Ealing A 4.5 - Maidenhead A 3.5
: Created:06 Oct 2009 , byIn a great scrap at the Harvester tonight, Ealing just prevailed.
In a topsy-turvey contest we were a touch fortunate to come out on top against a gutsy Maidenhead outfit. It was Adrian Ociepka who set us on our way with an excellent win on board three and Mike Lamb achieved a valuable draw with one of his trademark Winawer French Defences. Mike knows how to play possum, challenging his opponent to sacrifice to break up a closed position but Nigel Dennis did not oblige so a relatively early sharing of the spoils was inevitable.
Our hopes of a comfortable victory were set back by a loss on board one and whilst we had some confidence that Martin Smith would win on six, it did not look good for us one board down. Alan Perkins and Simon Randall recorded solid draws and the expected win for Martin and inevitable loss for Sainbayar Tserendorj transpired leaving the match score at 3.5 each.
The spotlight transferred to board four where yours truly had a passive position. A somewhat dubious kingside breakout by me was unfairly rewarded by an over-optimistic pawn advance by Tony Milnes, a greatly respected opponent who has a plus record against me. With my king advancing up the board the evaluation of the position took an 180 degree turn and even I could not mess it up.
Ealing A versus Maidenhead A
1. J Quinn 0-1 P Cooksey
2. A Perkins 0.5-0.5 L Varnum
3. A Ociepka 1-0 J Wager
4. D Ebbett 1-0 A Milnes
5. S Randall 0.5-0.5 J Holland
6. M Smih 1-0 P Janota
7. S Tserendorj 0-1 N Smith
8. M Lamb 0.5-0.5 N Dennis