HM
Brave New World: Luton B v Luton A Bedfordshire Chess League Match
Luton B v Luton A on Tuesday 6th February 2024 was always going to be a big ask for the development team against the might of the best players in the club. But it was also the chance for three new Luton players; Peter Daly, recently returning the club after two decades absence, Daven Patel and a promising junior Arthur Green in his first league match.
Boards 1 - 5 for the B team were Marek, Peter Daly, Humayun, Daven and Arthur. Against them for the A team were Tommy, Julian, Daman, Samir and Dixon.
Arthur Green on board 5 has had barely any experience of serious over the board play. His first rated game, last week was an impressive win against a vastly more experienced Des Welton in the 1 hour game club championships. Dixon would be a much tougher challenge and not an opponent I would have picked for his first rated game at classical time controls. Dixon thought that Arthur is near to his own standard, and knew his openings really well and post match, showed lightning fast analytic skills. In the game, neither player created traps or complexities and it was perhaps the exuberance of youth that cost Arthur the game against a calmer opponent. This time. But he has only been at for half a year and is learning fast!
Luton B 0 - 1 Luton A
On board 4, another fast improving player in his twenties, Daven Patel was playing an on form Samir, who has won all of his league games this season. Samir said it was a tough game, in which Daven had the advantage at times. It was just a few slight inaccuracies, calcuation and want of more clear plan that Daven needed, but it was not to be this evening.
Luton B 0 - 2 Luton A
Perhaps the most intriguiging game of the evening was on board 2, Peter Daly v Julian Hudson. Peter has great success at on club nights, including a win in the club 1 hour championships against Dixon and a draw on board 2 against Milton Keynes last week. How would he manage against a much stronger opponent, Julian? According to Julian, Peter played a good game, both sides playing cautiously. Peter tried a closed Sicilian against Julian's Dragon, which was going well until a Knight invaded, attacking too many targets to defend. Eventually, Julian gained a pawn, then the exchange and it was a comfortable win from there.
Luton B 0 - 3 Luton A
Next to finish was at the top table on board 1. At this point, I was worried that the B team was going down to an ignomious 0-5 defeat. And then I heard Marek offer a draw. After what seemed ages, I heard Tommy accept. Marek had saved the B team from a white wash.
Luton B 0.5 - 3.5 Luton A
Last game of the evening to finish, was mine, against Daman. He had already beaten me both our games in the 1 hour club champships, by playing troll openings; 1.f3 as White and 1..h5 as Black. To lose those games, was shoulder sagging bag of disappointment. Starting the clocks, Daman, no doubt amusing himself by recalling those games, spent almost five minutes pondering his first move, before playing 1.Nf3 - the Reti. This was a bit of luck, for I had been preparing to play against the Reti at the last league match, for George Ward. To counter Daman's casual clock management, I played as fast as I could, to give the impression I was an expert, and I even managed to gain the advantage at the beginning. But I missed something in the middle game, that could have given me a winning position, and the game slowly unravelled, until I was in denial in a Rook and Pawn endgame, that Daman played as accurately as if he was reading from a book.
The next day, I went through my game with Andrew Perkins. The game and his annotations can be found below.
Final result
Luton B 0.5 - 4.5 Luton A
Bedfordshire Chess League Match Result 6th February 2024 Luton B v Luton A
In conclusion, the B team can have no complaints for losing the A team, who should be congratulated on playing as expected and moving to the top of the division. And the three new players to the club will get stronger, better, and faster. Watch this space.