On 2 December we welcomed Kings Head 1 to the Actonians. A tough match beckoned as we were out-rated on five of the six boards.
That said, we took an early lead with Jonathan winning by default due to his opponent not showing up. The first actual game to finish was Martin’s who writes: “I was Black against a London System. White seemed happy simply to liquidate and brushed off my attempts to complicate. I was wary of overplaying, and after a series of forced exchanges we reached a drawn rook ending.”
Reviewing his game on top board, Andrew states: “David Okike and I have played umpteen times over the years; it almost feels like our own world championship match! Another French Winawer. He deviated early with the unusual 9.Qh5 instead of 9.exf6 ep. against the …0-0 variation. I responded too passively and tangled up my rooks. After a 21.c3-c4 break, he had the advantage both on the board and the clock. He used up most of his time (which gave me some hope) playing a strong exchange sacrifice 27.Rxd5! to free up his e-pawn to advance supported by the two bishops, and under pressure, I blundered some moves later in a losing position.”
Similarly, Alan played a familiar opponent. He comments: “I was up against Rick McMichael for the third time in six months. I was White and he played the English Defence (1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6). I allowed him to exchange his bishop for my knight on c3 giving me doubled pawns. I then decided my pawn weaknesses were more significant than my two bishops and tried a speculative exchange sacrifice. This was reasonable but he was able to gain an advantage by returning the material. He then blundered with a pawn grab that should have lost. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that I had a winning move until my engine pointed it out when I got home. Shortly afterwards, when I was still in the game, I went for a faulty sequence, ‘winning’ his queen, but for more material than I realised. We reached a position where I had just a queen against his rook, bishop, knight and pawn which was a clear win for him. He made heavy weather of it but eventually trapped my king in a mating net on the edge of the board, while at the same time shielding his king from checks. At which point I resigned.
It was pleasing to see Matthew make his debut for the team. In his own words: “My opponent played an English and I replied with the Reversed Sicilian. I managed to create a strong centre with 6…d5 and ultimately castled queenside which made for an exciting middle game, where I was probably ahead after he tried to open the queenside but miscalculated his attack. I was short of time and after the dust settled the position was fairly even but my weakened pawns gave him easier play in the ensuing time scramble. I ended up 2 pawns down in a king and pawn ending and had to concede. An enjoyable game.”
In contrast, my own game was a rather grim experience: as White in a Queen’s Indian, I needlessly dropped a pawn on move 14 and proceeded to go slowly downhill. In fairness, my opponent played well so I don’t have any real complaints about losing.
Overall this was a heavy team defeat, admittedly against a strong side. Hopefully we will have some slightly easier matches in the new year.
| Ealing 1 | Rating | Result | Kings Head 1 | Rating |
| FM Andrew Harley | 2169 | 0-1 | CM David Okike | 2265 |
| Alan Perkins | 2165 | 0-1 | FM Rick McMichael | 2203 |
| Martin Smith | 2142 | 0.5-0.5 | Steven Coles | 2092 |
| Jonathan White | 2012 | 1-0 | Default | |
| Matthew Georgiou | 1830 | 0-1 | Colin Mackenzie | 2031 |
| Simon Healeas | 1861 | 0-1 | Michael Inzani | 1987 |
| 1.5-4.5 |