Often on a Wednesday night there is a player on form who starts well, gets better, and leaves the others in their wake. You never quite know who is going to shoot out of the traps – there’s a group of four or five who regularly attract short odds with the bookmakers in the minutes before 7pm. But there’s usually a clear front-runner by 7.30.
Not tonight. The players won and lost in equal measure, taking points off each other with little discernable pattern. Cut, thrust and parry – every player stumbled at some point. In the end it was a four-way(!) tie for first, with Messrs ‘Ndi78’ Ioannou and ‘GiffinNLC’ Giffin QC MA (Oxon) being the joint winners on a tie break, leaving Captain ‘Hardicanute’ Chamberlain in third and Mister ‘MisterWiddicombe’ Widdicombe in fourth.
A remarkably close result that does full justice to the topsy-turvy night of upsets, but one that left the army of sporting punters ripping up their betting slips.
All good fun, and more to come next week.
Games of the week
Each week, this journal’s Editorial Committee will present to the Chess Circle two online games from that week’s session that, in their esteemed view, display a particularly lively charm. Perhaps it will be a ferocious attack, or a dogged defence, maybe a catastrophic blunder or simply something that piques the Committee’s interest…
This first game needs no great introduction. Here Mister ‘GiffinNLC’ Giffin QC MA (Oxon) simply crushes Mister ‘MisterWiddicombe’ Widdicombe in a mere 13 moves. Bloodthirsty chess.
The second game is a nice little win by Captain ‘Hardicanute’ Chamberlain. A number of the Editorial Committee felt that the Supreme Leader’s games had not featured prominently enough over the last few weeks. This entry may help re-balance that appearance. The game is notable for the Great Helsman forcing resignation after making an en passant capture.