Wednesday 27th November 2024, MW 3/14
| Surbiton B | Ealing B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (b) | FM Julian Way | 2033 | 1-0 | Xavier Cowan | 1904 |
| 2 (w) | Liam Bayly | 1993 | 1-0 | Simon Healeas | 1851 |
| 3 (b) | Joshua Pirgon | 1988 | 1-0 | Jason Obihara | 1737 |
| 4 (w) | John Polanyk | 1792 | 0.5-0.5 | Leslie Pringle | 1614 |
| 5 (b) | WALKOVER | 1-0 | DEFAULT | ||
| 6 (w) | WALKOVER | 1-0 | DEFAULT | ||
| 5.5-0.5 |
Our 3rd match of the season looked a forgone conclusion before it even started, with 22 people declaring themselves unavailable for it (surely a club record!). In the end, I could only muster 3 other soldiers to accompany me on this ice-cold evening trip to Surbiton. Starting the night 2-0 down due to our defaults, we were always going to have a tough evening, but as usual the Ealing faithful didn’t go quietly.
Leslie was the first to finish and, although he lost, he gave the opposition a very good game. His Pirc system as black gave him a platform to attack on the queenside where his opponent had castled, and so a typical kingside attack vs queenside attack ensued. When I looked, Leslie appeared to have the better of it with a R+2xP for B+N and dangerous chances against the exposed enemy king. Just as he was getting his rooks into the game, he sadly blundered and resigned immediately- I didn’t see exactly what happened, but I can only assume he dropped one of his rooks.
Myself and Jason both had difficult evenings as we found ourselves under the cosh for most of the match, eventually succumbing. I was particularly disappointed in myself as I didn’t give my opponent very much to think about, instead just allowing him to dictate the game and attack without much resistance.
Finally, the night concluded with Simon battling away to rescue the only Ealing points of the night. Simon quotes: “As Black, I played the Caro-Kann against which my opponent chose the advanced variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5). To sharpen the game, I risked a line which forfeited castling rights but this did not turn out well. Most of the game I was either losing or lost but managed, finally, to restore equality in a drawn rook and minor piece ending. “ From my perspective, Simon appeared to be on the ropes with a king exposed on the queen side and a pawn less. Nonetheless. he rallied with his bishop pair in time trouble and began to cause problems, winning back the pawn as a result and securing a draw. This last ditch effort preserved us from a whitewash so my thanks extend to Simon for that.
Next up, we’re on the road again to play Hounslow A. Our away form and league position could do with a boost…