In sporting terms, the past week was somewhat mixed
(rh) It actually started well last Wednesday. Around 20 youngsters played in the U8 and U12 league on Lichess. The Zoom meeting was so well attended that I have to look for reinforcements for the next sessions. On the same day our second team also fought in the DSOL. Here the fourth board remained empty. We have, or had by now, so many members that some surnames occur twice. Both came to us in connection with the DSOL, so an email did not reach the right recipient. In two weeks, on 16 February 2022, there will be the premiere for Gerhard in its place. Otherwise, on the second board Blaz too had bad luck; a mouse-slip caused the loss of his queen and he resigned. Oliver had a good debut on the 3rd board and took the point. On the 1st board we watched Uwe. Again a mouse-slip played a role: his rook did not capture the opponent’s undefended passed pawn but remained in front of it. He did have more time afterwards but had no prospect of pushing his opponent over on time, and they agreed a draw. So this match was narrowly lost 1.5 to 2.5.
On Thursday we played in the 9th Quarantine League, from which we were relegated without a fight. The only bright spot was Richy, who put in a good debut and who will hopefully strengthen us in the adult teams. The third DSOL team also lost 3 to 1, with the first and the last board drawing. On Friday we were in action with three teams in the DSOL. The fifth team competed with players born in 2013; after much Lichess playing experience they were to be introduced to the long games. With all four of them simple mistakes crept in and they lost. Kai held out best; Shamil blundered his queen, Smrthi was too hesitant and allowed a double attack with a pawn and further overlooked a tactic that would have won a pawn, Kai castled at the wrong moment and allowed a knight fork, and with Jonas too an exchange was lost first. The mistakes made will be discussed so that they do not repeat themselves in the next games. The opponent’s threats must be registered better. The boys will probably be in action in the DSOL again in a month. In between, a stronger team will play in the second round.
The first team played against Berolina Mitte. Our two young stars, Lukas on the 2nd and Diana on the 4th board, were meant to be the bright spots. Both stood winning, but their opponents managed to wrest a draw from them after all. Volker’s computer crashed during the game and Christoph overlooked a mating combination by his opponent, so that our team lost 3 to 1.
The fourth team competed somewhat late against Herzogenaurach III. Marcus dug in and hoped for mistakes by the opponent, which duly came, and he won. Archisha and Arnav defeated their inexperienced opponents. Maxim’s witty and dangerous opening with a3 and b3 was not to come off, and he was checkmated. But at least our 4th team thus won 3 to 1..
Outlook and other current topics:
Three teams play on Friday in the MMM.
The chess courses at the Pelkovenschlössl are fixed (from Tuesday, 15 March from 4 p.m. and from Wednesday, 16 March from 3 p.m.; registration possible via the button above)
The chess club at the Regina-Ullmann-Schule also starts in mid-March!
The booking for the DVM U12 at the end of March in Naumburg has been completed.
The application for the DVM U12 at the end of the year is in preparation,