On Thursday, 20 November we travelled to the Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club to play Hendon 3, having narrowly beaten them in the home fixture. With one exception, we out-rated them across all boards so started as favourites to win the match.
It was good to see Tony back in Ealing colours but it was not to be his night. He writes: “I was half an hour late for the game, having had two separate travel issues en route, including being stuck in a tunnel for over 15 minutes. Not in the mood for any tactics, I opted for the Modern instead of my usual 1…e5, but was soon embroiled in some pretty sharp lines where accuracy was paramount. A combination of fatigue, lack of time and the distracting fidgeting from the other side of the board led me to drop a whole piece. My young opponent spotted that a very natural recapture gave me hope of a perpetual check and instead dispatched me very neatly.”
On top board, John reflected on his game thus: “Playing White, the opening transposed into a Benoni. I had more space, a lead in development, plus slight pressure against the weak pawn on d6. However, my 18th move was a bad one after which it was equal. Another weak move gave Black a slight edge and I agreed a draw before it got any worse.”
Alastair’s rich seam of form continues. In his own words: “In response to 1.d4, I sought a KID set-up but it never really materialised with both of us having double fianchettos. My opponent seemed reluctant to play active moves which allowed me to consolidate my position on the queenside and then gain a decisive advantage. After the dubious 12.Nfd2 I was able to set up an unanswerable threat in which, to save his queen, he had to give up his b2-bishop. He thought for about ten minutes, made a pointless rook move, then accepted the inevitable and resigned.”
Alejandro is also playing well. Reviewing his game with the white pieces, he notes: “We followed a line that we previously played in the Sicilian but with some improvements from myself. I had a slightly better middlegame and decided to sacrifice both rooks to win his queen. When things settled, I had a good queen against some underwhelming rooks. He needed to be accurate to save the draw but wasn’t able to and I secured the win.”
In my own game, as Black, a rather innocuous Petroff-type position eventually morphed into an ending in which I was a doubled pawn up. With my opponent’s king cut off, I was able to claim the full point.
Last to finish was Hristo who states: “For most of the game I had a slight advantage. By the 42nd move I was a pawn up, and by the 50th move two pawns up with a winning position. Unfortunately, I immediately made a mistake by playing impulsively which resulted in the loss of a pawn and a drawn ending.”
So we managed to win the match 4-2, thereby achieving the ‘double’ over Hendon 3.
| Hendon Three | Rating | Result | Ealing One | Rating |
| Samuel Tombs | 1831 | 0.5-0.5 | John Quinn | 2066 |
| Aviraj Bhaduri | 1800 | 1-0 | Tony Wells | 1981 |
| Andreas Bohnacker | 1774 | 0-1 | Alejandro Lopez-Martinez | 1868 |
| Vasileios Kollias | 1750 | 0-1 | Simon Healeas | 1820 |
| Jack Booker | 1750 | 0.5-0.5 | Hristo Colov | 1776 |
| Andrew Medworth | 1740 | 0-1 | Alastair Johnstone | 1602 |
| 2-4 |