Ilford 1 v Brentwood 1, 6 February 2023.
Essex D2, 6 board match, G80 + 10. Toss won by Ilford- White on odd boards.
Jef Page, captain.
Time Control: 80 minutes + 10 seconds a move.
ILFORD I 4½ – 1½ BRENTWOOD II
1935 TOM BARTON ½ MALCOLM KINGSLEY 1859
1929 RAHUL GHOSE 0-1 ROB J DAVIES 1788
1965 NEVILLE TWITCHELL 1-0 MICHAEL MASON 1750
1801 VENKATESH SUBRAMANIAN 1-0 JOE CROSSSLEY 1515
1630 ADRIAN JOSEPH 1-0 COLIN ELLIS 1875
1688 JEF PAGE 1-0 default
1818 Average grade 1413
The average grade shows Ilford were far stronger so it was no surprise we won the match. We started off 1-nil up as Brentwood arrived a man short which Captain Colin Ellis generously warned me about the night before. It was a match of 2 Rook for Knight sacrifices both of which worked in their different ways. Venkatesh looked to be having difficulty developing his pieces so gambling, and having control of the c-file, he sac’d his R for N & a pawn and suddenly it was Crossley under pressure. With Subramanian’s 2 knights hopping around the board the issue was settled with a lovely,sweet smothered mate.
Davies, who used to play for us, had a strong attack and sac’d his R for N to dominate the centre of the board. But Rahul fought back and invaded white’s position with Queen & Rook chasing Rob’s King out from g1 to the safety of h6 (!) and suddenly Ghose found he couldn’t mate Davies, and worse, Rahul couldn’t stop a 1-move mate. Neville always had the advantage over Mason’s Caro-Kann opening, won his isolated Q-pawn and the minor-piece & pawns ending was never really in doubt. Tom on board 1 gained lots of space sending all his Q-side pawns up to the 4th rank, but unable to gain any real advantage over Kingsley with material level, accepted a draw. Adrian Joseph made a welcome return to Ilford and had Ellis in trouble right from the opening for whilst delaying his development Adrian controlled the board with his pawns. When his Q attacked the Q-side he won a Bishop & a N. Ellis fought back well to run a pawn dangerously down the board to the 2nd rank but pieces down, he lost control and once the pawn disappeared, the threat and game was over.
We are now unbeaten, 5/5. Nice to be top of the tree for the moment, for a change.
Ilford Chess Club 