The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed fewer match reports on the website this season compared to last… it’s time for that to change!
Captains have been busy writing bumper reports for the festive season. With 13 teams, we’re in for a treat! (I’m pessimistically expecting only 12 reports)
So sit down beside the fireplace, pour yourself a mulled wine, bite into a mince pie, and enjoy part one – the adventures of our “Hedger” team in the London League minor division.
It’s nearly Christmas, and this is the time captains do their mid-season reports. The Hammersmith Hedger team is in the 9th place of the table of the Minor section of the London Chess League, and anything can happen in the rest of the season, particularly the good side of anything. So let’s give it a good go in the new year and climb the ranks of this table!
More importantly,
We can all call ourselves chess improving players in this team. We are not afraid of tough games, we are not afraid of losing and we are here to become better at the game. Like the Sunday football amateurs, we may not always offer the most spectacular game, but we are there week in week out on the muddy pitch offering our best play.
Even when sometimes other clubs go and bloat their small victory on social media, it doesn’t matter because we do our best, give it a good challenge and continue the improvement process. Sometimes we are the winners but in those cases we do behave on Twitter!
Sometimes nice surprises happen, and the games are spectacular. For example I remember the match against Battersea when our player Anastasija was able to offer a spectacular endgame, and from a rather inferior position she held very well, and took the half point while at least ten people holding their breath were standing around the board following every move of this fantastic endgame.
For every player in the Hedger team every game is breath taking and spectacular at least in the eyes of the two opponents themselves, and that’s what chess at improvement level is all about!
Another important thing to mention this season is how much depth a great club like Hammersmith can provide to a team like ours. The Captain job can be stressful enough at times, particularly when you need to recompose most of the team within twenty four hours from the match as things happen to everyone and sometimes they have to cancel. In those cases, Hammers stood up for the team and we were always able to find the right players despite the exclusivity rules within the London minor chess league preventing the same person playing for two different teams in the same season.
Moreover, I unfortunately had to miss a couple of games myself as captain this season due to unforeseen circumstances, and I am so grateful to Dave for his help providing fantastic captaining on those nights, coming early and staying till the end supporting every player in the team.
To all chess improving players out there in London, I would like to invite you to join our club and in particular the Hedger team. Joining a chess club is the best way to improve at chess, and don’t be afraid of playing league games, you will see, soon you will be playing very spectacular chess and you will enjoy it.
Best seasons greetings to all!
Nadim