Middlesex Chess Association vs Young England

The smiling faces of the Middlesex Chess Association vs Young England competitors. To me this is one measure of a successful tournament. Another is when players come up to me to express their gratitude and the hope that they would have to opportunity to take part in another: one enthusiastically opined that it was a pity that there were not another nine rounds! I confess I winced inwardly at the thought of another fortnight without proper sleep, but I applaud the sentiment.

True, no Young England player obtained an IM norm, but I believe several of the Young England players now play a better game. Not to be overlooked is the timing of the tournament: the summer months, one Young England player explained that he had been engrossed in his exams and had not really adjusted to the different world of a chess tournament until the end of the first week. Yet the summer is one of the few occasions in which a youngster can take a fortnight off to play chess. I predict that some of the players in this Scheveningen match tournament will go on to become masters at the very least.

One of the attractions of a tournament like this is the opportunity it affords for a young player to have a crack at a titled player, for instance one teenager admitted that he had never previously played a grandmaster and that this tournament was the first time in which he had defeated an International Master. This was one reason why we deliberately aimed for an uneven Middlesex team; we did not want anyone, on either side, to score nought; yet there should be a chance to see what it would be like when one is up against a really strong opponent. I was delighted when GM Bogdan Lalic kindly let me see some of his annotations, which I made available to everyone; he also publicly set a good example as to how a professional player approaches a contest. IM Colin Crouch also let me use some of his reflections on the contest.

Looked at as a battle between two teams does, to some extent, miss the point of this match. The Middlesex team had to be stronger to ensure that the requirements for a norm were met; if anything, I should have preferred the team to have been slightly stronger than it was so that the norm requirement was six, rather than six and one half points. Thus it was always likely that the home side would win, although there was a shock in round seven when the younger team battered Middlesex by six points to three. I was also impressed at the way that several of the Middlesex players managed to gain rating points against juniors; before the tournament began I expected only one, or at most two, home players not to lose rating points.

Were some good games played? Well Bogdan Lalic said to me of one of his opponents: "he play like grandmaster!", of another he remarked: "He played better than Nogueiras". My own personal favourite is Lalic-Fowler; it would take a better player than me to say whether it is theoretically significant, I suspect it is. An International Grandmaster has been forwarded the candidates for the Bob Wade prize for the best attacking game; as of this moment, I do not know which candidate he adjudges the winner: my prediction is that he will choose a game won by a fifteen year old, it includes an excellent double rook sacrifice against a FIDE Master; but there are others.

I should like to thank all the players for their marvellous attitude. One Middlesex player went to work in the morning, played chess in the afternoon and then went back to work! He also kindly provided accommodation for one of the Young England players. And no, he did not come bottom, far from it. Others took a fortnight's holiday. Amongst the parents, I should especially like to thank the Kilpatricks, who not only put up an out of town youngster for the duration of the tournament, but also hosted a training session conducted by an International Master for the Young England team.

Many people helped make this competition possible; I have already mentioned some in an earlier report, but it does no harm to repeat names, plus those whom I have not previously mentioned. In alphabetical order I should like to thank (in addition to the players, the parents of many of the players, Middlesex CCA President Chris Fewtrell and ECF Directors Claire Summerscale and Peter Sowray): Peter Ackley, Scott Freeman, Howard Grist, Jonathan Kay, Malcolm Pein, Thomas Rendle, Stewart Reuben, Jack Rudd, David Rumens, Zoe Ryle, David Sedgwick, Brian Smith, Jonathan Speelman, Jim Stevenson, Bob Wade and Andrew Whiteley.

This was a centenary commemoration, thus one could argue that one should not be bothered about a repeat, at least not for another hundred years. Yet this may be a short sighted attitude. It has been many decades since such a challenge match was held in England, and this is certainly a means of giving a boost to junior chess, without which the game will die. We had assistance from our sponsors, yet few of them will be able or willing to repeat their actions. Should an interested reader wish to sponsor something similar, then he should either contact Middlesex CCA via the contact details given on our website, or approach the English Chess Federation directly: we are in touch with one another. It is possible that other funds may be available, so it would not be necessary for one person or organisation to shoulder the entire burden.

Simon Spivack