Miracle on Middlesex Street (or nearby)

London League Division 2 . Metropolitan v Ilford. Ilford White on odd boards.

Thursday 23 January 6.30pm start

Home player Result Away player Grading difference (Δ)

Tanguy Deflesselle s202C 0-1   Paolo Casaschi es170 +32
D Ian Calvert s179A      1-0   Anthony R Kent s158A +21
Trevor Coote s182A       1-0   Venkatesh Subramanian es150 +32
Fraser A Lees s174A    1/2-1/2 Aidan T Corish s146A +28
Jeremy Law s169A         0-1   Gideon Vecht s142B +27
Jan Lepetun s167B        0-1   Malcolm Gesthuysen s139B +28
Petr Vachtfeidl s164A    0-1   Jeffrey Page s128B +36
Toby Rolls s141C         0-1   Taha Undre es100  +41
Walk Over                1-0   Forfeit
Walk Over                1-0   Forfeit

Result                 4.5-5.5
Average grade   172.3              141.6              Δ = 30.7

Something strange happended in this match. A 6.30pm start on a Thursday in January was proving difficult to raise a full 10 person team. We turned up with only 8 players, and were missing 3 of our regular high boards due to holiday and clashing fixtures. Outgraded on every board by an average of over 30 on the ECF scale. But,there was a minor miracle on Middlesex Street and we won the match! Our first points of the season after 4 defeats.

We got off to a good start as Boards 5 and 8 (Gideon Vecht and Taha Undre) won to bring us on level terms. Then Malcolm Gesthuysen won after his opponent misjudged a combination, and Malcolm's advanced 8th rank Queen and Rook set up an unstoppable checkmate. Jef Page was under a bit of pressure on the board and the clock, but played some bold moves to grab the initiative and checkmate his opponent. Paolo Casaschi was last to win on top board in a tense opposite colour bishop and rook ending. Paolo's King walked up the board and helped shepherd his extra pawn to victory. Aidan Corish was a pawn up with opposite colored Bishops so a draw was agreed. Venkatesh won a piece for a pawn and looked more likely to win than many others, but lost out in the time scramble as black's extra pawn advanced. Hopefully we can build on this victory and get some more points on the board.