Ealing 2nds 4 - Athenaeum 1sts 3
: Created:29 Nov 2009 , byIt was a shock when Athenaeum arrived three short for their away fixture in the second divison of the Middlesex league. Not so many years ago their first team were Middlesex champions and their reserves were more than a match for our premier side.
Credit where it's due however because their five guys ended up the evening still able to draw with Ealing.
Captain, Chris Greenshields writes:
After winning our first 2 matches, we faced Athenaeum 1sts. It was a
strange match, not least because they defaulted the bottom 3 boards. At the end
of the evening, the score is 4-3 to Ealing with 1 adjournment for John Harvey. That game appeared to be a slow affair, with only a few pieces off the board and the position quite closed.
Sainbayar Tserendorj was the only person to record points on the night with a good win on
board 2. I gave up a pawn for the bishop pair and had a better position
(Sainbayar doesn't believe me), but then failed to press the advantage and
played poorly in the endgame to lose. Dale Gibbons was a piece (or two?) up but lost on
time, and Michael Turp also lost.
Still, whatever happens we retain our unbeaten record, although hopefully John
can secure a half point to win us the match. Watch out for a sudden increase in
the quality of play as Fritz plays Fritz for 10 moves following the resumption
of that game. Cynical I know, but it was John's opponent who credited their 3
defaults to their members' unwillingness to play in the Middlesex League
because of the rules on quick-play finishes. Let's compare his moves with
Fritz's recommendations on conclusion of that game, shall we?
Thu 12 November 2009 19:30 Athenaeum (H)
0-1 C. Greenshields v P. Tozer
1-0 S. Tserendorj v O. Smith
0-1 M. Turp v A. Golebiowski
0-1 D. Gibbons v M. Johnstone
ADJ J. Harvey v S. Walsh
1-0 R. Jhooti v DEFAULT
1-0 S. Sarna v DEFAULT
1-0 A. Johnstone v DEFAULTÂÂ