5/1/23
Anstey Chess Club kicked off 2023 with a home match against the in-form, top-of-the-table and unbeaten Melton Mowbray 2nd team. Expecting a good hiding and a short night, the second team players wished each other a Happy New Year. As usual, El Presidente and Just Mick set the boards up in good time ready for battle to commence at 7:30(ish). It was good to see Shaun Cope, Shaun is a friend of the club as one of the players who gave up a Thursday evening to play a simul against us at our old venue, the Stadon.
First to finish (and a very rare occurrence!) was actually El Presidente. All 4 boards were incredibly intense and it was quite some way into the evening before the first board finished. El Presidente had the black pieces and was facing Ross Murphy – a name he was familiar with from Nottinghamshire chess but never played or even seen him before. There was also a significant grade difference of 126 FIDE points so it was to be an uphill battle! The game started as a ‘Mieses’ opening (google it!) with slow pawn pushes from white, consisting of d3, c3 and e4 whilst developing Knights to f3 and d2. El Presidente was duly wary of such an opening and such openings are coiled springs with pawn breaks likely and a rapid opening of the position can catch the unwary off guard. El Presidente played cautiously as both developed pieces but took the centre that was on offer.
Both sides played solidly, white aiming at a plan to win the e5 pawn by ganging up on it with the Bishop on g3 and Knights on f3 and c4, missing a chance to win a pawn after black’s bold plan of b5 and a6. El Presidente solidified against the threat on the e5 pawn and used it against his opponent forcing the pieces back and white played odd looking moves.
Soon, El Presidente was able to trade off white’s light squared Bishop and a strong central Knight, leaving white with a dark squared Bishop that was out of the game and a Knight not doing much on f3, whilst his pieces were far more active and pressing on the Queenside.
After white’s 29th move, you can see that black is totally winning but El Presidente’s plan was slightly different to that of Smallfish on his iPhone. El Presidente went for the following line:
29. Qxe2, 30. Rxe2 Bd1 31. Re1 Bxf3 32. gxf3 Nxb2 and white can do little to parry the threat of the a pawn Queening. (If Ra1 Rd1+ wins as none of white’s pieces can stop the a pawn – the dark squared Bishop is poorly placed. The game continued 32. Kg2 Rd1 33. Re3 a3 and white resigned.
1-0 to Anstey
Almost immediately the next to finish was Boris ‘The Toaster’ on board 2. The Toaster had the white pieces against Kerry Kidd – 86 points ‘better’ on paper. Kerry did the same as Just Mick – left the game for a long time but returned because the pull of over the board league chess is too much! The game started with a Queen’s pawn Chigorin variation (source – chess.com’s analysis board) and meandered along whilst both players developed their pieces. Black gained equality with the pawn break first and e5 but the important thing to note is that the Toaster had castled and his opponent hadn’t. The push on e5 forced a trade of pawns and minor pieces but Kerry left a pawn on e4 which was a target after a nice manoeuvre by the Toaster of Ng3 and 16. Qb4 – Qb4 preventing black from castling and also targeting the e pawn. Black tried to deflect the Queen with a5 but in the end, this lost the a pawn after some very accurate play by The Toaster, delivering checks and finally robbing black of his right to castle and picking up the a pawn and a +4.6 advantage.
The Toaster picked up the e pawn after a neat combination in the picture on the right. Black played 26. .. Kg6 here and after 27. Qxc8 Rxc8 28. Rxe4 wins another pawn for the Toaster.
After 28. .. c5 from black (a last try to reduce the Rook’s movement) 29. Kf1 b5 30. Ke2 Kf7 31. a4 f5 32. Rf4 – black resigned almost immediately having had enough with a +3.5 advantage in The Toaster’s favour.
Another excellent result for The Toaster and Anstey were 2-0 up with 2 to play – surely they couldn’t do the unthinkable?!
Third to finish was Brian ‘The Griller’ on board 1. The Griller has been good for the 2nd team this season, occupying board 1 and was looking to continue his good (not perfect) form. The Griller had the black pieces and was facing club friend Shaun Cope who was 43 points ahead of The Griller on ECF ratings – the Anstey team were out graded on every board. The game started symmetrically down the book line of the London system until the symmetry was broken with white’s 5th move c4 replied to by The Griller’s c6 to solidify d5. The game was equal but white allowed 9. .. Qa5+ which resulted in a Queen block and the Queens coming off. The light squared Bishops also disappeared for both players after they were subsequently traded on d3. White’s inability to castle wouldn’t appear to be harming him too much. The Griller seemingly gained equality after managing to get e5 in on move 13. The Griller relinquished his own ability to castle with a penned in dark squared Bishop on f8 and played Kf7 to get his pieces into the game.
The parity continued and this game seemed to only be going one way.
In the position on the left after white’s 20th move, recapturing a traded off Rook, as you can see, Smallfish says that it is totally level with a 0.0 assessment of proceedings. The Griller felt he had to be wary of the roaming Knight and felt that b5 was necessary. Slightly inaccurate play from both players (according to the engine) followed but after an uninspiring Bd8 as black’s 26th move, both players agreed to a draw.
Another solid result for the Griller as the second team’s top board.
This secured the match for Anstey with the score 2.5-0.5 with just one board to play.
Last to finish on board 4 was Bob. Bob had the white pieces against Ian Farquharson and again – just like his teammates – Bob was out graded but this time by 68 points. The game started with a Queen’s pawn opening and Ian opted for a Queen’s Indian setup but early on, Ian got his pieces in a bit of a tangle, playing Bd6 when his d-pawn was yet to advance.Bob rightly played e4, threatening the fork of pieces and Ian was forced to move his Bishop twice in the opening. At this point, with central dominance, Bob had a +4.9 advantage with the ability to push his opponent’s pieces back and dominate the centre. Bob started to push but was ever so slightly inaccurate and developed his pieces – as one would. (It should also be noted that Boris the Toaster and El Presidente didn’t make full use of this looking at the game retrospectively too!). A few moves later and the pressure eased with a trade off of pieces in the central e5 square. Bob initiated a plan to get his light squared Bishop to f5 and lift his Rook to eye the f, g and h files via the 3rd rank but this slower plan allowed Ian back into the game and by move 25 the game was level (source: Smallfish on iPhone).
More pieces were traded and Bob’s attack on the Kingside had seemingly lost its bite and Ian was able to push back in the centre. By move 35, Ian had pushed back in the centre and Bob’s plan to plant a Knight on e6 had it’s weakness exposed and to those watching the position on the right looked lost. Smallfish says otherwise and due to spending so much time planning his Kingside attack and being so surprised with his good opening advantage, Bob was low on time. At this point, Bob played Qc2, giving up the seemingly doomed Knight. As Smallfish points out, Nf4 Rg5, followed by Rc3 is a try for equality but that was tough to see over the board.
Bob ran out of time after the Knight was lost and Ian won the game.
2.5-1.5 to Anstey and a good team win.
Captain El Presidente to BT Sport Chess:
Absolutely delighted for the team, a really good win. A best ever result for me OTB in terms of grade that I’ve beaten and really pleased for the Toaster too. It’s just a shame we now have to wait so long for the next game!
Anstey Chess Club 