Greatly underrated juniors make the difference for the away team, as our B-team loses practical chances to attack the top spot in Division 2

The toughest challenge so far for our second team was on the horizon, as they welcomed the division leaders Loughborough 2 in the beginning of March. Our team found themselves with a depleted squat, as Ben and Bob were not available for the game. Fortunately, our great club is a home of plenty of members eager to compete under its banner, and two of our top players – Noor The Prodigy and Matt The Dark Destroyer, joined Brian The Griller and Boris The Toaster for the match. The Loughborough side outrated our second team on every board, with a total difference of more than 570 points based on the September 2022 ratings. Admittedly, the away team had a couple of promising juniors, Kajus Mikalajunas and Lyndsay Pyun, who had their actual ratings higher than their own top board at 2000+ and 1800+ respectively, and unsurprisingly, they made the difference on the night. Nevertheless, a valiant performance from our second team who were unlucky to lose the match.

Stephen Morris ( Loughborough 2) vs Brian The Griller Foreman (Anstey 2) 0.5 – 0.5

The Griller returned for the second team and was scheduled to play on top board against the opposition captain Stephen Morris. In a private conversation with your author prior to the game, our teammate admitted his concerns regarding facing his opponent, but the game showcased twists and turns, and Brian proved again to be a tough nut to crack. The game opened with the Queen’s Gambit (have you watched it on Netflix already?!) which was met by the solid Slav defence from our always bor…. solid top board for the second team. The players engaged in the notoriously bor…. drawish variation of the Exchange Slav and proceeded with typical development for the position. The Griller rushed to take his light-squared bishop out of the pawn chain before placing a rook on the open c-file and closing the chain with e6. The Loughborough captain developed his bishops on the second file and also placed a rook on the c-file, and with all minor pieces developed, one of the white knights attacked the light-squared black bishop and eventually the exchange happened on g6 after which our teammate swiftly castled.

With the middlegame on the run, the away team player decided that he is going to pursue a kingside (K-side) attack against the black king, to which Brian responded with the most adequate counterlpay, namely the central pawn break on e5. After pawns were exchanged on the said square, The Griller found himself with a slight advantage (-0.9, based on Stockfish 15, depth = 20, powered by chess.com and called “the engine” from now on) in spite of his isolated pawn on d5 in a position famously known as IQP (isolated Queen’s pawn, our chairman gets very excited when he sees it OTB). The players engaged in a queenside (Q-side) battle, whereby our teammate placed an amazing knight on c4, eyeing the white Q-side.With the more active pieces and massive space advantage, Brian accumulated solid advantage, evaluated at -2.6 with an extra pawn by move 20. Unfortunately, after expending quite a lot of time to get to this superior position, already under some time pressure The Griller did not find the best plan and tried to solidify on the Q-side, losing his advantage in the process, and giving fighting chances as well as a pawn back for White by move 24. The away team player not only managed to consolidate on the Q-side, but even got rid of Black’s passed b-pawn, while maintaining a “passer” on the a-file himself.

Heading into the endgame, our teammate managed to capture the white a-pawn and the players exchanged their last minor pieces to remain with a pair of rooks each, a notoriously complicated play which both players held quite well. White hurried to get rid of the IQP on d5, and a pair of rooks head to the box in the process. The Loughborough player started pushing his K-side pawns, but with an active, ever threatening rook, and a solidly positioned king, Brian held his ground and did not let his opponent to create any majority. Throughout the process, our teammate offered his opponent a draw, but the response from the away team captain was that considering the difference in time (more than 20 minutes against less than 30 seconds), he would like to play. Nevertheless, The Griller showcased great resilience to eventually sealed a draw on top board.

Another excellent performance for The Griller who has lost only one game this season, mainly due to his outstanding ability to grind out a result.

Matthew The Dark Destroyer Connor (Anstey 2) vs Kajus Mikalajunas (Loughborough 2) 0 – 1

Stepping up for El Presidente Ben, the first team captain had arguably the hardest task, facing the young star on the Leicestershire chess scene, Kajus Mikalajunas from Loughborough, who is flying high this season and already rated 2000+. The players engaged in the Scandinavian defence and before long knights and bishops were already pointing at kings and queens. Our teammate decided to make a second move with his light-squared bishop to offer exchange to its black counterpart and both pieces headed for the chess pieces’ bar. Matt quickly claimed the centre and the players finished their development, with White having the more active pieces and holding a slight +0.7 advantage.

Black began his middlegame with a typical pawn break on c5. At this point, our teammate spent what seemed to be an eternity, calculating all sorts of tactical shots around the board, and eventually going for the Nb5 move in preparation of Nc7, forking both black rooks and what looked like winning the exchange. His young opponent not only called the bluff, but managed to emerge out of a five-move forcing sequence with a knight and bishop for one of his rooks and the d-pawn, and most importantly with well coordinated pieces and -1.4 advantage. The Dark Destroyer found himself under immense pressure, and before long the queens were exchanged with himself left with doubled isolated pawns on the f-file, overextended c-pawn and inactive rooks.

Unfortunately for our teammate, he did not manage to find the best plan under serious time pressure, and tried to hold onto his last hope of creating a passed pawn, while the engine prefers taking hold of the open d-file where the strengths of the rooks lie. The black knight quickly hopped around the board to pick up two pawns from the white camp. Matt activated his rooks and infiltrated the eighth rank with one of his major pieces, harassing the black monarch from both ends of the board. Black tucked his king into safety and before long placed his own rook on the second rank, looking to clean the rest of the white pawns on the Q-side, and then to exchange itself for one of the white rooks. Under severe time pressure, our teammate was unfortunate to blunder his rook on the next move and swiftly resigned.

A tough day in the office for The Dark Destroyer who cannot take any blame after a game against a very high level opposition.

Glyn Ward (Loughborough 2) vs Borislav The Toaster Lazarov (Anstey 2) 0 – 1

In what can be described as a terrible evening for the white pieces, Boris The Toaster was scheduled to play with the black pieces against the solid Glyn Ward from the away team. The players engaged in the Caro-Kann, von Hennig Gambit variation, whereby our teammate felt lost straight from the beginning but still managed to find the best engine and (apparently) book moves in the opening to gain a solid -1.0 advantage and a pawn up by move 9. The players developed swiftly, with White having the more active pieces and Black having the extra pawn but left behind in development. Both sides castled promptly and before long the battle for the centre began.

Early into the middlegame, The Toaster decided to place a knight on d5 and the players engaged into a three move sequence, exchanging a pair of knights and a pair of bishops in the process. Notably, the away team player spent a substantial amount of his time on calculating variations in the combination and before long found himself behind on time. Still behind in development, our teammate brought his queen to d6, giving his opponent a significant advantage and opportunity to exchange pieces in a very favourable way and to pick up a couple of pawns on the K-side. Luckily for Boris, the Loughborough player did not see that far into the combination and instead played a passive c3, giving our teammate the opportunity to finally bring his remaining knight to the party and keep his material advantage. The players exchanged the light-squared bishops in favour of White, and before long, a rook lift occurred and The Toaster found himself under fire on the K-side. Another spell of inaccurate play from White returned the advantage to our teammate, who happily exchanged the remaining minor pieces and solidified his passive, but still advantageous position. With the extra pawn in hand, our teammate exchanged the majority of the major pieces, returning the extra pawn in the process and looking to challenge the isolated white e-pawn.

There is a saying in chess that all rook endgames are drawn, and this particular game did not seem to make any exception. Nevertheless, our teammate found himself with a significant, almost 30-minute time advantage at the beginning of the endgame, and was not looking to offer any draws just yet. The kings came to the party in the centre of the board, and our teammate started the move for the white e-pawn, while advancing his K-side majority. In a somewhat blocked position, and seeing that he loses the e-pawn, White decided to advance it, when our teammate missed a simple check to win the white rook and instead opted for taking the pawn and exchanging the rooks. The time pressure proved crucial in this king and pawn endgame, and before long White gave our teammate the opportunity to create a passed pawn on the K-side getting the famous Silman’s Fox in the Chicken Coup position, whereby the black king was looking to munch on the white Q-side pawns. In spite of Boris pressing his opponent’s clock to keep him in the game, the away team player decided that he does not want to check our teammate’s understanding of simple king and pawn endgames, and threw the towel.

Another solid performance from The Toaster, who continues to grind down his opponents with fast and solid endgame play.

Noor Datoo (Anstey 2) vs Lindsay Pyun (Loughborough 2) 0 – 1

With Bob The Lawman not available, Noor The Prodigy stepped up to the occasion and ended up being the most outrated player with at least about 400 points difference between him and his opponent, Lindsy Pyun, regardless of which rating you are looking (ECF actual rating or the September 2022 ratings which LRCA are still using for the league). The players engaged in the main line of the Italian game, and the Loughborough player snatched early the white e-pawn, putting pressure on White’s position. The players exchanged the dark-squared bishops, and The Prodigy was unfortunate to miss a nice tactic to win back the pawn by sacrificing his bishop on f7. Nevertheless, our teammate played actively and with energy in an attempt to put pressure on Black’s position, but his opponent found the best moves to repel any attacks and solidify the position.

With most of the pieces developed, the very short middlegame proved as expected to be fireworks, as two pairs of minor pieces and the queens decided to make their way to the changing rooms for the rest of the game, leaving the Loughborough player with an extra pawn, the bishop on an open board, and the better pawn structure, all equating to a -1.9 advantage for Black.

The endgame began with a few unfortunate inaccuracies from The Prodigy who had to part ways with his isolated weak d-pawn. Although down two pawns and on time, our teammate continued to fight and tried to advance his Q-side minority. His opponent, a notoriously capable endgame player and a nemesis for a few Anstey players already, brought her rooks to the second rank, forcing our teammate to exchange one of them. Unfortunately, this exchange led to the loss of the white knight, and after a couple of moves harassing the white king, the rooks also got exchanged. Credit to Noor, he tried to continue the play for a few more moves, but given the quality of play he was facing, our teammate did the honourable thing and resigned.

A hard day in the office for The Prodigy, who tried to overcome too high of an obstacle but nevertheless showcased again great play and surely is only going to get more wins for the rest of the season.

In conclusion, a difficult evening for our team, who nevertheless fought bravely and only narrowly missed on getting something out of the match, mainly due to the severely underrated outstanding juniors in the opposite side. Fortunately, the loss did not affect the team, as they went on to win 4-0 against Latimer in the following week (admittedly, Boris was the only player to have participated in both matches). With only three matches left to play, our B-team is looking to challenge Melton 2 for the second spot in Division 3. Their next game will be against Ashby 3 at home in the beginning of April.