(18/5/23) Anstey’s 1st team made their 2023 debut in the Harrod Cup.

El Presidente as captain selected a strong initial team with El Presidente himself on board 1, Mike Griffiths on 2, The Lawman Bob on 3 and Noor The Prodigy on board 4.

Just so our many millions of readers are aware, the Harrod Cup is a rapid play tournament in Leicestershire and isn’t mandatory for all clubs. Some clubs choose to take a summer break – but not Anstey. The players play the same opponent twice in the quicker format, once with the white pieces and once with the black pieces with a 20 minute time control with 10 second increments. Because of the nature of the games being rapid play, notating is not required and with 8 games to look over, it is hard to recall what happened in each one, so the rapid play reports will be shorter than usual and comprise a summary of the games.

Board 1 – El Presidente Ben v Rich Davis – result 1.5-0.5

El Presidente faced off against Rich Davis on board 1. Rich and Ben had played a few rapid games on the internet during lockdown in the LRCA tournament so one could argue that the rapid play matches are their strength. Rich hadn’t played OTB for a while and was somewhat surprised to be on board 1. Both games were keenly contested with El Presidente having black for the first game (as did the whole team). A fierce battle ensued with El Presidente seeming to have a crushing Queenside attack but Rich defended very well and started an attack of his own. A tactical skirmish ensued and El Presidente was a piece for a couple of pawns up but lost it again after Rich cleverly defended an attack with a King fork. A draw was agreed with an inevitable exchange of pieces, leaving the Kings on the board.
Second game with white, El Presidente won through with good development, forcing Rich to play Ke7 and not castling, finding a neat combination of a Knight fork which would have resulted in either mate, or Rich losing his Queen, at which point he resigned.

Board 2 – Mike Griffiths vs Brian Slater – result 1-1

In what was a superb battle, Mike faced off against Latimer’s captain Brian Slater.
Unfortunately, your author has not seen much of these games but both players seemingly enjoyed playing as white with both of them winning with the white pieces.

Board 3 – Bob The Lawman vs Mike Garland Snr – result 1.5-0.5

Bob the Lawman played against one of the nicest guys in the county, Mike Garland Snr.
Again, I haven’t seen many of the games and your author has made a mental note to try and take note of these rapid games, or consult with the players before writing the report.

Board 4 – Noor The Prodigy v Granville Hill – result 0-2

Noor The Prodigy definitely got a raw deal with facing Granny Hill on board 4. Granny is a very wily player and your author has come unstuck against him on more than one occasion.
Mental note: Must get a few words from people on their games.

A disappointing result but this could so easily have been a defeat – a point is a point.