W/C 2/12/2024 – Week 10

Week 10 saw four teams in action in another busy week.

First up was a strong 4th team travelling over to Syston 3 on the Tuesday. El Presidente offered more boards, but that was declined on the grounds that inactivity rules meant that Syston could only field a weak 3rd team – a team that the 4th team was too strong for, coming away with a 3.5-0.5 victory.

On the Wednesday, the 2nd team travelled over to Melton Mowbray’s first team. Team captain Boris The Toaster has written an inspiring report (birthing two new nicknames) and I won’t steal his thunder:
https://ansteychessclub.co.uk/2024/12/06/anstey-2-storm-past-melton-mowbray-1-to-end-2024-in-promotion-territory/

Thursday saw no home games for the first time in a long time, so a fabulous club night ensued. Most importantly, Asif (Noor’s Dad) bought in some mince pies that were fully enjoyed by the players (thanks Asif and Noor). There was also some chess played, with some of the youngsters refining their already excellent techniques. Noor brought in his game from the Tuesday against Syston, and ‘Le prodige’ and El Presidente had lots of fun looking at the complicated game.

There were also two away matches being played – the 1st team ventured over to Wigston 2 this time, having played their first team last week and narrowly lost. This time they secured themselves a creditable 2.5-2.5 draw whilst missing board 1 Sooraj on this occasion. Captain Matt has identified trying to finish 3rd this season – Wigston 2 may be the rivals for that place.
The 5th team pottered over to Kirby Castlers’ 2nd team. Unfortunately, they succumbed to a 3.5-1.5 defeat as Oskar and Rudy have been encouraged to mix up their 5th and 6th teams this year, as it looks like Latimer and Heathcote Arms 2 are going to run away with the league anyway. This should provide lower rated opponents for lower rated players, and we’ll try and match opponents standards where possible, for closer and competitive games. Well done to Jakub for his impressive victory on board 1.