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Fresh from their triumphs in the NYCA Under 12 and Under 14 finals as well as victory over Ireland in June, a sixteen strong Sussex team arrived confidently in Leiderdorp for Holland ’s Battle of the Giants. With twelve England players, six national champions, and six foot seven Andrew Tucker in the team we felt we had to do well. Eight teams from five countries were competing for the title, substantial cash prizes, or for fifth place, “a large cake”.
In 2005, when the event was last held, we came third behind a very strong Belgian and Dutch team, so we knew the competition would be fierce. The first round went very well with an impressive 14-2 victory against Dutch club, Schaakmaat. In the second round we played French side Le Perchay and scored 11 ½ to 5 ½. However, Zukertort of Holland had scored even better against the same opposition, so we knew we faced a much tougher fight against them. After a stirring team talk from Jonathan everyone raised their game and we ended up winning 12 - 4.
On the Saturday evening our hosts organised an evening of Krazee chess, Fischer random and a wild version of exchange where the taken piece had to be hurled across the room to the player’s partner. Flying knights filled the air as children screamed and spectators took cover.
Sunday was always going to be crucial. The two strongest teams from the other group, hosts Leiderdorp and the Belgian national team, had both beaten Sussex in 2005.
We faced Leiderdorp in the morning with some trepidation but when Felix Haxby came out after five minutes with a win the omens looked good. As it turned out, the whole team excelled themselves, scoring 12 ½ - 3 ½. Those who finished early had the unique opportunity to play an international master dressed as Father Christmas and his two assistants, who were duly despatched by nine year old Robert Fitzgerald and ten year old Toby Harris.
After one last stirring team talk from Jonathan and more words of encouragement from our gallant captain Grant Bucher the team faced its final battle, against the highly rated Belgium national outfit, Promotie Jeugdschaak Vlaanderen, the 2005 winners. As the players started to come back we realised we were heading for a famous victory, finally winning by a margin of 13-3.
Every player, Grant Bucher, Joe Fraser, Andrew Tucker, George Salimbeni, David Grant, Alex Galliano, Zi-yuan Qu, Matthew Payne, Jude Lenier, Shyam and Ram Mohan, Polly Lambert, Robert Fitzgerald, Felix Haxby, Toby Harris, and even four foot two Otto Pyper, was a giant.
The event was brilliantly organised with the Dutch arbiters impressively
and seamlessly explaining the tournament arrangements in five languages.
We look
forward to Jonathan doing the same at the next Sussex training day. The
smooth running of the whole trip was a tribute to the organisational
skills of Claire
Salimbeni and the fantastic support of Sussex parents.
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