Last Year’s Debutants Take On This Year’s Intake!
In the usual tradition of the website I provide reports from the perspective of both teams in the Derby E v Derby F match.
Derby E's 2026/27 season kicked off on Tuesday 29th September with a 3½–½ home win over Derby F. Three wins and a draw is a fine way to start. Here's how each board got there, in the players' own words.
Board 1: Hugo Videira (Black), win
Hugo had the black pieces and a tense start to the evening:
"It was good to get the win with the black pieces in a tough and intense game. I feel I could have played better at times, and my opponent certainly made things difficult. The key moment came when a check forced their king to move, as no piece could block it. They then captured a pawn that didn't offer much advantage, which allowed me to break up their pawn structure and get my queen into an active position. There were a few mistakes in the game, but I'm glad I could bring home the point for Team E."
Board 2: Josh Gahonia (White), win
Board two was less a game of chess than a roller coaster:
"This was a tough game against Angharad. The match started with fairly conservative opening play from both of us, and it took a while until any pieces came off the board. I came out with a weakened backline after the first trades happened. A miscalculation on my part left me with doubled pawns in front of my king. The game felt like it was slipping out of my grasp, so I decided to go on the attack and see if I could cause an issue somewhere. Luckily I stumbled into a nasty trap on the queen. After this, the balance of the game shifted in my favour. Trading down and shoring up my king led to my opponent's resignation. A tiring see-saw of a game. Great fun!"
Board 3: Chris Lacey (Black), draw
Our only dropped half-point came on board three, though Chris certainly earned it the hard way:
"I played as Black against Bill on board 3. I made a bit of a mess of the opening (unfortunately this is becoming a bit of a habit of mine!). I then spent quite a lot of the game trying to re-establish some control. I was happy with my middle game, where I traded my rook for both of his knights, forced a queen exchange, and then forked his rook and bishop to collect a free bishop. The endgame was tightly balanced, with my bishop and knight against his rook. In the end, we traded off such that I was left with just a king and he had just a pawn and king. Stalemate resulted, which was probably a fair result."
Board 4: Duncan Meikle (White), win
Duncan wrapped up the win on board four, in a game that started with the kind of chaos only a new season can produce:
"I was White and my opponent was David. It was the start of a new season with increased likelihood of rusty play… so our frantic opening was full of incident and inaccuracy. Fortunately for me, I emerged ahead by a knight and a rook.
Despite this material gain, there were clear weaknesses in my position. My queen was too exposed, my king looked vulnerable and I had a pinned knight. My general development was also poor. I felt it was time to consolidate.
I worked on stabilising, reducing weaknesses and took opportunities to swap off more pieces. Eventually, by move 39, Black just had king and two pawns left. White was comfortably ahead and could have promoted further pawns if required, so Black resigned."
Final word
A strong start, with plenty of season still to play. We'll report back after Belper E visit on Tuesday 20th October.
Josh 04/10/26
On Tuesday (29/09/26), the F team played their first ever match, facing Derby E in a fixture that felt a little strange from where I was sitting: the E team were last season's Chess Forge side, and this year they have been let loose on their own, while F take over as the new Forge team.
Derby E won 3½–½, but as always the story lay in the games themselves. As a captain, it was an odd experience to lead a brand-new team against the players I looked after all last season. Hugo, Josh, Chris and Duncan all played for E last year, and it was good to see how much confidence they now bring to the board. For the F team, this was a first taste of league chess, and every player gave a good account of themselves.
On Board 1, Oye had White against Hugo and played his favorite Italian opening. It was a very tight game, and I thought Oye was the one applying the pressure for much of it. In the endgame, though, his pieces became too passive, and Hugo was able to exploit threats against the king to win. Oye described the experience like this: "A great experience playing my first competitive chess over the board. I played my favorite Italian opening with white and got an advantage in the middle game. However, I wasn't able to capitalize on the early advantage, gave my opponent a counterplay and lost the game, sadly. Despite the painful loss, it was a beautiful experience."
On Board 2, Angharad faced Josh. She was solid, if a little cramped, while Josh advanced his queenside pawns. That advance actually gave Angharad the chance of a big advantage, but the moment slipped away and the queenside advance proved terminal. Afterwards she said: "I really enjoyed the game on Tuesday. I felt like I managed to make some good moves and think about the position, which is something I've been working on. It was also really nice to be part of the team and I enjoyed the quick chat afterwards. Looking forward to the next one!"
On Board 3, Bill and Chris played a very tight game, and in the endgame it could have gone either way. By Bill's own account, he missed an en passant chance that might have swung the middle game his way, and a blunder towards the end let Chris force the draw. As Bill put it: "As my 1st game in the F team I was quite excited to play. I played white and used the Italian opening. I was expecting to lose, as a relative novice, and, I thought, my opponent played well. I missed an en passant opportunity which may have swung the middle game in my favour and my opponent managed to force a draw after I made a blunder towards the end. Overall I was happy with the way I played but I know I could do better. It was great fun."
That left David on Board 4 against Duncan. David lost material, and from that point Duncan ratcheted up the pressure until David was forced to resign. David summed up his game as: "Great start and I recovered from the attack from White. Then it went down hill for me!"
It was a heavy scoreline for a first outing, but the F team can take plenty from the evening: good positions, a half-point on Board 3, and a team that enjoyed the quick chat afterwards. Congratulations to Derby E on a strong performance, and I look forward to seeing how both teams develop. The F team's next match is another chance to put these lessons into practice.
Kevin 04/10/26
| Derby E | 3½ - ½ | Derby F | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Videira, Hugo | 1510 | 1 - 0 | Oyedotun, Oyeleye | 1993 |
| 2 | Gahonia, Josh | 1502 | 1 - 0 | Parkes, Angharad | 0955 |
| 3 | Lacey, Chris | 1410 | ½ - ½ | Wilsden, William | 1607 |
| 4 | Meikle, Duncan | 1412 | 1 - 0 | Longworth, David | 1302 |
(Match played on Tue 29 Sep 26)
The games can be found here:
https://lichess.org/broadcast/derby-e-team-2026-2027-season/derby-e-v-derby-f/s7nUHngF