In a match our 1st team had initially expected to win, we were finally relieved to draw 4-4, when Lion cub Isaac Sanders managed to hold an inferior rook ending. Wins were provided by Charlie Storey, Gary Senior and Tim Rogers.
| Hendon 1 | Hendon 1 | Hackney 2 | Hackney 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Storey, Charles H | 204 | 1 - 0 | Chin, Francis CW | 184 | ||
| 2 | Senior, Gary | 199 | 1 - 0 | Tennyson, John | 165 | ||
| 3 | Eden, Tomer | 195 | 0 - 1 | Emyr, Jones | - | ||
| 4 | Raoof, Adam N | 185 | ½ - ½ | Vives, Pepe | 161 | ||
| 5 | Bennett, Michael K | 170 | 0 - 1 | Donnelly, Terence M | 159 | ||
| 6 | Iwi, David | 162 | 0 - 1 | Burgoyne, Peter A | 154 | ||
| 7 | Sanders, Isaac B | 159 | ½ - ½ | Tracey, Shaun M | 136 | ||
| 8 | Rogers, Tim E | 157 | 1 - 0 | Gonzalez, Maria | 99 | ||
| 4 - 4 | |||||||
Let’s be honest – this was a match we expected to win, even when at the last minute we realised a key player had forgotten the fixture!
New recruit Charlie ‘BandanaMan’ Storey took the pole position, ably supported by Gary Senior. Both scored solid and vital wins which enabled us to ride the storm brewing on the lower boards.
I played a relatively lifeless opening and offered a draw before my position deteriorated any further. Nevertheless my opponent checked with his team before accepting – a lesson for all team players!
Supersub David Iwi actually had a clear path to a level position, but never lacked in ambition. Sadly it backfired this time.
As Mike B has also been deputising as First Team Captain for most of the season, he may have found it difficult to concentrate on his game. Especially as the line white essayed has been known to cause players with less stamina to lapse into a coma…
Tim Rogers was technically quite merciless on bottom board.
It was all down to Isaac to decide the outcome of the match during the final three quickplay finish minutes! His game was on a knife-edge, as his opponent really went for his castled king and at one point almost had a forced mate. But careful defence found our lad in a difficult rook ending two doubled pawns down. He played it faultlessly, and the game and the match was drawn. Well done!