage to India” while the remaining members stayed for some puzzle work and casual games.

An amazing end to an amazing year. We cannot be any happier seeing the variety of ages, abilities and backgrounds of people coming to our club, all united by the love of the great game of chess. We wish them all the best for their future both over and away from the board.

Finally, to all our members, friends and everyone interested in Anstey Chess Club, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you all in 2023!!!