Hendon 2 moved one crucial step closer to securing a promotion spot in Division 2 of the Middlesex League this week, achieving a superb victory over Harrow 1 by 4½–1½ at home, extending our winning streak to seven matches.
On the same night, Hendon 1 scored an excellent 3–3 home draw against a strong Kings Head 1 team, but Hendon Barnet Knights lost 4–2 away against Kings Head 3.
Hendon 2 started the evening at the top of the Division 2 table, and were full of confidence, having won six matches in a row.
While we had defeated Harrow 1 in the away fixture last November, this had the potential to be the hardest of our four remaining matches. Harrow are an enigmatic side, recovering from a poor start to the season (where they even lost to Harrow 2!) to reach third place in the table. They had thrashed Hammersmith 2 the previous week, showing they are more than capable of achieving big results away from home.
We were boosted by the fact that Harrow were unable to raise a full team for the match, defaulting one board. However, we were still out-rated on all five remaining boards, so nothing could be taken for granted.
On top board, leading the line for Harrow was 11-year-old prodigy and England international Bodhana Sivanandan, who has been continuing her meteoric rise, approaching 2300 FIDE. Unsurprisingly, out-rating her opponent by over 300 points, she won her game.
However, on the lower boards our rating disadvantage was less severe, and Avinash, Tristan and Andreas all scored superb wins (and Domenico an excellent draw) to secure a surprisingly comfortable victory. Congratulations to the team on this fantastic result!
| Hendon 2 | Hendon 2 | Harrow 1 | Harrow 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amior, David | 1992 | 0 - 1 | Sivanandan, Bodhana (WIM) | 2295 | ||
| 2 | Reddy, Avinash | 1920 | 1 - 0 | Patel, Rishi | 1970 | ||
| 3 | Killick, Tristan | 1894 | 1 - 0 | Dhemrait, Jagdeep | 1964 | ||
| 4 | Napolitano, Domenico N | 1849 | ½ - ½ | Sharp, Thomas M | 1952 | ||
| 5 | Bohnacker, Andreas | 1799 | 1 - 0 | Mandnikar, Atreya | 1840 | ||
| 6 | WALKOVER | 1 - 0 | DEFAULT | ||||
| 4½ - 1½ | |||||||
If my calculations are right, we need just half a match point more from our remaining three fixtures to guarantee at least second place, and a promotion spot. We now lead Division 2 by two match points, but second-placed Ealing 1 have two matches in hand, so first place will probably go down to the wire.
For Hendon 1, the season to date has been much tougher: we began the evening at the foot of the table, and this looked like a daunting fixture against a strong side from Kings Head. We were out-rated on all boards, though the gap was fairly small on the top four.
In the end, Eric Eedle and Jonathan Rubeck scored excellent victories against strong opposition, and Rob Willmoth and Armaan Nilim scored very good draws, to tie the match. Well done to all!
| Hendon 1 | Hendon 1 | Kings Head 1 | Kings Head 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Willmoth, Robert F (CM) | 2223 | ½ - ½ | Okike, David C (CM) | 2227 | ||
| 2 | Eedle, Eric F | 2094 | 1 - 0 | Gilfillan, Andrew | 2116 | ||
| 3 | Macneil, Elliott | 2011 | 0 - 1 | Simmons, Matthew | 2042 | ||
| 4 | Rubeck, Jonathan | 1964 | 1 - 0 | O'Shaughnessy, Conor | 1991 | ||
| 5 | Nilim, Armaan | 1845 | ½ - ½ | Coles, Steven F | 2004 | ||
| 6 | Bhaduri, Aviraj | 1778 | 0 - 1 | Randall, Simon | 2026 | ||
| 3 - 3 | |||||||
While this does lift us off the foot of the table, relief could prove to be short-lived, with top-three sides Hammersmith and Muswell Hill the next two visitors. Division 1 survival may come down to our two fixtures against fellow strugglers Hackney, and whether we are able to score against mid-table Metropolitan and Albany.
(Hendon 1 and Hackney regularly topped the Division 1 table prior to the COVID pandemic, so to see both at the bottom is a sobering reminder of how quickly things can change!)
Meanwhile, our junior team Hendon Barnet Knights were playing away from home against Kings Head 3. We struggled to put together a full team for this match, at the MindSports Centre which Hammersmith also use as their venue. We were heavily out-rated on all but one board and lost 4–2.
| Kings Head 3 | Kings Head 3 | Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors | Hendon Barnet Knights Juniors | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerram, Richard | 1738 | 0 - 1 | Bansal, Rineesh | 1612 | ||
| 2 | Tomkin, Neil D | 1658 | 1 - 0 | Kapur, Gul | 1440 | ||
| 3 | Grant-Ross, Peter | 1559 | ½ - ½ | Hulstrom, Tony | 1353 | ||
| 4 | Ainscow, Faye | 1541 | 1 - 0 | Fierstone, Saul | 1293 | ||
| 5 | Bonn, Doug M | 1471 | ½ - ½ | Bansal, Ronak | 1282 | ||
| 6 | McGann, John M | 1227 | 1 - 0 | Schneider, Poppy | 1253 | ||
| 4 - 2 | |||||||
Many thanks to everyone who played this week!