Match Result
| Season | 19/20 |
| Date | Thu 31 Oct 2019 |
| Competition: | Thames Valley League Division 1 |
| Fixture | Richmond 'A' v Ealing 'A' |
| Result | W: 5.5-2.5 |
Scorecard
| Board | Grade | Richmond 'A' | Ealing 'A' | Grade | |
| 1 | 224 | Wall, Gavin | Philip Makepeace | ||
| 2 | 217 | Healey, Michael W | Rajat Makkar | ||
| 3 | 180 | White, Chris | John Quinn | ||
| 4 | 177 | Bass, John W | Alan Perkins | ||
| 5 | 166 | Barlow, Bertrand A | Tony Wells | ||
| 6 | 167 | James, Richard | Simon Healeas | ||
| 7 | 157 | Kamath, Raghu | Hristo Colov | ||
| 8 | 145 | Rashid-Farouki, Eamon | Alastair Johnstone | ||
| Total |
Captains Comment
This win was a much needed boost to the morale for Ealing 1st-teamers after a torrid start to the season.
Although Hristo's loss gave Richmond the early lead it proved a false augury as they failed to win on any of the remaining boards.
Both Phil and John concluded early draws. Phil comments on his own game: "I neutralised Gavin’s Advance Caro-Kann before forcing a perpetual following a complex middlegame. The most pleasing aspect was how much better I dealt with the transition from middlegame to ending than in our individual game last year."
Happily, I was able to continue my rediscovered run of form with a satisfying performance with the white pieces. In a typically double-edged Sicilian, my attack bit first, breaking though on the kingside with decisive effect. While Black harboured hopes of delivering mate on a1, I got there first by queening my g-pawn and mating on b8.
Ealing took the lead when Tony converted his advantage of the exchange.
Next to finish ws Rajat who delivered a fantastic win on board 2 with his bishop and knight proving more potent than his opponent's lone rook.
With Alan coming back into form with another win - I'm not sure when Alan last played on board 4 - Ealing sealed the match win.
Last to finish was Simon who was giving no quarter in a typically attritional battle with Richard James. As Simon reports: "Against a queen's pawn opening my well-respected opponent, Richard James, played the Stonewall Dutch. Following early expansion on the queenside, at move 27 I had the opportunity to play b4 and secure a stable and lasting edge. Rather weakly, I played a5 instead which greatly diminished any possible chance of gaining an advantage. Not surprisingly, the game petered out to a draw 12 moves later.
A great result for the team finally ending Richmond's irritating habit of beating us 4½-3½!