On Thursday, there was a double League match night, with Hendon 1 and Hendon 3 facing off against their counterparts from Hammersmith. I’m delighted to report that both teams scored resounding victories!
The Lions had been on a difficult run, having tied two matches and lost three so far. I therefore made a particular effort to muster the strongest team I could; despite having to substitute myself into the team on the night, we still outrated our opponents significantly.
James Robinson won quickly on the board next to me, and I played fairly conservatively to hold a draw, so things were looking good, as it was on the top three boards where we really had a big rating advantage. Lorin, John and Eric all won to bring home the first win of the season!
| Hendon 1 | Hendon 1 | Hammersmith 1 | Hammersmith 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D'Costa, Lorin | 2437 | 1 - 0 | Franco, Gaston | 2104 | ||
| 2 | Richardson, John | 2337 | 1 - 0 | Townsend, Tom | 1954 | ||
| 3 | Senior, Gary | 2206 | 0 - 1 | Fleming, Liam | 1903 | ||
| 4 | Eedle, Eric | 1906 | 1 - 0 | Billenness, Greg | 1830 | ||
| 5 | Robinson, James | 1895 | 1 - 0 | Pattni, Kishan | 1775 | ||
| 6 | Medworth, Andrew | 1784 | ½ - ½ | Cuff, Andrew M | 1707 | ||
| 4½ - 1½ | |||||||
The battle of the third teams looked closer on paper, with Hammersmith seemingly having an edge, outrating us on the bottom four boards. All games were decisive, and in the end, the higher-rated player won on only two boards, so we won the match!
| Hendon 3 | Hendon 3 | Hammersmith 3 | Hammersmith 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hutchinson, Mark | 1783 | 1 - 0 | Croasdale, Mark | 1635 | ||
| 2 | David, Barry | 1703 | 0 - 1 | Valle, Frank | 1564 | ||
| 3 | Kapur, Gul | 1505 | 0 - 1 | Turco, Lorenzo | 1577 | ||
| 4 | Lewis, David | 1416 | 1 - 0 | Eastham, Rory | 1501 | ||
| 5 | Clarke, Antoine | 1342 | 1 - 0 | Mather, Jonathan | 1433 | ||
| 6 | Engelaityte, Evelina | 1339 | 1 - 0 | Carr-Jones, Charles | 1465 | ||
| 4 - 2 | |||||||
A great pair of results. Many thanks to everyone who played!