On Monday, 27 April we welcomed Harrow One to the Actonians for a second division match. A victory, or even a draw, would guarantee first division chess for Ealing next season.

We started the match well. Devina continued her fine run of form, victory being achieved in a mere 18 moves. She comments: “As White, it was an easy win as I dragged my opponent through an unchartered Catalan sideline. It quickly became extremely cramped in the centre and a bishop sacrifice ended the game.”

In sharp contrast, I under-performed. My opponent avoided the main lines of the Petroff (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3) but still managed to get a slight edge out of the opening. Over-estimating my position by attacking down the e-file, my opponent caught me out with the move 21. h5! which quickly led to my resignation.

With the match poised at one-all, the next two games to finish were both drawn. In a slightly better position but with less than 5 minutes on the clock and conscious of our standing in other games, Duncan agreed to split the point. On top board, Andrew writes: “My opponent played the Portuguese Variation of the Scandinavian (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4) where he gave up a pawn for compensation. I have met it before, 30 years ago(!), twice in the 4NCL v Nigel Povah. My opponent told me had prepared. White should be able to keep an edge if he plays perfectly but it is easier for Black. Once he forced me to push my c4-pawn to c5 giving him the d5 square, he had enough compensation. He tied me down and when playing …a6-a5 I worried he would follow with …a4, …a3, …Rb2. I panicked with a2-a4, but that let his rook into b3 and my a4-pawn dropped shortly afterwards. I managed to at least improve my passive bishop to the e5 square which made my position bearable. I offered a queen swap with a draw offer, which I was glad he accepted – he was still better with the two bishops, equal pawns, and a passed a-pawn which my rooks were stopping for now. It would have taken a lot of effort for him to convert to a win.”

Therefore to draw the match and claim a promotion spot, we needed one point from the remaining two games. Reflecting on his performance, Jonathan notes: “The Petroff gave me another solid middlegame position; in this case my opponent grabbed a risky pawn and allowed a strong attack down the g-file on his king.  I missed the best line, instead emerging from the tactics with a queen for rook and knight.  That felt like an advantage, but it quickly turned out to be hard to play – coordinating his two pieces he was able to advance a pawn to the second rank.  I could have drawn by perpetual check but missed my chance and was lost.”

So, what could Tony do? He certainly did not disappoint. In his own words: “I messed up the opening, forgetting what came on move four and should have ended up a pawn down with no compensation. Fortunately White chose to swap off queens and knights to simplify. This left me fully developed whilst his kingside pieces were still on their starting squares, his king slightly exposed on f2 and his isolated d-pawn unprotected. Time was now of the essence before he completed his development, removed his weaknesses and turned his sad d5-isolani into a dangerous protected passed pawn. I started threats towards d5, b2 and for a rook infiltration at c2. White kept finding answers I hadn’t foreseen but eventually cracked and went down a rook. He nearly clawed the game back as his d-pawn reached the seventh rank but with two minutes left on the clock I found a nice mating threat which gave me time to bring my knight back to stop his promotion plans. Soon afterwards I trapped his king  and delivered mate. An exciting game which I just about deserved to win against another underrated strong youngster from Harrow’s constant production line.”

Phew! Thank you Tony. We drew the match 3-all, thus ensuring our promotion. Well done to all the players throughout the season who contributed to this success.

Ealing One	Rating	Result	Harrow One	Rating
FM Andrew Harley	2162	0.5-0.5	Thomas Sharp	1948
Jonathan White	2007	0-1	Jagdeep Dhemrait	1966
Duncan Grassie	1979	0.5-0.5	Atreya Mandnikar	1855
Simon Healeas	1860	0-1	Claudiu Puiu	1739
Devina Bedi	1753	1-0	Darsh Santosh Kumar	1495
Tony Braine	1736	1-0	Kian Aggarwal	1545
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