Well done to the whole team – we managed to beat the reigning (and probably this season’s) champions! This shows the sort of potential we have as a team if we field our best players and have a good day.

On Board 1 Chris played very solidly against Alan and seemed to have little problems out of the opening. Alan mentioned later that Ealing’s report should describe the game as “a quiet draw” so I won’t take issue with that. Well played Chris.

On Board 2 Nick took aim at Vejlko’s king and basically threw everything at it in order to open lines on the kingside. At a critical moment I heard a yelp go up in their general direction. It turned out that Vejlko had finally succumbed to the heavy attack by allowing Nick a mate in 3. Well played Nick.

On Board 3 Edgar chose a solid line to equalize against Martin’s opening. As the middle-game progressed Edgar gradually improved his position and, just at the time control, grabbed a clean extra pawn. When Martin suggested adjudication Edgar agreed. This was a decision fully supported by his captain! Martin resigned the game a few days later. Well done Edgar.

On Board 4 Stef got involved in an extremely complex tactical struggle against Tony. Stef got to grab some material but Tony got plenty of compensation with play against Stef’s king. Eventually Tony found some great tactics which allowed Stef to win his queen but, unfortunately, Tony got Stef’s king. Unlucky, Stef.

On Board 5 I continued my dodgy run of form when playing for myself. In the opening I secured the two bishops at the cost of weakening some squares around my castled king. That was OK but after that I made some positional slips that allowed David to establish a knight at f5 which gave him excellent attacking chances. Despite my efforts to create counter-play and to complicate David’s task he played very well and broke through, winning a piece and the game.

Board 6 was, perhaps, the turning point of the match as Simon seemed to get a decent position against Ian out of the opening. Ian kept fighting and the game veered towards a drawish position. Presumably Simon felt the need to press for more given the match situation and, in doing so, he let Ian create a winning passed pawn. Well fought Ian.

On Board 7 Angus played a very good game against Nevenko and created significant pressure against the White centre and the White king. By the time the session ended and Angus had sealed his move he was the exchange up and Nevenko’s king was in an exposed position in the centre. There were plenty of tactical chances for Angus to bring home the point. Sadly, Nevenko did not show up at the agreed resumption so we will never know how Angus would have finished it off. Well played Angus.

On Board 8 Malcolm, who had stepped in at short notice as our reserve, played a solid game with his favourite White weapon. It looked for quite a while that he had enough advantage to win but it somehow did not materialize. Well played Malcolm.

Paul Shepherd 6 March 2011