‘Cleveland have absolutely outdone themselves here’, I remarked to Will Peacock. Will had a slightly glazed look in his eye as he murmured that he should have worn a suit.
Typical of players from my teams, we were both wearing our blue Yorkshire Hoodies and looking forwards to playing a tier up in the u2050s. Feeling slightly self-conscious (courtesy of slightly muddle shoes, from dropped my eldest two at rugby) we walked through into Tennant’s Auction house in Leyburn, into… splendour.
Tennants was established as a small family business in the late 19th century and has grown into the UK’s largest family owned fine art auction house. As you walk through the door there is a fantastic bistro, shop and café.
In the background there is classical music, with polite and extremely well dressed staff. Exhibitions and pictures are all round the walkway and upstairs, with galleries tucked away with the more expensive items. I took a particular shine to a pug painting and then one of a clock maker, scanning the items on my phone for the prices.
We played in a glorious and spacious room, with a high ceiling and viewing gallery, called the Versailles Suite. The ambiance was such you could picture Lasker, Capablanca and the Greats playing here. Should have worn a suite? I could have worn a tux.
What is more amazing is that Tennants let Cleveland in for free, wishing to push more chess events at the venue. They have truly set the bar.
Over to the match. Yorkshire were slightly under strength, hence drafting myself and Will in from the u1850s. Also, the Captain, Dave Patrick, was stuck in Singapore on his honeymoon, courtesy of the outbreak of conflict in Iran. This meant I took over a skipper and could give my common threat to players about force feeding any active mobile phones to the owners (smirks from Yorkshire players who knew the event I was talking about).
Dominic and the Cleveland team were lovely and the players engaged incredibly well.
We were in a ‘Group of Death’ where any set of results would mean any County would get through to the national stages. A win was a must.
Cleveland edged it slightly on grading overall and the pick of the matches was on board 1, with Avadhoot Brahme facing Jamie Heritage. Two players whose grades have shot up this season.
However, it was the least glorious bottom board that finished first as Martin McLoughlin and I threw some huge attacks in, pieces flew off and we battered our way to a draw. John Garnett and James Collier took the other draw but that was it.
The Versailles suite ran metaphorically red with results on the other 10 boards as our respective 2050s team ‘went for it’. Yorkshire took an early lead, with Dominic and Martin remarking to me that Yorkshire were getting over the line. I wasn’t sure and a number of White Rose boards subsequently fell.
Cleveland looked like they were taking the match but wins from Will, Jamie and Geral Cuaresma at the end swung it to a 6-6 draw.
So, congratulations to Cleveland, finishing top and qualifying for the national stages. A good and lovely team that I wish all the best for. It is a nervous wait for Yorkshire now, who need Greater Manchester to win to get through. Will and I are back with the u1850s against Merseyside at Holmfirth the following Sunday.
Finally, thank you to Tennants for hosting. This has set the standard for County venues for me.
