Huddersfield 2-6 Leeds Woodhouse Cup, Saturday 29th Jan 2022 The match turned out to be an easy win for Leeds who out graded Huddersfield on six out of the eight boards. We were expected to win, but it doesn't always work out that way in real life. The Lindley Liberal Club is easy to find being only a couple of miles from Junction 24 of the M62. Everyone survived the most dangerous road in the world and arrived in good time and good fettle, apart from Rupert Jones, our captain. He'd been on the phone all day co-ordinating the team and running around picking people up from all points of the compass. After parking half a mile away and scaling a typical Huddersfield hill to reach the venue, he understandably looked a little flustered when he arrived. As non-playing captain, he was able to catch his breath as we settled at our boards. He had earned the man of the match award before we started playing. His tireless work behind the scenes laid the foundation for the victory. Decent venue, a typical northern workingmen's club, which can be good or bad. In this case, good. Quite often, the piano stops as you walk in and everyone glares at you. They can spot a chess player who isn't going to buy any beer a mile off. "We don't want your sort in here." In this case, a friendly smile from behind the bar, a pointed finger and an "upstairs, lovies". A welcoming and a convivial atmosphere upon entering the playing room. Various catering equipment stored at the back of the room making access to the chess cupboard difficult, but once in there they had some nice old trophies and equipment from the days before Covid-19, Elo ratings, and The Queen's Gambit. Plenty of room to stretch your elbows, lots of natural light, quiet, very nice clocks, nothing flash but we had no complaints. Tony Slinger's was the first result in. Out graded, he could make no headway and settled for an early draw. Draws are fine. It's when that early loss comes in that the first seed of doubt is planted in a team's group consciousness. I planted such a seed with a win as black in my beloved Steinitzian, Nimzowitschian, Petrosianesque variation of the French Defence. (1.e4, e6 2.d4, d5 3.Nd2, Nf6 4.e5, Ng8!!) Lucky I finished early as it gave Rupert plenty of time to tell me how bad it was. I did my best to explain my theory of undevelopment to him, but he wasn't having it. The seed took root and grew into a sturdy young sapling when Tim Wall joined us in the analysis room (or bar). Tim won quickly on board 1 with the mysterious and enigmatic Trompovsky Attack. Most chess players are reluctant to give up a bishop for knight on move 3, but Tim's a 2300 FM so I suppose he knows what he's doing. He still had his king's bishop, of course, and that's the one that did the damage. He is part of a long history and tradition of Leeds Chess Club top boards which includes FD Yates. It really takes the pressure off the rest of the team having him on top board and his score this season of +4=0-0 speaks for itself. As he went through his game, I became acutely aware of the gulf in class between board 1 (him) and board 8 (me). The sapling grew into a fine, healthy giant redwood tree when new bug Luke Gostellow scored a win on his debut for the club. I sat next to him and watched him slowly asphyxiate his opponent with the English. You know how it works. You sometimes spend more time analysing the game next door than you do your own. He has played for the University in the Leeds league but hasn't yet featured in the Yorkshire league. I didn't quite understand what he said he did at the Uni. Something about fluid dynamics and advanced mathematics. The Uni don't have a team in the Yorkshire league, so technically it isn't poaching. We simply invited him to play for us before our arch enemies Rose Forgrove got their hands on him. Anyway, three-and-a-half out of four for us meant it looked a bit grim for our poorer cousins from the foothills of the Pennines. Lee Kay and Bernard Chan both drew to ensure the victory. Randy Donahue and Colm Barry were the late-finishers. Colm on board 2 refuses to accept such things as draws exists and will fight to the end even though it is no longer vital to the team. He won. Randy, a pawn down most of the game, fought long and hard for his draw, making sure no one in the team lost. Six out of eight were able to make it for a curry in the Corner Cafe after the match. A good day out enjoyed by all. To keep up to date with Woodhouse Cup fixtures, results, tables, individual performances, etc, visit the ECF League Mangement System: https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/80384/efixtures
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