Hendon 1 and Hendon Barnet Knights both scored good home wins against teams from Hammersmith in the Middlesex League this week.
Hendon 1, playing only their second home match of the season, faced a Hammersmith 1 team who were top of Division 1, and were looking to get back on track after an away defeat against Hackney before Christmas.
The teams were very close in ratings, but we got our noses in front, reaching a 3–2 score with captain Eric Eedle needing just a draw to clinch the match on Board 5. Eric successfully closed out a queen ending several pawns up to ensure the match finished with clear daylight between the teams.
| Hendon 1 | Hendon 1 | Hammersmith 1 | Hammersmith 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willmoth, Robert Frederick | 2224 | ½ - ½ | Stewart, Ashley | 2228 | ||
| 2 | Sanitt, Ethan | 2135 | 1 - 0 | Ciocan, Maria-Alexandra | 2145 | ||
| 3 | Lebedev, Lion | 2117 | ½ - ½ | Pedersen, Carsten | 2062 | ||
| 4 | Senior, Gary | 2072 | 1 - 0 | Kelmendi, Bajrush | 2018 | ||
| 5 | Eedle, Eric | 2028 | 1 - 0 | Townsend, Tom | 1991 | ||
| 6 | Macneil, Elliott | 1972 | 0 - 1 | Sklavounos, Grigoris | 1990 | ||
| 4 - 2 | |||||||
As Eric pointed out to me, we’ve managed to field consistently strong teams in the last few matches. Many thanks to everyone for turning out: let’s keep the momentum going!
Muswell Hill have now dropped the fewest match points in Division 1 (1½ to Hammersmith’s 2), but have only played five matches to Hammersmith’s eight, so it’s really all to play for!
At the same time, Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors were thrashing Hammersmith 3; the Knights scored 3–0 on the top three boards where they had a rating advantage, and also scored 2–1 on the bottom three where the visitors had the edge on paper.
| Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors | Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors | Hammersmith 3 | Hammersmith 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nilim, Armaan | 1870 | 1 - 0 | Flavell, Archie | 1776 | ||
| 2 | Hazell, Peter | 1742 | 1 - 0 | Chandrasekaran, Rahulan | 1625 | ||
| 3 | Pepe, Salvatore | 1674 | 1 - 0 | De Angelis, Edoardo | 1603 | ||
| 4 | Hill, Callum | 1534 | 0 - 1 | Djololian, Olivier | 1625 | ||
| 5 | Gordon, Marcus | 1363 | 1 - 0 | Royce, Anastasija | 1520 | ||
| 6 | Ben-Eshak, Djad | 1354 | 1 - 0 | Gaillard-Bourde, Gregoire | 1580 | ||
| 5 - 1 | |||||||
Congratulations to both teams on these fine victories!
Unfortunately, Hendon 3’s away match against Willesden & Brent did not go so well, with the team significantly out-rated and losing 5½–½.
| Willesden & Brent 1 | Willesden & Brent 1 | Hendon 3 | Hendon 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fulton, Anthony R | 2021 | 1 - 0 | Funk, Alexander | 1807 | ||
| 2 | Solomon, D Ajoy | 1925 | 1 - 0 | Ben-Nathan, David | 1766 | ||
| 3 | Cowan, Xavier | 1887 | ½ - ½ | Murphy, Nick | 1727 | ||
| 4 | Giria, Sumeet | 1800 | 1 - 0 | Alster, Robert | 1646 | ||
| 5 | Beachley, Evan | 1680 | 1 - 0 | Alshehabi, Shehab | 1619 | ||
| 6 | Jones, Keith S | 1669 | 1 - 0 | Kollias, Vasileios | 1544 | ||
| 5½ - ½ | |||||||
Hendon 3 are still looking for their first win of the season, having tied three of their six matches and been significantly outclassed in the other three.
Thanks to captains Eric, Rob and Sundip for organising, to Shehab for captaining Hendon 3 on the night, and to all the players for their efforts!