Our first win this season!
Board 1. Carolus Tang had the black pieces. He says “It was a close game and white had some advantages from the opening but a fatal blunder on move 26 from white gave me the chance to checkmate my opponent”.
Board 2. Hector Hu had the white pieces. He played the London system. He missed a stronger move to attack black’s light square bishop at move 6, but black didn’t find effective ways to break through either. After exchanging all of the minor pieces, the game ended in a draw.
Board 3. Ryan Jones had the black pieces. He says “There was a strong start from both sides but an amateur mistake took me a piece down on move 10 and it was a long struggle from then on.” Eventually his opponent took the win.
Board 4. I had the white pieces against Rafal Cala. I played the Colle system. Early on, Rafal left a pawn undefended and I didn’t know if it was a gambit or a mistake. It appeared to be a mistake and so I took the pawn. Shortly after this, Rafal allowed me to pin his knight to his undefended rook. To my amazement, when I attacked the pinned knight with my pawn, he simply moved the knight out of the way leaving his vulnerable rook to be taken by my bishop. And so I went +5 up, according to the engine. Thereafter, Rafal attempted some counterplay but I was able to prevent him from executing his plans and eventually turned my advantage into a win.
Board 5. Vivaan Suresha had the black pieces. He says “The game started with my opponent playing the Ruy Lopez. After analysing the game, I found out that in the middle game my opponent was winning by a slight positional advantage. Luckily, in the end game he played a wrong move, giving me a slightly better position. As moves quickly went by, we agreed a draw, but Oli said that if I had continued playing I would have won the game".
Board 6. Danny Wilkins had the white pieces. He says "Playing against Yui-Wah Lee; Pirc defense opening. An even and fairly slow-paced match for the first 26 moves. I went a rook up on move 30 and captured his Queen on move 38. I was 6 moves away from mate when my opponent ran out of time. Very happy to take my second win."
Gregory Sumner