The Bedford C team trekked over to Leighton Buzzard (again) with a daunting challenge in prospect against Leighton Buzzard A, arguably the favourites for the Division 1 title. Still, the team went out there with nothing to lose, and hoping that just maybe the presence of Bedford’s own A team sitting right next to us might inspire us to great things. Great thanks to everyone who turned out on a freezing cold January night; and especially to the always-eager Ramsey for filling in for the absent Callum.
Changing things up a bit and going in order of the results coming in:
The first game to finish was my own against Peter Hunt on board 4, and it wasn’t much of a spectacle. Against a higher-rated player I hope I can be forgiven for undertaking a safety-first approach, swapping pieces off and eventually getting down into a fairly stale endgame where, while undoubtedly my knight was stronger than his bishop, neither of us really had much of a plan to make progress. He offered me a draw because, as he said afterwards, he felt I was “too good to make a mistake” (which was very generous of him – he hasn’t seen my other games!) I shook his hand and the point was halved.
Having just finished my own game, I glanced over at Ramsey’s game on the adjacent board 3 against Stephen Law, which couldn’t have been more different from my own turgid affair. Deploying his favourite set-up against the Sicilian defence, Ramsey played what he described to me later as “the game of his life”, gradually improving the quality of his own pieces while keeping Stephen’s marooned on the queenside. He pushed forward the pawns in front of his own king and finished off with an elegant exchange sacrifice (analysis below). So that meant first blood – rather unexpectedly – to Bedford.
Peter’s game on board 5 was next to finish. Up against Sean Gallagher, a player that even Peter’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the Bedfordshire chess community was drawing a blank on, their game seemed fairly even throughout. Or should I say, on the board it was even, on the clock somewhat less so. Unfortunately that old enemy time trouble came for Peter in the end, and he played the sort of move that would normally be unthinkable but is so easy to make with only seconds left. Chess can be a cruel game. And with that the match was back to even.
Steve’s game against Gary Kenworthy on board 2 was, quite frankly, bonkers. Gary played a ferociously aggressive game, paying scant regard to material or even the safety of his own king; his philosophy seemed to be that pawns are a nuisance that only get in the way of your other pieces and must be sacrificed as quickly as possible. And yet, this approach somehow worked – Steve was never able to get his own king castled either, and indeed neither of his rooks moved from their starting squares the entire game. Gary won back the sacrificed material with a skewer and Steve threw in the towel, admitting somewhat humbly afterwards that “Gary’s quite good”. Advantage Leighton Buzzard. (Ed – I’ve added the game below which may be of interest and a cathartic exercise for me – he huffed and puffed for a bit but the complexities were always going to favour the better player😒 ).
Which left Mike needing a win on the top board to tie the match. His opponent was John Sharp, again a higher-rated player, but their game looked fairly even; perhaps John had a slight edge as the closed position favoured his knights over Mike’s bishops. Nevertheless I assumed the game was heading towards a draw, but then I looked away for a moment and when I came back Mike had resigned. Again, he was low on time and had possibly overlooked a tactical shot; but, however it had happened, it was enough for Leighton Buzzard to clinch the match.
So that left the final standing as follows:
John Sharp 1 – 0 Mike Botteley
Gary Kenworthy 1 – 0 Steve Pike
Stephen Law 0 – 1 Ramsey Dairi
Peter Hunt ½ – ½ Alex Potts
Sean Gallagher 1 – 0 Peter Gill
Final score: Leighton Buzzard A 3 ½ – 1 ½ Bedford C
A spirited performance on every board, every game was close. Despite the loss the team should be proud of how we played in a match where we so heavily outrated.
Alex Potts, 10th January 2024