Our second team showcased great grit and determination to get a 3-1 win against Ashby 3

Last Thursday (06/04/2023) marked the penultimate home game for the B-team. Anstey 2 were scheduled to face Ashby 3, with both teams promptly at the venue by 7.20pm, except for Boris “The Toaster” who decided to keep his teammates on their toes until 25 minutes past 7. Our second team consisted of the regulars Bob “The Lawman” and Boris along with super-subs Matt “The Dark Destroyer” (acting captain on the evening) and Mike. Opposite our players there was another changed team compared to the reverse fixture, with only the bottom two boards staying the same. At 7.35pm, after cups of coffee and tea were distributed, and everyone had the opportunity to grab a free Easter egg, credit to “The Lawman”, the players shook hands and the games began.

Les Fancourt (Ashby 3) vs Matthew “The Dark Destroyer” Connor (Anstey 2) 0 – 1

The acting captain in “El Presidente”‘s absence was scheduled to play against the tricky player Les Fancourt (a.k.a. “controversial Les”, more details on Episode 1 from the Anstey Chess Club Podcast) who was the player responsible for the Ashby 2 win against our second side in their last home fixture of 2022. The game opened up with a Pirc style setup which transposed into the Philidor with Nc3 and Nf6 on the board. The away team player immediately charged the centre with f4, and following sound chess principles, Matt exchanged pawns towards the centre, luring the white queen on d4. With a free tempo at his disposal, “The Dark Destroyer” developed his b8-knight and dark-squared bishop. The players prioritised development, placing their pieces on active squares aiming at the enemy camp, and by move 9 they had both castled short, entering a middle game where White had more space, while our teammate had a slight edge in development.

The middle game began with more space taken by the Ashby player, trying to trap Black’s light-squared bishop on the kingside (K-side). The Anstey captain for the match decided to trade it for one of the white knights, which was answered by a mistake from White who was looking to lift his rook on the third rank, aiming at future K-side attack. After taking a few minutes to calculate, which by his standards is “bullet” thinking, Matt forked the said white rook and White’s light-squared bishop, in a position where the options for the Ashby player were either bishop for a pawn, or rook for a knight. The away team player decided to proceed with taking the f7-pawn with his bishop which on the very next move left the board. The awkward white rook stepped on the g3-square, now aiming directly at the black king, but unmoved our teammate placed his queen on the active c6-square. The players shuffled their pieces for a couple of moves, with “The Dark Destroyer” setting up a cute little tactic to win the exchange, taking advantage of a pin against the white rook with his dark-squared bishop. His opponent completely missed the threat and rushed to place a knight on d5, and before long had to part ways with his rook, taking the g7-pawn and the black light-squared bishop in the process. Up four points of material, Matt turned his attention towards the white king with Qxc2, when his opponent played the final blunder g3 to give our teammate the opportunity for a mate in 3, which the acting captain obliged to deliver.

Another brilliant performance with the black pieces from “The Dark Destroyer” who delivers again for the second team.

Borislav “The Toaster” Lazarov (Anstey 2) vs Tom Gerrard (Ashby 3) 1 – 0

In a rather grim evening for the white pieces, Boris was scheduled to play against the rapidly improving Tom Gerrard. Our teammate started with his typical opening setup with White, whereby Black replied with 3…g6, looking to fianchetto the dark-squared bishop and occupy the long diagonal. Our teammate replied with an early Nb5, putting pressure on the c7-pawn, and creating space for a c3 push to create a wall against the famous King’s Indian bishop. Pieces and pawns got shuffled on the queenside (Q-side), after which “The Toaster” decided to play the thematic h4-push. Black castled and continued to develop his pieces in a rather peculiar way, as the black knights sat awkwardly in front of the e- and f-pawns. Looking to enter the middle game by move 11, Boris decided to ignore both castling and development, and instead played f3 to take out all possible attacking squares from the black knights and keep firm grip in the centre.

Having a slight edge in the opening, Black decided to strike first with c5, to which our teammate replied with g4, a move which based on the engine (Stockfish 15 at depth = 20, powered by chess.com) evaluation leads to -1.0 in Black’s favour with equal material. Nevertheless, the players exchanged pawns on d4, with “The Toaster” keeping the firm grip on the centre. Lacking space for his pieces, Black decided to attack on the Q-side, first bringing his queen, followed by lining up his rook on the semi-open c-file and eventually pushing b5, but our teammate held everything together by placing his queen on a good defensive square and bringing back his sad knight from the rim. With the Q-side plan failed, the Ashby player who was now running steadily behind on time as well switched sides and brought his knight back to e8, and after bishops were exchanged on b7, Black completely ignored the hanging d5-pawn and stroke on the K-side with f4. What followed was a seven-move tactical sequence whereby Boris surprisingly managed to find a mix of excellent and best moves, and although the Ashby player emerged a piece for two pawns up in material, “The Toaster” had a +5.3 advantage based on the engine evaluation due to his advanced e6-pawn, significantly safer king, and more active pieces. Our teammate played energetically and brought his remaining pieces into play to support an e7-push which proved devastating to Black’s position, significantly deteriorated after the white bishop exchanged itself for the remaining black rook. A couple of checks later, the pressure took the best out of the away team player and he blundered a mater in one which Boris promptly delivered.

Another solid performance from “The Toaster” who finally showcased some tactical awareness and calculation.

Nick Wyld (Ashby 3) vs Bob “The Lawman” Grindrod (Anstey 2) 0 – 1

Finding himself again on board 3, Bob was facing his opponent from the reversed fixture, the away team captain and solid player Nick Wyld. The players engaged in the Schlechter variation of the French defence. White decided to bring his queen towards the centre of the board early on in the opening, as well as to give up his bishop pair by move 7. Our teammate missed on the very next move an opportunity to attack the Q-side pawns in the white camp and continued with development, bringing his knight on f6 in a couple of moves, and castling on the K-side. A couple more developing moves, and the players found themselves entering the middle game.

Having the castled king in an “about to open” position, “The Lawman” wasted no time and immediately stroke with e5, looking to attack the white king. White realised quickly the safety issues with his king’s position, and castled K-side. Bob created a battery on the e-file and before long opened the said file by exchanging the central pawns. White retook with one of his knights, at which point the game was equalised. Rooks were brought in the centre, the Ashby player was challenging the e-file, while our teammate was putting pressure on both white knights. A rook lift followed from Bob’s opponent, which was probably going to be doubled on the e-file, but “The Lawman” seized the opportunity to put pressure first on the d5-knight, and then on the white queen, placing his bishop on a more active square in the process. The queens were exchanged on g3 and upon retaking with his freshly lifted rook, White found himself with passive and completely uncoordinated pieces on move 22, in a position evaluated by the engine as -1.7 with equal material. With one of his knights threatened, the Ashby player tried to put pressure on Q-side, but perfect coordination of our teammate’s pieces left the said knight buried and looking to spend a couple of tempi to reroute itself. The other white knight went on to exchange itself for its black counterpart, leading to a bishop vs knight endgame in an open position, evaluated at -3.7 by the engine with equal material.

Having a clear advantage, Bob immediately placed a rook on the seventh rank, eyeing the b2-pawn in the white camp. The pawn was defended by one of the white rooks, but the bishop arrived to the party, putting pressure on the said rook. The white king activated itself by attacking the rook on c1, but brilliant tactical vision by “The Lawman” saw him winning the exchange and finally converting his dynamic advantage into material one. With a rook and a pawn versus a knight, Bob put pressure on the white Q-side pawns. His opponent brought his king to attack the somewhat stuck black rook, while our teammate tried to activate his king. A bit of harassment from the white rook and white king on their black counterparts followed, only to leave breathing space for the harassed black rook. The away team player tried to continue the harassment on the black king, but a timely f5 stopped the attack in its origin, and returned the initiative to “The Lawman” who started harassing the white pieces and pawns, eventually picking up White’s pawns on the K-side. Seeing a clear path to promotion, Harry the H-pawn started sprinting (more like jogging to be honest, pawns only progress one square at a time) towards h1. White tried to be active, but eventually realised that the pawn promotes, supported by a rook battery on the e-file which blocked the white rook, and met with the perspective of playing with a knight against a queen and a rook, the Ashby player resigned.

A well-deserved win for “The Lawman” who showcased great maturity and game management to bring another point for the B-team.

Mike Griffiths (Anstey 2) vs John Howlett (Ashby 3) 0 – 1

On board 4, Mike stepped in to play against the solid John Howlett after Ashby 3 decided to switch their bottom two boards for this fixture. The players engaged in the symmetrical English, and while our teammate was focused on developing his pieces, the away team player stroke in the centre with d5 as soon as move 4. Mike obliged to take the pawn, and immediately made space for his knight with the “engine-like” a3. His opponent obliged in pushing d4, taking more space, and our teammate had to place his knight on the rim, giving the advantage to Black. The players developed swiftly, with the Ashby player centralising his pieces, while Mike fianchetto-ed his bishop on g2, looking to take advantage of the overextended black central pawns. Both players decided to castle K-side and before long, a fierce middle game battle began.

The away team player brought his rook to c8 eyeing the semi-open file, while Mike pinned the f6-knight and after being challenged, exchanged itself for the horse-resembling piece. Out teammate brought his own knight back to the centre, and pushed his Q-side pawns in an attempt to execute a minority attack on the wing. His opponent accepted an isolated pawn on d4, which he rushed to support with minor pieces. Mike tried to stay active on the Q-side and following an exchange of the dark-squared black bishop for one of the white knights, our teammate lifted a rook on the sixth file. Unfortunately, from move 21 on there were several discrepancies in the notation provided to the author, so we were not able to follow on what went wrong in Mike’s game, but unfortunately our teammate was not able to hold on the black attack, most likely due to the immense pressure on the Q-side.

Another tough day in the office for Mike, but we are sure that he is going to come back stronger in the next fixture.

The procedures concluded with a 3-1 win for our B-team who are now mathematically one draw away from securing a third spot. They also find themselves one point away from Melton 2, although the team from the town famous for their pork pies has a game in hand. Nevertheless, a slip up from the team currently occupying the second place in the division will give Anstey 2 the opportunity to attack the second place in the last fixture away at Melton Mowbray. Before we get carried away, first things first, our second team will be playing again next week in their last home fixture against the solid Heathcote Arms 1 side which in its full strength looks like a team to be taken very seriously.