With our Surrey match being postponed, we have three Thames Valley League results to report this week.

Our A team lost narrowly against a strong Ealing A team on Monday. You can read Maks’s excellent report here.

Results:

1. Alfie Onslow (2270) 0:1 Gavin Wall (2311)
2. Rick McMichael (2265) 1:0 Mike Healey (2250)
3. Andrew Harley (2182) ½:½ Jon Eckert (1895)
4. Jonathan White (-) ½:½ Bertie Barlow (1940)
5. Mark Winterbotham (1887) ½:½ Raghu Kamath (1865)
6. Simon Healeas (1845) 1:0 Maks Gajowniczek (1800)

A great result from Jon, who shared the point against a very strong opponent.

Our B team visited Surbiton on Tuesday, getting off the mark for the season with a close win against slightly higher rated opposition.

Results:

1. Liam Bayly (1990) 0:1 Julien Shepley (1982)
2. Angus James (1972) ½:½ Jon Eckert (1895)
3. Paul Dupré (1983) 1:0 Andrew Hebron (1992)
4. Nick Faulks (1956) 0:1 Andrii Boiechko (-)
5. Graham Alcock (1825) 0:1 Simon Illsley (1786)
6. Andrew Boughen (1781) 1:0 Victor Bluett (1769)

Teenage star Andrii’s sacrificial win against a strong and experienced opponent has been commissioned for the website. Excellent wins also for Julien and Simon, and another solid draw from Jon. Well done everyone!

Finally, our C team made the trip to Staines on Monday, and came back with another win.

Results:

1. Derek McGovern (1793) 1:0 Otto Weidner (1684)
2. Paul Seymour (1676) adj Jack Thompson (-)
3. Siddarth Ramaraju (1538) 0:1 George Milligan (1538)
4. Steve Payne (1537) ½:½ Ron Bilkhu (1404)
5. James Knight (-) 0:1 Ollie Taylor (-)
6. Default 0:1 Anurag Venkataramanan (-)

Many throughout the world will find it extraordinary that leagues like the Thames Valley still allow adjournments. I tend to agree with them, but there you go! I haven’t yet seen Jack’s position. They’re due to conclude on 28 November, but possibly Stockfish will save them the trouble. (Jack’s time at RJCC overlapped with Paul’s son Tim, but I don’t have a record of them playing each other.)

Fine wins there from George and Ollie, but unfortunately Anurag didn’t get a game.

Many thanks to all who played in our matches this week!