Hammer Firsts vs London Terminators – Round 2

Hammer Firsts went again last week against the mercenary lineup of the London Terminators. Lord Clueless presents his second report.

A different lineup for the Hammer crew this week, with debuts in this league for Ryszard, Carsten and Jeremy. How would they fare?

Last weeks hidden film was “Wargames” – this week a historical chess figure will be hidden in the report – the clues again will be in bold font. Answers please in the comments! 

So, to the games…

First, the scorecard – indicating another 2-2 draw for Hammer.

As usual the devil is in the detail. I genuinely believe Hammer should have won this match with Christof losing due to an error, and Carsten under time pressure missed a win that his logical and resolute play merited.

Ryszard did very well to draw his game which for a long while was quite double-edged, with our man striving to make something happen on the board and probably over-reaching in his determination to score the full point. Judge for yourselves, here is the game:

Ryszard’s style definitely does not entertain compromise – he always strives for the advantage by direct combat. In so many ways his style is similar to Lasker, particularly in the Moscow 1925 tourney.

It was great to have him back in the Hammer colours.

Carsten’s debut in this year’s tourney was truly memorable and produced the game of the match. This was truly a marathon with thrills, spills, errors, and recoveries on both sides. It was a total roller-coaster.

The first 16 moves were blitzed out with both players familiar with the line. Carsten, aka “The Great Dane”, felt very comfortable and strategically outmanoeuvred his opponent. When this happens on the chess board, tactical opportunities always arise. His play to this point was crystal-clear and reminiscent of a great world champion of the past.

The problem was – could he translate his material and positional advantage into a deserved victory? The factor complicating this was time and this contributed massively to him missing out on a win but undoubtedly allowed the incredible finish that followed.

Enjoy…

Match score 1-1.

Board 3 saw Christof fall into a “Tarrasch-trap” of the 1914 variety – where he moved the wrong bishop. This was a simple oversight and just a bad day at the office. It happens to us all.

I have to say Christof is the ultimate team and squad player – he always makes himself available and responds very quickly to emails. This was a total aberration. Here is the game…

Hammer down 2-1.

All eyes turned to Jeremy, aka Brexit, returning to action for Hammer for the first time in 9 months. I was so glad he decided to participate – he is Hammer through and through and generally spurns online chess. After some fast talking a few coffee mornings, he agreed that the setup John Sargent, in conjunction with Adam Raoof, had devised was the best possible scenario for online chess.

Yep, Brexit was back and it was like he was never away. He played a great game with a fantastic finish and definitely employed the Speelman doctrine of playing waiting and provoking moves to induce errors from his opponent. The denouement was most pleasing.

I was truly delighted and it was most assuredly a get the cigars out moment. Here is the game.

The win made the match score of 2-2.

So, two matches and two draws, and a solid start and an indication to me that elusive win is just round the corner. Thank you to our four players.

Our next game is against another new team – Petts Wood and Orpington. It is time we got our first win.

Finally, can you spot the hidden chess player?

Hold the faith – the power of Hammer will shine through.

Lord Clueless.