Monday 14th April 2025, MW 13/14
| Hounslow B | Ealing B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (b) | Frank Zurstiege | 1684 | 0-1 | Xavier Cowan | 1891 |
| 2 (w) | JJ Padam | 1678 | 0.5-0.5 | Mark Winterbotham | 1838 |
| 3 (b) | Eugene Gregorio | 1723 | 0.5-0.5 | Simon Healeas | 1830 |
| 4 (w) | Pavan Kumar Kota | 1579 | 0-1 | Guiseppe Joe Ramundo | 1548 |
| 5 (b) | Barry Fraser | 1497 | 1-0 | Aleksei Gorbonosov | 1418P |
| 6 (w) | Steve Hall | 1468 | 0-1 | Aleksei Garifov | 1261P |
| 2-4 |
The last away match of our season was at relegated Hounslow B where we won in reasonably convincing fashion.
Mr Gorbonosov had an unfortunate game in which he walked into a fork that would lose him the exchange and a pawn- that was then compounded as he walked his queen into the sniper range of the enemy bishop. It happens to the best of us!
Mr Garifov had been toiling away on board 6 all season and he finally got reward for it. The star of the show- the queen. A merciless piece against an uncastled king, and so it delivered a nice mate on the 22nd move. I liked how he ignored material (a whole rook!) and went straight for the kill. Piece activity > material.
Mark encountered the same roadblock as I have on two previous occasions, that roadblock being Mr Padam and his solid defensive setup. Draw agreed. Oddly enough, Tony and Joe have beaten him this season yet myself and Mark have yet to do so…
Simon played the blitz king Mr Gregorio who will play 20 moves in a standardplay game before you’ve even sat down at the board. Simon was unfazed by this style and earned himself a piece advantage from the opening that he held until the very end of the game. He was then “unable to find the correct winning plan and, in the absence of any increment, settled for a draw by repetition in the endgame “. The guillotine time control certainly suits the quicker player and Simon’s opponent was able to hold the fort in a Q + B vs Q endgame to gain the draw.
Joe was mostly level throughout in a very closed position. He then tried to make some kingside exploits and suddenly found gold at the end of the rainbow in the form of a free queen. Quite how he did that, I’m not sure. Taking advantage of a blunder, a genius tactic, or sleight of hand?
Last but not least, I closed the evening with a gritty win. Both players didn’t feel comfortable in the opening and so lots of piece shuffling ensued. When a break came later, I made the most of it with handsome material gained whilst Frank activated his Queen and Rook in behind my kingside. It looked and felt scary, but in this case the extra material came back to the defence of the king and overwhelmed the attackers. Piece activity < material if there simply aren’t enough pieces to use!
We now conclude the season at home with a chance to finish in 5th/8 place in the table if we win.