Club member, Paul Martin, writes about his return to playing chess:
I played competitive chess regularly and to a decent club standard up until the millennium, after which I pretty much gave up playing, both over the board and on-line. I never gave much thought to pawn structures for the next quarter of a century, until I settled down to watch the BBC series “Chess Masters: The Endgame” back in early 2025. If you also watched this then you may recall an older grey haired guy who fought his way into the final before falling at the last hurdle. He was introduced only as Ritchie but week in week out I wracked my memory trying to work out from where I knew him… eventually it dawned on me – he was the same twenty-something Ritchie I had played against several times in the RAF Chess Championships back in the 1980’s. I was now looking for a way of filling all the spare time that retirement brings (maybe!), and thought that if Ritchie was still burning up the chess board then surely it was not too late for me.
With a move to Newark imminent (it still remains on the horizon, but that is another story) I emailed the Newark chess club via the website, gained some details, and with a little apprehension I rolled up to a club night early in the 2025/26 season. I was perhaps surprised at the friendliness of the welcome, and that no one was judgemental as to my rather rusty performances… there was always an opponent of what seemed a similar ability.
Of course it did not take long for the “can you turn out for the 2nd team next week” question to be put to me, and so I found myself occupying the 4th berth alongside a group of team-mates who seemed to be a very experienced bunch.
My knowledge of opening theory was almost non-existent, but in my first game I reached the following position as black:
After my opponent played 28. Nf5, the computer suggests I had a small advantage after BxN and then Qxb2. However spot the losing blunder I played here…
The immediate 28… Rc8 threatening the Queen fails to 29. Ne7+ Whoops!!
I think this was the first indication of where my ability has suffered from years of inactivity – concentration across a 3 hour game needs to be developed, it is not like riding a bicycle where once learnt it is a skill never lost.
Unlike football, a loss in chess can still lead to promotion, as my next game was on a higher board against a stronger player!
I more than held my own, and in the position shown below, playing 35… Qe5 would have kept a clearly winning position:
Unfortunately I had a lapse in concentration again and played 35… e3 believing the threat of a Qf2 follow up wins. What did I overlook that prevented a first win?
After playing 35… e3 white has the resource 36. Rh7+ Kh7 37. Qf5+ and black cannot prevent checks along the white diagonal (a black Q on e5 would prevent this escape.
At about this time I bumped into another ex-RAF colleague from the 1980’s, one who happened to have remained a long-standing member of another Nottinghamshire Chess Club. He persuaded me to rejoin the Armed Forces Chess Association, and so as a pensioner I get my call up papers for the first time since the first Gulf war.
Approaching Christmas 2025, my results had been somewhat hit and miss with concentration being difficult to maintain for longer periods. The last example of this problem came in mid-December as my rating stood at about 1450.
Having played a pawn gambit in the opening I was looking to force an early check mate, and reached the position shown below after 18 moves. The computer gives this as a significant +6 in my favour – the gambit was sound!
After black played 18… f6, the computer suggests 19. Qh6 is the best move, then you can explore the possibilities of 19… fe5 20. Bg6.
I went astray with 19. Qg3? fe5 20. Re3 ed4. My idea of 21. Be4 fails to 21… Qd6. I went on to lose in 40 moves.
To show that perseverance brings its rewards, I can confirm that it was mainly plain sailing from there, as I scored 13 – 8 – 6 in the last 6 months of the season saw me add a respectable 340 grading points to my earlier tally.
A sample game from the second half of the season, as Newark 2 hosted Ashfield 3:
White: Paul Martin (1630)
Black: Rob Jarvis (1629)
PM