In 1997 Club Bullwinkle took a minimalist approach to teams chess, introducing the now-infamous Bullwinkle’s Interclub competition. Run in 2 divisions, this event featured 2-player teams, with a scoring system of 1.0 per win, ½ per draw, ½ per team victory, and ½ per clean sweep. The organisers also decided upon an organise it yourself approach, with predictable results.

A Grade (7 teams, 17 players)

1^st place = Team K.A.O.S. (Stawski / Edwards)

2^nd place = The Ankle Biters (Smerdon / Poon)

1^st board 1 = Michael Cashman (Redcliffe #1)

1^st board 2 = Jacob Edwards (Team K.A.O.S.)

Mission Control (Uebel / Dubrovsky) gave a sign of things to come when they turned up late and with no equipment to their match against the Ankle Biters. Meanwhile, Team K.A.O.S. unveiled a policy of sub-chaotic play, which, to this day, nobody really understands. The ever-enigmatic [Untitled] team (Davidovici / Constantinou) played their first match...6 days apart. Overall, the White pieces scored 5.5/6.0, but, with the exception of a heavy dose of first round inefficiency, there were no real incidents.

Smerdon,David-Uebel,Konrad: 1.Nc3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4 a6 8.Qg4 f5 9.Qh3 c5 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.O-O-O cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Rxd4 Nb6 14.g4 Qc5 15.Rd2 fxg4 16.Qxg4 Bd7 17.Qxg7 O-O-O 18.Rg1 Qe3 19.Qg3 Qc5 20.Nd1 d4 21.Qf2 Bc6 22.Rg3 Nc4 23.Bxc4 Qxc4 24.b3 Qb4 25.Rgd3 Rhg8 26.Rxd4 Qa3+ 27.Kb1 Rxd4 28.Qxd4 Bd5 29.Nc3 Qa5 30.Nxd5 exd5 31.Qxd5 Rg1+ 32.Kb2 1-0

Dubrovsky,Alejandro-Poon,Nick: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.e5 Ne8 10.Qh5 g6 11.Qg4 Ng7 12.O-O-O b5 13.Qf3 d5 14.g4 b4 15.Nce2 Qa5 16.Kb1 Bd7 17.f5 f6 18.fxg6 fxe5 19.Qh3 h5 20.Nb3 Qc7 21.Ng3 h4 22.g5 Nf5 23.Nxf5 exf5 24.Qxh4 Rf7 25.gxf7+ Kxf7 26.g6+ Ke6 27.Bxf5+ 1-0

Team K.A.O.S. defeated Redcliffe #2 (Stokes / Szabo) in a free-for-all time scramble. Michael Cashman continued his good run, leading Redcliffe #1 to victory over the Ankle Biters. And then... Myxomatosis (Corner / Regan) entered the tournament with a clean sweep victory over a board-reversed Mission Control. This, of course, was the occasion of the Regan Incident.

The Regan Incident: The would-be match between Mission Control and Myxomatosis had to be re-scheduled twice due to the sleeping habits/requirements of air traffic controller Tony Regan. Eventually, an early morning start was agreed upon, but, when the teams came together, Alejandro The Argentine Owl Dubrovsky was sound asleep and nowhere to be seen. Regan’s lunch was put in the fridge, the clocks were started, and Mission Control captain Konrad Uebel phoned around desperately in search of a reserve. Regan, having grown bored with clamoring for a forfeit, wandered through the house and, in the words of Uebel, had a go at everything. In particular, his attention seemed to be caught by a punching bag, which he promptly started laying into. Sanity eventually prevailed in the form of Iron Mike Corner, who agreed to swap boards and play his game later in the day. Uebel moved down to board 2, lost to Regan, drove his opponent home, and deposited Corner at Dubrovsky’s residence for the 2^nd half of the match... Later that night, Uebel received a phone call from Regan, who had left his lunch in the fridge, and wanted it driven from Logan to the Northside. Not surprisingly, Uebel declined this invitation, and was grudgingly given permission to eat the yoghurt content of the meal. The fate of the yoghurt in question, and the all-important teaspoon, has sadly been lost to posterity.

Smerdon,David-Cashman,Michael: 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 Nbd7 4.f3 c5 5.dxc5 e6 6.b4 b6 7.c6 Ne5 8.b5 Bb4 9.Qd4 Nc4 10.Rb1 Qe7 11.e4 Na3 12.Rb2 e5 13.Qd3 d4 14.Bd2 dxc3 15.Bxc3 Bxc3+ 16.Qxc3 Qc5 17.Qxc5 bxc5 18.Nh3 Be6 19.Ng5 Bc4 20.Bxc4 Nxc4 21.Rb3 h6 22.Nh3 O-O-O 23.Nf2 Rd4 24.Rc3 Kc7 25.Nd3 Kb6 26.a4 a6 27.bxa6 Ra8 28.O-O Nd2 29.a5+ Kxc6 30.Rd1 Ndxe4 31.fxe4 Nxe4 32.Nxe5+ Kd5 33.Rxd4+ Kxd4 34.Rb3 Kxe5 35.Rb6 Nd6 36.Kf2 Ra7 37.Kf3 Kd5 38.Ke2 h5 39.g3 g5 40.h3 Re7+ 41.Kd3 Nc4 42.c3 Nxb6 43.axb6 Kc6 44.b7 Kc7 45.Kc4 Re5 0-1

Stawski,Nik-Stokes,Mark: 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.a4 Bc5 7.Bc4 Qc7 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.O-O Nge7 10.Rd1 O-O 11.Bg5 Ng6 12.Rac1 Nce5 13.Ba2 Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 Qe5 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Qxe3 b5 17.g3 d6 18.b4 Rd8 19.Qb6 Rd7 20.Qc6 Rb8 21.f4 Nxf4 22.gxf4 Qxf4 23.Ne2 Qe3+ 24.Kf1 Qf3+ 25.Ke1 Rd8 26.Rxd6 Qf6 27.e5 Qh4+ 28.Kd1 Bb7 29.Qc7 Bf3 30.Rc2 Rxd6+ 31.exd6 Qd4+ 32.Kc1 Qe3+ 33.Kb1 Rf8 34.d7 Qd3 35.Nc1 Qd4 36.Nb3 Qd1+ 37.Rc1 Be4+ 38.Kb2 Qe2+ 39.Ka3 bxa4 40.d8=Q 1-0

Mission Control played its first night game, arriving only marginally late (but with a bottle of Coke). This did wonders for their play, and they emerged victorious over Redcliffe #1. The Ankle Biters, meanwhile, demolished Redcliffe #2, and Tony Regan, perhaps suffering from yoghurt deprivation, was demolished by Connie Constantinou as Myxomatosis drew with the [Untitled] team.

Stokes,Mark-Smerdon,David: 1.e4 c5 2.d3 d6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.f4 Nc6 6.c3 e6 7.Nf3 Nge7 8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O Bd7 10.Nbd2 b6 11.Nc4 Qc7 12.e5 dxe5 13.Ncxe5 Rad8 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.Ne1 c4 16.Qa4 Na5 17.Qa3 cxd3 18.Rd1 Nc4 19.Qb3 Nxe3 20.Rxd3 Qxd3 21.Nxd3 Rxd3 22.Re1 Nxg2 23.Kxg2 Nf5 24.Re2 Rfd8 25.Qc2 Ne3+ 26.Rxe3 Rd2+ 27.Re2 Rxc2 0-1

Constantinou,Constantia-Regan,Tony: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bc5 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4 7.dxe5 Nxe4 8.Qd4 Nxc3 9.Qxb4 Nxb5 10.Qxb5 b6 11.Qd5 Rb8 12.O-O Bb7 13.Qc4 Bc6 14.Qg4 Rg8 15.Bg5 Qc8 16.Qb4 f6 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Rfe1+ Kf7 19.Qe7+ Kg6 20.Qxf6+ Kh5 21.Qh6+ Kg4 22.h3+ 1-0

Redcliffe #1 proved too strong for Redcliffe #2, while Team K.A.O.S. – in a match that was postponed (for Regan) and later abandoned – were deprived of the opportunity to use their new secret musical weapon. In the meantime, Mission Control, finally calling upon a reserve, lost to the [Untitled] team in what was a match of missed opportunities.

Redcliffe #2 and Mission Control, deciding that they were out of the running, opted for the time-honoured tradition of double-forfeit. A Regan-less Myxomatosis was whitewashed by the Ankle Biters, and Team K.A.O.S. built up enough of a lead by beating the [Untitled] team that it was now conceivable that they could drop the aforementioned match against Myxomatosis. This round, for no particular reason, was played before Round 4, and featured a game (Corner-Smerdon) with dinner and dessert breaks.

Corner,Michael-Smerdon,David: 1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be2 Nf6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 h6 7.h3 e5?! 8.de de 9.Nxe5 Qe7 10.Ng4 Bxg4 11.Bxg4 Rd8 12.Qe2 (The game being played at the eventual winner’s house around 6:30pm, the players thoughtfully adjourned for dinner after this move.) 12...Nc6 13.Bf4 Nd4 14.Qc4 c6 15.a4 Nxg4 16.hg b5 17.ab cb 18.Qa2 b4 (...but now white’s demise is sudden and painful.) 19.Nd5 Ne2+ 20.Kh1 Qxe4 21.Rfe1 Rac8 22.Be3 Rxc2 23.Rad1 Qxg4 24.Rxe2 Rxe2 25.Qa5 Qh5+ 26.Kg1 Rxd5 27.Qa4 Rxe3 0-1 [notes by Jacques Smerdon]

Davidovici,Victor-Stawski,Nik: 1.Nf3 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 e5 4.d3 d5 5.c4 dxc4 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.Qxc4 Be6 8.Qa4 Nge7 9.Nc3 h6 10.Ne4 Qc8 11.h4 O-O 12.Bd2 f5 13.Nc5 Bd5 14.e4 Bf7 15.Rc1 b5 16.Qa6 Qxa6 17.Nxa6 fxe4 18.dxe4 Bxa2 19.Nxc7 Rac8 20.Na6 Bc4 21.b4 Nd4 22.Nxd4 exd4 23.f4 Nc6 24.e5 d3 25.Be4 Nd4 26.Bxg6 Nf3+ 27.Kd1 Bb3+ 0-1

Redcliffe #1 joined Myxomatosis on the sidelines for a double-forfeit. David Smerdon’s up and down tournament continued when he lost to Victor Davidovici, the match against [Untitled] ending in a draw. Mission Control finally met Team K.A.O.S. in a long-awaited showdown, and there, too, a draw resulted.

Uebel,Konrad-Stawski,Nik: 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Be3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O Bd7 10.f4 Qb6 11.c5 Qxc5 12.Nf5 Qb4 13.a3 Qxb2 14.Na4 Qxa1 15.Qxa1 gxf5 16.Qd1 Nxe4 17.Bf3 b5 18.Nc5 Nxc5 19.Bxc5 Rac8 20.Bf2 Rc7 21.Qd3 Na5 22.Be1 Nc4 23.Bc3 e5 24.Bd5 e4 25.Qg3 Ne5 26.fxe5 f4 27.Rxf4 Rxc3 28.Qxc3 Bxe5 29.Qg3+ Kh8 30.Qh4 f5 31.Qe7 Rc8 32.Rf1 1-0

Edwards,Jacob-Dubrovsky,Alejandro: 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 e3 7.Bxe3 Nxd5 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Nxf4 10.Qd2 Qe7+ 11.Ne2 Ne6 12.O-O-O b6 13.Nf4 Bb7 14.Be2 Nd7 15.Rhe1 O-O-O 16.Bg4 Ndc5 17.Bb4 Qh4 18.Bh3 Kb8 19.g3 Qf6 20.Nxe6 Nxe6 21.Bg2 Rhe8 22.Bxb7 Kxb7 23.Qg2+ Kb8 24.Qc6 Qg5+ 25.Bd2 Qd5 26.Qxd5 Rxd5 27.Bc3 Rf5 28.Rf1 Rxf1 29.Rxf1 Re7 30.Re1 Re8 31.Kd2 Kb7 32.h4 Rd8 33.Ke3 h5 34.b4 Kc6 35.Rd1 Rd5 36.Bb2 b5 37.Rd2 Rf5 38.c4 a6 39.Ke4 g6 40.d4 Kd6 41.c5+ Kd7 42.d5 Nd8 43.Bd4 c6 44.Be3 cxd5+ 45.Rxd5+ Rxd5 46.Kxd5 Nc6 47.a3 a5 48.Bd2 a4 49.Bg5 Kc7 50.Bf4+ Kd7 51.Bd6 Nd8 52.Ke5 Nc6+ 53.Kf6 Ke8 54.Bf4 Nd8 55.Bd6 Nc6 56.Bc7 Na7 57.Ke5 Kd7 58.Bd6 Nc6+ 59.Kd5 Nd8 60.Bf4 Nc6 61.Bg5 Nb8 62.c6+ Nxc6 63.Kc5 f5 64.Bf6 Ne7 65.Kxb5 Nd5 66.Bd4 f4 67.gxf4 Nxf4 68.Kxa4 Ne6 69.Bf2 g5 70.hxg5 Nxg5 71.Kb5 Nf3 72.Ka6 h4 73.b5 h3 74.Bg3 Nd4 75.a4 Ne6 76.b6 Nc5+ 77.Ka7 Kc6 78.a5 Nb7 79.a6 Nd6 1-0

Team K.A.O.S., backing up on the same day as their Round 6 clash, were lucky to defeat the Ankle Biters, and thus claim the title. Interestingly enough, the side-lining of 4 teams lead to the culmination in this round of an unofficial ‘semi-finals’ and ‘final’ series.

Stawski,Nik-Smerdon,David: 1.e4 e6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 d6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Be2 Nge7 9.Qd2 O-O 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.Nc2 b6 12.Bh6 f5 13.h4 fxe4 14.Nxe4 d5 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Qc3+ Qe5 17.cxd5 exd5 18.Qxe5+ Nxe5 19.Nc3 Rd8 20.h5 b5 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Rd4 Be6 23.Rdh4 N7c6 24.f4 Nf7 25.Rh7+ Kf6 26.g4 Rh8 27.g5+ Ke7 28.Bd3 Rag8 29.Kf2 Rxh7 30.Rxh7 d4 31.Ne4 Rh8 32.Rxh8 Nxh8 33.b3 Bf5 34.Kf3 Nf7 35.a4 bxa4 36.bxa4 a5 37.Bb5 Nb4 38.Nxd4 Nd6 39.Nxd6 Kxd6 40.Nxf5+ gxf5 41.Bc4 Nc2 42.g6 Nd4+ 43.Kg3 Ne6 44.Bxe6 Kxe6 45.Kh4 Kf6 46.Kh5 1-0

B Grade (9 teams, 18 players)

1^st place = The Black Knights (Flynn / Booy)

2^nd place = Rocky’s Revenge (Norris / Rose)

1^st board 1 = Chris Flynn (Black Knights)

1^st board 2 = Craig Stewart (Errant Knights)

A friendly [Untitled] team was introduced half way through B Division, but even they could not stop the Black Knights from sweeping to victory. Chris Flynn and Peter Booy showed considerable determination in cleaning up their opposition, to the point even (so rumor has it) of throwing bricks through windows. Craig Stewart showed once again his obsession for the Grob, and, surprisingly, a seeming inability to lose with it.

Flynn,Chris-Ritchie,Jim: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 O-O 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 Bb6 10.Re1 Bb7 11.e5 Ne8 12.a3 d5 13.Nc3 Ne7 14.Qd3 f6 15.Bc2 f5 16.Ng5 Qd7 17.Qh3 h6 18.e6 Qc8 19.Nf7 Bxd4 20.Bxf5 Nxf5 21.Qxf5 c6 22.Qg4 Bf6 23.Nxh6+ 1-0

Stewart,Craig-Booy,Peter: 1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 c6 3.h3 e5 4.d4 Bd6 5.dxe5 Bxe5 6.Nf3 Bc7 7.Qd4 Qf6 8.Qa4 Nd7 9.Qa3 Qd6 10.b4 Ne7 11.Bb2 f6 12.Nbd2 Ng6 13.c4 Nf4 14.Bf1 Qe7 15.e3 Be5 16.O-O-O Bxb2+ 17.Qxb2 Ng6 18.Nd4 Nde5 19.f4 Nxc4 20.Bxc4 dxc4 21.Nxc4 Bd7 22.Nf5 Bxf5 23.Nd6+ Kf8 24.Nxf5 Qe4 25.Qd4 Qe6 26.Qc5+ Kg8 27.Rh2 h6 28.Rd6 Qe4 29.Qd4 Qxd4 30.Rxd4 Kh7 31.Rd7 1-0

Rose,Allinta-Stewart,Craig: 1.d4 h6 2.e4 g5 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Bd3 d6 5.Nc3 c5 6.dxc5 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Qa5 8.Bb2 Qxc5 9.Qe2 Nd7 10.O-O Ngf6 11.Rad1 g4 12.Nd2 Ne5 13.Bb5+ Bd7 14.a4 Rg8 15.Nb3 Qb6 16.c4 g3 17.Bd4 gxh2+ 18.Kxh2 Qc7 19.c5 dxc5 20.Nxc5 Nf3+ 21.Kh1 Qh2+ 0-1

Prizes proved to be problematical. The organisers put on a stunning display of mis-navigation in their search for a trophy shop, and were only just able to secure mementos for the Black Knights. The ever-unpredictable Team K.A.O.S. opted to receive (instead of trophies) a large, evil-looking penguin, which for many years served faithfully as their mascot and chauffeur.

The Bullwinkle Interclub was every bit as zany, irrational and strange as people anticipated. It is, for instance, still unclear as to whether or not Davidovici and Constantinou ([Untitled] team) actually met each other. Uebel and Dubrovsky played on both boards for their team. Shiloh Norris went one better, playing in both divisions. The only question that has really remained unanswered is: Why didn’t Uebel use the Power Glove in his team’s quest for victory?