1. Jaspaul BAGRI (2173 FIDE) 0:1 Bertie BARLOW (1998)
2. Mat DYDAK (2088) ½:½ Raghu KAMATH (1885)
3. Seshagiri VADADDI (2065) 1:0 Sampson LOW (1833)
4. Leon FINCHAM (1900) 0:1 Ieuan FENTON (-)
5. David WHITE (1863) 0:1 Pablo SORIANO (-)
6. Frank ZURSTIEGE (1690) ½:½ Rob HUNTER (1540)
Sampson Low reports:
The B team kicked off their season away to an experienced Hounslow A team this week. Tough opposition who had been poised to possibly win division two way back in 2020 when lockdown stopped their season with seven wins out of eight.
But the score at the end of the night stood at 3-1 to Richmond with two adjourned games for Raghu Kamath and Rob Hunter in the slow play matches.
Points on the night came from Bertie Barlow on top board building an overpowering centre. New member Ieuan Fenton had a close game until the end and used his on-line bullet skills to create pressure and win on time in the final seconds. He was joined by fellow newcomer Pablo Soriano who came through a packed and complicated middle game with all pieces on the board to win in style. He gave his captain a few heart stopping moments by keeping his score sheet up to date with only a few minutes on the clock so keen was he to record his club debut. Sampson Low had been first to finish, losing in a sharp c3 Sicilian with his opponent sacrificing a black pawn early for the initiative and exposing white’s delayed development.
Raghu had a finely balanced game throughout with both players having exposed kings at the end and queen, rook, a couple of pawns and one minor piece each on the board. Spectators could not judge it either way as the sealed move was made.
A new and mature Rob Hunter played a steady game accumulating a better position and a pawn advantage at the end of play, but opposite coloured bishops and knights were still on in the endgame. Turning down a draw offer, Rob opted for adjournment.
A fantastic result against strong opposition: congratulations to Bertie, Ieuan and Pablo, and well played everyone!
Latest news: both adjourned games were drawn, giving us an excellent 4-2 victory.