Match Result
| Season | 19/20 |
| Date | Mon 17 Feb 2020 |
| Competition: | Hillingdon League Division 2 |
| Fixture | Ealing 'B' v Hatch End 'A' |
| Result | L: 2-3 |
Scorecard
| Board | Grade | Ealing 'B' | Hatch End 'A' | Grade | |
| 1 | Simon Healeas | Salisbury, Ian W | 156 | ||
| 2 | Sami Goussous | Breed, Greg J | 150 | ||
| 3 | Alastair Johnstone | Cross, Ian K | 141 | ||
| 4 | Christopher Yapp | Hayali, Leith | 141 | ||
| 5 | Martin Loat | Parsons, Robert | 136 | ||
| Total |
Captains Comment
Last night we hosted Hatch End A. Anticipating a challenging match against the division two favourites, we did not get off to a good start losing two early-to-finish games. But then a good win on bottom board, followed by a draw gave us hope as the top board game entered its final stages with anyone's guess as to who would win. In the end it was neither, with a draw resulting in a 3-2 win for our visitors.
Alastair, white on board three, did not deal well with the Winawer French Defence and an oversight resulted in loss of a piece. With no compensation Alastair saw no future to his game and resigned.
On board two, Sami's game progressed without dramatic events, but his opponent gradually gained positional advantage that finally resulted in another loss for Ealing B.
At around half-time, Martin on board five appeared (to me) to be in trouble from a Queen + Bishop attack on his exposed King. One check followed another and Martin was able to distance his King from trouble, then a greedy pawn capture by his opponent allowed Martin to turn the tables, using Queen and both Rooks to create multiple threats of Mate or material gain. Bringing his Knight into the action was the final straw, resulting in disastrous material loss and his opponent's resignation.
Christopher, black on board four, had a good game and the better position throughout. Towards the end his advantage faded and, unable to see a decisive way forward, offered a draw that was accepted.
Simon's d4 opening was countered by a Benoni. He adopted his favoured Catalan setup to continue into an even middle game that left Simon with the exchange balanced by his opponent's two pawn advantage. It was looking good for Simon, but that pawn advantage resulted in a promotion requiring immediate material sacrifice. From then on the game was on a knife edge, with Simon's h-pawn threatening to advance to promotion, balanced by his opponent's pawn numerical advantage. Knights were the only remaining participants and their moves were critical and time consuming, and Simon's clock was running down. The game was agreed drawn following captures of the threatening pawns.