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Chess and Ducks in Witney
by Carl Portman
(Banbury Chess Club)
15.11.12 - It is a cold dark Monday
evening. The choices are as follows. Stay in and
watch mind-numbing television, catch up on the
business accounts or go and play a Grandmaster
at chess in Witney. Okay, for me that is an
hour’s drive away (two if you count coming
home!) but it is still a no brainer.
Thanks to his passion for
chess and über-impressive organisational
capabilities the indefatigable Mike Truran gave
25 of us mortals the opportunity to play in the
Simultaneous Exhibition given by Grandmaster
Peter Wells at the cosy Village Hall in
Ducklington. Incidentally, this is the only
Ducklington on the planet and I have this from a
very reliable source! It is one of the first
Saxon parishes to be recorded in Oxfordshire. In
a charter of AD 958 King Edgar the Peaceful
granted at Ducklington to his Minister, Eanulf.
Well there’s nothing ‘peaceful’ about chess as
we all know.
The village hall is bright
and airy and warm – what more could a chess
player wish for? I noted on my walk from the
parked car to the village hall that the ducks
were quacking away in the darkness on the pond.
How nice of Mike to have arranged for them to be
home and to put the ‘’Duck’ into Ducklington.
Now; in many other sports
(yes, I believe chess to be sport) one never
gets to meet the top players, let alone engage
with them in their chosen field. Therefore when
events like this are staged it is vital for
people to support them and show appreciation for
those who take the time and effort to make it
happen. It is not always easy.
Witney were wise enough to
recognise that in these austere times people
would be reluctant to pay a large fee to play
chess regardless of opposition. To this end they
charged a mere £6 board fee which included
refreshment. This is ridiculously cheap but much
appreciated. This sort of things is about more
than the money and although I had never met
Peter Wells before he seems like one of those
genuinely ‘nice guys’ and it was clear to me
that money was not the main motivator here. He
knows full well that the scent of the rose
lingers longest on the hand of the giver.
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Ducklington Village Hall, Witney |
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He faced 26 players, about
half of which were juniors which was fantastic
to see. Junior chess is alive and well in this
part of Oxfordshire anyway. He allowed players
to have passes and discuss their games, and if
they lost early enough he was happy to set up
the pieces and play again. How refreshing an
approach this was, in stark contrast to some of
the egomaniacs of the chess world. Grass roots
chess would be all the poorer if it were not for
evenings like this. Well done Peter.
I should say that Peter does
actually play for Witney chess club in the
Oxfordshire League and I could tell that the
relationship between him and the club is very
congenial. He is not only a strong Grandmaster
but three times British Rapidplay Champion so
that could be a problem for players nearing the
end of the games!
And what about the games?
Well in the end there were three draws from
Catalin Viscu, Howard Searle and junior Ben
Lloyd and four players managed to win. Marcus
Harvey (graded over 200) was one and Carl
Portman (that would be me) graded a lowly 168
was another, while Paul Girdlestone and Liam
Glenn also managed to lower the Grandmaster’s
colours. Of course one can only win if the
opponent – be he a GM or not – makes some sort
of error and you capitalise on it and Peter was
playing a lot of people after all. Nevertheless
any win is a good win especially against such an
esteemed opponent.
I must mention that the young
player I am coaching – Seb Watkins - sat next to
me and I was as excited about seeing him play
his first GM as I was in my own game. He began
brightly and eventually lost after reaching his
magic target of 50 moves. Not bad for a nine
year old is it?
The other juniors (who I do
not know) apparently gave performances above
expectation and I expect that Mr Wells had a
tougher evening than he anticipated. It was good
to see some of the stronger club players like
Mike Truran and Dave Hackett (who were not
playing) walking around, answering questions
from the youngsters and giving subtle and good
natured tips and hints for them. It was all very
informal, very civilised and hugely enjoyable.
The saying goes ‘One can do a
great deal of good in this world if one does not
care who gets the credit for it’. Well I am
about to finish by giving credit anyway. Though
I probably have no licence to do so I want to
thank (on behalf of everyone who played) Mike,
Peter and anyone else involved in this event for
making it happen. Further, I am happy to confirm
that chess and ducks are alive and well in
Witney!
Simul photos provided
by Asen
Assenov and David Holton
For your
diary: Peter's next session, a lecture, will
take place on 11 March 2013 at 7.30 pm
also at Witney Chess Club.
See
more about this and how to book
your place.
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