“They’re still laughing!” I say, slightly ironically, as we take this photo in front of their venue shortly before meeting Ettlingen 3. It’s meant as a joke, as we’re going into today’s match as the clear favorite based on DWZ points. But we are all clearly tense. The possible promotion is so close, only three matches away. Will we make it into the Landesliga?
A particularly exciting competition for board points begins. I win first on board 3 and am congratulated by the others relievedly. In my game there were initially chances on both sides, but then my opponent made a serious mistake and lost a piece. A few moves later, his surrender was logical.
In the meantime, Marcus on board 1 is literally playing his opponent against the wall. He had chosen an opening with black that only 0.01% of master players choose. There’s a reason for that. We lead 2-0.
But the Ettlingers show the will to fight. The games on boards 7 and 8 by Carsten and Michael are unfortunate for us. There are days like that. Both have to admit defeat in the end. The score is 2:2.
Meanwhile, Andrej on board 4 was overly optimistic about the endgame. Although he still has a chance of a draw for a while, his opponent finds a way to win in the end. That makes it 2:3 from our point of view. A nervous thriller is emerging.
Let’s look at the encounter on board 6: Wolle has the clearly better position and the stronger bishop. Now he mercilessly wrestles his opponent down in the endgame with initially one pawn more. There is no cure for loosing against an experienced player like Wolle in this situation.
It’s 3 to 3. The remaining two games actually both look good for us. But chess can be humiliating.
Markus on board 2 creates a drawn endgame. Unfortunately, he overexcites the position and the opponent makes a sudden breakthrough. It all comes down to a single tempo! But unfortunately Markus has to admit defeat. Now there is enormous pressure on the last game. It’s 3:4. The Ettlingen team is already certain of a team draw.
Gerd was clearly winning on board 5 for a long time. He literally fought his opponent down and finally had a clearly won endgame on the board. But there are still small chances of a draw, and … oh no! In the end after a tough fight only the naked kings face each other. Needless to say for a chess player: the game is over. Remis. Unfortunately, SC uBu I gave up points and lost for the first time this season. Congratulations to Ettlingen for this tough fight.
Now for us it’s time to get up, straighten your crown, and move on. The direct encounter with Pfinztal I in two weeks will probably decide: Can we keep leading the league? Our team deserves it.
Good game, uBu!
