W/C 30/9/24 – Week 1 of the league season
The very first game of the season to kick things off was the third team visiting Market Harborough’s 3rd team. The Anstey team was matched pretty much by the strength of the MH team, with a young protege of their own on board 1. Good to see bright futures for other clubs as well as our own. Rob Mitchell, making his debut for the club, more than held his own and secured a draw. Speaking of draws, board 3 was unspectacular with a 16 move draw for El Presidente against George Gowers. Both Mick Sandham and Noor lost against Challengers County champion Omar Oliveri and Ron Cooper respectively.
In more exciting developments reflecting the growth of the club, the new 5th team faced the new 6th team in division 5. Anstey leapt from 4 teams last season to 6 teams this season, so the future is bright. The future is even brighter as there were 9 players out of 12 in a 6 board match that were under 18. There were some debuts for Oliver, William, Alfie, Mario, Swetark and Seth, all making their league debuts for the club – some of them having played in County events in the summer.
In what was probably another first, Oskar took a place in the 6th team, against the 5th team that he captains! Some excellent chess was played, with Amit beating Jakub, Oliver beating Oskar in what was the last game to finish (see pic). Curtis made a welcome return by beating 6th team captain Rudy, with Reidan and William sharing the spoils with a grandmaster draw. Alfie lost to Mario with good things expected from both of these two players this year. Last but by no means least, Swetark registered his first win over Seth on the 6th board.
Well done to all concerned.
The same week SHOULD have resulted in even more Anstey debuts, with a home match for the first team against Shepshed 1. Unfortunately, Sean Sheahan contacted El Presidente to say that they were struggling for a team. El Presidente left the final decision to Matt the Dark Destroyer and first team captain. Matt decided to do the honourable thing and rearrange the match.
Anstey Chess Club 