On Tuesday (06/10/26), seventeen players sat down for the October Friendly Shield event at Derby Chess Club, and not one of them was allowed to open quietly. This was "Open Gambits", a thematic evening in which every game began from a set position taken from the golden age of the attacking opening, with a pawn already on the table and the invitation to make something of it.

*Players ponder over positions from the Evans Gambit.*

The idea came from my own bookshelf. I was browsing my chess library when I came across an old book by George Botterill on Open Gambits, and from it I chose four starting positions: the Greco Gambit, the Evans Gambit, the Scotch Gambit and the Göring Gambit. These are openings with a long pedigree. The Evans Gambit carries the name of Captain W. D. Evans, who devised it around 1827, and the Göring Gambit honours the German master Carl Theodor Göring. All four are built on the same romantic principle: give up material, grab the initiative, and ask your opponent to prove they can survive it.

I knew these openings would encourage swashbuckling play, and the evening duly delivered it. Four rounds of sharp, double-edged chess produced a long list of upsets, with players who were the underdogs on paper repeatedly turning the tables on their supposed betters.

Curtis Morrell was the man most inclined to upset the form book. He beat David Smith in round one and Justin Smith in round two, then added a win over Alan Kennedy in the final round to finish with 3/4. Nick Noonan also made his mark in round one by getting the better of Alan Kennedy, and David Williams was held to a draw by Paul Burrows, a half point that said plenty about the unpredictability of the night.

Above all the carnage, though, one player kept his head. George Burdell negotiated his way through every one of the four gambit positions and finished with a perfect 4/4, the only player to do so. Curtis, Justin Smith and Carl Weighill all finished on 3/4 in the places behind him, with David Williams next on 2½.

Carl Weighill's result was the standout among the players returning to the Shield. Carl made his first appearance of this season with three wins, beating Angharad, Nick and Paul, and only a round-three defeat by Shah Hussain kept him off a perfect score. Paul Burrows was also playing his first event of the season, while Justin Smith and Andre Cockburn, who finished on 3/4 and 1/4 respectively, likewise took part for the first time this season.

It was also a pleasure to welcome two players making their first appearance in the Friendly Shield, Mohammed and Angharad, and what a way to be introduced: a baptism of fire in positions that many experienced players would approach with caution. Mohammed took on the gambits with spirit, and Angharad faced a demanding format for a first event and will no doubt return with more experience under her belt.

There is a further twist when it comes to the Friendly Shield itself. Once the handicap bonus is applied, four players reached the maximum of 4 Shield points: George Burdell, Curtis Morrell, Carl Weighill and Nick Noonan.

Thank you to everyone who played, to our two newcomers, Mohammed and Angharad, for joining in with such spirit, and especially to George on a flawless evening. The full results and shield table can be accessed from the links below,

The detailed tournament results can be found here

The Friendly Shield table is found via this link

The next Friendly Shield event is a Chess960 tournament on the 3rd November.

Kevin

The positions used were:
Round 1 - Greco Gambit