The latest encounter in the LL Online Open Division saw Hammer go head-to-head with Metropolitan. There are no easy games in this League.
The Hammer team comprised of no holds barred fighters – in board order: Ryszard, Carsten, Jeremy and Chris (Krasen).
Like last week, before I go to the match report were you able to identify Week 4’s concealed chess figure?
It was the longest holder of the world championship Emmanuel Lasker… a true titan of the chess board.
In this week’s report another historical figure lays hidden. The clues are once again in bold and please enter your answers in the comments!
So, to the match…
This was definitely a case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory – Hammer were so unlucky. Jeremy was holding his own comfortably and one rash move deprived him of a certain draw, and Krasen (Chris) had a won game when the curse of online chess struck in the form of a mouse slip. Damn the technology!
This gave the following scorecard:
From a Hammer point of view the Board 1 clash was amazing. Whilst watching it, I thought it was a complete masterpiece by Ryszard. The cold, unforgiving eye of Stockfish had a different view – unsurprisingly.
However, from the human point of view this was a great game to watch, with Ryszard playing the black side of a French Winawar in a style that would have even made the originator purr with approval. Just an amazing game:
There is so much to admire about Ryszard when he is in this form – this is full frontal assault chess and sums up his credo “That chess is his life”.
Board two saw the Great Dane, Carsten, in a game that got very tactical early on then with both players running short of time saw a draw agreed. This was definitely the pragmatic and right choice. It was definitely a no holds street fight at the beginning but settled down in a yoghurt that had been out of the fridge for too long.
Here is the game:
Match score 1.5-0.5 in Hammers favour.
Board 3 saw Brexit in the form of Jeremy playing the black side of a Sicilian – let’s be frank, Jeremy played really solidly. He is feeling his way back into chess and hence he is not yet up to full speed. If he was in his usual form, I am convinced he would have played Nb4 and he would not have been so carped off.
See what you think…
Finally, we get to board 4 and an act of unspeakable cruelty – the mouse slip-gate scenario. Chris (Krasen) had played beautifully – moving well and then tech issues hit him laterally. For some reason the screen zoomed in and he was trying to play his move – when the mouse-slip happened. This was so unfair – it was such an obvious mouse-slip but the world of internet chess is as unforgiving as its real-life counterpart.
I am absolutely gutted for Chris – unlike Trump world, he totally deserved to win – in my mind he did. Chess can be so unfair.
He was sitting so comfortably in his Merano chair as well:
So, Hammer were beaten again, by the smallest margin – again. The world is not right.
1.5-2.5, and the league table looks like this:
Lord Clueless is bereft – Hammer in his mind won this match – in fact the injustice will spur us on next week against Cavendish. I know it will.
Lord Clueless, still in good mental health.