Ealing A 7 Staines A 1
: Created:31 Jan 2009 , by Alastair JohnstoneEaling A beat tabletopping Staines in Division 1 of the Thames Valley League
Bd | EALING A | Gd. | STAINES A | Gd. | |
1 | Quinn, John M | 185 | + | Hopper, Paul | 175 |
2 | Randall, Simon | 184 | + | McKeown, Paul | 172 |
3 | Stanisic, Veljko | 169 | + | Melnikovs, Svjatoslavs | 150 |
4 | Ociepka, Adrian | 172 | = | Kay, Jonathan | 148 |
5 | Tserendorj, Sainbayar | 166 | + | Walsh, Steven JF | 150 |
6 | Lamb, H Michael | 148 | + | McGovern, Derek P | 141 |
7 | Shalabayev, Syrym | 148 | = | Seymour, Paul | 129 |
8 | Shalabayev, Salim | U/G | + | Dulley, Richard | 112 |
A barnstorming performance put Ealing's first team back on track to defend its Thames Valley League title with a convincing win over newly-promoted Staines. Although not at full strength, Staines (who increasingly resemble an out-of-town Athenaeum!) came to the Harvester as putative league leaders, with 3/3 from early games played.
First to finish was Sainbayar, who delivered a typically forceful kingside attack completed by a decisive combination through the temporary 'sac' of a rook on g6. A short while later, Ealing went 2-0 up when Salim Shalabayev (a late substitute making his debut in the first team) made short work of his opponent's Ruy Lopez, punishing the omission of h3 with a highly effective pin and then demolishing the pawn shield in front of the White king.
Salim's brother, Syrym then completed a good night for the Shalabayevs with a relatively early draw in an original variation of the Dragon.
Meanwhile, on the top boards, some interesting battles were in progress. On Board 1, there were four queens in play at the end, but John Quinn had everything in hand and won handsomely with a mating attack. On 2, the cavalry were the heroes in Simon Randall's win, creating unanswerable threats around his opponent's king. On 3, a passed h-pawn won the day for Veljko, who has been in superb form all season.
The rout was completed when Adrian Ociepka drew on the black side of a Spanish Exchange, and skipper Mike Lamb rounded off an excellent performance with another win.