In a friendly match last year, Phoenix Trophy champions Club Bullwinkle suffered the indignity of losing to a high school team. (Admittedly it was ACGS, the second best school in the world!) This year, in an attempt to re-establish some pride, Club B took on Logan City in a 10-board showdown.

When it became clear that Logan’s top two players (Gudmundsson and Sarfati) would be unavailable, Bullwinkle correspondingly ruled out its top two (Smerdon and Meldrum), and the contest became a real test of depth. Logan City, although out-rated, were always going to be tough to defeat on their home turf, and Club Bullwinkle faced the daunting task of bringing together fully two thirds of its geographically dispersed and largely inactive membership.

The match turned into something of a reunion for Club Bullwinkle, as its Phoenix Trophy teams of 1994, 1995 and 1996 were each reassembled for the first time.

Jonathan Humphrey and Jasmine Lauer-Smith debuted successfully for the club (the latter somewhat drunkenly by phone from Adelaide), Alejandro Dubrovsky and Paul Kalokerinos showed little sign of rustiness despite years away from the game, and Jacob Edwards and Karina Mowles (trauma recipients of last year’s ‘Churchie debacle’) both notched up wins.

Craig Stewart stepped up to Board 1 for Logan, and was very impressive in dispatching FM Nik Stawski. Chris Flynn out-stayed Danish import Ricky Nash on Board 3, and Logan secured a 3/6 result on the top boards when Bullwinkle’s number 6 fell victim to the infamous Logan City ‘needle in a hay-stack’ forfeiture trap.

The final score was 7-3 to Bullwinkle, and sources close to both clubs report that a rematch is imminent. The Logan City Club is a particularly friendly and hospitable place to visit, both for social and competitive players. Thanks in particular must go to Jim Ritchie for all his work throughout the night.

[match details]

Craig Stewart shows here that he has no fear of the Albin Counter-Gambit, regardless of opponent:

Stewart,C-Stawski,N 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 Craig is firmly convinced that the Albin cannot be allowed to go unpunished. Sadly for us Albin adherents, he here comes close to refuting the great opening. 3.dxe5 d4 4.a3 White wastes no time in threatening the queenside expansion that can break Black’s game. 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 a5 The trademark Stawski ‘prophylactic’ move. 6.e3 Bg4 7.Be2 Bc5 8.Nxd4 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Black has done nothing wrong by Albin standards, but is already experiencing difficulties. 9...Nxe5?! 9...Bxd4 10.exd4 Nxd4 is more ‘sound’, but gives White a comfortable edge in a simplified position. True to character, Nik chose instead to complicate. (10...Qxd4 looks natural, but is countered by 11.e6!) 10.0-0 Qh4 11.Nd2 0-0-0 12.N2f3 Qh5 13.Nb3!? 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.Qg4+ Kb8 15.Nf3 Qf6 16.Qg5 was the solid alternative. 13...Bd6 14.h3 14.c5?? Nxf3+ with mate next move. 14...a4 15.Nbd4 c5 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.Nf3 Qh5 18.Bd2! Simple, but necessary. All White’s pieces can now be activated at will. 18...Nf6 19.Ba5 Rd7 20.Qc2 Re8 21.Rad1 Re4 22.Qxa4 Nd5!? Innovative, but ultimately doomed to failure. 23.Rxd5 Bh2+ 24.Kxh2 Qxd5 24...Rxd5 25.Bb6! 25.cxd5 Rxa4 White is now winning comfortably, and makes no mistake in bringing home the point. 26.Bc3 f6 27.Rd1 b5 28.Ne1 b4 29.axb4 cxb4 30.Bd4 Rxd5 31.Rc1+ Kd7 32.Rc4 Rb5 33.Nd3 Kd6 34.Bc5+ Kd5 35.Rd4+ Kc6 36.Bxb4 1-0

Paul Kalokerinos finished this game so quickly that he was able to back up for a second victory on board 6:

Kalokerinos,P-Simonsen,R 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c5!? More common is to delay this challenge until after the focus is switched from d5, with 3...Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 4.Nf3 a6? Although aimed at preventing Bb5 (and thereby indirectly contributing to Black’s pressure on d4), this move is too slow. 5.exd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Qxd5 Qxd5 8.Nxd5 Bc5? Black is lost, regardless. 8...Bd6 9.Nb6 Bb4+ 10.c3; or 8...Kd8 9.Bf4 with the immediate threat of 10.Nb6, and long-term pressure through 0-0-0 9.Nc7+ 1-0

And now we come to The Story of Konrad ‘Ethan Hunt’ Uebel, experienced campaigner and only person to receive the much-coveted Bullwinkle Player of the Year award on more than one occasion. Konrad, having agreed to play against Logan, found himself in the wrong city come match day, as work commitments had taken him to Melbourne for a week. Determined not to let the team down, however, he jumped on the first available Brisbane-bound plane, and indeed was flying those friendly skies even as the match commenced. Previous discussions with team captain Jacob Edwards had led Konrad to the conclusion that his placing on board 9 would pit him against an ‘easy’ opponent. As it happened, however, his reputation and standing as ex- Logan City Champion induced the opposition to place one of their more experienced and highly rated players down the batting order. Edwards, preoccupied with his own game, neglected to mention this fact at the appropriate time, and Konrad, freshly disembarked, was blissfully unaware as he left the airport. To avoid forfeiture under the one-hour rule, he made his first move by phone from a taxi on the freeway (an act that incited the taxi driver to unsolicited interest in his nocturnal trek into the middle of nowhere) and proceeded with all haste to the match. Arriving wearing a suit and tie, suitcase in hand, Konrad adjusted quickly to the shock of being paired against Peter Booy (and incidentally being a pawn down after three half-moves). He removed the tie and, with 30 minutes to his opponent’s 90, sat down to play...

Booy,P-Uebel,K 1.d4 e5?! This decision came as quite a shock to Nik Stawski, who was acting as Konrad’s proxy for the first move. ‘e5?’ he asked. ‘Are you sure? You want to play e5?!’ Konrad’s answer was an adamant ‘Yes!’, understandably so given that he’d misheard White’s first move and was consequently under the misapprehension that he was facing 1.b4 (Indeed, when Nik took over the Board 5 phone-work later in the night, and gave White’s 19^th as ‘Queen to Banana Five’, Konrad was heard to exclaim indignantly, ‘Oh, so now he uses the code!’) 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 d6 3...Qe7 4.Qd5 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 is probably the more sensible way to gambit the pawn. 4.exd6 Bxd6 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 Bg4 8.Bg5 Re8 9.Re1 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.c3 Rad8 12.Qc2 Bc5 13.Nbd2 Qe6 14.e3 Bf5 15.Qb3 Qc8 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.cxd4 Bb6 18.Nc4 Re6 19.Nxb6 Rxb6 20.Qc3 Rg6 21.Rac1 c6 22.e4 Bh3 23.Rcd1 h5! 24.Bxh3 Qxh3 25.Qf3 h4 26.Qg2 Qe6 27.b3 Qd6 28.d5 Qa3 29.dxc6 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 bxc6 31.f4?! Safer was 31.Qh3 Qxa2 32.Qxh4 Rh6 33.Qd8+ Kh7 34.Qd3 31...Qc5+ 32.Qf2 Qa5 33.Kg2 hxg3 34.hxg3 Rh6! And now White’s task is by no means easy. 35.Qd2 35.Rh1? Rd6! 35...Qh5 36.Qd8+ Kh7 37.e5 Qe2+ 38.Kg1 Qe3+ Of course, not 38...Rh2? 39.Qd3+! 39.Kg2 Qe2+ A minor pause for contemplation with fewer than 30 seconds left on the clock. 40.Kg1 Qe3+ 41.Kg2 Qe4+ 0-1

Club Bullwinkle is constantly on the lookout for interclub matches. Please direct all challenges to fatruphus@yahoo.co.uk