On this day in 1976 we played a London League Division 1 match against Mitcham, a once strong club which, sadly, closed its doors some years ago.

This time Mr DE Fault made an appearance for our opponents. Defaults in individual games seem to have been much more common back in the 1970s. Perhaps it’s easier to communicate in these days of email. On the other hand, defaulted matches seem more prevalent today: witness Drunken Knights’ current venue problems which have caused them to concede several recent matches.

Here’s what happened:

	11 February 1976		St Bride’s Institute
	Richmond & Twickenham 1		Mitcham
1	MF Stean 233	1:0	G Speed 193
2	AP Law 225	1:0	B Kooiman 191
3	GH James 211	½:½	JE O’Dell 184
4	MJ Franklin 192	1:0	Default
5	KI Norman 191	1:0	RC Lynn 184
6	MJ Lightfoot 183	1:0	D Lamb 181
7	JC Benjamin 183	½:½	RC Picot 189
8	DM Andrew 182	½:½	CD Gilliam 180
9	JM Hodgson 166	0:1	TD Baldwin –
10	PJ Sowray 170	1:0	T Ashby 171
11	AA Thomson 181	1:0	M Young 164
12	A Neviazsky 171	1:0	R Kearsley –
		9½:2½

Another crushing victory against opponents who, apart from the top three boards, were pretty closely matched. With three matches still to play, we were now on a healthy 6/8.

I note Russell Picot, now of Wimbledon, was one of our opponents. Currently graded 195, Russell has improved 6 points in 43 years.