This week we can speak again of sporting successes!
(rh) The Wednesday tournaments (U8 and U12) took place again. This time the U12 was more weakly staffed, since Benedikt was missing. In this age group it was enough in the end for 13th place. In the U8 we had received unexpected reinforcement from Sepas, and another U8 player also joined our team and played. With the support of Atreyu and Julia it was enough for 3rd place.
On Friday the time had finally come, we were allowed back to the board. I accompanied the fourth team to Vaterstetten. Two new members played their first games over the board. Board 1 remained empty; I learned too late that Reinhard could not make it. Gerd played on board 2; after a long fight he had to concede defeat. On board 3 a fatal mistake crept in for Robert in the heat of battle: he took a poisoned pawn on e5, whereupon the all-decisive double queen attack d4 on the undefended knights followed; he fought on doggedly but later had to resign. That was the unaccustomed competitive toughness at the board. Board four was occupied by our second fresh force, Richard. With Black he was well ahead in the first half; at one point the game tipped in favour of his opponent, who, however, had missed a decisive chance with a discovered check and gain of a piece, so that after the exchange of pieces in the elementary pawn endgame, which Richard mastered, a fair draw was achieved. Samy won his game convincingly. Elias, on the other hand, lost his game, not least because of the advanced hour; he was the youngest in the team. All in all we could be satisfied. The new forces were introduced and they will bring the teams much joy yet. Before the final result was settled (Richard was still playing) we left Vaterstetten with Robert in the direction of Laim, since our first team was playing at the ASZ against Bayern7.
Here too two of our new forces with very little board experience played. NurJakob had so far played one DWZ game. In addition, three youngsters were in the team. Ardian had reported himself fit at short notice in the afternoon, so that Vroni did not have to play; Elias and Aaron were still there. The team was completed with two seniors, the team captain Stephan on the first and Jürgen on the third board. Blaz also played, but I no longer found him when I arrived at the ASZ, since he took the first point for the team and went home. Jakob was just analysing his game with the opponent in the entrance area. Without asking the result, I wanted to learn the interim score. Patrick reported to me inside about a 2-1, since besides Blaz, Oliver too had scored on board 8. Stephan was still playing on the first board; shortly afterwards I saw him already in conversation with his opponent, who had laid down his arms. So Bayern7 levelled to 2-2. Jürgen was under heavy pressure on board 3. A pawn down with knight and bishop against the overpowering bishop pair. But he held out long and doggedly; in the end, though, it was not to be enough for a draw. Ardian’s board was balanced, he offered a draw, but his opponent declined, fortunately for us, as it later turned out. On board 5 Aaron, according to Patrick, stood winning. He soon achieved the 3-2. So three boards remained: Elias on board 2 survived the pressure phase and liquidated, with a slight advantage, into a rook endgame. The unexpected win was finally achieved by Ardian! His opponent had miscalculated, locked in his own rook and, after the exchange of rooks with loss of a pawn, manoeuvred his king offside. With Ardian’s win the interim score reached 4-3 for us. Elias’s opponent tried everything and used up almost all his time; it was past midnight when the unavoidable draw came. After a hard fight we took the immensely important match points against Bayern7. In the words of one team member, this match was not only important but also gratifying.
Under these dramatic circumstances I could not visit our second team at Tarrasch. But Marcus reported our narrow win by text message. Alexander lost, Anton and Dominik won; Herbert, Marcus and Wynnie, who after countless Quarantine League appearances sat at the board again after two and a half years, took draws.
On Saturday too there was something on the programme, thanks to Oliver. He had registered the team of the GS at Feldmochinger Straße, led by his son Jonas, for the Bavarian Primary School Cup. The pleasant surprise was, on balance, 4th place in the end. Jonas was twice in the lead against formidable opponents through a tactic that they had overlooked. Unfortunately it was not quite enough to convert these leads. In a third game his discovered-attack tactic did not work; in this game, however, he too put up resistance and brought a pawn to the second-to-last rank. It was not to be enough for a point in these three games, but through the narrow defeats he gained further self-confidence. He won the other four games convincingly. On the second board Seraphina was in very good form and took 5.5 points. Gwenny played 5 games on board 3 and took 3 points. Fabian surprised on board 4, and in the last two rounds on board 3; he has only been in the chess club since October and had so far mostly played on the iPad. He often made good and natural moves and also fought his way through difficult games. In the end it was enough for 4 points. Theo slipped into the team in the last games and in the final round also took his first half point. He was stalemated.
All in all it was a pleasant afternoon; the second-graders of the school had rewarded themselves with a convincing performance. Over the next two years we want to make a mark with this and further primary school teams.