Which island would you associate with a week-long International Open in April? One immediately thinks of Reykjavik, and sure it is an attractive tournament. But then, there is Jersey. Close to the UK, but not part of it. Much more sunny than Reykjavik, lots of sandy golden beaches, and a long history of chess tournaments. In fact, the author proudly remembers the Jersey International Congress 1975 where he (not a Hammer yet) finished 3rd in a strong field, and so it was a kind of nostalgic return exactly 50 years later.
This time, there were 4 Hammers, plus the father of our local Jersey boy Matt, who was convinced to participate the night before the start. Quite a family affair. The only negative aspect was the low number of participants, in total 44 players, just a tenth of the simultaneously convened Reykjavik Open. That however created another touch of familiar atmosphere, which seems to me quite fitting to the relaxed Jersey mood. Do I need to tell more about Jersey? Its population is half the size of Hammersmith, it is a self-governing entity, and it is so because it was supportive of English kings when it was important – Henry III in 1259, when it was either France or England; then Charles II who was proclaimed king here in 1649, 11 years before the monarchy was restored with his crowning in London. It seems, Jersey knows how to play the royal game. Well, back to chess then.
The participants were split in 2 sections: a smaller, norm-awarding Open with mostly titled players, and a – maybe inappropriately called – Holiday section with FIDE ratings below 1900. Our fabulous four represented Hammersmith in both groups. There is Gaston, everyone knows him. Organiser and lecturer of nearly everything, he was able to squeeze in a holiday week. Same goes for Robin, club captain, organiser of our teams, he came with his girlfriend for a joint fun & chess week (the verdict is open whether that suits the chess). Matt, still the club’s PR officer, having recently returned to his native Jersey (does that give a home advantage?). And then me, Christof, adult improver (I hope so, at least!)
So, how did it go? To start with a summary: With the exception of myself, we all won prizes: Matt and Robin won Rating prizes, Gaston was Best U2150. Everyone improved on their starting rating, Matt even by an impressive 92 points! And the challenge was formidable. Most of us started in the bottom half of the rating lists. Half of our games were against title holders, mainly GMs and IMs in the Open section, but also some in the U1900 section. Gaston played all except one game against titled players, he was in fact paired in the first round with the final winner, Lithuanian GM Eduardas Rozentalis. We made no points in our 3 games against GMs, drew one in 4 against IMs, but made 5 of 7 (!) against FMs and drew the one game against a CM, all in all not too bad for us four amateurs.
Day 1 started with a hammer. And I mean that. It surely was a big upset in the Open section, me winning against all odds against a FM who was here after an IM norm, a mere 340 points higher rated. I played a good game, and the end was even better. In mutual time trouble, I found the psychologically most challenging move, then the winning tactics motif, and executed the right sequence. You sense a feeling of pride in my words? Judge for yourself:
After White played 30. Re5, Black should have given his queen with dxe5 31.Bxc6 exf4 for a chance to hold the game. After 30…Qc8 however, White wins with 31.Re7! Qf5 (Qxe8 32.Rxe8 Kg7 33.Rxf8! Kxf8 34.Bxd6+) 32.Bh6! Rc8 33.g4 (Be4 or Bd5 work as well) Qf6 34.Bxf8! Rxe8 35.Rxe8 and Black has to give back the queen to avoid being checkmated. It couldn’t have started better – which means it could only get worse. And it got worse, for me. So, the next days reports are mainly dedicated to my fellow Hammer players.
Day 2: See day 7.
Day 3 saw Matt’s brilliancy in his game against a higher rated opponent. He sacrificed an exchange in a tactically demanding position. With Matt’s tournament preparation heavily focused on calculation skills, it definitely helped to bring home the point. See for yourself – would you have found and gone for Matt’s choice?
Black sacrificed the exchange with 16…Bxf3!, and after White accepted the sac with 17.Bxf8 (Qxf3 was necessary), Black followed up with Bxg2 (Bxh2+ works even quicker, but requires flawless calculation) 18.Bxd6 Bxf1. Black is a pawn up in a much better position, the rest was good technique.
Day 4: Christof blundered in record time against the World’s best non-binary (their own words) chess player, who at the end had more time on the clock than at the beginning. Otherwise, see day 7.
Day 5 was the golden day of the Hammers, 4 games, 4 wins. Did our joint relaxed dinner the evening before help? Early finishers were watching the remaining matches in the downtown Sports Bar. No, chess is not on Sky Sports yet, but 3 of our 4 games were always recorded live on Lichess. For Gaston it was a diamond day, winning a fabulous game against FM Mike Waddington.
Day 6: Robin took on a CM. His energy level was still high from his day off with a bike trip around the island. And in true Hammer holiday spirit, he gave 2 pieces for a rook and a couple of pawns, plus the initiative. The game continued in a highly complex manner. In mutual time trouble towards the end (that seemed to be a common theme for us, may be Jersey-mood inspired) he settled for a draw by threefold repetition. Have fun watching the whole game.
Day 7: We have to talk about knight endings. Three times, we dropped unnecessary points. Knight endings are a matter of calculation and visualisation, but also of having seen lots of patterns and quickly recognising ideas. So, before the next tournament, some focused puzzle training is due to overcome our knight ending trauma.
White has a tablebase draw after 46. Kf2, but lost after 46. Kg2, which allows Black’s King to support its f-pawn with Ke4.
Black has a tablebase win after 42… Ke4, but lost his h-pawn after 42… Nf4 43. Kh6 and drew.
Day 8: Last round, Saturday, our Black Sabbath day. Three losses, only Christof escaped with a lucky draw. Maybe moody blues had taken over by now, with a lovely week coming to an end.
When you have four Hammer players together, even if everyone with his own agenda, you can expect lots of joint postmortems, of chess-related discussions, some beer and wine, and else. That is the charm of those events. Besides the relaxed holiday mood and a good sun tan, we gained prizes, and all gained rating points, and we also took home some valuable lessons.
And lots of new memories, which is what is really counting.
Christof Brixel
