11/7/23

On a muggy Tuesday evening Anstey’s junior side travelled over to Wigston’s second team in the Harrod Cup 3rd round. This is the only Summer rapid play that Anstey have entered (the Chapman/Birstall Cup is classical time controls) and the format is 20 minutes plus 10 second increments (bonus time per move). Each player plays two games over 4 boards, one game with the black pieces and one game with the white pieces.

Wigston (like Anstey) have other commitments and were struggling to host on their usual Thursdays so it was agreed that the match would be played on a Tuesday night instead. In the end, it was more a case of Wigston Juniors v Anstey Juniors as both teams looked to give opportunities to the juniors in their ranks in a format that favours the younger mind.

Board 1 – Laurence Norton v Yuvraj Sadhra
Score: 2-0
In another battle of two players on the more quiet side, the Silent Destroyer took on Laurence Norton and this time it was Yuvraj with the shorter straw. Laurence is a very good player and yet another rising star in the County with the future looking good for the County in terms of young players coming through. Yuvraj fought very hard in both games but lost in both, with the black pieces losing material early on and getting his Queen trapped for a Rook with the white pieces.

Board 2 – Shiv Purshottam v Curtis Blunt
Score: 0.5-1.5
Registering 1 and a half points on the night, Curtis was the star of the show. With the white pieces in the first game, he mated his opponent out of the blue in less than 15 moves (more like 10 moves I think) with a bizarre looking Queen move, trapping the King on the same diagonal as the check and no escape squares, Curtis seemingly suckering his opponent into a trap. A much more attritional game second time around with a level Rook and pawn ending leading to a draw being agreed.

Board 3 – Jakub Mazurkiewicz v Jakub Miler
Score: 1-1
In the battle of the Jakubs on board 3, honours were even in two very one-sided games. Anstey’s Jakub took the lead with a superb game leading to a resignation from Wigston’s Jakub with an inevitable mate on the board and heavily down on material. Roles were reversed in the next game as Wigston’s Jakub played much better and was able to win material and subsequently the game as more pieces were traded off. There was mild hope for Anstey’s Jakub with a passed a pawn but once the extra Bishop blockaded the pawn, the end was inevitable and Anstey’s Jakub gracefully resigned.

Board 4 – Filip Kwiatkowski v Reidan Minhas
Score: 1-1
Playing on a Tuesday night allowed Reidan Minhas to make his debut for the junior side. Rising through the ranks of the softly sessions ran by your author and now with the County setup with Alan Agnew, Reidan’s progress is obvious. Being such a talented lad, he is in demand with other activities so it was good to have him on board. Unfortunately, whether it was nerves, apprehension or lack of thinking, Reidan lost out quite heavily in the first game, losing material and consequently the game. After some words to slow down from your author, he played MUCH better in the second game, inflicting to his opponent what he had done to him in the first game, forcing a resignation.

Overall a wonderful fight shown by the Juniors and it bodes very well for the future as we continue to give juniors the opportunity to develop and play competitive chess. Unfortunately, the junior side prop up the Summer league, but it isn’t for want of trying and giving a good account of themselves.