On 27 January we welcomed Hackney to the Actonians for a first division Middlesex match. On paper, there was little between the teams in terms of rating. As I would not be at the club at the start of the encounter, Mark kindly stepped in as acting captain.

Reflecting on a quick game, Alan writes: “I was White and after nine moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined I offered a draw, which was accepted. This ended my three game losing streak and allowed me to watch the televised football match Burnley-Leeds. This was a drab goalless draw and at the end the commentator said it had been like a game of chess. Subsequent reports referred to it as a stalemate, so a chess-filled evening after all.”

In a similar vein, Mark also agreed to split the point following a Vienna opening.

On top board, Andrew had the tough task of facing an IM with the black pieces. He notes: “Playing against Richard Bates on his birthday, I unintentionally used my 11 year age advantage to play a Queens Indian sub-variation on move 7 that was popular in the 1980’s (when I learnt most of my theory) but has been superseded by a couple of other options since. Richard didn’t play the most testing response (confusing his lines I think) but still got a space advantage in a French Advance-type position where I had to be careful not to castle either side. I played solidly with …Qb7, …a6, …Kd7 and got my rooks to the c-file just in time to equalise before he would have broken through on the kingside, and he offered a draw.” This was an excellent performance by Andrew against a strong opponent.

With three games still in play, the outcome of the match was impossible to call. On board four, John summarises his game thus: “Playing the white side of a Nimzo-Indian I had an early advantage and then blundered away a key central pawn. I made a further mistake in the series of mass exchanges that followed, ending up in a double rook endgame with passive rooks, weak pawns and my opponent controlling the only open file. I did not defend the position well and soon lost another two pawns with no compensation. Not one of my better games!!”

On a neighbouring board (three), Martin comments: “I was Black in an Open Ruy Lopez and equalized fairly quickly. We simplified to an ending where I had BvN with pawns on both wings, but White’s knight was centralised and I couldn’t show any advantage. After some repetition, the game finished in a draw.”

Finally, it was left to Jonanthan to win in order for us to draw the match. He came through with flying colours, stating: “My opponent played a tricky h4 gambit line against my Dutch Defence. The computer calls it better for Black, but I played a bit cautiously and fell into a passive position. Returning the pawn, I fought for some initiative and found a central outpost for my knight. This proved useful as White patrolled the middle of the board with his rook, pressuring my position until missing a tactic and ultimately getting it trapped. Playing a rook down, he kept things complicated, and I was glad to see his flag fall.”

Overall this was a good result against the league champions and augurs well for the rest of the season.