W/C 7/10/24 – Week 2 of the league season

Week two of the league season saw Anstey’s new look 2nd team in action. New look due to the welcome influx of players for the new season. Newly elected 2nd team captain Boris took his team to Loughborough. Boris has written an excellent summary to save me waffling on!
https://ansteychessclub.co.uk/2024/10/13/narrow-defeat-for-the-second-team-at-the-start-of-the-new-season/

The 4th team also started their league campaign away at Ashby 4. More debuts resulted, with father and son team Ken and Ted Ronald making their debuts, alongside Theo also making his debut for Anstey. Unfortunately, Alex dropped out on the day, meaning El Presidente had to fill in to avoid a default. El Presidente soon regretted travelling with a loss on board 1 against the seasoned John Howlett. Other results were good with Theo winning his game in double quick time, Ted winning on debut, and Noor beating Dom Lennon – one of the nicest guys on the chess circuit. The last two to finish were Mike Griffiths in a complicated end game with Ric Dawson. Ric had two connected passers but Mike was an exchange up with a Rook against a Knight, but the Knight was the glue holding Ric’s position together. Ric offered a draw but when most would snap Ric’s hand off with the two passers rolling, Mike said ‘No’. The next thing was the two passers were gone, each player had a rook each and there were a g and h pawn each – definitely a draw. Last to finish was Ken, in another complicated game but an exchange up, but low on time. Fortunately for Ken, his opponent blundered a Knight when giving a check, leading to his inevitable resignation a few moves later with Ken a full rook up.