This is the return fixture after meeting each other on 3rd October. Teams from the same club in the same division in the Thames Valley Chess League have to play each other before the fixtures with other clubs in the division.
| Board | Colour | Ealing D | Results | Ealing C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White | Geoff Richards | 1-0 | Martin Loat |
| 2 | Black | Andy Glass | 0-1 | Peter Meltzer |
| 3 | White | Michael Smith | 0-1 | Alastair Johnstone |
| 4 | Black | Ian Patterson | 0-1 | Trevor Bates |
| 5 | White | Neville Rowden | 0-1 | Gabriele Palmer |
| 6 | Black | Leo Shtutin | 0-1 | Jai Aggarwal |
By definition, Ealing C is a stronger team than Ealing D which goes some way to explain Ealing C’s 6-0 victory on 3rd October where there was an average rating difference of 255 in Ealing C’s favour. This time, the result was a 5-1 victory to Ealing C with an average rating difference of 213 in Ealing C’s favour. There was a suggestion that anal beads were being used by Ealing C but this was strongly rejected by Subas.
Comments and Games
Geoff Richard’s game : won as White; opening, London System (A48)
Ealing D’s only victory was on board 1 where Geoff Richards (white) played against Martin Loat.
Congratulations to Geoff on a strong performance.
Another close game was Michael Smith’s game against Alastair Johnstone. Evidently, it could have gone either way with Alastair finally being victorious.
Alastair Johnstone comments:
Deviating from last weeks Smith-Morra Gambit, I elected to play the Caro-Kann. As usual, Michael sought to build an attack but the early stages of the game were level. A small inaccuracy allowed me to win a pawn. This soon became two pawns and a positron that should have led to a straightforward win. Unfortunately, this is when complacency set in and I proceeded to play the endgame abysmally. Firstly, I stupidly exchanged off the remaining rooks leaving a pure pawn endgame which had hidden complexities. I then played some lazy moves and before I knew it, I had blown any advantage. Worse was to follow and after further mistakes Michael had a winning position, with passed pawns on d7 and a6. Mike only had to push his a-pawn to win. Tragically for him, he instead chose to swap off a Black pawn and the game once more was turned on it’s head! A very, very lucky win for me. The moral of the tale is that endgames need calculation not intuition and it’s never over till it’s over!
Neville Rowden’s game: Lost as white; opening, Queen’s Pawn Game, Krause Variation (D02)
It was heartening to see one of our former Cadets, Gabriele Palmer, being an activate member of the Ealing C team and recording his second victory in as many games. Although he made an early blunder playing Black against Neville Rowden, he fought back well and had a well-earned victory. White underestimated the strength of Black’s pawns on the a- and b-files after White was pinning down Black’s King. Eventually, White had to go for broke in the hope of a draw or another blunder by Black.
Despite the recent two heavy defeats, Ealing D is hoping for better things in the future. We wish Subas all the best with Ealing C.
Neville Rowden