A never to be forgotten night of chess was played out at the Telepost club on Monday night (7th December) when the B team took on the leaders, Telepost B, and took both points after a dazzling finale.
Celia was given the honour of playing board 1, as it was her last appearance for us and she has done so much for the team and club since she has been here.
Mark, playing on board 3, was first to finish after missing out on a winning attack and then having to settle for a draw. My game on board 5 against Andrew Lewis was the complete opposite. A bit like watching paint dry would be a fair assessment of proceedings but still it was nice to see him again. Yes, you guessed it, Andrew offered me a draw and, seeing no way through without messing it up, I agreed. Dan, on board 2, found Peter Crean on good form and was eventually overcome to lose and make it 2-1 to Telepost.
Ile, on board 4, was rapidly running out of time with less than five minutes left on his clock and I could see no way through for him. Similarly, Celia was also running out of time in what, to me, looked like a dead drawn position with two pawns and a bishop each against Keith Tabner. Ile, showing great calmness and belief managed to checkmate Kate on the back rank with less than a minute left! None of us could quite believe that he had done it. 2-2 then.
All eyes now focussed on board 1, where it looked as though Celia was going to run out of time and the match would be lost. But by now we should know better than to underestimate our Senorita’s fantastic chess ability. I, for one, stood there spellbound as she displayed amazing endgame skill to force her opponent back and back, pick off both his pawns, while Keith was desperately trying to stop her and run her clock down. But Celia was having none of that and was playing every move instantly, because she knew exactly what she was doing. It really was great to witness as she relentlessly forced Keith onto the back rank, Queened one of her pawns and checkmated him. Applause rang out from everyone there.
What a fantastic way to end her time with the team. She really does have a great chess future ahead of her. GRACIAS CELIA!
Ian Davies, B Team Captain
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