Early one morning in May I set out,
And nobody I knew was about.
I’m bound away for ever,
Away somewhere, away for ever.Edward Thomas, Early One Morning
October 14th 1989 was a sunless Saturday. An overcast Autumn day where lifelong chess friends Damon D’ Cruz and sidekick Matt Payne, went with I to the Saddler’s Wells Theatre down in deepest, darkest Islington, London to watch the FIDE Candidates Semi-finals: with the winners of Timman v Speelman and Karpov v Yusupov competing for the chance to dethrone Kasparov the then FIDE world champion.
We drove down. Damon was at the wheel. And with the journey instantly forgettable, we soon found ourselves paid up in the theatre foyet with tickets in hand and ready. Once in, we plonked ourselves down to soak up the chess pronto. I found the venue more elegant and magnificent than the chess itself, which I attempted in vain to follow on a small, cheap, green magnetic set I had bought earlier that year, months before one of the pawns went walkabout! We sat at the front with the theatre only half full at best, and because Matt was relatively inexperienced at chess, a cocksure teenage me kept offering up unwonted commentary. Just a move or two before the Karpov game ended, I announced ‘Draw!’ to Matt a bit too loudly -to which Karpov gave me a stone-faced glare full of Soviet seriousness.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068725
The other game, however, aroused much more interest with local boy GM Speelman turning on the style and snatching victory, levelling up the match with one game to play. I distinctly remember the finale, but must have gone for a wander prior to it because when the game ended there was I standing by the entrance to the auditorium with GM Speelman walking up the passageway towards me. As he drew near, his blue jumper becoming increasingly more visible, you could hear spectators congratulating him ‘Well done Jon’ I kept hearing and ‘Good on ya Jon‘ also, then he looked at me as if in anticipation of further congratulations, but being so shy, teenage me couldn’t offer any up and froze instead as he exited. I still remember that moment very clearly and how GM Speelman was very happy with his win, the light applause he received, and the patriotism that filled the air.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1130235
After play had ended, Damon, Matt and I scampered off to a little cafe nearby for some scran. Cocksure me couldn’t shut up at the table, so much so that an accompanied and rather well-dressed woman on a nearby table began looking at me with some amusement, as if to say ‘who is this jumped up teen that thinks he’s an expert on chess’. What fading memories found thereafter flicker only between a return to Damon’s motor parked across the road, how the weather had become inclement, that I had no idea of which part of a giantesque London I was in, and how happy I was to be heading home with the action over.
The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet,
The only sweet thing that is not also fleet.
I’m bound away for ever,
Away somehwere, away for ever.
Edward Thomas, Early One Morning
M J M
McCreadyandChess 