MW 1/12, Monday 28th September 2026
| Ealing A | Ealing B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (b) | FM Rick McMichael | 2188 | 1-0 | Simon Healeas | 1867 |
| 2 (w) | Martin Smith | 2137 | 0-1 | Xavier Cowan | 1818 |
| 3 (b) | John Quinn | 2049 | 1-0 | Mark Winterbotham | 1822 |
| 4 (w) | Duncan Grassie | 1940 | 1-0 | Clive Lawrence | 1586 |
| 5 (b) | Colum Jezierski | 1962 | 1-0 | Leslie Pringle | 1538 |
| 6 (w) | Jack Sheard | 1859 | 1-0 | Martin Loat | 1522 |
| 5-1 |
Summertime over: it was back to business as we readied the troops for our 3rd consecutive season in division two. An opening match doesn’t get much tougher, albeit good natured, than this. For the first time in my 9 years at the club, the A and B team were sharing a division in the Thames Valley League. Their task of regaining a place above was unlikely to be threatened by us (or anybody else for that matter!), but virtually all games lasted the evening as we tested the resolve of our wounded superiors. Also, for a bit of Ealing CC trivia, this is surely the first case of a team consisting of 5 captains out of a possible 6 players?
Simon had the toughest assignment of all, FM Rick McMichael. Having had the pleasure of watching many of Rick’s games (like many of us at Ealing have), I feared the worst as he began to amass a sharp kingside attack. After missing the chance to slow it down with an f4 thrust, the defence soon became overwhelmed.
Leslie held parity for 30 odd moves but lost his way deeper into the evening with a blunder. Martin and Mark left empty handed in a similar pattern of our other defeats: promising play petering out in the latter stages.
Clive similarly did well from the black side of a French Defence Advance and missed opportunities for a lead in the middlegame. It was only in the latter stages where any grip on the position slipped away; Clive attributed Duncan’s masterful endgame technique to the defeat.
My game saw unusual developments in the middle-game against the return of the maverick Martin Smith. I composed a dubious opposite side attack in a position fairly alien to such antics from the black side. This went on to spill into an endgame of unbalanced material: Q + P + B pair vs 2 x R + N pair and an open king. Complete with a time scramble, it was a race to see if I could exploit the open king before the position closed up. Thankfully, I managed to blow up the board enough to chip away at pawns and further material, earning a nervy win. Had the position closed up and reduced the scope of my queen and bishops, I would’ve almost certainly been ground down to a loss by the stronger player. The position below captures the beginning of the endgame tension:
Onto our first away day next in Egham to face Staines…