Last Monday evening we played a good Harrow Juniors team, and unfortunately lost 1.5 – 2.5.

On board 1 Alex playing black wrote “I played a French defence as black. It was pretty much an equal game. I deliberately gave up a pawn in the opening but had a better development and two bishops as a compensation. It was a fairly equal game and drawn position until I lost concentration and gave a pawn away in the endgame.” This resulted in a loss for Alex.

Tony played white on Board 2. A first for Tony – playing an opponent using a booster seat. He opened b4 hoping to take the seven year old out of her comfort zone and into a strategic, less tactical battle. Sadly she kept making very good moves, and quickly, and Tony was soon on the back foot. He held on though and eventually black blundered in the endgame, allowing a passed pawn to promote to a queen. A happy win for white but unlikely to be repeated as his talented young opponent matures.

On board 3 David as black played a Queen’s Gambit Declined. White had an early attack on black’s king, which had castled kingside. Black defended but lost a pawn. Black then forced an exchange of his two rooks for white’s queen and in an open position white had a number of weakened pawns left on his queenside that black’s queen could attack. However white was able to check by repetition with one of his rooks and a draw was agreed.

Neville Rowden played white on Board 4 and opened with the Queen’s Pawn Game: London System. It was quite an uneventful game with white having a slight advantage until the end game. Unfortunately, white thought he saw a way of breaking through black’s defence but with the risk of leaving the white king open to attack. It was far too risky and white didn’t succeed in overcoming black’s defence. At this point, black was totally dominant and white gracefully resigned. The game was full of blunders on both sides.

The result leaves us firmly at the bottom of Division 2 and, with one remaining away match against Hatch End A, we’ll be relegated to Division 3 next season.

David Housego

Ealing C Captain