Nihal's Danvers Opening then Back To Basics at Wolverhampton Chess Club

Well, it was inevitable, one day, that Nihal would be told to slow down and think before he moves.

Nihal has a tendency to take his opponents into check at quite an early stage in the game. Whilst this form of attack can perplex the youngsters and those who are a bit rusty, it is in general deemed as overambitious.

Having played Ron and learnt a few hints, it was time to learn from the Chairman, Frank.

Frank's advice was simple. Develop your pieces first. Formulate your check at a later stage. This was expecially pertinent on his observation of his Danvers Opening

Other pieces of advice :

Control the Center(This one we knew already, but fair to state anyway)
Pair the castles(We acknowlkedged this after several defeats)
A Knight on the Rim, outlook is Grim(Less manouverement on the Rim)
Follow Queen with Rook(Interesting one this, will need to try)
Protect the Heavies(Ofcourse the backup plan as always)

Many more lessons can be learnt by playing the regulars at this club, and we appreciate all advice. Nihal, your learning journey, has just been raised a level!
Good Luck.

Nihal's Inauguaral Show at The Wolverhampton Chess Club

Bronze position. Not good enough says Dad, we want the best out of Nihal. Having said that we are very proud of Nihal, that we want to deivelop his game further.

So the natural progression for Nihal, is to challenge players outside of his normal surroundings.

Yeup no more playing with kids. We are going to take on the men of this world.
On a serious note, this is the right direction for Nihal to follow, if he wants to take his game seriously. Attend a professional Chess Club, where players play Chess for their dignity.

So we went out for our first ever Wolverhampton Chess Club event. It just so happened that they were having a mini chess challenge with their rival club from Bushbury.

There were very serious players here, some getting on a bit into their late seventies and eighties. They have seen it all, chess in prison ie nothing but chess during the years of war. They were like hawkeyes, preying on your every foolish, naive but well thought out move. For example, you think of plan of a sequence of moves, this thought process takes several minutes to strategise. The response, subsecond! Now you understand what we mean about hawkeye's. They see your moves coming a mile away!

Having said that, Nihal put on a great show that day, and was challenged for a game by several regulars who were experts.

Nihal may have lost a few games that day, but he managed to win 2.

In one of the challenges, Nihal played a Doctor named Dev, and he beat him in the 4th game after learning the Doctor's style of play. Nihal is a quick learner and he will catch up with you quick when your not looking.

Watchout, Nihal's about. Nihal is here to stay. Long way to go Son, but if we go by your presentation on the Inauguaral Showing, you will do well to learn from this wealth of experience that is here on offer. Well Done Nihal!

Nihal Wins 3 Games in City Under 9 Chess Championship

The City Championship started off by the opponent making some strange moves(not gambits, not attacks, but reflexive pins would you believe it) making Nihal off balance and distracted from normal 100% Concentration, as he thought that this wizardry had some sort of cunning plan. Eventually Nihal gave into an easy win for the opponent and just wanted to put this distraction into the past as he did not enjoy this match that lacked any kind of basic plan.

Nihal 0 Tettenhall College 1

Nihal was now on a mission to refocus. Nihal started off with his standard fool's mate opening. Yeup you never know, if you can bring it off, try it and see. However the fool's mate didnt fruit into 4 moves, but it did allow Nihal to draw out the opponents Knights and Bishops into subliminal forks. The rest was downhill as Nihal was on a steamroller mission to break into the kingdom's defence. Pawn gambits followed by a CheckMate, easy peasy does it!

Nihal 1 Warstones 0

Having opened with a fool's mate in the last game, Nihal easily read into the next opponent's fool's mate opening. Nihal forked the opponent's Bishop and Queen, to make the fool's mate opener the ultimate fool. With the Queen lost, the opponent's Knights followed into tragedy. Nihal then deployed his Queen into a check, forcing the the King out into a futile position, to allow Nihal to sneak his Rook from behind.Checkmate.

Nihal 1 Tettenhall College 0

This was a disastrous start for Nihal as the opponent was too strong with his strategic moves. So Strategic that the opponent was thinking ahead several moves at a time. The opponent took Nihal's defence down pawn by pawn, Knight by Knight and Bishop by Bishop and 1 Rook until. What? He lost his Queen due to a silly move allowing Nihal to take it with his rook. Now Nihal, took the opponent's Bishop by Bishop, Knightby Knight and 1 Rook, Nihal doing a reflective symmetry on the opponents opening game in his own Middle Game.

Time began to run out and then it did run out. Nihal drew with this phenomenal player. And boy did Nihal learn quick to respond with the mirror image of the game desrvedly.

Nihal D Tettenhall College D

Nihal won this game automatically. No more needs to be said.

Nihal 1 Lanesfield 0

And finally the friendly game

Nihal Under 9 vs Oppenent Under 11

Nihal won, by simple pawn gambits followed with a simple Queen/Rook checkmate.

All in all a great day for Nihal, as he got the highest position from his School, and won Bronze in the City Under 9 Championships, followed by a win over someone 2 years more experienced than him. Well done Nihal, in your first ever Under 9 City Chess Championship,

Nihal in Chess Final Parts 2, 3, 4... The Marathon

So Part 2 was expected to be the decider. How wrong were we to expect a winner appointed the next day.

They drew again in another 2 stalemates, and by now the school audience were getting anxious of a result either way. Please please can someone separate these 2 masterful players, as there is not a whisker of a difference in their gaze at the mesmerised chessboard.

So it was to be, on that judjement day, that the final went into Part 4. Nihal was giving Rocky and Rambo some serious competition here in the making of great sequels.

Nihal started with taking a knight, which resulted in an aggresive fork on his king and bishop, bad move into check. Nihal responded by sacrificing his bishop.

Next came the deceptive but innocent move of a pawn forward into a gambit position, resulting in Nihal gaining a Rook, It was all but loss for the opponent, as Nihal thought that he had trapped the Queen, only to find out that he lost his own Rook in the process of this ill fated tactical move. However the Rook loss resulted in aiding Nihal to take the opponents Queen, which was in effect traded with his own Queen by the opponent's Bishop.

So we now have a game without Queens, without Rooks and without Bishops, and Nihal without both his Knights. This left the opponent with the advantage of a Knight.

Nihal's predicament was futile, as the opponent was now moving Pawns forward faster than he could himself. Eventually the opponent gained a Queen on the Pawn advance, and this Queen was the mate for the match's final blow.

Nihal lost the final, but he gained many friends and respect, and most importantly of all a well deserved finalist trophy.