Despite their valiant efforts neither team could secure the win leaving the faith of the trophy in the hands of LRCA.

Anstey 1 have fought hard this summer in the Harrod cup and unsurprisingly our first team have spent a fair amount of time at the top. Nevertheless, during the battle for the most popular summer trophy, one more team managed to distinguish themselves as a serious contender for winning the cup. Ashby 2 arrived to the Anstey Methodist Church on 8^th September with a strong team hoping to overtake Anstey 1 in the standings, having won all of their previous games but being deducted a point due to breaching the rating cap in their first game. Our first team consisted of John ‘The Torturer’, Mick ‘Just Mick’, Boris ‘The Toaster’ and Leo ‘The Lion’ and deservedly hopes were high. Unfortunately for John and Boris, they did not have the best of evenings, however, their solid performances combined with the brilliant one from Mick and the great second game from Leo, left them level with their strong opposition.

John Robinson (Anstey 1) vs Andrew Wilson (Ashby 2) 0.5 – 1.5

With Matt ‘The Dark Destroyer’ on well deserved holiday, John stepped up and played top board on the night, having played only long formats in the last couple of years. With the black pieces, John met his opponent’s d4 with c5 and both players started their fight for the centre with our teammate giving a slight advantage to White in the opening. The Ashby player managed to get the bishop pair against bishop and night for John, exchanging the strategically important black dark-squared bishop for one of the white knights. The queens came off the board and with the board opening up, the two white bishops were becoming stronger by the move. Being on the back foot and slightly rusty for shorter time formats, ‘The Torturer’ found himself in time trouble which led to him playing a few inaccuracies and further let his opponent to consolidate a winning position. Eventually White started to push two very strong passed pawns. Completely focused on his attempts to find a way to survive, John ignored the timer and before long, his clock flagged.

With the white pieces, our teammate played the London system to which Black replied with the drawish ‘copycat’ approach. Having an extra tempo, ‘The Torturer’ achieved a slight advantage out of the opening but not sufficient to create anything significant on the board. Eventually all pieces got exchanged on the c-file with both players left with a knight and pawns each. Our teammate fought hard to get the win but unfortunately, with the limited resources he could not make any progress and at the end both players agreed to a draw.

Although not in his comfort zone, John showcased again that he could measure with anyone over the board, regardless of opposition skill or time control.

Mick Sandham (Anstey 1) vs Paul Gibson (Ashby 2) 2 – 0

It will not be the first time to mention that Mick has not had the best of seasons. Nevertheless, it was fitting that he would have his best performance at the very conclusion of the competition which he started with a controversial loss at the venue where Ashby 2 play their home games. Mick started with his characteristic St. George as Black and attacked the centre with c5. Always playing for a win with the black pieces, ‘Just Mick’ tried to gain the initiative but his opponent managed to exchange the queens. The players continued the battle for the domination of the board as our teammate set up a few traps for his opponent. Eventually, the pieces started getting exchanged leading to an endgame where Mick had the better position, with advanced pawns marching towards the first rank. Eventually, his pawns ended turning into queens and his opponent did not find anything else to do but to resign.

With the white pieces, Mick opened with e4 to be met by the Caro-Kann. The players engaged in the Panov-Botvinnik variation whereby Black played Bf4. Coming out of the opening, our teammate found himself with a set of doubled pawns, however, the structure could not be easily attacked and the game continued with pieces being exchanged in the middle game. With his typical sharp tactical play, ‘Just Mick’ kept on attacking which appeared to tire his opponent who eventually oversaw a tactic to lose a rook on his back rank. Understanding his desperate position and incoming mating attack, the Ashby player decided to call it a day and resigned.

Brilliant performance from ‘Just Mick’ who deservedly gets his nickname changed to ‘The Anstey Tiger’ following a post on Instagram. We hope to see him soon in action as his entertaining play is always fun to watch, regardless of result or form.

Borislav Lazarov (Anstey 1) vs Lawrence Hayden (Ashby 2) 0.5 – 1.5

Boris entered the match with low confidence as he was not feeling in form and recently had suffered several losses in bullet format online. In his first game, ‘The Toaster’ met White’s e4 with the Caro-Kann defence and the game was led into the Fantasy variation. Both players developed by the book until our teammate decided to release the pressure and give White the desired activity. Nevertheless, Boris defended solidly and kept exchanging pieces until both players ended up in a quite closed position with two rooks and seven pawns each. With the perspective of perpetual shuffling of the rooks, the players agreed to a draw.

In the second game, our website maintenance person opened up with his usual aggressive d4-setup which was met by a Semi-Slav type structure from his opponent. Black decided to take his queen out sooner and ‘The Toaster’ tried to harass the black lady with his pieces. The Ashby player activated his knight and tried to create an attack on the white king while simultaneously defending his queen. At this point our teammate entered in a longish tactical sequence to come out a piece down with no compensation. Boris tried to create complications and activate his pieces, but his opponent managed to easily consolidate and started putting pressure on White’s fragile position. Eventually, pieces were traded off and with two black pawns marching confidently towards the first rank, our teammate resigned.

A tough day in the office for ‘The Toaster’ but another great learning experience for him.

Leo Abraham (Anstey 1) vs Tom Gerrard (Ashby 2) 1 – 1

Unfortunately, the team member (Boris) writing this report could not catch Leo for his brief summary of the board 4 games, therefore, only a very short description of the games will be presented.

With Black, Leo had to face an e4 opening and the game ended up being opened up quite quickly. A tactic from the Ashby player led to our teammate losing his queen. ‘The Lion’ fought like a lion (pun intended) to survive but being such a valuable piece down, he could not hold on the attack from White and had to resign.

With White, Leo played his favourite e4 and a kingside battle arose swiftly. Our teammate managed to gain a piece, however, it seemed towards the late middle game that Black had the initiative. Eventually black put pressure on the f-file, hoping to get a mating attack, but a beautiful Qc6 move from ‘The Lion’ covered the f3 square to pick up a rook and completely deflate Black’s attempt to prise open the castled white king’s position. Acknowledging the situation on the board, the Ashby player did not even attempt to ask for a draw and gave Leo the respect he deserved.

Another great performance from young Leo who is looking to challenge the division 4 players next year as one of the top boards in the third team.

The Harrod cup campaign concluded for Anstey 1 as they have to be really proud with themselves, having won three matches and drawn two without conceding a loss over the five rounds. The performance places the team joint top place with Ashby 2, with equal stats for both teams. Regardless of the decision for the cup, our players should be really proud of their overall performance and consider themselves Harrod cup winners.

Loughborough edges Anstey in ‘The Charnwood Derby’

This year’s Wylie cup has not been the easiest of campaigns for a growing Anstey Chess Club. Due to unforeseen circumstances and other competitions in the way, Anstey was never able to assemble a full team to compete. Following the previous three defeats and one win, a relatively strong Anstey team welcomed to our spacious venue in the Anstey Methodist Church a strong, similarly rated Loughborough team. Julian ‘Mr. Engine’, Brian ‘The Griller’, Mick ‘Just Mick’ and Ben ‘El Presidente’ worked hard to get something out of the game, but the opposition proved to be in great form and too hard to beat.

Julian Tarwid (Anstey) vs Henderson Mullen (Loughborough) 1 – 1

With Anstey playing as Black in the first round, Julian had to face the Reti leading to an English opening. White managed to take the edge in the opening and further utilised Black’s weak king position to deliver a fork resulting in material loss for ‘Mr. Engine’. Our teammate had decided to keep it solid and fianchetto both of his bishops, and tried to quickly activate his pieces in order to create some counterplay. Unfortunately for Julian, his opponent completely ignored the arising attack from Black and continued with great pressure leading to mating attack on the black king. With the inevitable end in sight, Julian did the honourable thing and resigned.

Playing with the white pieces, ‘Mr. Engine’ was determined to get back in the match and started pressing from the very beginning. Our teammate opened with his characteristic d4 setup leading the position into very tactical waters where he shone with Tal-like style, sacrificing a pawn and furthermore a bishop for the initiative. His opponent declined the bishop sacrifice and tried to solidify his position but under the immense pressure from our teammate’s fierce attacks, the Loughborough player fell victim to a discovered attack leading to the loss of the black queen. Understanding the severity of his position, Julian’s opponent gave our teammate the respect he deserved and swiftly resigned.

Another great performance from Julian who secured our team’s only win for the evening against a very strong opponent in form.

Brian Foreman (Anstey) vs Stephen Morris (Loughborough) 1 – 1

Brian had to face what appeared to start as the Colle system in his first game, when his opponent decided to leave the opening theory and took the c5 pawn. ‘The Griller’ enjoyed a very comfortable game straight from the opening and easily equalised. The pieces started being traded off leading to a very solid middle game. Both players managed to create pawn majorities entering the endgame but neither was able to make any progress. Understanding the very drawish nature of the position, the players decided that there will be no way for either of them to attempt to seize the win without taking a very big risk, and naturally agreed to a draw.

With the white pieces, our teammate was slightly taken aback by his opponent’s Bogo-Indian and after playing Nd2 Brian found himself feeling a little uneasy, albeit in a solid position. Black tried to seize the initiative and in the process brought his queen in the centre, thus providing the perfect opportunity for ‘The Griller’ to take control of the game by attacking the black lady around the centre of the board with his pieces. Still feeling uneasy about his position, Brian found a perpetual attack on the queen to secure his second draw of the night.

Another good experience for returning Brian who is looking to be the top board for the second team in the upcoming league season.

Mick Sandham (Anstey) vs Glyn Ward (Loughborough) 0.5 – 1.5

The first game for Mick ended being a very solid display, as the players engaged in a normal St. George with both players keeping the pressure in the centre and developing normally. Heading into the middle game, the players kept the solid position, only to exchange most of the pieces without anyone taking the edge. Eventually, with only a few pieces left on the board, the players decided that nothing exciting is going to come out of the game and agreed to a draw.

Seeing that the team is behind 3 – 1 after the first round, Mick went for the Italian game where he was surprised by the Ulvestad-Kirke gambit. Our teammate made a slight inaccuracy at the beginning, unaware that the best move according to theory for his bishop at some point would be to undevelop itself. Mick’s opponent continued with an inaccuracy himself, providing ‘Just Mick’ the opportunity to execute a beautiful, albeit dubious, “Fried Liver” attack, sacrificing his knight for the f7-pawn and luring the black king towards the centre. The Anstey third board loaded attacks from all sides of the board and the pressure started increasing against the black king and his few defenders. Unfortunately for our teammate, he made a few slight inaccuracy, giving his opponent the chance to withstand the pressure and consolidate his position. Without the exertion of immense pressure and material down, Mick fought hard to at least stay in the game, however, the Loughborough player managed to turn the tide and gradually improved his position to win the game.

Another difficult day in the office for ‘Just Mick’ as he finished without a win in spite of his valiant efforts. Nevertheless, Mick showcased again beautiful tactical gameplay which was a joy for the eye.

Ben Vaughan (Anstey) vs Kajus Mikalajunas (Loughborough) 0 – 2

(Games reported by Ben himself)

On board 4, ‘El Presidenté’ faced young Kajus Mikalajunas. The first game was a traditional French exchange but Kajus was able to mount a Kingside attack with his Knight and Queen that ‘El Presidenté’ tried to fight off, but a neat tactic found by the young man (that is not ‘El Presidenté’!), won him a clean Rook and despite bravely (or pointlessly) fighting on, pieces were forcibly exchanged and Ben resigned in a totally lost position.

With the white pieces, ‘El Presidenté’ made more of a fight of it in a Ruy Lopez opening. Kajus castled Queenside and underestimated ‘El Presidenté”s response to a pawn push which was to push the pawn instead of re-capturing, thus allowing him to trap the dark squared Bishop. A piece for a pawn down, all that Kajus could rely on was a cheapo bank rank mate, which unfortunately, El Presidenté walked straight into.

It has not been the best of summer campaigns for our chairman as he suffered the effects of a combination of factors, including rustiness, lack of time for preparation, hard work for the improvement of our great club, and busy private life as a hard-working professional and an amazing father and husband. Nevertheless, with three teams and plenty of games lurking around the corner of the new season, we are sure that he will be back in the game in no time.

The Wylie cup came to an unfortunate conclusion for our team who fought bravely in all games but ended on the wrong side of the majority of them. Nevertheless, it has been a hard fought battle against similar or higher rated opposition in each encounter and all players should be proud of themselves for their courage and hard work.

Anstey delivered a crushing defeat to Kirby in the fourth round of Leicestershire’s elite rapid competition

Last Thursday evening (04/08/2022), our Wylie cup team travelled to the Kirby Muxloe Bowls club for their fourth game in the competition. With “The Dark Destroyer” Matt on County Championship duties, the Anstey team, scheduled to face Kirby, consisted of our top player Julian “Mr. Engine”, Mick “Just Mick”, “El Presidente” Ben and Boris “The Toaster”. The team arrived to our hosts’ venue around 19:20 and after a short deliberation on different variations of chess (boxing-chess, diving-chess, possibility of bowls-chess), our players sat across similarly rated players on the first three boards, while Boris was outranking his opponent by a solid margin of almost 500 points on the bottom board. Our players proved again that they are in great form at the moment and delivered a crushing 6 – 2 defeat to the host as they conceded only one loss during the night.

Gijs Kruitbosch (Kirby) vs “Mr. Engine” Julian Tarwid (Anstey) 0 – 2

Anstey played White in the first round and Julian opened up with his favourite d4, only to face the King’s Indian Defence. Julian took the offered centre and prepared for a sharp tactical battle, however, his opponent offered our teammate a gift by miscalculating a combination and sacrificing his dark squared bishop for two pawns and no compensation. Finding himself reigning on the dark squares, “Mr. Engine” switched to positional mode and started putting pressure on his opponent. Julian managed to exchange the minor pieces and although Black defended bravely, he had to part ways with one of his rooks which left him with a rook, queen and two pawns for two rooks and a queen. Credit to the Kirby player, he tried to fight in a desperate situation but “Mr. Engine” is the kind of player who very rarely misses decisive opportunities and started creating pressure on the f-file where he exchanged his queen and rook for their black counterparts. The sole rook on the board, owned by our teammate, infiltrated Black’s back ranks and started munching on the vulnerable unprotected pawns on the queen side (Q-side) while the Kirby player attempted one last desperate attack with his king and his isolated, albeit passed pawn, only to be met by Julian’s king actively defending the file. At this point Black decided that he had enough and swiftly resigned.

With Black, Julian went into the great theoretical depths of the Tal variation of the Caro-Kann defence, only to be taken out quickly by a weird queen move from his opponent, refusing the exchange offered by our teammate. Unfortunately for the Kirby player, his decision ended costing him the game as his king found himself stuck in the middle. Following the main principles of chess, “Mr. Engine” ensured the safety of his king and took the initiative in trying to open White’s centre and attack the vulnerable king. Our teammate took control of the light squares and made the most of his position by creating tactical threats all over White’s territory. Eventually, Julian’s opponent found himself under immense pressure and missed a double discovered check by Black leading to the loss of the white queen, at which point the Kirby player resigned.

Julian’s return in the Wylie cup marks another great performance from him as he leaves Kirby with a full 2/2 score on the night. “Mr. Engine” continues to impress with his performance and we are excited to see him in OTB action again soon.

Ray Townsend (Kirby) vs Mick “Just Mick” Sandham (Anstey) 0.5 – 1.5

Mick was scheduled to play second board against the experienced Ray Townsend who was also the only player from Kirby higher rated than his opponent, albeit only by 45 points. Unmoved by the rating difference, our teammate opened with e4 which was met by a very passive setup from Black which looked a little bit like the French defence, but never ended being a proper French. “Just Mick” thought for a while and decided to play his style, immediately taking the centre and developing quickly. Under the squeeze of a space disadvantage, the Kirby player tried to keep up with his development as both players castled short. In his typical style, Mick decided that king safety is more of a concept than a hard-written rule and with all of his pieces pointing towards the black king, started an attack on king side (K-side). With the superior positioning of the white army, the tactical threats around the black king accumulated quickly and under the pressure of a multitude of menacing combinations, Black decided to call it a day and resigned.

With the black pieces, Mick found himself facing the Bird opening. After a brief consideration, “Just Mick” decided that there is nothing to be impressed by and continued with another English minor opening/defence in the face of his characteristic St. George. The players started their battle for the centre, and with the white king castling short, an attacking player like Mick seized the opportunity to attack the K-side following casting on the Q-side. White managed to get to the black king first and snatched the black c-pawn. In an attempt to solidify and remove tactical threats, White offered a queen exchange, however, Mick decided to preserve his queen, only to find himself losing a piece in the process. Fortunately, the lost piece gave our teammate time to take the initiative on the K-side, as he managed to march his g-pawn to the enemy territory. With his great positional understanding, “Just Mick” managed to place a beautiful knight on f7, supported by the g-pawn, and completely block White’s pieces. His opponent never considered sacrificing the exchange for activity and shuffled around his bishop pair, only to lose one of them. Finding himself with a slight positional advantage, but with about a minute left on the clock, Mick offered his opponent a draw which the Kirby player accepted after brief consideration.

In spite of all the drawbacks for “Just Mick” this season, he proved again that he is a much better player than the numbers say and left the Kirby Muxloe Bowls club with a 1.5/2 score. Never a player to go for boring positions and aiming for draws, we are excited to see him again in action soon.

Paul Gray (Kirby) vs “El Presidente” Ben Vaughan (Anstey) 1.5 – 0.5

It has not been the best season for our chairman as stepping down from league play to ensure opportunities for our new players had left him a little rusty prior to the summer cups. Ben faced another experienced Kirby player in the face of Paul Gray. The latter played the Scandinavian defence against our teammate’s e4, which admittedly Ben had not seen OTB for years. Nevertheless, “El Presidente” developed swiftly and found himself quite happy entering the middlegame, with well-developed pieces and two rooks on semi-open files. At this point our chairman decided to lift one of his rooks but following a short consideration, eventually he picked up the wrong one, as Black replied by a beautiful knight move to fork the white queen and the sad rook who just wanted to participate actively in the game. Parting ways with the aforementioned rook, Ben decided to try and be active, as he placed a knight on e5. Unfortunately, due to weak back rank, the knight became a target for tactical play and soon our teammate had to part ways with it as well. Finding himself in a completely losing position with a full rook down for no compensation, Ben did the honourable thing and resigned.

With the black pieces, “El Presidente” played his customary French defence at which his opponent sarcastically muttered “Great!”, apparently unimpressed with Ben’s choice of reply to his e4. White played rather strange a3 and h3, leaving the board for our teammate who developed swiftly. The players exchanged the minor pieces and Ben managed to find a suitable target for attack in the face of a backward pawn on e3. Our teammate loaded a battery pointing at the point which his opponent managed to defend. Although having the initiative, “El Presidente” noticed that Julian had finished his second game on board 1. Finding out that the team needs only half point to win the match at this point, our chairman placed again the team above himself and offered a draw which his opponent more than happily accepted.

A hard day in the office for Ben as he had to play one board above expected again in the Wylie cup. Nevertheless, his solid performance as Black delivered the important win to Anstey with two games still played at the time.

Nigel Smith (Kirby) vs Borislav “Boris The Toaster” Lazarov (Anstey) 0 – 2

Boris had the easiest task on paper as he was scheduled to face the prospective player Nigel Smith. With the white pieces, “The Toaster” opened with his usual d4 and followed with a characteristic expansion on the K-side, exchanging the light-squared bishops in the process. Both players attacked the centre without castling and found themselves in a complicated position with a web of tactical opportunities in front of both of them. With Boris’ turn to play, he decided that the position is too complicated for his taste with him having “only” 11 minutes left on the clock and engaged in a big simplification to leave himself with two knights and a pawn against a bishop and a knight. The players started a battle for the centre and exchanged a pair of knights which left Boris with knight, rook and pawn against bishop and rook. The Kirby player lifted his rook in an attempt to win the pawn back, only to find it trapped after few moves, leading to a loss of an exchange. The problems for Black continued after he miscalculated a rook check forking the king and the bishop and with a rook and pawn up, our teammate consolidated his position and checkmated his opponent.

As Black, Boris replied with the Caro-Kann to his opponent’s e4 and both players developed quickly and castled K-side. Entering the middlegame, the players again found themselves in a complicated position as “The Toaster” brought his queen in the wide open centre. The Kirby player showcased tactical superiority and following a big exchange found himself up a pawn with a superior position and with a beautiful bishop against a somewhat passive knight. Fortunately for our teammate, he was able to activate his knight and rook faster than his opponent and managed to exchange the rooks, leaving Nigel with isolated double f-pawns. With the majority in his favour on the Q-side, Boris pushed the a-pawn, supported by the knight and eventually created a “passer” on the a-file which was exchanged for White’s remaining minor piece. Our teammate further picked up the white c-pawn and eventually managed to get his own c-pawn to the first rank and promote a queen. “The Toaster” demonstrated a mediocre yet successful ability to deliver checkmate in a K & Q vs. K situation without the need to suffer the shame of stalemating his opponent.

A great performance for our teammate as he leaves Kirby with a full 2/2. It is worth mentioning that neither the score, nor the numbers give the deserved credit to Nigel who is definitely a player to watch for in the future.

Another great performance from a solid Anstey team in spite of another reshuffling as Matt played in the County Championship. The team showcased beautiful play and finally find themselves off the bottom of the table. The next fixtures for Anstey are in the Harrod cup, followed by a decisive match in the Chapman cup against Braunstone.