Review of Leamington Chess Club Season – 2008/9

Looking back on 2008-2009, Leamington Chess Club enjoyed a very successful and encouraging season in the Leamington and District Chess League. The Club ran four teams – one in each of the four divisions. We gained several new members during the course of the season, and were pleased to welcome back one or two “old” ones.

In Division One, the A Team enjoyed a good season, finishing in third place behind Olton A and Stratford A. Olton A were the runaway winners and their only defeat of the season was to the Leamington A Team.

In the Second Division the B Team finished just below mid table. The C Team did very well in Division Three finishing in third place and being right in the title race for most of the season. Congratulations to the D Team who were joint winners of Division Four with Kenilworth D. Remarkably, the top four teams all finished on the same number of points – with Leamington D and Kenilworth D sharing the title on game points.

In the Cup KO Competitions, Leamington I won the U100 Cup, beating Solihull in the final. Congratulations to Jason Madden, Matt Poulson, Roy Hadfield and Owen Clarke on an excellent victory!

The Club had two winners of the League Individual KO Competitions. Mark Page won the Open for the second year running, after a hard fought final against Richard Weaving of Solihull Checkmates. Jason Madden won the U100 competition for the fourth time, beating Adrian Grimes in the final. It may well be Jason’s last year in the U100 competitions, as his ECF Grade is likely to exclude him from it for some time to come! In the Club internal competitions, well done to Andy Price on winning the Club KO Cup, and to Jason on winning the Club All-play-all.

For the season to come, we will be fielding four League teams again, with one in each Division. We are also fielding four Cup teams – one in the Open, one in the U700 and two in the U120. We are always delighted to welcome new players of any strength, so if you are thinking of taking up chess, or are an existing player looking for a club, then please contact us or come along to a club night at The Home Guard Club in Portland Street on a Tuesday.

Finally, here is a fine win by Mark Page for Leamington A against Banbury A. Annotations are by Mark.

N. Manley - M.E. Page

Leamington A v Banbury A, Bd 1, 11.02.2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 [I had been having some interesting games on the white side of this variation, so decided to give it a go as Black. I may not make the same decision again, despite the result of this game] 4.Bxc6?! [Not one of the critical moves. In fact not very good at all] bxc6? [4...dxc6! The move played is not very good] 5.Nxe5 Qf6 6.d4 fxe4 7.0-0+/- d6?! [Too optimistic. A pawn is a pawn after all.] 8.Nxc6 d5 9.Qh5+ Qf7 10.Qxf7+ Kxf7 11.f3 Nf6 12.fxe4 dxe4 13.Ne5+ Ke6 14.Bg5? [the right way to make use of Black's disjointed position and exposed king was 14.c4 c5 15.Nc6 cxd4 16.Nxd4+ Ke5 17.Nb3+/-] 14...c5!= 15.c3 Ba6 16.Re1 cxd4 17.cxd4 Rd8 [OK, but 17...Rb8! 18.b3 Bb4 19.Bd2 Rhc8 was better when Black has just about enough compensation for his pawn] 18.Rxe4? [This backfires on white] Nxe4 19.Bxd8 Bc5! [The move he had overlooked. White was in bad time-trouble now and fails to find the only defence] 20.dxc5? [20.Nc6!! - rather luckily this defends both d4 and d8 so Black should then play Bd6! which leaves White with a very difficult position when it seems as though he must lose material (but not 20...Bxd4+ 21.Nxd4+ Kd5 22.Nc3+ which leaves white with a solid extra pawn) ] 20...Rxd8-+ [Now black wins the house as 21... Rd1 mate is threatened, and 21 Nf3 only delays it by one move. So white must lose a piece.] 21.Nc3 Nxc3 22.Re1 Ne2+ 23.Kf2 Kxe5 [The exposed king is now looking strong instead!] 24.Rxe2+ Bxe2 25.Kxe2 Kd4 0-1