Team Ealing C visited Maidenhead for the match against Maidenhead B on the 20th of February, 2023. Ealing C lost to Maidenhead B with the score 1.5 – 4.5 . We lost on two boards by default as we could not find two ECC members to play on those boards.
With four Ealing C members playing in the match the scores for our team as far as the games went were 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses. Our opponents we played against were rated higher, some by 100 points or more.
| Board | Colour | Maidenhead B | Results | Ealing C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | White | Simon Foster | 1 – 0 | Tony Braine |
| 2 | Black | William Castaneda | 1 – 0 | Alastair Johnstone |
| 3 | White | Stephen Briggs | 0.5-0.5 | Subas Subbaraj |
| 4 | Black | Yury Krylov | 0 – 1 | David Websdale |
| 5 | White | Walkover | 1 – 0 | Default Loss |
| 6 | Black | Walkover | 1 – 0 | Default Loss |
Alastair was White facing a variant of the Neo-Arkhangelsk Ruy Lopez.
I made a loose move that dropped a pawn. I then over-optimistically sacced a bishop on h7 but Black didn’t take the bait and, although I was able to exert some pressure, the material deficit was the decisive factor.
David was playing White and he had built up an unassailable lead, with his Queen backed up by rook and knight (creating a mating net), against the Black’s lone Queen. Then David did a King’s walk towards Black’s back rank to avoid a perpetual check by Black’s Queen. The position was hopeless for Black and Black resigned soon after the King’s walk achieved its aim.
Subas played Black in a Giuco Piano opening variation and was constantly on a back foot defending his king’s position and trying to extricate his black bishop almost inactive in the back rank. There was a bit of knights’ dance from White’s and Black’s king side. In the end White’s attack fizzled out as Subas extricated his bishop for a knight exchange and the game ended up as a draw even though he was a pawn up.