Let's be honest: when you finish 97th out of 102 teams, you're not writing match reports about your tactical brilliance. But here's the thing - that week in Rhodes might have been the best chess experience any of us have ever had. And that's exactly what we want young players at Morriston to understand: competitive chess isn't just about winning trophies. It's about the experiences, the friendships, and the stories you'll be telling for years.

The Bridal Suite Incident

Our adventure got off to an amusing start. Andrew and I (Adam) were allocated a room that was, shall we say, less than ideal. After a polite complaint, the hotel upgraded us to a suite affectionaltely dubbed the bridal suite by the others - complete with an enormous balcony overlooking palm trees and pools that wouldn't look out of place on a postcard. The rest of the team didn't let us forget it for the entire week. "Enjoying your honeymoon?" became a standard greeting. Though they were more than happy to use our "honeymoon patio" for game preparation between rounds - suddenly our palatial balcony became team headquarters. There's something surreal about analysing the Najdorf with a view of the Mediterranean while Duncan sets up his laptop in the Rhodes sunshine.

Chess as a Universal Language

In Round 3, I faced Bart Gijswijt from HWP Haarlem. For those who don't speak Dutch, "HWP" stands for "Witte Paard" - White Knights. Yes, the same name as our local rivals back home! Small world. Bart had just lost to Mamedyarov in Round 1. For context, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is a 2742-rated super-GM, regularly ranked in the world's top 10. So during our pre-game chat, I mentioned casually: "We actually beat Mamedyarov several years ago." I let that sit for exactly five seconds. Watched the confusion register on Bart's face. "...in table football." The ice thoroughly broken, we had several good laughs - pausing only for the serious business during the game itself. Later that evening, we played blitz with the Dutch team, swapping stories and making new friends. That's the magic of these events: chess transcends nationality, age, and language. By the end of the week, we'd shared drinks and games with teams from Holland, Ireland, Monaco, Luxembourg, Finland, Sweden, England and beyond.

The Ginger Ninjas

One evening in the bar, we bumped into Simon Williams - the famous GingerGM with hundreds of thousands of YouTube subscribers. Our young player Sam Brown was there, and tried to modestly describe himself as "strawberry blonde." Simon wasn't having it: "NO! Be proud of your gingerness! We're Ginger Ninjas together!"

The thumbs-up photo they took together is now one of Sam's prized possessions. We spent a while chatting with Simon and English GM Keith Arkell discussing their welshness and whether Duncan knew some chap named Paul from Ammanford- not nervously asking for autographs, but just talking chess like friends in a pub. That's what these tournaments offer: access to players you'd normally only see on screens, who turn out to be generous, funny people who genuinely love the game.

Rhodes: Not Your Typical Chess Venue

Between rounds, we explored. There's something wonderfully incongruous about analysing your losses while standing at the Acropolis of Rhodes, one of the ancient wonders of the world. The team photo there - six of us grinning in front of scaffolded ruins - captures the surreal nature of the trip perfectly.

The evenings had a rhythm of their own. As the sun set, the outdoor bar would fill with players from across Europe. Chess boards appeared on every table. Blitz games started spontaneously - sometimes serious, sometimes drunk, always fun. You'd look around and see players from Iceland analysing with Greeks, Norwegians laughing with Irish players, everyone united by 64 squares.

Why We Really Play Chess

Someone shared a pie chart in our team WhatsApp group titled "Benefits of Being a Chess Player." The options were Money, Girls, and Fame. The actual reasons - represented by the massive red section of the pie - were simply "Chess."

That's really it, isn't it? We don't play for riches or glory. We play because we love the game. Because it takes us to Rhodes in October. Because it lets us meet legendary grandmasters and make friends with Dutch and Turkish and Hungarian players. Because preparing on a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean is objectively better than preparing in a Morriston living room in November.

More Than the Result

Yes, we finished near the bottom of the standings. Yes, we lost matches we'd hoped to make closer. But we also:

• Made friendships that will last beyond the tournament
• Learned from watching and playing against much stronger opposition
• Experienced a different chess culture
• Created memories that no amount of winning could match
• Represented Wales and Morriston on an international stage
• Proved that a genuine local club can compete in Europe

Matteo gained his Candidate Master title and celebrated by meeting the legendary Vassily Ivanchuk. Duncan caught the shuttle bus and found himself chatting with 2700-rated GM Harikrishna about chess and life. We held the actual European Club Cup trophy after SuperChess won it - "closest we got," Ian joked, but we were grinning nonetheless.

This Could Be You

Here's the most important part: this wasn't a team of chess prodigies. We were what you might politely call "experienced" players (there was a lot of grey hair in that team photo). We're not grandmasters or full-time professionals. We're Morriston members who play in the Welsh leagues and work regular jobs.

But Morriston is a club with ambition. We enter these competitions not because we expect to win them, but because they make us better players and give us incredible experiences. Whether you're a junior looking to follow Matteo's path toward a title, or an adult improver wanting to test yourself at a higher level, Morriston can get you there. The European Club Cup isn't the pinnacle of an elite career - it's something you can actually do if you join a club like ours and commit to improving. Next time, it could be your photo holding the trophy (even if it's someone else's trophy). It could be you trading jokes with a Dutch grandmaster, or learning that bilingual road signs are your GeoGuessr secret weapon from a super-GM in a lift.

Coming Up

In our next article, we'll tell you about the legends we met - from Ivanchuk to Gelfand to that lift ride with Nihal Sarin. And when the game files arrive, we'll show you some of the chess itself and what we learned from being outplayed by Europe's best. But for now, remember this: chess isn't really about the pie chart's "Money, Girls, and Fame." It's about Rhodes in October, friends from across Europe, and a week you'll never forget. *Interested in joining Morriston Chess Club? Visit us on Wednesday evenings at Morriston Rugby Club or contact info@morristonchess.club