With our Tuesday matches postponed due to a function at the Adelaide we just had two Thames Valley League matches on Monday this week.

Our Thames Valley B team faced a trip to Wimbledon B, having lost Alastair and Maks to the A team. Here’s what happened.

We outrated our opponents slightly throughout so were hoping for a good result, but, about half way through, it didn’t look too promising. Peter had gone wrong in the opening, and Jon soon found himself in an ending a pawn down which appeared to be lost. While Matt was attacking strongly, there was a lot of play left on the top three boards.

Peter duly lost, but Bertie soon won on time, his opponent being unable to deal with his customary rapid play. Jon, as expected went down to defeat, but I managed to win what Stockfish thought was a good game (see below). Matt’s win put us ahead, but sadly Sampson’s opponent managed to confuse him in the mutual time scramble, which meant that we only drew a match we’d rather hoped to win.

Clock handling is so important at this speed, in this match being the deciding factor in at least two of the games.

You’ll see that, for at least the second time this season, the white pieces scored a 6-0 victory.

Here’s my game: click on any move for a pop-up window.

Our D team were facing what on paper was a tough assignment against Hounslow B, who had been in Division 2 last season and outrated them heavily on all boards.

As you’ll see below, we managed to cause a considerable upset.

There were great wins for Tom B (welcome back) and Captain Laurie, along with four draws. Well done everyone!

As always, thanks to all for playing in our matches this week.