How my club accidentially won promotion in our chess league

Over the past few blog posts, I detailed the adventures of my chess club, Naomh Barróg, as we worked our way through the local chess league here in Dublin, Ireland, the Leinster League. Last year, we won promotion to Division 4, the O'Hanlon Cup. That was a great achievement for a small club like ours (less than 30 players) so our goal this year was just to avoid relegation.

The way the league works is simple. There are 12 clubs in the division and they all play each other over the course of a year. In every match, 6 plays from each club play each other in individual games (teammates can't help each other). The club gets points from each individual game, so if we win 4 games and lose 2, then we get 4 points and the other club gets 2 points.

The first couple of rounds were tough and we lost as many games as we won. At Christmas time, after 5 rounds, we were in 10th place, just above relegation. My personal score was 2 wins and 2 losses. Then, our luck suddenly changed.

The Greatest Queen Sacrifice (that didn't achieve much)

The game opened with a Scandinavian and we both slowly manouevred our pieces into position. I traded my Knight for his Bishop and then pushed my pawns to open the position. It seemed like I had my opponent on the back foot, but there wasn't a clear way to push my advantage. I was able to get my Knight deep into my opponents territory and even give check, but then what?

On move 20, my opponent made an unusual backwards Knight move which meant his King had no legal moves. If I could give check, it would be mate, so I began searching for any kind of sacrifice like you might see in a puzzle. That's when I played the most daring Queen sacrifice I have ever played in over-the-board chess. I sacrificed the Queen on f7 because if my opponent takes the Queen, I deliver checkmate with the Knight on g6. The only problem with my genius plan is that my opponent can just ignore my Queen and take my Knight. In that case, my brilliant tactic only leaves me up a pawn.

But I still had an advantage and my opponent's pawn structure was damaged leaving his King exposed. I was willing to leave my b2 pawn undefended and instead focus on winning the g6 pawn, which would leave his King even more exposed. However, my opponent used the open f-file to his advantage my pieces were tied down defending f2.

By move 30, my Queen had infiltrated Black's defences but I couldn't find the decisive move. I considered pulling my Queen back to c3 to pin the Rook, but I thought it would be more dangerous to have my Queen and Bishop threaten g8. I had left b2 hanging for so long that I had almost forgotten about it, but losing it cost me my advantage. Whereas sacrificing it earlier was fine because I got compensation, to my surprise, giving check on g8 didn't actually do anything. The King would escape to h6 and although it looked vulnerable, it was actually pretty safe.

We traded Queens on move 40 and I focused on hunting down Black's isolated pawn. I finally won it on move 46, but my joy was short lived, because my opponent launched an attack that left me in serious trouble. On move 50, my opponent had won back the pawn and my King was squashed for space. My Rook was under attack and if Black could get the Knight into the attack, I would certainly lose. I needed to save my Rook but also deal with the threatening g2 pawn before the Knight defended it.

That's when I found the 2nd great tactical move of the game. I sacrificed my Rook, which had to be taken, which then allowed me to give check and win back a Rook from my opponent. I was now once again up a pawn and feeling that I had winning chances. Ideally, I would have gotten the g2 pawn as well but the Knight was close enough to defend it.

I studied the layout and felt confident I could hold my position. The main danger was the Black Knight would check my King and allow promotion (or even mate). There's a couple of dangerous lines around move 55 where moving my Bishop out of position leads to me getting mated. However, I did have the advatage of the extra pawn which could be pushed if my opponent over-extended themselves.

Instead my opponent retreated, allowing me to win the pawn and I felt I had to be winning now. He would have to rush his pieces back to defend against my advancing pawns and surely one of them would make it over the line. Then my opponent surprised me and saved the game by sacrificing their Knight for a pawn. I couldn't believe it but despite being up a pawn and a Bishop, my Bishop was the wrong colour so my opponent could force a stalemate.

After the game, it turned out the other team had made a mistake with the registration and rating of my opponent so the game was declared a forfeit. This meant we won the match in a clean sweep, which lifted us from 6th to 4th in the league. We were finally out of relegation danger.

This time the Queen sacrifice works

The next game was against Portmarnock, the team in 2nd place in the division and although I didn't say it, I didn't think we would win the match. My game opened with an Advanced Caro-Kahn which was pretty standard until move 8. Unusually, my opponent took with the e-pawn which sparked an interesting idea in my mind. What if I pushed my e-pawn and used it to open a line to my opponent's King? I decided to castle first, to get my King to safety and prepare my Rook to join the attack. When my opponent again delayed developing their Kingside pieces. meaning castling was still not an option, I decided to strike.

Although I sacrificed a pawn, it was worth it to open the attack on the King and I could easily win the pawn back. But first, I brought my Bishop into the attack with a check. Although I couldn't find a knockout blow, by move 20, I was up a pawn, Black's King was vulnerable and their Rook was stuck in a corner. I decided to focus on my passed pawn and use it as the next battleground.

I slowly built up more and more pressure on the 7th rank. Black was forced to devote all their pieces to defending the Knight and holding back my pawn. Whereas I could another piece to the attack with every move. First I brought the Rook, then lined up my other Rook to defend f2, then brought my Knight to the attack, where it dominated the squares my opponent would need for his defence. I missed a simple but devastating move on move 28, where I could have doubled attacked the Knight and prevented Black from defending it with the Rook by attacking the other Rook. Instead I saw the chance to win a pawn while double attacking the Knight and took it without much hesitation.

It was a good thing I did, because it gave me the opportunity for my favourite Queen sacrifice of all time. My opponent threatened my Queen with their Rook, but I quickly realised their Knight was pinned. If I took the Rook, I would be trading two Rooks for a Queen, which isn't a sacrifice. But as I explored the line, I realised that my opponent's King had very little space and was forced back onto the 8th rank. This meant that if I brought my other Rook into the attack, the only way to avoid mate would be to sacrifice the Queen. Even better still, the Knight was trapped and it too could be won, which would leave me with +10 points of material and a pawn that couldn't be stopped from promotion.

Seeing all this, my opponent resigned when I took the Rook. To be honest, I was a little disappointed I didn't get to play out the line.

I was happy with my game and delighted when I saw the results of my teammates. Against all odds, every single one of us won their game. Somehow, our little club had won 6-0 against one of the strongest teams in the division. Even better still, we were now in 2nd, which made us wonder for the very first time, might promotion be possible?

It's over already?

Our promotion hopes were strengthened with the next round game against Phibsboro, who were bottom of the division. In fact, in the previous round only 1 out of 6 players showed up for the match and as a result they were punished with relegation regardless of the results of the final match. The match was in Longford and it seems their team didn't think it was worth the drive from Dublin.

My opponent opened the game with the English and for the first dozen moves, we both just developed our pieces. I traded off White's fianchetto'd Bishop and by move 17, I had succeded in moving my Knight to a strong outpost on d3. It wasn't a massive advantage but gave my Knight a stronghold overlooking the core of my opponent's position.

I was completely surprised when my opponent decided to sacrifice their Knight on the next move. I could immediately see that the tactic didn't work, I could just take back with my pawn to defend my Knight. After all the trades, I was up a Knight for two pawns. But more than that, my opponent's position was weakened and their King was exposed. If I was given a chance to attack with my Queen and Knight on h3, then I could checkmate my opponent.

My opponent blocked this threat by playing f5, but this left his King even more exposed. There were multiple ways I could give check, but I figured the best one was on d5. I was expecting White to block with e4 and maybe trade Queens. Instead, I was stunned when my opponent instantly resigned.

While the position is certainly winning for me, it is by no means won and it would be completely expected to play on. I've had many games where people struggled on in far worse positions. I guess that with relegation guaranteed, the team morale was very low and they had lost their fighting spirit.

The final battle

Going into the final match, we were in 2nd place, 6 points ahead of 3rd and only 1 point behind 1st place. Promotion was almost guaranteed and there was even a chance we could win the whole division. We were playing a mid-level team but 1st place had to play 3rd, so if our winning streak continued, we could come first.

The game opened with an Advanced Caro-Kahn and as usual in these positions, pressure built up on the d4 pawn. I felt I had closed off any threats in the centre, so I planned to push on the Kingside. However, playing f4 was a terrible mistake. I was so focused on my own plans that I didn't pay attention to my opponent's threats. In fact, had my opponent played c4, they would have won my Bishop or possibly even forked my King and Queen! In a way, I was lucky to only lose an exchange.

I was frustrated that I blundered such a crucial game so quickly and so easily, but I decided to continue with my plan. My only hope to turn the tide was to keep pushing my f-pawn and try to open up the Kingside. By move 22, I had succeeded. Black now had a huge hole in their Kingside and the f-pawn was hanging like a dagger, which meant he couldn't castle.

Now that the King was stuck in the centre of the board, that's where I wanted to attack. My opponent made thing easier for me by pushing their e-pawn, which I was only too happy to take. My opponent blundered by leaving their Knight in line with their King allowing me to pin it with my Rook. Move 26 was the turning point, I was winning again. As the Knight was stuck, I could add more attackers and build up the attack before taking advantage of the pin.

Not only had I won back material, but Black's position was a mess and the King was in great danger. I had threats in almost every direction and it seemed my opponent could move their King or Queen to safety, but not both. On move 31, Black moved their Queen into a square where my Knight could take it if it wasn't pinned. This immediately made me look for a tactic to divert the Rook, which I found playing Rook to c5. My opponent would lose either a Rook or a Queen.

Unfortunately, my opponent probably got tilted by their reversal in fortune and after losing the Rook, they forgot my Knight was no longer pinned and hung their Queen on the next move. I could have won their last Rook on the next move, but I felt my opponent had suffered enough and instead went for checkmate.

Although I had won, my teammates did not fare so well and we lost the game 2.5-3.5. It was a little disappointing, but I couldn't really complain after we had such a fantastic season that upset all expectations.

Final results

At the end of the season, we finished 2nd, 1.5 points behind 1st place. This was a tremendous victory that the whole club was really proud of. Without intending to, we had won promotion and next year will play in the Ennis Shield (Division 3).

Anyone looking at our results would think that midway through the season we got new players or hired a grandmaster (or were somehow cheating!). Other clubs must be scratching their heads wondering how we came out of nowhere and crushed all opposition. The funny thing is we didn't change anything, our squad was the same for the whole season, something just clicked and we started playing some fantastic chess.

The club also decided to leave our premise at Naomh Barróg GAA club as the rent became too high. We are moving to Donaghmede and therefore also decided to change our name to Donaghmede chess club. As one era ends, another begins and I'm excited to see how far we will go.