Reinforced heavily by the juniors, Anstey 2 find themselves unfortunate against a strong Latimer side

In the “double trouble” Thursday (13/07/23), Anstey 2 were scheduled to play against Latimer in the third round of the Harrod cup. With Boris playing for the first team, Bob on holiday, and Oskar having his County Championship on the evening, our second team ended up being heavily represented by the juniors. Noor The Prodigy, Aarav, Yuvraj The Silent Destroyer and Yakub worked hard throughout the evening, but eventually the experience from the Latimer side prevailed.

Noor The Prodigy Datoo (Anstey 2) vs Richard Davis (Latimer) 1.5 – 0.5

As Anstey 2 were scheduled to play first with the black pieces, Noor looked to start strong against the higher rated Richard Davis from Latimer. Unfortunately, no one apart from Noor and Richard saw any of the games, however, with the black pieces, our teammate managed to not only equalise, but take an advantage and eventually claim the win.

Your editor managed to get a really short glance at the board in the second game where Noor as White seemed to be involved in a balanced game. Not long after, the players agreed to a draw.

Another excellent performance from The Prodigy, who is firmly back on track to become the next challenger for the top spots in the first team.

Aarav Sinha (Anstey 2) vs Brian Slater (Latimer) 0 – 2

Aarav was scheduled to face the tricky yet still solid player, Brian Slater from the away team. Aarav started well with the black pieces and seemed to have equalised comfortably. Our teammate was unfortunate to miscalculate a several move combination whereby he lost his queen with no compensation. Aarav tried his best to hold on, but the advantage for white was too great, and our teammate resigned.

In the second game, neither of our regular editors was able to look at the play. Unfortunately, Aarav found himself again on the back foot, and eventually had to resign the game.

An unfortunate evening for Aarav who will be looking to bounce back in the Anstey 2 vs Anstey Juniors clash.

Yuvraj The Silent Destroyer Sadhra (Anstey 2) vs Michael Garland Sr. (Latimer) 0 – 2

The Silent Destroyer was scheduled to play against the most solid player in the Latimer side, Michael Garland Sr. who had a reunion with his son, Michael Garland Jr., on the night (the latter playing for Market Harborough’s first side against Anstey 1). In the first game, Yuvraj started strong with the black pieces and tried to put pressure on his opponent. Unfortunately, our teammate dropped a piece in the process, and before long found himself in a too great of a disadvantage to hold on and had to concede his first loss of the night.

In the reversed colours game, our teammate was unfortunate to find himself on the back foot again. As usual, Yuvraj fought bravely, but it was just not his night, and eventually he had to concede another loss.

A tough day in the office for The Silent Destroyer who will be another one on the look out for getting back on track in the “Anstey derby”.

Jakub Miller (Anstey 2) vs Granville Hill (Latimer) 0 – 2

One of the new players for Anstey, Jakub Miller, was scheduled to play against another experienced trickster in Granville Hill. With the black pieces, Jakub was put under pressure early on in the game. The Latimer player managed to pick up a piece during the middle game and unfortunately Jakub could not hold on his experienced opponent and had to throw the towel.

In the second game, our teammate was unfortunate to find himself in the same position, and his opponent managed to put pressure and capitalise on his advantages to claim a second win on the night.

An unfortunate evening for Jakub but we are sure that it will not be long until he is another junior force to be reckoned with.

Eventually, our teammates suffered a 6.5-1.5 defeat. This places Anstey 2 on 11th place in the Harrod cup table. Next, they are playing Anstey Juniors in the “Anstey derby” on 10^th August.