One of the hardest parts of the night for some was just finding the venue…
Ilford squeezed a good result out of this match holding Metropolitan to a draw when we only had 9 players, starting the match 1 down. All our players were outgraded, by an average 11 points a board, and Jef’s opponent Fraser Lees was above him by 31 points! Jef wriggled out of a poor Queen’s Gambit middle game to run an unstoppable c-pawn aggressively up the board supported by his Queen to force a draw.
Neville Twitchell offered his opponent an early draw, which was declined. A level endgame of R+N v R+B with pawns on both sides looked like being a long drawn out affair when he suddenly blundered horribly allowing his to penetrate and deliver mate. Anthony Kent jumped on a careless move by S Roy to pick off a knight, and Julian Hudson also won well. Aidan Corish couldn’t make much progress but his bishop and pawns held Sommer’s knight and pawns in a level endgame.
In captain Tom Barton’s absence, thanks to Kevin White for being an able deputy.
We need more players: anyone fancy a London League match?
Board Home player Result Away player
Ilford Chess Club 