Bottom line was we got a very creditable drawn match with a team 100-200 points higher on 5 of the boards. A somewhat tame, slightly strangely subdued match though. Dave got a decent position from the opening but not being on the greatest form, and black against an IM, he forced a repetition after 20 or so moves. I was also black against a player 100 points higher so when he trotted down a line of the Benko, that we’d both had before, which forces most of the pieces off into a drawn rook ending, I was also happy with the 5 or 6 fold repetition that took us to move 30. Andy got a decent position from the opening but, again, playing a 2500 GM he was happy to hold what he had and a draw was agreed. Thus the Ledger work was done and we retired to a hotel bar to see what the rest of them could manage.
Our board 5, the one board we had the higher rating on then received several gifts in the space of not many moves, an exchange then a piece and thus the game. Sadly, on board 2, Richard had had a decent position but rather collapsed in time trouble. This left board 3 in a very dull bishop ending to eventually agree a draw to make it 3-3. None of the games are remotely publishable. If anyone is desperate for some chess then this game was a talking point in the bar later. One of those endings you might get once in a chess career, king and 2 Ns v king and pawn. Try and visualise how you’d block the pawn with one N then shepherd the K to a corner with your K and N before delivering mate. My team of IMs and FMs were very bad at doing this.
Nino Batsiashvili v. Anna Muzhichuk from Women’s round 3, both GMs:
Steve Ledger, 24th October 2025