Ilford 2 v Southend 2, Monday 3 October 2022.
5 board match, G80 + 10
Tom Barton, captain.
This was the second team’s first game of the 2022-23 season. I lost the toss so over this five board match we had two whites and three blacks which was not a disadvantage as apart from the draw on board two all the games were won by black!
The three juniors in the team all played well. Euan played calmly to claim a pawn out of the opening with a piece development advantage, this turned quickly into a greater advantage as he won his opponent’s queen with a simple tactic and he went on to win. Jiayi played quick development against his opponent’s Sicilian defense but then his co-ordination became a bit loose and the weakening move g3 led eventually to pressure on his rooks and with his opponent’s bishops invading his position he lost an exchange and the game went away from him. So one point each at this stage.
Rayyan had a very complex middle-game position against his opponent’s London opening. In the critical position Rayyan found better moves than his opponent to go the exchange up in the endgame and win.
Adhar’s game on board two went into an extremely closed position with the pawns locked together across the board and not surprisingly ended with a draw as neither side’s king and bishop could make any progress.
So the match now hung on the result of Dan’s game. He played a very tricky open position well and although an exchange down had his bishop pair aiming at his opponent’s king creating more pressure than his opponent’s bishop pair which were doing the same. Dan was well up on the clock and created complications. His final rook move was excellent and struggling for a response his opponent’s flag fell. A win for Dan and a win for the team 3.5 – 1.5
Well played all! Thanks to Southend for travelling to us.
Match result details and league tables are on the ECF LMS. See the match result here: https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/125065
Ilford Chess Club 