20/4/23 – With El Capitan Oskar unable to captain the team on the night, El Presidente volunteered to captain the 3rd team against our old friends Heathcote Arms (again, hereafter HA’s) 2nd team.

Having been in the midst of the chess grind for a few years now, your author has made some friends and close acquaintances along the way – none more so than the 4 players that turned up to face our third team. Visiting the Anstey Methodist Arena was Ray Beach (aka Raymondov), Bill Roberts (aka Bill, sorry Bill, no nickname yet!), Gordon Milner (aka G-Man) and Dave Ricketts (aka Haka Dave, or if you’re Colin Ross, Hacker Dave). Haka Dave was making a welcome return to the chess plight after a 10 year absence and I must say that it was a delight to see him, albeit I am never quite sure that the feeling is reciprocated or not. In the spirit of seeing Haka Dave I am going to divulge away from the formula of our traditional match reports and write it in the style of Haka Dave – a more relaxed and less formal report and use every opportunity to poke fun at old friends.

First to finish on the evening was Aarav Sinha with the white pieces against Bill Roberts on board 2. Bill had said to me before the game that he’d hoped he wasn’t going to face one of the youngsters as they can be a bit tricky. That words ‘youngster’ and ‘tricky’ basically sum up Aarav and he certainly mixed it up for Bill by employing an Italian fried liver attack, with the thematic sacrificial Knight path of the Two Knights defence. (Somebody has been learning from Just Mick!) The Knight on g1, heads to f3, g5 and takes on f7, uncovering Bill’s King and removing his right to castle. Aarav then mercilessly attacked Bill’s King and after calmly castling Kingside and opening a path for developing pieces, Aarav saw out the game with Bg5, pinning Bill’s Queen with the bishop at which point, on only the 13th move, Bill gracefully resigned. The end was so swift, the game was played along the book line for the first 8 or 9 moves. This won’t be the only Bishop-pinning-Queen motif we will hear about either.

Second to finish was the Silent Destroyer Yuvraj Sadhra with black vs the G-Man on board 3. Having kept an eye on the proceedings, the speed in which pieces were traded off the board was mind-blowing. The G-Man’s plan must have been to trade everything off until it was King vs King and get a draw. By black’s move 12, both the Queens were off, a couple of minor pieces and a couple of pawns had also left the board for the evening. The G-Man’s tongue in cheek plan was working. The only slight issue is that Yuvraj had the Bishop pair and a wide open centre to work with. Further piece trades occurred and Yuvraj did well to develop his pieces with tempo and for a brief while, the G-Man’s Knight was hopping round the board being chased by the Silent Destroyers Rook (all that was missing was some Benny Hill type music). This was until the G-Man made a tactical blunder by defending his Knight with his Rook, effectively pinning the Knight which the Silent Destroyer capitalised on immediately and thereafter, whilst Yuvraj’s notation is far from perfect, the G-Man resigned with little option but to in a lost endgame a piece down.

Third to finish was Mike Griffiths with the black pieces vs Raymondov on board 1. Given the events on the other two boards and their respective finishes within an hour of starting, the proceedings on board 1 were positively serene. Sensible piece development, pieces looking for their best squares and a pawn trade on move 6 was as exciting as it got for the first few moves. Mike had the better of the opening and had an advantage after move 13 from Raymondov. (In case you were wondering – I know you were – Raymondov derives from Ray’s full name with an ‘ov’ on the end to give him a more imposing nickname than ‘Ray’). Anyway, back to the action and Mike got a Knight to c4 in what was the most exciting thing to happen for a while and marked a bit of progress in the game as pieces danced non-commitment style on the board. In a flurry of activity said Knight was traded off and a Bishop pair left the board to get a coffee together, leaving the position solid for both players and practically level. All of a sudden, Raymondov made a brave looking f4 move, staking a claim on the centre and finally igniting the game to life. It certainly had this effect but gave Mike a boat load of activity which he used with gusto, claiming two pawns and by the time Raymondov threw in the towel, it was about to be a free minor piece for Mike. The end of a great game and I was sure that I heard Ray saying ‘don’t push pawns, don’t push pawns’ multiple times to himself on his way out of the door at the end of the evening.

Last to finish was Young John on board 4 with the white pieces against our friend Haka Dave. Now, before we get into the action, I know that you’re wondering where the nickname comes from. No, he isn’t a secret Mauri tribesman on the side during his 10 year absence, or indeed a former New Zealand rugby player. He was once seen to perform a little dance after a favourable result once upon a time. It was jovially referred to as a Haka and it kind of stuck with him. Dave was hoping not to get chopped up quickly by a whizz-kid so when Young John sat opposite him, Haka Dave must have feared the worst. After a comparatively sensible opening, full of piece development that transcended into chaos, John set a trap for Haka Dave with the bizarre looking Nd5 move, seemingly giving up a Knight for nothing. One of those moves where you think – that must be for a reason and you stress at the board trying to find why. It had a devastating effect though, as Dave found out by accepting the poisoned gift with cxd5 followed by Bb5! – pinning the Queen with a Bishop for the second time in the evening. Young John seemed delighted with his new prize and proceeded to confidently ebb away at his own advantage with Haka Dave fighting with every ounce of what he’s got. El Presidente was warning Young John’s Mum that John’s opponent is a real fighter and so it proved. Later on in the game, pieces were traded leaving John a bishop and 3 pawns vs a Rook and 2 pawns and Young John, very maturely it must be said, offered a draw which was accepted. My sources tell me that a Haka DID NOT happen but after looking at the game, I am unsure why. Spare a thought for Young John here, last to finish in the third team, everybody from HA watching his every move, this is competitive chess at its most pressurised and a draw is still a fantastic result for John, despite any disappointment he may feel.

After all of that excitement and a 3.5-0.5 win, coupled with a 1st team match also going on, it was another full-on night at the Anstey Methodist Arena with some good and bad chess played (and that was just the first team!). Great to see the HA boys again and we will look forward to seeing them, as always, during the Summer and next season.

Stand-in skipper El Presidente spoke to Vogue Magazine:

Firstly, great to see the HA chaps come over and lovely to see an old friend in Dave Ricketts. Obviously a very well deserved victory for the third team and well done to them all with some very sharp games and good performances. A very satisfying evening overall.