A Magnificent Seven for the Spitfires and Harriers
By Hendon LOCL captain Andrew Medworth
Wednesday 14 April, 2021
In the LOCL tonight, the Spitfires and Harriers both achieved decisive wins in the Bishops Division! The Hurricanes were unfortunately just pipped to the post by a strong Hackney Thirsty side.
| Hendon Hurricanes | Hendon Hurricanes | Hackney Thirsty | Hackney Thirsty | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rob Willmoth | 2200 | 1 - 0 | Dashiell Shaw | 2275 | ||
| 2 | Alex Leslie | 2088 | 0 - 1 | Bob Eames | 2268 | ||
| 3 | Savas Marin Stoica | 2043 | ½ - ½ | Dominic Mackle | 2193 | ||
| 4 | Jason Covey | 1990 | 0 - 1 | Jonny Tennyson | 2020 | ||
| 1½ - 2½ | |||||||
The Hurricanes were facing a Hackney team which was, if anything, even stronger than the one that defeated us 4-0 in season 1 (report).
However, we did have the advantage that Rob wasn’t facing his bête noire opponent Bob Eames this evening, and he duly got us off to a great start in this match by closing out the game fairly straightforwardly after his strong opponent surprisingly dropped a piece at the end of the opening.
Savas had a promising position at one stage, but dropped an advanced pawn to give his opponent counter-chances. Savas won the exchange, but his opponent had two pawns for it, with decently placed pieces, and Savas justifiably took a repetition.
After this, Hackney levelled the match after Jason got his knight trapped, so all eyes were on Alex Leslie’s game.
It was a tense back-and-forth affair, and I had very high hopes when Alex gained a couple of pawns for the exchange in the ending. However, it was very tough to convert so low on time, and in the end Alex’s opponent was able to level the pawn count and take over the initiative. It was a very difficult task to hold from there, and the Hackney player ended up taking the game.
An exciting match, from which all the players emerge with credit. It could have gone either way!
| Willmoth,R2004 | 1–0 | Shaw,D0 | |||||||||||||||||
 | London Online Chess League Season 2 - Queens2021 | | |||||||||||||||||
You can currently find all round 7 games in the Queens Division here.
| East Ham Eagles | East Ham Eagles | Hendon Spitfires | Hendon Spitfires | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Zheng | 1915 | 0 - 1 | Kennan Kesterson | 1983 | ||
| 2 | Edison Figueroa | 1908 | 0 - 1 | David Amior | 1900 | ||
| 3 | Jack Sheard | 1855 | ½ - ½ | Eugenia Karas | 1803 | ||
| 4 | Karin Bayona | 1893 | ½ - ½ | Nick Murphy | 1750 | ||
| 1 - 3 | |||||||
In the Bishops Division, the Spitfires had a critical encounter with the strong East Ham Eagles, who are also fighting for the top league places. They beat us 3-1 in season 1, so clearly needed to be taken seriously. But we were able to field an excellent line-up of our own, and a gripping match was in prospect!
David took first blood after managing the middlegame-to-endgame transition better than his opponent and converting nicely, showing once again that when it comes to rook endings, he is a force to be reckoned with!
Eugenia’s game could have gone either way after a complex middlegame, but once the double-rook ending arrived, a draw always looked likely, and it duly arrived, putting us in command of the tie.
The match was far from safe, though, with all three results possible on the other two boards!
Nick had a fantastic-looking position, having managed to trap his opponent’s king in the middle of the board, bereft of cover, but it was one of those frustrating positions where the killer blow just won’t seem to come, and the opponent seems to be inexorably untangling and developing counter-threats.
The game reached boiling point when Nick decided to sac his bishop to strip the pawn cover from his opponent’s king, but missed a strong reply, hitting his vulnerable f2 square. Nick lost a piece, but gained a couple of pawns and had the safer king, and in the end this allowed him enough play to get a draw, which seemed like a fair result after all the excitement!
There was still more to come on top board, though! I was very worried for a while when Kennan appeared to have got his rook trapped, but he had everything worked out, and I breathed a sigh of relief when he reached a rook ending a pawn up which looked almost impossible to lose, but also quite hard to win.
I thought a draw was inevitable – which would have suited us – but Kennan had every right to play for a win, and in his efforts to do so, allowed his opponent a passed h-pawn. The game should still have been a draw, but it wasn’t simple any more, and it was one of those pawn-race positions where I could easily imagine things going horribly wrong in the time scramble.
In the end, Kennan’s play was justified when his opponent made a fateful decision to put his king in front of his own h-pawn, allowing it to be trapped there by Kennan’s rook on the g-file.
The climax of the game was fascinating from a “pure chess” perspective, as Kennan’s opponent tried various stalemate tricks, though this was somewhat academic for the match result, as a draw was pretty much as good as a win from that point of view. Nonetheless, Kennan was able to sidestep his opponent’s traps and take the game, rounding off a decisive and well-deserved match win!
The Spitfires continue to top the division, though nothing can be taken for granted at this stage, as we still have some strong teams yet to play.
| Zheng,H2124 | 0–1 | Kesterson,K1922 | |||||||||||||||||
| London Online Chess League Season 2 - Bishops2021 | | |||||||||||||||||
| Beckenham and Bromley | Beckenham and Bromley | Hendon Harriers | Hendon Harriers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Dovey | 1675 | 0 - 1 | James Baxter | 1600 | ||
| 2 | Malcolm Mourant | 1638 | 0 - 1 | David Lewis | 1465 | ||
| 3 | Zac Belcher | 1464 | 1 - 0 | Stanley Jacobs | 1390 | ||
| 4 | Dave Vigus | 1510 | 0 - 1 | Dev Ranka | 1270 | ||
| 1 - 3 | |||||||
Elsewhere in the Bishops Division, the Harriers faced Beckenham and Bromley. The players acquitted themselves superbly, with James scoring an excellent attacking win on top board, and Dev taking advantage of a bizarre error by his opponent (possibly a mouse slip) to win a rook-and-pawn ending.
These wins cancelled out an early loss when Stanley fell victim to a strong attack in a romantic Vienna Gambit, and left us only needing a draw from David’s game to win the match.
David looked under serious pressure down the c-file at one stage, but his opponent let him off the hook. David offered a draw, but this was declined, so David – as he put it afterwards – was forced to go on and beat him! It must be said he had considerable help from his opponent, who dropped material to a back-rank trick, but David deserves great credit for staying in the game so long and taking the opportunity when it presented itself.
Congratulations to the Harriers on their second win of season 2!
The round 7 games in the Bishops Division are currently available here.
Many thanks to all the players, who continue to produce fighting chess at all levels of the League!
You can find a list of all stories about season 2 of the London Online Chess League here.