In spite of facing solid opposition in Ashby 2, our second team dominated a difficult contest
In the second round of Division 3 in the Leicestershire League, our second team travelled to Ashby to face their second team. With the captain Ben having to step down, it was Boris The Toaster who had to deputise for the chairman. The Bulgarian captained a very strong team on the night, with John The Torturer, Mike and Noor The Prodigy all looking to make their mark on the night. Eventually, they did just that, taking the win and leaving only half point for the strong home team.
John The Torturer Robinson (Anstey) vs Christopher Tipper (Ashby) Result: 1/2 – 1/2
John The Torturer was back on top board for the second team, this time as White facing the solid but tricky player Christopher Tipper. The game started with the Polish defence employed by the home team player against our top board’s Queen’s pawn opening. The game continued with the players developing their pieces swiftly on somewhat natural squares without fancy tactics and reckless attempts for advantage. During the proceedings, the Ashby player stroke in the centre with c5 and our teammate decided to release the tension straight away by taking. By move 10 the game was already in the middlegame, and The Torturer decided to exchange one of his knights for one of their black counterparts. The players continued to improve their pieces, and John exchanged his light-squared bishop for one of the black knights, leaving the home team player with doubled pawns on the e-file. At move 18 there was lots of potential on the board and it looked as if fireworks are about to go off, but in a strange turn of events, the players decided that the position does not provide enough opportunity and agreed to a draw.
A solid half-point for John who is looking to make his mark for the second team this season.
Lawrence Hayden (Ashby) vs Boris The Toaster (Anstey) Result: 0 – 1
Boris The Toaster was playing with the black pieces on board 2 against a familiar opponent of his in Lawrence Hayden who by Boris’ words “battered” The Toaster an year prior in the summer cups in rapid format. On the lookout for his revenge, Boris answered his opponent’s e4 with his favourite Caro-Kann. The home team player took the Fantasy variation path – a notoriously tricky and tactical attempt from White to take an early advantage. The players played “by the book” until move 10 when White accepted the queen exchange on b3 and subsequently relinquished his e4-pawn. Boris, finding himself a pawn up, immediately exchanged a pair of knights and a set of pawns in the hope to play for only two possible results. Unfortunately, our teammate left his king too open, and White seized the opportunity to attack it with his well developed pieces. Our teammate “parked the bus” in front of his king and managed to just hold everything together when he received a gift from his opponent who offered an exchange of the light-squared bishops. Our teammate snapped the black “pointy hat” and then managed to exchange a set of rooks followed by a couple of pawn pushes on the queenside (Q-side) to create some breathing space for his pieces. To The Toaster’s delight, White offered another exchange, this time of knight for the black dark-squared bishop which was welcomed by our teammate, leaving him a pawn up, with all of his pawns on dark-squares, and with a knight and rook against a dark-squared bishop and rook. Boris slowly improved his position and having claimed the open d-file, while blocking the e-file with his knight, managed to take away the space from his opponent’s pieces. Eventually the rooks got exchanged on e1, and our teammate’s knight started hopping around dangerously on the Q-side, eventually taking one of the white pawns, at which point the Ashby player demonstratively took his king and present it to our teammate.
A great win for The Toaster to kick off his league campaign.
Mike Griffiths (Anstey) vs Nick Wyld (Ashby) Result: 1 – 0
Mike had the white pieces against another solid yet tricky player in Nick Wyld. Our teammate opened with his favourite English opening which was met by the Caro-Kann defensive system from his opponent. The players deviated from the book as early as the fourth move after exchanging the c4 and d5 pawns, with one of the black knights taking over the d5 square. Mike played with energy and developed his pieces swiftly while his opponent spent a few tempi to stabilise the central knight and cover the g4 square. While Black was finishing his development and castling, our teammate launched his Q-side pawns for a minority attack. His opponent brought his second knight to the centre and it was immediately exchanged with one of its white counterparts. A bit of a back and fourth shuffle from Mike’s remaining knight and the black queen but when it almost looked like a three-fold repetition and another “grandmaster draw” (apparently it is a thing), the home team player decided to leave the said queen and centralise a rook. Eventually Mike exchanged the remaining knights and the dark-squared bishops, and solidified the centre with a timely e3. His opponent rushed to exchanged the remaining bishops, leaving only major pieces on the board which Mike welcomed, creating a battery on the semi-open c-file. The Ashby player created one himself on the e-file and offered a queen exchange which our teammate took happily. Having a tempo in hand, Mike did not hesitate and pushed the Q-side pawns, finally finishing his minority attack. Our teammate managed to get a pawn in the process and in his characteristic solid way navigated a difficult endgame with two rooks still on the board for each side to bring the win home.
Amazing win for Mike as he continues to shine for the second team for a second week in a row.
Les Fancourt (Ashby) vs Noor Datoo (Anstey) Result: 0 – 1
On board 4, Noor The Prodigy was scheduled to play as Black against the tactical player Les Fancourt. Knowing the tactical capabilities of our best performing player last season, the game looked promising and it will be fair to say that the spectators were not disappointed. The players engaged in the Giuoco Pianissimo, four knights variation of the Italian game. At move 6 The Prodigy decided to offer a light-squared bishop exchange, leading the game in less explored territory, albeit still in book. The “pointy hats” were swapped and our teammate had achieved the goal for Black, equalising early on. The home team player found himself with a slight lead in development and started a Q-side attack with his a- and b-pawns which was followed by another exchange, this time of the white dark-squared bishop for one of Noor’s knights. This exchange opened the g-file for our teammate in case he was interested for a kingside (K-side) attack towards the white king. Always the exciting player, The Prodigy immediately castled Q-side which was followed with another set of exchanges when Noor managed to fix his pawn structure and a pair of knights headed for the box. 17 moves into the game, the race started. The black h-pawn started marching towards the white king while the white Q-side pawn army looked to gang up on their black counterparts. No subtle play was to follow, and our teammate brought his queen to g4, eyeing the white king directly. White continued to push the Q-side pawns and only slowed down for a move to prevent a mate in one by pushing his g-pawn forward one square. Eventually, the remaining black bishop ended completely cut out from the game by those dreaded Q-side pawns and White started looking towards the defence of the K-side. Noor looked to support an f-pawn push with his rook and it looked like he lost the h-pawn in the process but he immediately moved his rook back to the h-file to eye the white king. The next move proved to be crucial for the game, as (probably looking to release the tension a pawn up and with better minor piece) the Ahsby player decided to offer a queen exchange on f3. Unfortunately for the home team player, this move fell victim to a nice tactic from The Prodigy, and as it is a tactic, he was quick to find it, taking the knight on h4 for free, as the white queen ended being unprotected while the said rook was protecting the black lady. The white queen stepped back, and another fancy tactic from our teammate kept the pressure on the white K-side. At this moment the Ahsby player decided to exchange his queen for Noor’s rooks. The black lady proved to be a great hassle, as The Prodigy played energetically and started picking up material quickly. The white rooks managed to activate themselves and White even picked up the buried 13 moves prior dark-squared bishop but the black queen kept devouring the white pawns in the meantime. Nevertheless, one last white try found the rooks doubled and ready for the exchange with Black up three pawns, however, good calculation from The Prodigy found that the h-pawn was slightly ahead in the race with the black a-pawn and instead opted for active play with the queen. White still tried to push the said h-pawn but the queen came back to harass the white king, and seeing that at least one more pawn is lost, White resigned.
Another brilliant game from The Prodigy who is set to be knocking on Matt’s door for a first team initiation quite soon.
With the games over, our team headed back home having given only half point to Ashby 2 and proving their worth in a difficult contest. Anstey 2’s next fixture is on 9th November at home against another Ashby team, this time their third, and our players will be looking to build on their great performance so far and start in a strong manner their challenge for the division title. After two rounds, our second team stands in second with 3 points, one less than Market Harborough 3 but also having played one game less.
Anstey Chess Club 