Richmond teams have made an excellent start to the 2017-18 season.

First up were Gavin’s London League team, who scored an excellent win against strong opponents from Hackney. The score currently stands at 6½-2½ with one game to finish, wins coming from IM Ameet Ghasi, Iain Gourlay, IM Gavin Wall, Mike Healey and Chris Baker.

The Thames Valley A team started with a draw against Surbiton B. I was lucky that my opponent made some uncharacteristic oversights, and Stuart Jeffreys scored an excellent win against former Italian international (back in 1960!) Stef Bruzzi, who resigned the adjourned position as he was a pawn down in a lost rook ending.

The Thames Valley B team was unlucky to be relegated last season, having lost a lot of matches by the odd point. Down in Division 3, we’re at least hoping for some silverware this year. Our first match was at home to Uxbridge, who were also relegated last season. Former RJCC member Eamon Rashid-Farokhi lost a piece early on but turned the tables on his opponent with a mating attack, after which the result was never in much doubt. Meanwhile, Stuart Jeffreys had survived a difficult opening and maintained his extra pawn, later winning a piece, and Chris Kreuzer won an excellent positional game on top board. We eventually won the match 4-2.