Argh:
Exclamation
1. used by polite chess players to express despair when realising they have dropped another clanger.
There were quite a few moments of pain at St Mary’s on the last Tuesday of October 2026, a night which will not be remembered for a very long time. Maybe there was something in the air. Lately, when I head off to to the club on Tuesday nights, my beloved has taken to saying, “ I don’t want to hear the B word when you get back.” She means, of course, the word “blunder.” Amazing how we study endings, openings, classic games and so on, all for it to be chucked away by doing something ridiculous.
Crewe B had to face the hugely experienced Holmes Chapel on the night I refer to. Top board looked lively but ended up in an early draw. On board 2 Captain Dave was on the back foot, and in desperation sent his knight behind enemies lines,only for it to be snaffled by his opponent, John Turner. John soon bagged the point. I was confident that Dr Raeburn would win his game on board 4; he was the exchange up, had all the space, and was moving in for the kill. Unfortunately Andy had not allowed for that fact that his own king was exposed, and he walked right into a mating net. On board 3 Tom Lee was getting crushed by Pat Bennet; pawns were dropping, pieces had nowhere to go; terrible. I came back to their board as they were setting up the pieces, and was surprised to hear that Tom had been declared the winner. Pat had blundered his queen. Well done to Pat for taking it so well. Crewe 1.5 – Holmes Chapel 2.5.
Tim Weston appeared to be struggling in a rook and pawn ending. I missed the finish and asked him how he had got on. Tim shrugged and told me, to my surprise, that he had won. Apparently his opponent just resigned, in a position where he was absolutely fine. This result helped the helped Crewe H beat Newcastle in the Division 3 match.
As you know, we keep getting new members at the club, and Koray Calli won on board 1 to help Crewe L beat Alsager E 3-1. He made it look easy, and I reckon he could be a pretty useful player for us. On board 3 Freddy’s opponent offered him a draw, so Freddy accepted quick as a shot, and then showed his opponent why the position was dead lost.
One last one; in an internal club game Wallace Hung had played well against Mario, until he walked into a back ranker and Mario cleaned up. I see Wallace bounced back two days later, helping Crewe K beat Holmes Chapel 4-0. Well done Wallace.
I admit, fellow members, that I am just as guilty as you are, and will keep trying to keep in mind those pesky seeds of tactical destruction. I will probably forget though. On a brighter note, I guess you could argue that it all evens itself out, even though you remember you own blunders more than those of your opponents. I know, I know, you were winning anyway.
Just one more thing. Well done to Jamie R for joining, for the first time, our slowly expanding 2000 point rating club. He has been improving steadily for some time, and we think he will go on to be a good bit stronger.
Stay tuned.
All the best.