Surrey League – Match 1 Battersea v Crystal Palace

This was a tough first test of the season.

Tony played white against a main line Sicilian Dragon. He tried a line played by Fischer back in the 60s – however afterwards he admitted that he didn't play quite like Fischer.... He was also hamstrung by his captain giving him the wrong time control for quick play (sorry!). Chris made his debut with a good draw with the black side of an advance French. His opponent played an offbeat Be3 line. Chris managed to swap off his light squared bishop and thought he had equalised then took the queens and had to defend a passive rook and minor piece ending. Paul’s opponent chose a rather unusual Old Indian defence, which gave Paul a spatial advantage however he found a way of forcing the exchange of queens, which equalised and they agreed a draw soon afterwards. Joe played the Najdorf and lost a pawn early on despite managing to play his knight from g6 to e4 in one leap!! was unable to prevent his opponent breaking through on the kingside. Dan played his opening poorly and luckily his opponent didn’t attempt to break through while my king was still in the centre. I then had two magnificent bishops cutting a swathe through his opponent’s queenside and won a pawn, then the exchange. Andy played a Queen’s Gambit Declined Orthodox variation, although his opponent took the d-pawn allowing him to neutralise the centre.  His opponent then gave Andy a free pawn later on as he struggled to push for an advantage.  Under time pressure, Andy missed a tactical combination to win a piece, and gave away a pawn late on and drew. Emil didn’t give me the details of his game but was very clear after the game that he had much the better of it and missed a clear win and reluctantly agreed a draw. Adrian was up against it from the start with a large time deficit. He played a KID bayonet attack and had a strong attack on the kingside while his opponent tried to break through on the queenside. His opponent has sealed and they will play on in an interesting double edged position with plenty of chances.

So 3-4 to them - so far.