“Another victory like that and we are done for.”-Pyrrhus, Greek General
“You pick the one right tool”- Anton Chigurh, Homocidal psychopath from No Country for Old Men
“Who ate the last wonton?”-Niels van Dam, VAS1 captain
It was never going to be easy. We knew that right after facing Delft where we dropped a very winnable match. Subsequent tough beats added up. After 4 rounds we were sitting miserably in last place with an incredulous 0.5/4. We were on our way out. Relegation loomed. Nothing but disarray and mocking reports from our opponents.
Then, something happened. Led by our crazy leader Niels (crazy enough to think we still had a chance), we decided it was time to hurt some people. Other people. For once.
Convincing wins against Caissa, Harlem, and SOPSWEPS should have gotten us out of trouble, normally. Alas, normality was not to be a common theme this year. An unexpected win from Harlem against frontrunners DD1 in round 8 turned everything around. Essentially, we would be playing for our survival against heavy favorites DD1. A loss could mean relegation to the dark ages of the Klass 2 abyss. Fortunately, a 5-5 draw would suffice to see us through.
Few have the luxury of dictating their fate. The blueprint for such occasions is well known.
First: Field your best team in decades. That’s easy. Especially when a Canadian grandmaster decides he’d like to visit Amsterdam for a few days. Pascal Charbonneau declined to play in the Olympiads for Canada, yet he volunteered his time to help out our VAS team fight off relegation. Priorities anyone? He might be crazier than Niels, me thinks. And before anyone asks, we are the only team that doesn’t have a regular IM or GM in their lineup. Novak and Pascal played a grand total of 3 games out of 90 while our regular players missed several. We ain’t apologizing. Regardless, with a 2247 average rating, we’d have a good chance against anyone.
Second: Become a team. A few dinner outings, a little trash talking, lots of laughs and anecdotes, and, sure, occasional chess training were crucial ingredients for that slow cooker called TEAM.
Third: Captainship. Looks easy, but when you have 13 players of close strength, different temperament, and personal goals, you got to make choices. Niels and Tex had the tuff job of benching strong elements and upboarding others. Kudos guys.
Fourth: Kick ass.
Back to our match. Five crucial points were needed. Let’s see how it unfolded.
0.5. Ramon took a quick draw against the dangerous Lahaye, thereby giving the DD 1 player a third IM norm (well done!).
1.5 Hilke scores. Without sweating too much, our own version of Mr Cool dispatched his opponent with clinical acumen. Quick and painless. I’m always surprised at how sound his chess fundamentals are. We’re still far off but inching closer to our goal. And with a heightened sense of confidence.
2.0 Tex draws. Our TV celebrity had the unenviable task of facing the child prodigy Noah Ritzerveld who is underrated by a few hundred points. Good opening preparation and solid play left Tex with very little winning chances, and, as the consummate professional he is, offered a timely draw before the tide started to turn. Classy.
3.0 Pascal wins. After a laborious opening where our GM was seen snoring from the tameness of the position, he “sacrificed” the exchange for some lively play and quickly found himself better, than winning. The guy makes it look easy. It wasn’t.3 out of 4, great start. We only needed 2 points from the remaining 6 games. Our goal was within sight. Relegation averted. Or was it? No one should underestimate our ability to complicate matters. Showmanship above practicality. Adrenaline over results. Tal over Petrosian.
3.0 Victor loses. After a very promising opening, where Victor seemed in his element, a couple of inaccuracies mixed with an inspired opponent led to an uncommon loss in an otherwise very good showing this year.
3.5 Marc (me) draws. John van der Wiel is a legend from my distant part of the world where GMs are a very uncommon sighting. I remember going through his battles against top players with vivid interest. I was eagerly hoping to cross paths with him and got my wish. I was quickly left to improvise in the opening. Yet, I handled myself well and gained a promising position. On move 21 my opponent, who had 6 minutes left on his clock, offered a draw. After careful analysis of the board situation and deliberations with Tex, it was decided that I would play on. But right then, Patriek got a timely draw offer which changed everything. Draw accepted. As an aside, it was an honor sharing the board and a couple of beers with this friendly and insightful Dutch star. Thx John.
4.0 Patriek draws. Patriek is definitely a new man of late, brimming with confidence and bravado. He is dedicating time to his craft and his play is pure class. He took it to his opponent rated 200 points higher, gaining a nice stable edge out of the opening. After a topsy-turvy battle his opponent offered a peaceful resolution to their encounter which was carefully accepted.There we were. Needing one point out of 3. Sweating bullets. And trying to predict the outcome. Anton was better and it was unlikely he could ever lose from his position (although Tex did a great job causing a near malignant arrhythmia when he noted a possible self-mate for Anton. Funny he was not this time). Marcos was pressuring his opponent from a pawn up position. And Rafael was defending a very uncomfortable game. All in all, it seemed likely we would do it.
4.5 Anton draws. Anton has been a an extremely reliable teammate these last 2 years. His rapid, no-nonsense, and confident play has been a nightmare for our opponents. Things went no differently yesterday. Playing against the dangerous Jeroen Blokhuis (who was close to an IM norm), Anton gained a solid advantage with black. There was a tense moment when we feared he could be playing for a win when a draw worked. But all was well in the Universe, and Anton took that critical half-point.
5.0 Marcos draws. When Marcos gets his type of position, move out of the way, and give him the point. It wasn’t quite the case yesterday; the game was as tense as Niels staring at leftovers at the dinner table. Yet, Marcos confidently outplayed his opponent at the right time and offered the crucial draw which could not be denied. A very unselfish gesture from our solid Spaniard.
5.5 Rafael draws. Our talented Rafael has had a difficult season but he more than made amends in the last 2 rounds. After a complicated opening where he misjudged something, he was left with a pawn down and a lifeless pawn structure. Trooper that he is, he was barely unnerved from these observations and confidently steered the position towards equality.
There it is! Had we lost these last 2 games, we would have been relegated. Instead, we are perched in 4th place, ahead of some of our tormentors (Purmerend and Delft). What a fun and decidedly stressful day. Luckily, alcohol was found in plenty of forms and format during the subsequent evening. Anecdotes were told and confessions admitted. Unfortunately, what happens in the Volkshotel bar, stays in the Volkshotel bar. So nothing to write here.
Much can be said of this team and of this year. But I’m left with an image of a coy smile on the faces of Niels, Tex, Patriek and Victor at midnight, proud of what we accomplished. We don’t get many days like this.
From a personal side, it was a thrill to get back into chess with a 2452 performance rating this year. But this pales in comparison with what I gained from the camaraderie and community at VAS1. Thank you all.
Before the battle
Celebration time
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