The Reform Club turned up at Whitehall Place for a pre-Christmas Friendly played in the midst of a Yuletide cold snap. For a second the Reform must have wondered whether the Libs had mistaken it for the Hamilton Russell match as the NLC top four Hamilton Russell boards were all present and correct. The Reform wasn’t fielding its strongest team – but it was by no means a weak team either.
The match was played in the Lawrence Robson room. Mister Dias had arranged himself and his Old-Fashioned in the rather grand NLC presidential-style chair for his Board 5 match. He asked that Captain Giffin KC MA (Oxon) pick Black on odds in the unlikely event that he won the toss to make sure he stayed there. This proved unnecessary.
The NLC emerged 5-1 winners, a margin which perhaps flattered the hosts. It was good to see Mister Barnett on Board 6 get the win against Mike Ross (guesting from the RAG). All in all it was a very jolly evening against a convivial Reform side.
Board 1
Doctor Kirby had yet another match as Black on Board 1 against Benedict Koehler. An English opening ensued and Black managed to build a strong pawn centre and was in reasonable control throughout. If anything the Doctor was spotting problems where they didn’t exist and was unnecessarily cautious. However, when the opponent blundered, the Doctor delivered a very neat finish to record his first victory of the season.
Board 2
Captain Giffin KC MA (Oxon) had White on Board 2 versus Marc Hammerson. Our skipper had White against yet another Caro-Kann and again played the Panov-Botvinnik attack. This time the opponent played the defence less precisely. Captain Giffin KC MA (Oxon) was setting up a Q-Side squeeze, but was able instead to revert to tactics using his e5 knight and managed to win a Black Rook. From there it was a matter of simplifying and winning the ending.
Board 3
Board 3 saw Mister Ioannou play Carl Troman. After a cagey start the opponent lost a pawn on move 20 and from then on Mister Ioannou swapped pieces off and won the King and Pawn ending. In a neat twist of symmetry, at the end the opponent had 42 seconds to Mister Ioannou’s 42 minutes. This does represent progress as 18 minutes is a lot of thinking time for our Board 3.
Board 4
Young Master Jacobs had White on Board 4 against Reform veteran Teddy Bourne and essayed the Polish Opening (1 b4) followed by a K-side fianchetto piling pressure on the Black centre. In the Young Master’s own words it ‘kicked off with the Polish opening and concluded with a temporary Queen sacrifice and cheeky pawn promotion later’. This underplays an excellent victory delivered with panache.
Board 5
Mister Dias settled himself and his Old-Fashioned in the big chair on Board 5 playing Black against Dominic Atwell-Harris. That was the highlight of his evening from a chess perspective. Sadly no records survive of this encounter but the Reform player came through to win.
Board 6
Finally we had a welcome reappearance for Mister Barnett on Board 6 after a decent run in the Gladstone Trophy. Mister Barnett has clearly been on a diet of liver, Fried Liver Attack in particular, which was used to batter Mike Ross of the RAG into submission. A good victory showcasing Mister Barnett’s increasing prowess.
Dinner
And so to dinner. The NLC has switched into Christmas mode so it was spiced apple and parsnip soup to start followed by turkey with all the trimmings. Very good it was too. A happy and convivial evening followed and we can look forward to the return match in February 2023.
With my match there was an imminent mate. If Kxg2 then Qxg4+. Kf1 or Kf2 is met by d3+ threatening Qe2 mate. Kh1 leads to Be4 mate.
24… Rf6 was not necessary caused by seeing shadows of threats on h6 followed by Qg4+. Of course the bishop is on d7 so I could just have played Qxc4.