That we should meet Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters just the same is something we learn from Kipling (the purveyor of poetry rather than cakes). It teaches us equanimity in the face of defeat and modesty in the occasional victory.
The NLC warriors convened at Whitehall Place to meet the combined Oriental/East India team in a Friendly, following our 2-4 defeat by them in the Hamilton Russell cup match. Now we knew that the ORI/EIC run a separate friendly team without the likes of Sam Franklin or Yaroslav Voropayev to terrorise the top two boards, so the NLC was anticipating a better night.
Absences meant that the only side the NLC could field was the top Hamilton Russell line-up (leaving aside the Mister Dias vs Master Jacobs question over the board 6 position). Whereas the ORI/EIC was fielding a weakened side, with Callum Lee on top board and some new players lower down. The end result was 6-0 to the NLC.
Just as a heavy defeat doesn’t make us bad players overnight, a 6-0 whitewash doesn’t make us Magnus Carlsen’s best mates. But the NLC is far more used to disaster than triumph so we’ll take the wins where we can. It doesn’t usually happen like this!
Board 1
Doctor Kirby led off on Board 1 against Callum Lee as Black with a Caro-Kann following Mister Chamberlain’s entirely expected loss of the toss. Captain Chamberlain even has a new coin. New coin, same result! The Doctor wasn’t sure whether he was following the right strategy, but Mister Fritz opined that he was getting on top when Callum Lee promptly shoved his Queen en prise on move 17. Doctor Kirby snaffled the gift and with further material loss to follow that was that.
Board 2
Mister Whiteley had to wait for his opponent Michael Charlton on Board 2. But Mister Whiteley’s usual King’s Indian attack resulted in a breakthrough with his pieces getting into the opponent’s position. Stability in one’s opening choice is no bad thing. As Doctor Kirby so often advises: If plan A works, give ’em more plan A.
In his post match interview the victorious Lib said: “I was white against Michael Charlton, who started 40 mins down on the clock and immediately lost a piece. He defended pretty well, but it was one of those games where I knew if I didn’t blunder I was going to win in the end. I built up a strong attack, and probably should have played Rxg6 anytime from move 32 on. However I didn’t want to risk my attack breaking down and letting him back into the game so I just plodded on, eventually mating him on move 43.”
That’s how it’s done, Mister Whiteley.
Board 3
Captain Chamberlain had probably the closest game of the night on Board 3 against Peter Tikilyaynan the ORI/EIC’s captain for the night. It reached an ending where the Captain managed to press on to victory.
Board 4
Mister Giffin Q.C. MA (Oxon) laid down the law on Board 4 versus Arul Umapathy quickly going a rook up with a neat tactic. It then took some time to press the advantage, but our learned friend was always heading for victory.
Board 5
Mister Widdicombe played ORI/EIC newcomer Chris Ptaszynski-Neophythu. Our media star managed to find some chess form in his Christmas cards along with other random notes from China, winning a rook fairly early on and converting to victory. Hopefully Mister Widdicombe’s opponent wasn’t too disheartened.
Board 6
The Young Master Jacobs juggernaut rolled on, despatching Daniel Pienaar in fairly short order. The NLC’s sweeper doesn’t play many boring games and remains on an upward curve.
He also doesn’t write down his moves. Given that Young Mister Jacobs is now sporting a fearsome black beard, the game may or may not have gone something like this:
Dinner
It’s easy to treat Triumph and Disaster just the same when you’re being thoroughly well fed afterwards. The Dining Room came through as usual with Lentil Soup, Pheasant Supreme with chestnut stuffing and vegetables, followed by a Choux Bun with Caramel sauce.
There was a decent amount of wine sunk as well, with the NLC victorious and the ORI/EIC soothing their sorrows.
Surely “media star’s minder”?