In spite of brilliant performances from The Prodigy, our first team could not hold on Wigston 1

Round 2 of the Harrod cup was scheduled on 22^nd June, and all three Anstey teams were involved, with our second and juniors team taking on the Ashby second and third teams. Anstey 1 was scheduled to face the young Wigston 1 side who were the Anstey Juniors’ nemesis in the first round. A strong team consisting of the acting captain Boris The Toaster, Mike, returning Brian The Griller, and the always exciting to watch Noor The Prodigy, arrived in Wigston with time to spare, and faced the young Wigston players. It was a tale of two halves, with the bottom Anstey boards playing their best, only to be let down by the top two boards who did not have a great day over the board. Eventually, the draw on board 3 decided the fate of the match, and the home team congratulated themselves with the win.

Borislav The Toaster Lazarov (Anstey 1) vs Laurence Norton (Wigston 1) 0 – 2

Boris The Toaster was scheduled to face Laurence Norton from Wigston, who exchanged a point each against Yuvraj The Silent Destroyer in the first Harrod cup round. Our teammate played with the black pieces in the first round of the match, and the players engaged in an early series of exchanges. Playing at Blitz speed, the pieces were coming off the board quickly, and before long, The Toaster found himself in a Bishop vs Knight endgame where he managed to create a passed pawn on the queenside (Q-side), only to be overwhelmed by his opponent’s kingside (K-side) majority, eventually resulting in a pawn queening on the e-file, which could not be stopped, so Boris resigned.

In the second game, our teammate played a dubious opening, and before long the emotions took the best of him, making his already bad situation worse. The Toaster exchanged a bishop and two rooks for a queen and a pawn, but created what seemed to be a strong passed pawn on the f-file which also managed to get to the seventh rank. Brilliant defence combined with great tactical vision from the Wigston player, however, denied Boris any opportunities for redemption, and instead created a mating attack, with the only defence to exchange the white queen for one of the black rooks, at which point our desperate deputy captain threw the towel with 21 minutes left on the clock (yes, the games are Rapid format, and the players start with 20).

A rare disaster for our teammate and a great lesson for himself and every chess player about the consequences of playing emotionally and fast at the same time.

Mike Griffiths (Anstey 1) vs Madhav Eradi (Wigston 1) 0 – 2

In his second match of the Harrod Cup for the first team, Mike was scheduled to play young Madhav from Wigston. The home team player was slightly late, so our teammate graciously waited for about 5 minutes until his opponent arrived. With the white pieces in the first game, Mike opened with his characteristic English which was met by a Queen’s gambit setup from Black. Both players developed their armies, but our teammate found himself losing a pawn early into the middlegame. Material up, the Wigston player turned up the pressure and soon won a piece with a discovered attack on Mike’s queen. Finding himself some substantial material down against a very capable opponent, our teammate tried his best to fight back, but eventually realised that he could not do much more, so resigned.

With the black pieces, the players found themselves in a very similar situation as in the first game, with the colours reversed. As in the encounter just finished, Mike found himself down a pawn in the early middle game. This time, however, the middle game did not produce any decisive moments, but the young home team player still managed to put some pressure on our teammate, and capture another pawn. Finding himself with a clearly winning endgame if the remaining pieces get exchanged, White created practical problems for Mike leading to a series of swaps. Behind in material, our teammate tried to stop the white pawns, but their relentless march proved too difficult of an obstacle to overcome, and our teammate resigned.

Tough day in the office for Mike who had a difficult task against a strong young player.

Brian The Griller Foreman (Anstey 1) vs Shae Patel (Wigston 1) 1.5 – 0.5

With all teams and players summoned for the triple treat, Brian The Griller returned to action and was facing a young unknown player in Shae Patel from the home team. Starting as Black in the first round, our most decorated second league team player defended solidly against the attacking chess from his opponent. Pieces got exchanged, and our teammate found himself in a very drawish looking ending. Eventually, the players found themselves in a rook endgame, and although everything seemed to be decided in favour of the draw, The Griller received a gift from his opponent in the form of a passed pawn after a couple of captures, but instead our teammate opted for pushing his K-side pawns. Unfortunately, the latter move sealed the draw and after a few rook and king shuffles from both sides, the players decided to officially do the point share.

In the second game, The Griller started more aggressively, and with his opponent trying to match White for the initiative, our teammate trapped the black light-squared bishop giving Brian an early advantage. The young home team player tried his best to complicate matters, but as the club’s expert of consolidation and solid chess in general, The Griller left no chance for a comeback. Pieces got exchanged, and our teammate’s advantage kept increasing until he found himself with an unmatched queen on the board. The newly promoted piece did only one move Qh8#, but it was enough for our teammate to claim the full point.

Another valiant performance from The Griller who proves to be a force in faster formats as well.

Noor The Prodigy Datoo (Anstey 1) vs Aryan Maini (Wigston 1) 2 – 0

Probably one of the most exciting players nowadays for our club, Noor The Prodigy was scheduled to play against another unknown young player in Aryan Maini. With the white pieces, our teammate engaged in a symmetrical game, whereby both players decided to castle Q-side. Noor decided to pursue an initiative on the K-side and pushed his pawns there, only for them to end up locked in with their black counterparts. Pieces got exchanged in the process, and The Prodigy managed to emerge with two rooks vs rook and bishop in the endgame. Our teammate activated his army and before long grabbed some of his opponents’ pawns, followed by trading one of his rooks for the enemy bishop. With the path cleared, Noor pushed his pawns and “queened” one of them, when his opponent decided that it is lost and resigned.

With the black pieces, the players engaged in the highly popular 1.e4 e5 opening, usually leading to sharp and open games much to the taste of none other than our Anstey Tiger Just Mick. The players quickly developed their minor pieces, however, the Wigston player in his eagerness to get back on track with the points, rushed a knight move, only to fall victim to a discovered attack whereby the said knight had to head for the box. Seizing the opportunity, The Prodigy put pressure on his opponent and eventually the white king found itself trapped behind its own pieces, and with Noor’s Queen and Bishop on their way to deliver a deadly attack to the white king, it was not long before our teammate claimed the second point in this encounter, scoring a perfect 2/2 on the night.

Another masterpiece from The Prodigy who is looking to be a force to be reckoned with next league season.

A bitter disappointment for our first team, as their title defence (joint, admittedly, but still a title) appears to be slipping away after gaining only a point after two rounds. After this result, Anstey 1 find themselves on ninth position in the Harrod cup, and they will need nothing shorter than a miracle, if they were to challenge for the top spot. Nevertheless, with El Presidente who is also the team’s regular captain likely to return for the second team in the next round, a miracle might not be such a difficult task for this team who has already proven their ability to play successfully against all odds.