The NLC band made its way down to deepest darkest Fulham to take on the Hurlingham in its riverside home. As Mister Widdicombe once said, it’s a fine shack. Anywhere with 17 species of duck on the premises has to be taken seriously.
Mister Chamberlain and Mister Giffin made their debuts, and Mister Dias stepped in at the last minute due to Mister Widdicombe’s illness.
Once the NLC team had managed to a) find the Hurlingham and b) get in, thoughts could turn to chess. The Hurlingham had won last season’s Friendly 1.5 – 3.5 and the Hamilton Russell match 0-4, so a tough night was expected.
But the NLC team is getting stronger and the match was won 4-2. Unfortunately this might have tipped the Hurlingham off for the Hamilton Russell Cup match in February!
Doctor Kirby set the tone on Board one beating Stephen Quartermaine as white in the King’s Indian. He eschewed his usual 5 Nf3, adopting instead the aggressive Samisch 5 f3 variation. The Doctor’s king’s side attack rolled, and the opponent cracked.
Mister Chamberlain defended a Queen’s Pawn opening against Michael Yeoh. Mister Chamberlain was on top, but a late mistake allowed the opponent to escape with a draw. Not a bad way to start though.
Mister Giffin made an impressive debut on Board 3 against Richard Paterson using the Scotch opening. He managed to give his opponent tripled pawns on move 9 and kept up the pressure, winning in an ending. Well done Mister Giffin!
Doctor Schady beat Phillip Fleury on Board 4 in reasonably speedy fashion. At ‘3-2’ everyone crowded round Doctor Schady thinking his was the last game. In fact he was playing a second match and had won earlier!
Mister Dias drew as white against Gavin Graham. Mister Dias was well on top for most of the match, but allowed his opponent a late swindle.
Mister Osseiran suffered the only defeat of the night on Board 6. Things seemed to be going reasonably, but Mister Osseiran overreached and lost to the opponent’s queen’s side attack.
And so to dinner. The Hurlingham is a fine place and a good dinner was had by all. Doctor Kirby even had to revise his speech – the usual ‘We came, we saw, we lost, we had dinner’ doesn’t work when we win!
Tough job this match chess, but someone has to do it
Well done on the victory gents. Sorry I had to pull out at short notice (and thanks to Mister Dias for so nobly stepping in). I’m dead jealous of the dinner I missed – looked good…!
And you did miss out Ben. Both courses were very good! Even better to see some good chess with the NLC on top. Thanks to everyone for turning up. Next match is Oriental / EIC on 31 January. Means tough matches but also the prospect of curry!