Calamity as Chess Captain Crumbles Against Chesterfield
1 up with 2 chess games to play and in one of those two (me) we had a clear win. In the other (Srini), things were lively with winning chances on both sides. This match was there for the taking.
Having played pretty precisely (by my low chess standards) and successfully taken a pawn adavantage, won on a full board, all the way through to a winning king and pawn endgame, I double blundered. Not only did I make the wrong move but I failed to clear my head enough to find the rescuing one. Infact there were two routes to salvation, as George and Chern identified with undeserved kindness and tact afterwards (thank God it wasn't Srini carrying out my post mortum! ). I missed them both and the game was drawn. My only consolation was that Srini needed only to avoid defeat for us to win the match. I say 'only', but I have played George Peters before and he is a difficult opponent to break - always makes decent moves and keeps life in a position. Under time pressure for the second time Srini slipped and Peters forced home an impressive attack to tie the match.
Chesterfield had lined up as I had predicted, slightly weaker than normal. Only Srini and Douglas were outgraded and although our grading advantage on the middle 4 boards was slender it was here that we needed to win the match. When Douglas' opponent came over and scribbled in 1-0 on his captain's scoresheet I copied Douglas' loss onto my own record. As he always does, Douglas looked chirpy and full of bounce and he wondered around the remaining games, sipping Guiness. I was pleased that he didn't seem too upset at losing. Nothing seems to get Douglas down. Srini was struggling but in every other game we had what advantage there was. I remained confident we could get something from the match.
When I commiserated him 20 minutes later, Douglas reported, 'Actually, I won my game'. This of course changed everything. Beside me Chern was juggling a big attack against what looked like it may have once been a Kings Indian. Chern had castled long, opened and controlled the h file and had pawns charging up the centre with the insane enthusiasm of applicants for Big Brother. George and Dave, in contrast, looked rock solid, more like re-runs of MasterMind, with the sound turned down, and I was nearing victory with every successful exchange of pieces.
George, then Dave took draws. No one could blame them. Their positions had less life in them than an undicovered tomb. Chern overlooked a way for his opponent to exchange queens and his attack faded and fell as quickly as a firework. I had expected at least one of these three to win but it shouldn't have mattered as all I had to do was apply the coup de grace to secure the match.
Mine was a calamitous error, or double error and cost us a point. Thanks to Douglas the evening was not wasted - man of the match by a Woodseats Mile. When we play Chesterfield again in March we can expect a tougher match. So, a chance missed to jump up the table, although certainly not a bad result. Phoenix apart - who will probably go through the season unbeaten - the division remains very competitive and our destiny is our own, sometimes shakey hands.
