13/07/2025
The Time I âShould Haveâ Beaten a Team of Grandmasters!
- by Newark Chess Club member Martyn Winn
Okay, Iâll admit itâthis title is a little clickbaity. But I promise, thereâs a twist that makes it worth your time!
On July 13th, I had the pleasure of attending ChessFest in Londonâan annual celebration of the game we all love. With over 25,000 attendees last year and even more expected this year, itâs easily the biggest chess event in the UK calendar. Imagine Trafalgar Square filled with chessboards, casual blitz games, live commentary, and exhibitions that showcase every facet of the game.
One of the main attractions was a full-day simul featuring a rotating team of titled players. But this wasnât your average 20-board simul. Oh no. This was chess on a marathon scale.
The Setup:
If youâve never seen a simul before, hereâs the concept: a titled player walks from board to board, playing multiple opponents simultaneously. Itâs grueling and relentlessâespecially for the master. Normally, youâd expect them to win the vast majority of games with ease, maybe conceding the occasional draw or very rare loss.
But this simul was something else. It lasted the entire day, and the masters played in teams. As soon as one game ended,they were immediately replaced by another player. And when a master needed a break, a teammate took their place. In effect, the game never stopped!
And it wasnât just any team. Throughout the day, these were some of the names who graced the boards:
⢠GM Michael Adams
⢠GM Stuart Conquest
⢠GM Nikita Vitiugov
⢠GM Matthew Sadler
⢠GM Chris Ward
⢠IM Harriet Hunt
Plus many more!
Not bad company to be playing against on a sunny afternoon in London.
My Game
I joined the simul just after midday and held my own for nearly two hours. Over the course of the game, I faced no fewer than five titled players rotating in and out.
Going in, thereâs a voice in the back of your mind that says, âYouâll probably fall into some opening prep and be blown off the board by move 15.â But to my surpriseâand mild reliefâI managed to steer the game into an open Sicilian and reached a reasonable middlegame position.
Eventually, I slipped. I lost the exchangeârook for bishop and a pawnâwhich put me at a slight material disadvantage. But the position remained complex, and it was far from a trivial conversion for the masters.
Then, as we transitioned into the endgame, one of the GMs arrived at my board and looked over the position. After a pause, he muttered, âThis is technically quite difficult for us.â
As a mere mortal club player, Iâll take that as high praise!
The Twist:
And then, sometime later, the moment came.
In the position shown (see image), the master played Rh5, intending to pin my pawn and scoop it up next move. But⌠there was a problem.
A big one.
Theyâd missed Bb5+âa simple check that forks the king and rook. The kind of tactic that changes everything. If they had moved on, Iâd have had a clearly winning position.
And for a second, they did move on. The hand left the piece and they stepped away. My heart skipped. This was it!
But then, they paused. Turned back. âI canât play that, itâs a terrible move!â they exclaimed.
And just like that, they picked the rook back up and played Rg6 instead.
Now, in a regular tournament game, the âtouch-moveâ rule applies. If you let go of the piece, your move stands. No take-backs. And technically, I could have insisted on it.
But letâs be real.
These masters were playing hundreds of games, non-stop, in 30-degree heat, smiling and engaging with the public the whole time. This wasnât a tournamentâit was a celebration of chess. And besides, they were completely winning before the blunder. I wasnât about to claim a scalp I didnât truly earn.
So we laughed it off, exchanged a grin, and played on.
A few moves later, I resignedâgrinning from ear to ear.
I didnât beat them. But for a fleeting moment, I could have. And in a simul full of world-class players, thatâs a memory Iâll hang onto.
Final Score: Grandmasters 1 â Me 0
But it was so nearly 0-1!
