Press Report 28th January 2024
For The South Hams Chess Club write up, this month I bring you not one, not two, but three "internal game(s) in focus".
Firstly, Lance Howarth take a bow. On Thursday 15th Jan 2024, Lance had his first win of the season against Alan Davies. Around the middle of the game, Alan, looked to fork Lance’s Queen & Rook with his Knight. Lance, not only spotted the imminent fork, but, forsaken by all benevolent spirits, played the best move Qe3! This pinned his opponent’s Knight in front of his Queen, fork averted! Later, Alan under pressure, unnecessarily sacrificed his Rook for a Bishop which also created a dangerous passed pawn. Ultimately, Alan, disappointed by the course of events, conceded the loss.
Alan commented on the game on our internal website "Very well played Lance - a breakthrough win and thoroughly deserved." In post-game analysis, chess.com gave Lance an 84% accuracy rating and Alan 75%. It also determined that no "blunders" were made by either party, and Lance made the one and only "great" move of the game as well as concluding that during the game “White(Lance) had a nice tactical find".
Lance asked to comment on his pre match preparation, said
“…like all good students, I've followed my master's tutelage; so, my pre match meal, was a healthy dose of starch and omega 3 from the Cod Father. In the words of Michael Sandel, ”You can't go wrong with fish and chips””. The defeated Alan, as a pre-match meal, had sweet potato soup, a dish he plans avoiding in the future. Lance, uncomfortable with the plaudits commented “...before we get ahead of ourselves, I would classify this an a unicorn event, not to be repeated.”
Despite these comments, we all eagerly await the sequel “The Unicorn strikes again - they wasn't expecting that!”
A previous contender for “Hold the front page” say Phil McConnell draw with club champion Steve Levy, halting Steves 100% win record. In post-game analysis and comments, Phil, posted that “a draw against Steve is as good as a win” and was very happy with that outcome, Steve having survived his first potential loss of the season, was also relieved and happy to salvage the half point. Phil later commented, (disagreeing with his previous sentiments), "I'm kicking myself for not finishing it off”. The computer ("silicon monster") says Phil lost the winning advantage at move 53!. (53 moves is a long time to be either level or ahead of a better player!) After 54 moves Phil with a King, a Bishop & 3 Pawns, against Steve's King, Knight & 2 Pawns, had about 8 minutes remaining on his clock, while Steve had just about 1 minute. Phil then spent ages on his 55th move. At that point Steve, devoid of generosity, correctly declined the Bishop sacrifice and played Kc8 (the only move that doesn't lose). At that point, Phil had pretty much lost all his time advantage and in his words “...his play deteriorated”.
Well done Phill, the whole club was rooting for you.
With Steve's draw and Lance's win, we no longer have any club member with a 100% record at either end of the table!
Newest member Mike Bender having settled in nicely with two wins out of his initial 4 games, had an eventful time against Trevor Hurt eagerly burning his bridges in a race to mate Mike's King. This tactic is risky and can backfire, but not in this instance. Mike was heard saying, on resuming play, after the half time cup of tea interlude, “...you aggressive little so and so” (I think it was “so and so” that he said!). Two moves later Mike attempted to create space for himself and take the initiative by giving check with a Rook. But this check was then blocked by his opponent's own Rook. That move gave discovered check, so winning Mike’s wayward Rook on the next move. This led to an imminent mate and so an honourable resignation.
Outside our internal games, in the Torbay Congress League (inter club tournament), on Jan 11th, Newton Abbots' team came over to Kingsbridge for a Division 1 match. N.A. were victorious with 2 1/2 points to South Hams 1 1/2. Our team for that encounter was Steve Levy, David Archer, Cathy Black and Phil McConnell. Next month our Div1 team play away at Teignmouth and our Div 4 team hope to host a match against the Torbay Boys Grammar School.
This week, in the words of Leonard Sachs (ask your granny (or uncle Google)) I present to you, for your entertainment and education, for your delight and delectation a phenomenal fact. For every move in chess, each player has an approximate 30 possibilities to chose from. This leads to a chess game where each player makes 40 moves having an estimated total of 10120 possible outcomes, this is known as the Shannon number. This number is massively larger than the number of atoms in the observable universe at an estimated 1080 (between ten quadrillion vigintillion and one-hundred thousand quadrillion vigintillion)!
As always, anyone wanting further information about the club check out our website at www.southhamschessclub.com or ring Phil McConnell on 01803834135.
The club meets every Thursday at the Regal Club, Kingsbridge at 7pm. Feel free to pop in to say "hi" and see what we look like.