Our newly-formed Hendon Sharks rapidplay team started with a comfortable victory over Hammersmith on the first evening of the new City of London Rapidplay League.
| Hammersmith | Hammersmith | Hendon | Hendon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White, John RA | 53 | 0 - 1 | Raoof, Adam N | 172 | ||
| 2 | Rentzos, Panagiotis | 94s | 0 - 1 | Ellis, Daniel | 148 | ||
| 3 | Birhane, D | - | 0 - 1 | Bennett, Michael K | - | ||
| 4 | Brotherston, P | - | 0 - 1 | Limonov, Petr | - | ||
| 0 - 4 | |||||||
| Hammersmith | Hammersmith | Hendon | Hendon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Woolley, John H | 128s | 0 - 1 | Raoof, Adam N | 172 | ||
| 2 | Rentzos, Panagiotis | 94s | 0 - 1 | Ellis, Daniel | 148 | ||
| 3 | Birhane, D | - | ½ - ½ | Bennett, Michael K | - | ||
| 4 | Brotherston, P | - | 0 - 1 | Limonov, Petr | - | ||
| ½ - 3½ | |||||||
Report by Daniel Ellis
The Hendon Sharks played their first match on Wednesday 3 June at Golden Lane Community Centre near the Barbican. Smelling blood, they won the match against Hammersmith by 7½ to ½. The four man team played two half hour games against the same opponent with white and black.
On board one, Adam ‘Drawmaster’ Raoof surprised everyone by winning both his games in fine style. In the first, a deadly discovered double check spelt the end for his opponent. In the second, Raoof essayed the unusual 2.Qe2 in the French, first attributed to Chigorin, eventually gaining a positional crush with a mobile pawn centre.
On board two, Daniel ‘Streetfighter’ Ellis cruised to victory with a Blackmar-Diemar in the first and a cheeky delayed castling version of the Sicilian in the second.
On board four, Petr ‘The Russian’ Limonov simply outclassed his opponent and ground out two wins, finding time for a quick virtuoso performance on the honky-tonk piano to entertain the Sharks after the match.
The story of the match unfolded on board three, where Michael ‘Dark Horse Tactician’ Bennett found himself two pieces down in the second game with seemingly not enough compensation after his Grand Prix Attack came in for a pit-stop on move 10. Amazingly, Bennett found a series of queen manoeuvres that stretched the black army to breaking point. With his opponent in severe time trouble and failing to find the best defence, Bennett offered a sporting draw that took Hammersmith off the mark.
Great fun was had by all and there are 10 more matches so if you want to take part contact team captain Adam Raoof.