On 3 December we travelled to the Chalkhill Community Centre in Wembley to play Willesden. Although we enjoyed a rating advantage of, on average, 200+ points per board, we all know that chess matches do not always pan out as expected which proved to be the case.
That said, Tony got us off to a cracking start by winning in a mere 13 moves. He writes: “I played White against the Hungarian defence (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7). On move seven, my opponent did not castle to safety but instead attacked my centre with a premature c5. Soon I had bishop and queen lined up against f7 and my f5-knight threatening nasty checks on g7 or d6 and the game was quickly over.” Impressive play by Tony – well done!
Our board 5, Mark, remains undefeated this season. He reports on his game: “I managed to eke out a win with a tactic which won a pawn, and soon after the exchange.” On the neighbouring board (4), I faced the Bogo-Indian (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+), chose to attack on the kingside but went horribly wrong with the impulsive 18.g4. My opponent exploited the resulting weaknesses well, turning the tables in his favour, and going on to claim the full point.
Alejandro’s rating recently broke through 1900, reflecting his improvement. Commenting on his game, he states: “I played Black in a Jobava London. My opponent threatened early but once I stabilised, my pieces marched forwards and I had two monster bishops which dominated. A nice queen sacrifice led to a position where I was two pieces up and he resigned.”
John, on top board, notes: “I was Black in a Samisch Kings Indian. I equalised out of the opening with the initiative but chose the wrong option when simplifying into a queenless middle game. I over-optimistically sacrificed the exchange for play but miscalculated, allowing White to neutralise my activity. However, just when it was looking bleak, White made a couple of inaccuracies and returned the exchange to reach a level endgame. I turned down a draw and then made a further mistake giving White a slight edge, so offered a draw which my opponent accepted.”
The last to finish was Jonathan. In his own words: “Playing as White, I emerged from Bird’s Opening with a pawn advantage and gained a second pawn shortly thereafter. My position was solid, but with queens and both rooks on the board things were still complicated. My opponent made them more so with a pawn break, one that gave me a +6 advantage on the computer, but that cost me more time and made me all too aware of the lack of increment. Urging myself to keep moving, I picked up a black pawn with the intention of taking it, only to realise that both ways of capturing it would cost me my queen. Touch-move. Game over.”
So, we managed to win the match by the narrowest of margins and in so doing, consolidated our claim to be a serious challenger for promotion.
| Willesden | Rating | Result | Ealing One | Rating |
| Xavier Cowan | 1902 | 0.5-0.5 | John Quinn | 2060 |
| D.Ajoy Solomon | 1899 | 1-0 | Jonathan White | 2015 |
| Evan Beachley | 1666 | 0-1 | Alejandro Lopez-Martinez | 1913 |
| Johannes Hwang | 1611 | 1-0 | Simon Healeas | 1841 |
| Antoine Autain | 1475 | 0-1 | Mark Winterbotham | 1830 |
| Cliff Silverman | 1453 | 0-1 | Tony Braine | 1704 |
| 2.5–3.5 |