This week, Castell Nedd Juniors were delighted to welcome a White Knights team from Llanelli for a friendly evening of chess. It marked the first match of the year for our Barbarians, with several players stepping up to higher boards for the first time as some of our strongest juniors are now competing in the official West Wales Chess League.

The evening began at something close to blitz speed — at times I could barely follow the games as they seemed to move faster than the speed of light! As the night went on, however, the pace gradually settled. This is one of the great benefits of matches like these: playing for your club, often with a clock for the first time, can feel stressful and lead to rushed decisions. With a little advice and growing confidence, players such as Cae and Ossian slowed down noticeably and began producing much more thoughtful play. With both teams finishing on 10 wins each, it was clear that everyone had enjoyed themselves and that the evening was a real success.

Oscar took on the top board initially, facing two particularly strong White Knights players for this level. Their games were very impressive, and they certainly deserved a nod of congratulations. On the lower boards, Misha, one of our youngest players, picked up some excellent wins and showed she is ready to move up. Even in her loss she was winning comfortably before a piece blunder, and her final game reached a pawn-and-bishop endgame — a rare and valuable experience in junior chess.

One of the standout performances came from Finlay, who in both games took his time, developed well, and launched some promising attacks. In his second game, the loss of a piece ultimately prevented a better result, but the quality of play was very encouraging.

Ossian, representing the Barbarians for the second time, played on one of the lower boards and scored 1 win from 3 games. He was clearly winning another game and could have achieved an even stronger result with a little more patience.

Stepping in on the top boards for White Knights were Advik and Aarush, both now regular players in the West Wales Chess League. Advik (approaching a 1400 grade!) dropped a pawn early and faced a beautiful kingside attack, but defended calmly before launching a counterattack that led to a winning endgame. Aarush once again showed the skills that have taken him to the next level, although his opponent made him work hard throughout.

The best results on paper came from Ethan, who scored a perfect 3/3. Ethan is a sharp and dangerous player, but to progress further he needs to slow down. Encouragingly, his third game showed exactly that — calm, controlled, and well played. That’s the standard to aim for every time!

A big thank you to White Knights for making the trip down — we’re already looking forward to our visit to Llanelli later in the year. Top individual results: Ethan – 3/3 Misha – 1.5/3 Advik – 1/1 Aarush – 1/1 Finlay – 1/2 Well done to Oscar, Virat, Ethan, Misha, Finlay, Ossian, Cae, Aarush, Amulya, Angela, and Advik for proudly representing the club.