HM
Bedford beat the B team. Bedford D 3 - 2 Luton B
Luton B team were playing away at the North End Social Club last Thursday, chasing Luton A's recent home match success against Bedford D. The B team is intended to give all club players the experience of serious over the board chess. But as captain, I've inevitably become more ambitious, especially with strong boards one and two players like Octavian Arsenie and Peter Daly. Neither of whom were available for this match. Luton B boards 1 - 5 were Marek Gladysz, Humayun Mirza, Aleksandar Juhasz, Daven Patel and young Arthur Green. On the opposite side of the boards were a team of four juniors on boards 1 Ramsey Dairi, 2 Lucian Cox, 4 Jack Hale, 5 Rishik Madhadi, along with an adult on board 4 George Griffiths.
The games of the match finished in the following order.
Board 2: Lucian Cox v Humayun Mirza
This game was a shambles. Lucian played the Smith Morra Gambit, an opening that I have never bothered to learn properly, always falling for the stings and traps with terrible results. Young Lucian had studied this opening and was playing accurately. On move 11, Lucian captured my f7-Pawn with a Bishop check, then another Pawn, and by move 14 I had to give up my Queen to avoid checkmate. And the pain just didn't end as Lucian calmly collected more material as if my pieces were food items on a buffet. With the game all but over so early in the evening, I wanted to shout out with embarrassment, but decided I was just going to let him checkmate me. Having the win practically in his pocket, Lucian must have been thinking of his studies, or rowing, or wondering who the clown was in front of him, but then alas, slipped on a banana skin, and dropped his own Queen to an unforced error. With the tables turned, I staggered on to an eventual win, that was neither deserved, nor satisfying.
Bedford D 0 - 1 Luton B
Board 4: Jack Hale v Daven Patel
This was a Queens Gambit Declined game, in which Daven playing Black thought was going well but during the opening his opponent managed to capture the centre Pawns and from there, slowly piled on the pressure. Daven held on for as long as possible with this material deficit, until Jack reached the seventh rank with Pawns on f7 and e7, one of which could not be stopped from expanding into a Queen.
Bedford D 1 - 1 Luton B
Board 1: Marek Gladysz v Ramsey Dairi
Fittingly, Marek opened with an English against the English Under 12 Chess Champion. At 18. Qxg7, Marek gwon an extra Pawn and felt that he was winning. However after further play, Ramsey managed to stave off Marek's material advantage with a series of Queen checks for a draw at the 26th move. After the game, Marek felt there must have been a way to avoid the checks but over the board wasn't able to calculate how. Fritz analysis shows that after Black's 21... Nxc3 threatening mate with the Queen on b1, instead of immediately taking Knight to prevent the mate, White should have interposed with his own check, capturing a second pawn, before taking the Black Knight on c3 for a clear advantage.
Bedford D 1.5 - 1.5 Luton B
Board 3: Aleksandar Juhasz v George Griffiths
This was to the third encounter between Aleks and George this season with George winning the previous two encounters. Their game was a Caro-Kann, with flucuating fortunes. By move 25, Black had a winning advantage with a passed d-Pawn deep into White's position. Aleks was able neutralise and take the Pawn after the exchange of Queens. After some hard work, it was Aleks who was gaining the upper hand and gaining confidence to win. At move 47, one simple Rook check would have won the game for White, by forcing Black's King away and losing material. But somehow Aleks missed it, and the pendulum swung back again into Black's favour, for an advantage that George did not relinquish until he won.
Bedford D 2.5 - 1.5 Luton B
Board 5: Arthur Green v Rishil Madhadi
This was the most exciting encounter of the match in my opinion. Both players are 13 years of age, and both players new to the league this season. By the time the other games had finished, they had reached a King and Pawns endgame and with the added pressure of an audience. It wouldn't be appropriate to comment on their game, because leading Luton player Tommy O'Brien has already analysed this one exclusively for Arthur. The game eventually ended in a hard fought draw. What impressed me most of all, was that late into the evening, past their bedtimes, on a school week, both players spent considerable time going through the entire game with enthusiasm (see picture). The future looks promising for both players and I expect this will not be their last match.
Final result: Bedford D 3 -2 Luton B