It was the 2023 season opener. And what a nice way to open. A firm favourite of the NLC Chess Circle, the CAC away fixture is always oversubscribed, what with the intimate yet unstuffy atmosphere and (most of all) the best dinners in all Clubland [Ed. – are you sure? Thoughts welcome from others in the comments].
Details of the match are sketchy. Many of the Liberals – true to form – were focussed a little bit on the chess and a lot on the dinner, and so not sufficiently focussed on writing their moves down. And the CAC’s strict, if rather admirable, regulations banning the use of portable communication devices meant that little visual evidence was recorded.
However, the games went like this:
Richard Black 1 v Mister Chamberlain 0
Matthew Flowers 1 v Mister Burgoyne 0
Luke Williams 0 v Mister Giffin KC MA (Oxon) 1
Mike Radcliffe 1 v Miss Widger 0
Marc Wolff 1 v Mister Barnett 0
So a 4-1 loss, with only the Skipper saving the whitewash. Never mind. At the CAC it’s all about the dinner, anyway.
Here is the one game that made it back to the editorial office:
Mister Chamberlain said of his game: “I played Richard Black on board 1 and the inevitable happened. A weak opening was ruthlessly exploited by a superior opponent and despite my best wriggles, the game was concluded on move 24. Details best left forgotten!”. And indeed they have been, as no game score exists.
And Miss Widger remarked: “Mine, too, was close game. I was slightly ahead with a pawn during most of game but in end it came down to time, and I lost by 30 seconds”. It happens.
Onwards, Liberals!