Yesterday the first Middlesex League matches of the new season took place, with our two pairs of teams in the same Division facing each other at the Cumberland Club.
In the Division 2 clash, Hendon 2 defeated Hendon 3 by a 5–1 scoreline, conceding just two draws. The Division 3 match between Hendon 4 and Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors was reduced to five boards as we had a few players unable to reach the venue due to the Tube strike; the junior team won 3–2.
Last season all our internal matches were drawn 3–3, which is not really the way it should be, so this year I tried to increase the strength difference between the Division 2 teams a bit.
Hendon 2 duly decided the match early on, scoring 3½ on the bottom four boards. While the top two boards were still in play, they could no longer affect the match result.
This week we were delighted to welcome Gautam Jain back to the Club, to play his first League game for us in over three years. As the match drew to a close, he had an excellent position on Board 1, but was down to his final seconds, with his opponent having over ten minutes. He managed to find a way to win his game, and Board 2 was drawn.
| Hendon 2 | Hendon 2 | Hendon 3 | Hendon 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jain, Gautam | 2151 | 1 - 0 | Rubeck, Jonathan | 1917 | ||
| 2 | Macneil, Elliott | 1987 | ½ - ½ | Alster, Robert | 1878 | ||
| 3 | Amior, David | 1975 | 1 - 0 | Vorozhtsov, Ilya | 1659 | ||
| 4 | Ben-Nathan, David | 1975 | ½ - ½ | Wylde, Martin | 1601 | ||
| 5 | Kollias, Vasileios | 1749 | 1 - 0 | Shiran, Yoni | 1590 | ||
| 6 | Medworth, Andrew | 1736 | 1 - 0 | Bansal, Rineesh | 1585 | ||
| 5 - 1 | |||||||
In the Division 3 match, I tried to keep the two teams approximately balanced; this one was much closer, but the junior team edged it.
| Hendon 4 | Hendon 4 | Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors | Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kapur, Gul | 1485 | 0 - 1 | Ben-Eshak, Djad | 1556 | ||
| 2 | Jacobs, Stanley | 1447 | 1 - 0 | Lewis, David | 1404 | ||
| 3 | Gordon, Marcus | 1416 | 0 - 1 | Wolfin, Edward | 1348 | ||
| 4 | Bansal, Ronak | 1225 | 0 - 1 | Morin, Julian | 1281 | ||
| 5 | Abraham, Abe | 1123 | 1 - 0 | Hulstrom, Tony | ~1200 | ||
| 6 | DEFAULT | 0 - 0 | DEFAULT | ||||
| 2 - 3 | |||||||
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made their way to the Club this evening, despite the public transport problems, and made it possible for us to play these two matches!
Next week will be very similar to this week, as we play the other pair of internal matches. See you then!