Tube strikes, committee meetings and holidays all took their toll. The Libs managed to raise the necessary four boards (with thanks, once again, to our ever dependable friend Mister Taylor) but with some of our top and middle boards missing the NLC were outclassed on every board and went down quickly.
Mister Widdicombe took top board for the only the second time this season. Top board perhaps, but not a top game. A rush of blood to the head resulted in Mister Widdicombe essaying a Budapest gambit as black – but it was not the time to try out what was for him a hitherto un-played defense in a serious game. He got his move order wrong and lost a bishop for nothing on move ten. Poor show. The game was lost from then on.
Mister Osserian (black) had what must have been the best game of the night. With white aggressively expanding on the queenside Mister Osserian, in what is becoming a trademark style, went on the attack on the kingside. He built huge pressure on the pinned f3 knight and was aggressively pushing through the e pawn. Things looked bright for Mister Osserian, but a counter-intuitive bishop retreat from white seemed to hold things together allowing white to exploit Mister Osseiran’s slightly misplaced bishop and push through on the queenside. A very close game.
Mister Taylor’s 100% record for the NLC fell this night, and his game ended early on. Thanks again to him for stepping in at the last minute – the NLC chess team remains indebted to our good friend Mister Taylor.
Final result:
Stephen Quartermaine (W) 1 – 0 Mister Widdicombe
Michael Yeoh (B) 1 – 0 Mister Schady
Chris Clark (W) 1 – 0 Mister Osserian
Richard Paterson (B) 1 – 0 Mister Taylor
The Hurlingham Club is beautiful. Set in wide open grounds (and requiring one to cross a bridge over a duck pond to get to the clubhouse), it is more of a country club than a London club. The match room was bright and welcoming – chess there on a bright summer’s evening would surely be a delight.
