Monday, 9^th September was a very entertaining evening at Ealing Chess Club. John Quinn gave another informative talk for an hour discussing a game from the recent European Seniors Team Championships. The game that he chose has White advancing his passed d-pawn in the middle game. Battle ensued and all results seemed possible until near the end when Black went wrong. John talked a bit about the various pawn structures that Black and White could have chosen in the early middle game before White chose to resolve the central tension with his d-pawn advance.

There was a good attendance from the members.

From 8:30pm until 10:30pm, John played against 12 members simultaneously. Quite a few members also stayed after the talk to watch the fun and games. Judging by the feedback I have had, everybody (spectators and participants) thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle. John had not given a simul for many years and had not played any chess since July, so he was a bit rusty.

Colours were decided randomly. The participants and their colours were:

• Board 1 – Su Ong (Black)
• Board 2 – David Websdale (Black)
• Board 3 – Kayden Tan (Black)
• Board 4 – Jack O’Hare (Black)
• Board 5 – Salvatore Cacciola (White)
• Board 6 – Rodion Shkolnikov (White)
• Board 7 – Jagat Singh (White)
• Board 8 – Mark Robinson (Black)
• Board 9 – Leo (Black) – a potential new member whose surname I don’t know
• Board 10 – Xavier Cowan (White)
• Board 11 – Roger Beckett (Black)
• Board 12 – Alastair Johnstone (Black)

It was pleasing to see that three juniors and a female member were among the participants.

Here is the information John has provided on some of the games:

1. John always had some pressure and eventually reached a simple ending with an extra piece. A win for John.
   
2. John had more space and a better pawn structure. David then blundered and left his Queen en-prise. A win for John.
   
3. This was John’s trickiest game. John won a piece but then lost the plot a bit. Kayden won the piece back, but John’s Kingside attack was just strong enough to see him home. A win for John.
   
4. John won a piece early in the game and Jack never had sufficient compensation. Jack reached an endgame where he had lost at least a further Rook. A win for John.
   
5. John played a horrible blunder in the opening and was completely lost. John escaped to an ending a pawn down with passive pieces and Salvatore then won the exchange. Salvatore seemed unsure about how to convert his advantage and John won back two Pawns but was still in a technically lost ending when Salvatore generously offered a draw. This was the penultimate game to finish. Game drawn.
   
6. John got his pieces tangled up in the opening and stood worse for ages. Eventually John managed to snaffle a Pawn and when a second one fell Rodion resigned. A win for John.
   
7. John equalised in the opening then played a casual move followed by a greedy blunder. John lost a piece and then an exchange. Jagat played excellently and won deservedly. A win for Jagat.
   
8. This game was very similar to Board 4 (see above). John won a piece early in the game and Mark never had sufficient compensation. A win for John.
   
9. John left a Knight fork on when the position was slightly better for John. Leo had a couple of chances to hold the resulting position but went astray and allowed John to Queen a Pawn ending up a piece up. A win for John.
   
10. Xavier played a Benko gambit against John’s 1. d4. John went astray in the early middle-game, and Xavier completely outplayed John. John ended up in a very passive position and Xavier played a good combination winning far too many pieces for his Queen. A win for Xavier.
    
11. John won an exchange in the early middle-game. Roger did not have quite enough compensation and John returned the extra material to reach a King and Pawn endgame where John had an unstoppable a Pawn. A win for John.
    
12. In a King’s Indian, Alastair sacrificed a Knight for a couple of Pawns and a monster position. John thought Alastair was winning or much better until right at the end when Alastair allowed a counterstrike that drove Alastair’s King across the board where Alastair was mated. A win for John.

Therefore, John won 7 out of 8 with White, and 2½ out of 4 with Black. No guesses for which colour John prefers.

For anyone who is interested, John played 1. e4 and 1. d4 alternating between the two with the White pieces (so four games of each), and faced 1. e4 in all the games where John had Black.

Special mention should also go to Su who was last person standing.

Well done Jagat, Xavier and Salvatore who prove that there is hope for us all.

And thanks to John for volunteering to do this.