On Monday, 13 April we welcomed Muswell Hill Two to the Actonians for a second division Middlesex match. Based on the ratings, we were expected to win.
We started well: Hristo giving us a 1-0 lead, following a mistake by his opponent. Shortly afterwards, Mark’s encounter concluded. He writes: “As White, I faced a Caro-Kann, enjoyed the slightly better game but was unable to convert into a significant advantage so agreed a draw. According to the computer evaluation, the final position was 0.00.”
The games on the top two boards were both shaped by the Petroff (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6). Andrew notes: “As White, I played my favourite line with 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3. Three pairs of minor pieces got swapped off and I prematurely offered a draw when I thought my tactical chances had evaporated. However, Fritz tells me I should have played on as I could either have tried to nurse a nagging edge against his backward e6-pawn (I had thought he could easily free himself up and even potentially at some point play …e5 and gain an advantage) or even sought to storm forward with my g and h-pawns while he did the same with his a and b-pawns against my king – very unPetroff like behaviour! Fritz gave me an edge in both approaches.”
Reflecting on his performance, Jonathan writes: “I had one of those games that make me wonder why I play the Petroff. (Sunk costs I suppose – I should have picked something different 40 years ago.) Both my opponent and I played logical moves, the computer sees no obvious mistakes, and it gives many of our moves as its first choice. And so we played out a fairly dull draw and I’m left wondering how I could have jazzed things up a bit.”
In sharp contrast, there was much activity on the adjacent board where Duncan’s Trompowsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) led to a fluctuating game in which the position was not always clear. With his clock running down, our board three’s decision to steer the game towards a draw made absolute sense.
Finally, to Jack. In his own words: “Following a Philidor/Black Lion opening, my opponent, as White, relieved the central tension early. Although he gained a spatial advantage on the queenside, things stayed relatively even – until he traded his dark-squared bishop for a knight, leaving my other knight to freely hop into f4. An attack bubbled up easily from there and I went on to win.” Looking through this game, it’s hard not to be impressed by the way Jack seized the initiative in the middlegame and kept ramping up the pressure. Hardly surprising his opponent allowed a lethal knight fork at the end.
So, a final score of 4-2 in our favour, thereby taking us one step closer to first division chess next season.
| Ealing | Rating | Result | Muswell Hill | Rating |
| FM Andrew Harley | 2162 | 0.5-0.5 | Fredrik Ceder | 1973 |
| Jonathan White | 2007 | 0.5-0.5 | Alper Dilek | 1814 |
| Duncan Grassie | 1979 | 0.5-0.5 | Jason Bush | 1715 |
| Jack Sheard | 1866 | 1-0 | Simon Brougham | 1638 |
| Mark Winterbotham | 1827 | 0.5-0.5 | Niall Guinness | 1579 |
| Hristo Colov | 1745 | 1-0 | Wilson Ransome | 1541 |
| 4-2 |