Brilliant performances from a strong team deliver a crushing 6 – 2 defeat to Market Harborough 1

Thursday (13/07/2023) was another busy night for our favourite Anstey Chess Club. The first team was scheduled to face Market Harborough 1 (MH1) while Anstey 2 was looking to get points against Latimer. A strong side turned up at the venue to play for Anstey 1, with the captain El Presidente Ben leading the team which also included Boris The Toaster, Brian The Griller and one of our many brilliant juniors Alex. MH1 tried their best to hold on to our strong team, but brilliant performances from El Presidente, The Griller and Alex sealed a 6 – 2 win for our side.

El Presidente Ben Vaughan (Anstey 1) vs David Curran (MH1) 1.5 – 0.5

Looking sharper and sharper every game, El Presidente was faced with another serious challenge in David Curran. As Anstey 1 started with the black pieces in round 1, our chairman managed to equalise early on with black, and a strategical battle started in the middlegame. A draw was agreed in a highly tense position, which Dave Curran probably had the better of, but El Presidente saw that Dave was lower on time and offered a draw. The offer was accepted as neither player had time to calculate.

With the white pieces, Ben went for it and again started an early strategical battle, employing his favourite opening and attempting to break through the enemy forces. Dave played a move that looked like it won a piece or an exchange as a minimum but this allowed El Presidente to try a combination that got a Rook on the 7th and an open board for a Bishop pair. Seeing the attack, El Presidente tried the line, which at least would have achieved repetition, but it actually won 3 Kingside pawns, and initiated a strong attack on Dave’s stranded King on an open board with a Bishop pair. The end came where El Presidente delivered a check which forked the King and a Rook which Dave seemingly missed by picking up his Rook and capturing a Bishop which was not the checking piece. He resigned after this illegal move.

Another excellent performance from Ben who is looking to be one of the pillars of our club’s Harrod cup campaign.

Borislav The Toaster Lazarov (Anstey 1) vs Michael Garland Jr. (MH1) 0.5 – 1.5

Boris The Toaster on board 2 has not been in great form recently, which showed again against Michael Garland Jr. With the black pieces, our teammate found himself under pressure early on, but with clever manoeuvring, The Toaster managed to untangle his pieces and achieve equality around the beginning of the endgame. The players repeated moves and agreed to a draw.

With the white pieces, Boris started a promising attack early on in the opening, capturing a pawn in the process. His opponent managed to not only gain back the pawn with a minority attack but to create a powerful passer of his own, which was defended in probably the poorest way by our teammate. Eventually the pawn became unstoppable, and met with the prospect of going a full rook down, our teammate resigned.

Another tough day in the office for The Toaster who is looking to get back on the winning path soon.

Brian The Griller Foreman (Anstey 1) vs Will Smith (MH1) 2 – 0

Brian The Griller was also back in action for the first team, facing a new player in Will Smith. Brian consolidated early on with the black pieces and before long took advantage of his opponent’s mistakes. As a the most solid player in our team, The Griller showed again that once he has the edge, he does not lose it easily, and capitalised on his winning position.

In the second game, our teammate put the pressure on his opponent early on, and before long the same types of mistakes started creeping in from Black, which was happily received from our teammate. Brian again managed to consolidate the advantage easily and before long, he found himself going up 2 – 0 against his opponent.

Another great performance from Brian The Griller who is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Harrod cup.

Alex Street (Anstey 1) vs Robert Mills (MH1) 2 – 0

After a bumpy start of his career as a chess player, Alex found himself facing a lower rated player in Robert Mills. Sensing the opportunity to turn a corner, our teammate step on the gas and started his game with the black pieces with the tactical guns blazing. Overwhelmed by Alex’ sharp play, the MH1 player found himself down a piece by the late middlegame. Still calm and with a stone face expression, our teammate consolidated his advantage to claim the win in the first game.

With the white pieces, Alex did not give his opponent a break, and if anything, step on the gas even more. Sharp tactics continued to fly from our teammate, and story pretty much repeated itself, with Alex capturing a piece with a combination, finding himself up material towards the late middlegame. Our teammate proved “too hot to handle” in this bout, and before long the second Anstey win board 4 was claimed.

Brilliant performance from Alex and we are sure that there are going to be many more to come.

Amazing first win for Anstey 1 who find themselves on sixth place, three points behind the leaders Kirby Muxloe. Would they be able to make the comeback of the year?