Two glasses of club red and a dodgy knight fork

Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson in 1991. The Netherlands beating England by 45 runs in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2014. Leicester City winning the Association Football League in 2016. There have been many great sporting upsets. None quite match the Lightning Chess Tournament of February 2020.

The NLC Lightning Tournament has been getting stronger each year. The first year was a touch experimental. The second got into stride. The third could claim to have some very strong players. But the fourth was exceptionally strong. You know it’s serious when the serried ranks of the RAC turn out.

A record number of entrants came forward, with 24 players drawn from seven of the Clubs. The Lady Violet room was set. The trophy was gleaming. It was time to sound the charge.

Round 1

A random draw in the first round of a five round swiss system always meant some tricky match ups. The players used the round to settle in and flex their chess muscles. Tie of the round was the RAC-MCC clash of Senior versus Farleigh, with the latter player putting down an early marker of intent with a solid win with black.

1. Abel Smith, A 0:1 Radcliffe, M
2. Ransome, W 1:0 Andrew, J
3. Chamberlain, P 1:0 Saldanha, R
4. Senior, G 0:1 Farleigh, R
5. Feathers, R 1:0 Shankland, D
6. Sharland, P 0:1 Giffin, N
7. Glover, M 0:1 Steinfeld, S
8. Taylor, M 0:1 Jacobs, A
9. Kirby, N 1:0 Wells, N
10. Whiteley, J 1:0 Matthews, R
11. McWatters, H 1:0 Wolff, M
12. Woodcock, A 0:1 Meyler, S

Round 2

Winners play winners. Losers play losers. Round two began to see some juicy ties. Stephen Meyler got the better or the NLC’s Captain Chamberlain on top board, and Richard Farleigh navigated a tricky tie against RAC compatriot Henry McWatters. The Libs were keeping a close eye on board five, where the ever improving Young Master Jacobs took the scalp of the NLC match board two Mister Whiteley.

1. Meyler, S 1:0 Chamberlain, P
2. Farleigh, R 1:0 McWatters, H
3. Radcliffe, M 1:0 Feathers, R
4. Giffin, N 0:1 Ransome, W
5. Jacobs, A 1:0 Whiteley, J
6. Steinfeld, S 0:1 Kirby, N
7. Shankland, D 1:0 Abel Smith, A
8. Andrew, J 1:0 Sharland, P
9. Wells, N 0:1 Glover, M
10. Matthews, R 1:0 Taylor, M
11. Saldanha, R 0:1 Woodcock, A
12. Wolff, M 0:1 Senior, G

Round 3

Things got serious in round 3, and there were some big match ups. It was Stephen Meyler’s turn to take a swing at Richard Farleigh, unsuccessfully. Mister Whiteley’s poor form continued as Mister Giffin QC MA (Oxon) got the better of him on board 7. Board 11 saw Doctor Saldanha chalk up his first full point at the expense of Our Good Friend Mister Taylor.

1. Meyler, S 0:1 Farleigh, R
2. Ransome, W 1:0 Jacobs, A
3. Kirby, N 1:0 Radcliffe, M
4. McWatters, H 1:0 Andrew, J
5. Chamberlain, P 0:1 Senior, G
6. Feathers, R 1:0 Steinfeld, S
7. Whiteley, J 0:1 Giffin, N
8. Glover, M 0:1 Shankland, D
9. Woodcock, A 0:1 Matthews, R
10. Abel Smith, A 0:1 Wells, N
11. Taylor, M 0:1 Saldanha, R
12. Sharland, P 0:1 Wolff, M

Tension was beginning to run high. Brows became furrowed. Anxious glances thrown toward the results board as players began to calculate their chances…

The players broke for a much needed refreshment break.

Round 4

So often in a five round swiss it is the fourth round that proves critical. And so it did here. Going in to the round there were three players on the full three points: Farleigh, Kirby and Ransome, with a number chasing the leaders with two points. The bookies were offering long odds on a Lib victory and in truth few were backing Doctor Kirby against Richard Farleigh. Partly, this doubt was based on form over the seasons and assumptions about approximate chess strength, but also it was due to fact that Doctor Kirby was battling with a heavy cold as much as with the opponent’s position. He was self medicating with club red, but the auspices were not good.

But the Goddess Caissa is a fickle wench, and she toys with mens fates like play-things in her cosmic game. Farleigh’s right hand reached out, the buzzer sounded, his queen landed and both players gasped – seeing Kirby’s King/Queen knight fork that was about to come. Ten seconds they waited, before the knight settled the matter. Farleigh played on to see if there was a way back, but even if he hadn’t missed the chance later to go an exchange up, the adjudication would clearly have been in the Doctor’s favour. A hand proffered, and the game resigned. Two glasses of club red and a dodgy knight fork had propelled Doctor Kirby into a clear lead.

1. Farleigh, R 0:1 Kirby, N
2. Matthews, R 1:0 Ransome, W
3. Senior, G 1:0 Feathers, R
4. Giffin, N 0:1 Meyler, S
5. Jacobs, A 0:1 Radcliffe, M
6. Shankland, D 0:1 McWatters, H
7. Andrew, J 0:1 Woodcock, A
8. Steinfeld, S 0:1 Chamberlain, P
9. Wolff, M 1:0 Glover, M
10. Saldanha, R 0:1 Whiteley, J
11. Wells, N 1:0 Sharland, P
12. Taylor, M 1:0 Abel Smith, A

The RAC/MCC gang don’t take kindly to interlopers to their usual chess hegemony…and the hounds were now chasing the hare. The pack formed, the scent gained, and Kirby was out ahead all alone. Did he have enough left in the tank?

Gary Senior, Rob Matthews and Henry McWatters continued to push on hard after dropping points in the early rounds, with all three chalking up 3 from 4 to go in to round five. So with the Doctor on 4 points he could still be caught by four should he lose in the final round. Would it be settled by a tie break?

Round 5

Doctor Kirby shuffled toward the top table, legs shaking, heart pounding. This was his moment. This was his test. It was his to lose – and Clubland chess would take the measure of him if he did.

But Doctor Kirby is a tough old soldier, tempered in the searing heat of the Hamilton Russell Board 1 forge. The more you hammer steel the harder it becomes and all those thankless nights of scraping for a Hamilton Russell half point paid off for Doctor Kirby. He played his special brand of super-solid chess and forced a draw by repetition from Rob Matthews. His was the half point to put him into an unassailable lead.

The chasing pack of RAC/MCC hounds howled helplessly as their quarry disappeared into the distance.

1. Kirby, N .5:.5 Matthews, R
2. Radcliffe, M 0:1 Farleigh, R
3. McWatters, H 1:0 Ransome, W
4. Meyler, S 1:0 Senior, G
5. Chamberlain, P .5:.5 Jacobs, A
6. Feathers, R 1:0 Wells, N
7. Woodcock, A 0:1 Giffin, N
8. Whiteley, J 1:0 Shankland, D
9. Andrew, J 1:0 Wolff, M
10. Glover, M 1:0 Taylor, M
11. Steinfeld, S 1:0 Saldanha, R
12. Abel Smith, A 1:0 Sharland, P

Doctor Kirby: Victor.

The lower boards continued to bash away. Anne Abel Smith reached into the big bag of full points to pull out a beauty, and Mister Whiteley finish strongly against the wily David Shankland. The all-NLC tie had the Young Master Jacobs give the NLC Captain more (nice to have) board order problems, as he unexpectedly held Captain Chamberlain to a draw.

Final Standings

The buzzer fell silent and the evening’s efforts assessed. Through the muck, bullets, blood and guts Doctor Kirby had emerged winner by a half point.

Place	Name	Score	Wins	Aggregate of opponent’s score (Bucholz)
1	Kirby	4.5	4	14.5
2	Farleigh	4	4	18.5
3	Meyler	4	4	15.5
4	McWatters	4	4	13
5	Matthews	3.5	3	13.5
6	Senior	3	3	14.5
7	Radcliffe	3	3	15
7	Ransome	3	3	15
7	Feathers	3	3	15
10	Whiteley	3	3	12
11	Giffin	3	3	11
12	Chamberlain	2.5	2	12.5
12	Jacobs	2.5	2	12.5
14	Shankland	2	2	13
14	Steinfeld	2	2	13
16	Woodcock	2	2	12.5
17	Wolff	2	2	12
18	Andrew	2	2	11
19	Wells	2	2	10.5
20	Glover	2	2	9
21	Saldanha	1	1	10.5
22	Taylor	1	1	10
23	Abel Smith	1	1	8
24	Sharland	0	0	10

(Out of interest, had Doctor Kirby lost to Rob Matthews in that final game there would have been a five way tie. Richard Farleigh would have won on a tie break due to his opponents having the highest aggregate score (the Buchholz method) – but that was not to be…).

All that was left to do was to award the fabled Ming Vase to the clear winner. With great delight, and for the first time, the Lib trophy was presented by a Lib to a Lib.

Dinner

Dinner was a sell out, with some players even being turned away. The dining room put together a mammoth 22 seat table and the staff looked suitably fretful over getting everyone served. But served everyone was, and very well indeed. The steak was excellent, and the wine plentiful.