On 25 March we travelled to Stoke Newington to play Hackney, the current Middlesex champions. With four titled players, they were going to be a difficult team to defeat.

Through no fault of his, John arrived with only 41 minutes remaining on his clock. His game was the first to finish. He writes: “As White, I played my usual system against the King’s Indian. My opponent chose a set-up with Nbd7 followed by a6, c6, and opening of the c-file. Meanwhile I advanced with h4, g4, and then g5 and h5.  Although I won a pawn and opened some lines, there was no clear way to get my pieces into the attack. Meanwhile she had pressure down the c-file. With 10 mins on my clock versus Black’s 40, I was happy to draw by 3-fold repetition.”

In my own game, as White, the Catalan afforded a slight opening advantage which I did not build upon. At move 26, I mistakenly offered the exchange of queens, missing the fact that Black had a two-move forcing sequence which would win my queen. My opponent also missed this possibility. Three moves later, in a level position, we agreed to split the point. 

On top board the Catalan was also played by IM Richard Bates, As Black, Andrew comments: “Minor piece exchanges increased his pressure down the c-file against my c7-pawn, with him playing Rc6 twice. We both missed a careless mistake by him when I could have won the exchange by …Bd7 attacking the c6 rook and then …Bb5 (supported by …a6) skewering his queen against his f1-rook. I eventually traded my pawn on c7 for his pawn on a2 but his seventh rank pressure against f7 proved too much.”

Reflecting on his game, Alan notes: “I played Richard Britton and he met my Sicilian with the King’s Indian Attack. We followed our 2023 game until I varied on move 14. Queens were exchanged after which I built up a big advantage. I controlled the d-file with an outpost on d3, his e4-pawn was vulnerable, and his bishop remained undeveloped on c1. The game continued in my favour and I won his e4-pawn. Somehow I wasn’t able to complete the win and the game came down to a drawn knight ending.”

On board 5 Jonathan met his opponent’s English with a Dutch Leningrad. In his own words: “The centre got blocked, as Black often wants, leaving active play on the wings – in my case against his king. We reached a very interesting middle game position with scattered pawns and pieces all over the place. I had the chance to win by sacrificing the exchange, but the lines were complex, time was short, and my own king was also exposed. Sensing I could easily go wrong, I swapped off for an ending, one that I held for a draw but with more labour than intended.”

With the score poised at 3-2 in Hackney’s favour, the outcome of the match came down to the last game. As White, Martin states: “I played a c3-Sicilian and accepted an early pawn sacrifice which gave my opponent the bishop pair and some piece activity.  I seemed to be slightly better, but  struggled to liquidate as the position grew increasingly complex. By the time we got down to a couple of minutes each I was worse, but was able to hang on and simplify into a drawn ending.”

So although putting in a decent team performance, we narrowly lost 3.5-2.5, leaving us close to the relegation zone. We really do need to win at Harrow in late April if we are to give ourselves the best chance of avoiding second division chess next season.

Hackney	Rating	Result	Ealing One	Rating
IM Richard Bates	2358	1-0	FM Andrew Harley	2164
FM Bob Eames	2203	0.5-0.5	Martin Smith	2164
FM Richard Britton	2132	0.5-0.5	Alan Perkins	2143
CM Diana Serbanescu	2073	0.5-0.5	John Quinn	2067
Jonny Tennyson	1931	0.5-0.5	Jonathan White	2015
Marceli Ciesielski	1952	0.5-0.5	Simon Healeas	1812
		3.5–2.5