Mister Osseiran is the mainstay of the NLC side and an example to us all. Never complaining and always willing to play. But last year he didn’t convert promising positions into points, with the occasional ‘inadvertent queen sacrifice’ thrown in for good measure. He was even forced to agree a ‘culinary draw’ when heading for victory against the Roehampton by his hungry teammates. Like the gentleman he is, he accepted this without demur.
So it was great to see the Big O (sporting a new close-cropped haircut) finally land one, beating the Lansdowne Captain Justin Chilton. It was a good night for the NLC against our good friends from the Lansdowne with the side emerging four-nil winners. Mister Dias made his debut too – may it be the first of many wins.
As with the Athenaeum match, games took place in the Smoking Room, which was luckily less noisy than last time. Chess with Lloyd George watching on can’t be bad.
Having won the toss, Doctor Kirby led from the front as white against our good friend Mister Taylor. The Doctor huffed and puffed against Mister Taylor, who eventually gave away material to keep his house intact. Despite a few inaccuracies, Doctor K headed to victory.
Mister Hamme had to wait for his opponent Andrew Woodcock, but made short work of him once he arrived.
Mister Dias beat Helen Hughes on Board 3. Mister Dias quickly gained a material advantage and converted it into victory.
Mister Osseiran was the last to finish in a close-fought closed English opening. Mister Osseiran was restraining his natural tendency to attack, but eventually broke through on the Kingside and rounded off with a neat checkmate.
And so to dinner. The Lansdowne are a convivial bunch and well known to the NLC from social chess and playing for us in Hamilton Russell Cup matches. A fine time was had by all.
