Anstey loses the top two boards hours before the bout leading to decisive defeat from a strong Syston team

Last Thursday marked another appearance for Anstey in the Wylie cup as the Anstey Chess Club was hosting the strong team of Syston. The away team arrived with moderately high rated players, with their top three boards in the 1700+ range. Unfortunately, our team lost their top two boards literally hours before the game due to COVID-19 leading to ‘El Presidente’ Ben working hard to get two players to join himself and Mick ‘Just Mick’. Eventually, Boris ‘The Toaster’ and Mike stepped up to the challenge, with the latter playing hours before his departure on holiday.

Mike Griffiths (Anstey) vs Tarsem Dhillon (Syston) Result: 0.5 – 1.5

First things first, we would like to say big “Thank you” to Mike who stepped in literally five or so hours before the game, having to travel on the same night for his holiday. Unfortunately, with him rushing out of the venue to get his baggage sorted and both Anstey Chess Club (still healthy, touch wood) correspondents playing, we only have a vague idea of how Mike’s games have gone.

With Black, Mike appeared to be solid throughout, as seen through ‘The Toaster”s eyes, with the latter playing on the adjacent board 3. The players developed in a solid setup, then shuffled their pieces, exchanged some of them and agreed to a draw.

With White, our teammate played a similar type of a solid game, developing normally, with Black appearing to have more pressure in the middle game. (seen through Boris’ eyes) Unfortunately, Mike missed an idea from Black to lose his rook and resigned.

Outrated by almost 100 points and playing as the last minute man, our teammate still managed to get half point for the team and proved again to be not only a great competitor, but also a solid pillar for the club in difficult times. As a club, we would like to thank him again for his tremendous help.

Borislav Lazarov (Anstey) vs Robert Wallace (Syston) Result: 0 – 2

Coming from a great performance against Wigston in the previous round of the Wylie Cup, Boris had arguably the hardest task in front of him, outrated by almost 200 points by his opponent. Before going into the specifics of our teammate’s losses, we would like to thank him first for stepping in and playing on board 3.

With Black, ‘The Toaster’ was so flustered and unprepared to face his opponent’s choice of opening, that he spent half of his time in the first ten moves of the game. The game went into a solid middle game, with the Syston player building pressure on the king side (K-side). Boris managed to absorb the pressure and further release it by exchanging most of the pieces on the board. Our teammate then ‘did his thing’ and blundered a beautiful fork, losing an exchange in the process. With rook against bishop, the experienced Syston player managed to bring his king to life and consolidated his position at which point or teammate resigned.

With White, ‘The Toaster’ engaged in a tactical battle which led to a quick middle game with most of the pieces exchanged in the process. Black managed to get a pawn throughout the process leading to an endgame of two rooks and six against two rooks and five. Our teammate sacrificed another pawn for the advantage and managed to get it along with one of the pawns, but unfortunately, let the activity slip through his fingers and after all exchanges both remained with a King and three pawns each with clear advantage for Black. Sadly, the Syston player handled the situation better, albeit not perfectly, and managed to get winning position at which point Boris admitted that he messed up the endgame and resigned.

A tough day in the office for our teammate against strong opposition and a great lesson for him, with the frustration from the first game even prompting him to buy the ‘Beating Minor Openings’ book by GM Viktor Mikhalevski. Nevertheless, a ‘thank you’ again to Boris for stepping up to the challenge and helping the team in difficult times.

Ben Vaughan (Anstey) vs Jack Pilley (Syston) Result: 0 – 2

Although not outrated by as many points as Boris, Ben found himself in most likely the worst position, having to play against 1700+ rated and currently flying high young Jack Pilley from Syston. Credit to our teammate, he did not hesitate to take the fight to his opponent (refers to active chess play, no real fighting is involved in chess) despite the rating and form difference.

With Black, Ben engaged in his favourite French with the play led into the Tarrasch variation. Our teammate managed to easily equalise in the opening and even picked up a pawn. However, such is the strength of these high rated players that they manage in a seemingly effortless way to build up solid advantages with calm non-confrontational moves. Eventually, Ben found himself cramped all over the board and as soon as the white dark-squared bishop started roaming free, ‘El Presidente’ realised that he is in a completely losing position in spite of the material advantage. White further sacrificed one of his rooks, only to create a deadly attack at which point our teammate resigned.

With White, the players went into an unorthodox Caro-Kann line which transposed into a French Advanced. Determined to prove his worth over the board, our teammate created active play, leading the game into a sharp tactical position. Both players tried to create chances, yet the defence on both sides proved impenetrable throughout the majority of the game. Unfortunately, throughout the game ‘El Presidente’ spent great amount of time and found himself quite down on the clock towards the late middle game. With Ben trying to quickly evaluate the position, the Syston player created a mating opportunity which our teammate missed and seeing the inevitable end of a forcing sequence, ‘El Presidente’ resigned.

Another tough day at the office for Ben who had been the victim of unforeseen circumstances in all three rounds so far. With the top players unable to attend some of the games, Ben had to play really strong opposition in all games as opposed to the similarly rated players on board 4. Nevertheless, big thank you to our chairman for stepping up to the challenge so far and we are excited to see him soon playing again.

Mick Sandham (Anstey) vs Ben Pourmozafari (Syston) Result: 1 – 1

Mick was scheduled to play on the top board against a strong opponent and very keen Rapid player Ben from Syston. Although outrated by 140 points and playing a format he is not really keen on, ‘Just Mick’ showcased again his class and ability to challenge higher rated opponents.

With Black, Mick engaged in his favourite St. George which was met by a passive Colle system. Both players engaged in a slightly boring, yet solid position, with White significantly up on the clock from the early stages of the game. Eventually our teammate sacrificed an exchange in order to try and create counter play, only to find himself under fire from all corners of the board. Mick tried to fight back but being low on time and under immense pressure, he could not make any progress and with the White menace casting a shadow over the board, our teammate resigned.

With White, Mick had to face the demoralising pace of his opponent again, with the latter notably finishing the second game with 22 minutes left on the clock, two minutes more than the time he started with. (NB! If playing fast, a player can actually gain time in certain formats due to the increment added at each move) The players engaged in the Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik attack variation, an old time favourite of the Anstey Chess Club openings encyclopaedia called Mick Sandham. The sharp positions of the Panov did not disappoint again and the players engaged in tactical sequences straight from the beginning. The Syston player created a strong attack with his bishop eyeing one of the white rooks which ‘Just Mick’ sacrificed for the bishop and a pawn. Possibly due to his quick play, Mick’s opponent did not realise the power of the white bishop who completely dominated the black rook. Our teammate started his expansion on the queen side (Q-side) and managed to push his c-pawn all the way to the first rank making his opponent sacrifice the exchange back to prevent the promotion. Too little too late, as the saying goes, the a-pawn was pushed all the way to turn into a Queen, beautifully checkmating the black king in the process.

A great win for our teammate against a higher rated opponent on the top board which solidifies him as one of the top players in our club. A big ‘thank you’ to Mick for stepping up to the challenge and playing top board against strong opposition.

In spite of the negative result, the club showcased again his resilience and fought hard against the strong opposition. There are still a few rounds left in the Wylie Cup and we are excited to see how the competition will unravel when the top two boards are back.