We are not worthy...

If you were asked to name some of the great confrontations in sporting history, a select few might jockey for position near the top of the Olympian tree: Ali v. Frasier, Borg v. McEnroe, Spice Girls v. Eternal - they are all the stuff of dreams, displaying flair, courage and an iron will to win. Chess too has its own share of epic rivalries which have touched the public imagination; who has not thrilled to the cut and thrust of Fischer v. Spaasky and Kasparov v. Karpov? The only cloud on the chess horizon has been a lack of similar sporting genius from these fair shores. Until now. Step forward, our own Mark Chapman, into the spotlight of sports adulation which must surely shine brightly once the public has seen the inspired game described below.

In a crunch game for his other club, Lasswade (hiss), our mild-mannered bespectacled hero steps into the ring with a certain Mr X, little knowing that the coming battle would require every last ounce of his will-power. Time and again his opponent picks the worst possible move, only for GM Chapman to call his bluff by dragging from the depths a move of quite indescribable awfulness; I call to the jury's attention White's 18th move, a diabolical resource if ever there was one. Yet the gods chose to smile kindly on our colleague that day, perhaps realising that he too was striving for immortality, and sprinkled pixie dust on his remaining moves. It only remains to follow the game's moves, with the Master's own annotation, and whisper "We are not worthy...":

The following game was played on board two of the final of last year's Campbell Rosebowl team tournament. It is almost certainly the worst game in the history of that event.

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.ed cd 6.Nf3 g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Nc3 Nc6 10. h3 Bf5 11.Bg5 Qd7 12.Qd2 Bxh3?!

Ever so slightly over-ambitious.

13.gh Qxh3 14.Rad1? Nxc4

15.Qf4 Nxd4?

There was no need for this.

16.Rxd4 Bxd4 17.Nxd4?? e5

(17.Qxd4 avoids the obvious fork.)

18.Nd5???

Hoping for 18....ef 19.Ne7+ Kh8 20.Bf6

18....ef

Although 19...Kg7 would be harder to face! At this point I had three options. The first was simply to cry. I also thought of resigning at once and taking the train home to avoid having to speak to any of my team-mates. As I couldn't afford this, I decided to play on and hope for a miracle.

19.Nxf4 Qd7 20.Nd5 Qh3 21.Nf4

Maybe he wants a draw!

21....Qc8 22.Nd5 Qc5 23.Bf3!

(23....Qxd4 24.Bf6 Qd2 25.Ne7 is mate, but it was a sobering thought that 24....Qxf6 would still win easily for Black.)

23....Nd2? 24.Bxd2

Not 24....Qxd4 25.Ne7 Kg7 26.Bc3 Qxc3 when Black wins but looks a fool.

24....f5? Opening up lines for my bishop.

25.Bc3 Kf7 26.Nf4 Rae8 27.Bd5+ Ke7 28.Bxb7 d5?? 29.Nde6 Qd6 30.Bb4!

It really is soul-destroying to play such a nice combination and still not be winning at the end.

30....Qxb4 31.Nxd5+ Kxe6 32.Nxb4 Rb8 33.Na6 Kf6??

My opponent was so annoyed that he couldn't play 33....Rxb7 because of 34.Nc5+ that he forgot I was attacking his rook.

34.Nxb8 Rxb8 35.Bc6 Rxb2 36.a4 Rb6

At this point I announced to my opponent that his flag had fallen and that he had therefore lost on time. He replied that his flag had indeed fallen, but he still had another hour to reach the time control, a claim I could not dispute.

37.Rc1 g5 38.Bg2 g4 39.Rc7 Rb1+ 40.Kh2 h5 41.Rxa7 f4

The game was getting exciting at this point! I think I should play Ra8 and push the a-pawn - he can't break through, can he?!

42.Rb7 Ra1 43.Bc6

Now all my pieces are on useless squares.

43....Ra2 44.Kg2 h4 45.Rb4 h3+ 46.Kg1 Kg5 47.Rb5+ Kh4 48.Rb4!

(48.Rb8?, for example, would lose to 48....Ra1+ 49.Kh2 g3+ 50.fg fg++ I save myself with a pin along the fourth rank.)

48....Ra1+ 49.Kh2

DRAW, on Black's proposal. Afterwards, he said "That was the best game of my life - it had everything in it." Apart from good play, of course. We even won the cup, with this game being the turning point. My team-mates didn't believe me when I told them I had won it for them, however.

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