In another very close match, our 1st team beat a strong King’s Head team, to overtake them at the top of Division 1 of the Middlesex League.
| Kings Head 1 | Kings Head 1 | Hendon 1 | Hendon 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McMichael, Richard J | 213 | 0 - 1 | Williams, Simon K | 234 | ||
| 2 | Wittmann, Jochen | 202 | 0 - 1 | D'Costa, Lorin AR | 229 | ||
| 3 | Spivack, Simon SY | 197 | ½ - ½ | Summerscale, Aaron P | 220 | ||
| 4 | Black, Richard | 197 | ½ - ½ | Mures, Cristian | 199 | ||
| 5 | Okike, David C | 192 | 0 - 1 | Senior, Gary | 199 | ||
| 6 | Thomas, Rik H | 192 | 0 - 1 | Eden, Tomer | 195 | ||
| 7 | Stevenson, James AB | 192 | ½ - ½ | Raoof, Adam N | 185 | ||
| 8 | Mackenzie, Colin | 188 | 1 - 0 | Sanders, Isaac B | 159 | ||
| 2½ - 5½ | |||||||
Report by Mike & Adam
This was a match of two halves – once again we were on the brink of defeat against a strong side and, as usual, the final result flatters the winning side.
First Half
Isaac’s recent results have included a 2100+ TPR in the Cappelle la Grande FIDE Open, and he’s even had a TWIC article devoted to him as one of England’s brightest young prospects. However, up against a very experienced opponent on board 8, he had an uncharacteristic loss of concentration early on which lost a rook. (0-1)
Adam then took a rock solid short draw – his first of the season – but only after checking every other board before agreeing to his opponent’s offer: a lesson for all of us! At that time we appeared to be doing well on a couple of boards and level on the others, so he was not to realise how close the match would become… (0.5-1.5)
Before long, Simon and Gary were still both doing well, but Lorin and Tomer were suffering. Aaron, still a bit rusty not having played a lot of league chess for years, was seemingly under pressure and consuming lots of time. Cristian was holding his own on Board 4. Tense!
Second Half
Simon rejected a variation that the crowd thought won immediately, for a line that actually turned out to be trickier. He still managed to punch his way though the complications with c4 and won quickly after exposing his opponent’s king. (1.5-1.5)
Simon recorded a video about this game. Part 1:
Part 2:
Lorin somehow got some counterplay in a lost position. His opponent, who had given away a won position in his game against Aaron in the match at Hendon, played much too fast after doing all the hard work and lost his queen to a skewer! (2.5-1.5)
Cristian then managed to draw an opposite coloured bishops ending under cosmetic pressure, though he made his opponent play it out to the end. (3-2)
It turned out Aaron had it all worked out, as an exchange sac left him comfortably placed.
All of Tomer’s opponent’s pieces had managed to reach the 7th rank, and it looked as if he was just waiting to land the fatal blow…
Extra Time
Unfortunately with the pressure off, Aaron made an inaccurate 31st move and could only draw with minutes left on both clocks. The move he missed? Well, you can find that for yourself! (3.5-2.5)
Gary’s was the outstanding game of the night – he outplayed his strong opponent on both sides of the board, and then broke through in the centre, to win an excellent game. (4.5-2.5)
Tomer’s opponent may have overestimated his chances. He won a pawn, then got his pieces in a tangle and Tomer simply brought his King over to the queenside and won the exchange! (5.5-2.5)