Simultaneous Exhibition

On Wednesday, May 14, 26 players from Stroud and the surrounding area gathered at Star Anise Cafe. They were about to face Grandmaster Peter Wells in a rare simultaneous exhibition.

No clocks were used. Instead, playing white on every board, Wells moved quickly from table to table presenting a wide range of opening moves: 1.e4 (King’s pawn), 1.d4 (Queen’s pawn), 1.c4 (the English) and 1.Nf3 (the Reti) and more.  Each opponent had just the time it took him to circle the room to consider their next move, pausing only briefly for a sip of coffee or some friendly banter.

Five moves in, expressions varied already. Some players buried their heads in their hands, out of theory, and in trouble. Others locked in steely focus. Young Stroud member Cian Arkell (1517P) was grinning with confidence as he saw his prepared Stafford Gambit - a risky and aggressive opening for black popularised by streamer Eric Rosen, unfold before him. 

By the hour mark, Wells was already collecting wins. Hands reached out for handshakes amid relieved smiles. Defeated players were invited to play again, but Wells showed no sign of slowing down.

"These kinds of events certainly don't get easier with age and playing one with a knee injury felt a bit daunting. It was quite a tribute to the friendliness of the people here and the wonderful venue (and great coffee) that I ended up enjoying the evening quite so much", Peter told us after the event.

It wasn’t all bad news for the players, though. Jim Beaty (1880) from Cheltenham Chess Club was the first to claim a victory at the midpoint of the evening and said: “it was a pleasure to play against Peter and luckily for me, to take advantage of his lack of thinking time over the board. Watching some of the other games, he clearly knows how to entertain on the chess board and create some fascinating positions!”.

Not long after, Stroud’s most recent member of the 2000+ rating club, Alex Carey (2054), also earned the bragging rights of a win. Both received signed copies of Peter’s latest book, ‘Chess Improvement: It's all in the mindset,’ co-authored by Barry Hymer. Beating such an experienced GM is no easy feat, even in an exhibition match like this.

Grandmasters hate defending as much as anyone, or so an old coach once taught me, and nobody proved that better that evening than Cian. In perhaps the biggest upset of the evening, his fearless play earned him an impressive draw, proving that taking risks and preparing well can pay off, even against the very best.

"I think years of being a hopeless night owl probably worked well for me. I was flagging badly and making mistakes around 9pm, but somewhere over the next hour I managed to recover some energy!" Wells concluded. It had been years since Stroud last hosted a GM simul. We won’t leave it that long again.

Stroud Chess Club meets every Thursday at Star Anise Café. Juniors play from 6 - 7pm. All ages welcome at 7pm. Special thanks to: Peter Wells; Vince Southcott for organising; Zoe Moyers for keeping the drinks flowing and Star Anise for hosting. Words by Tom Weavin.