On Wednesday 30th October West London played Ealing at home in the Hillingdon League. Ealing are the strongest opposition in this league and we were missing several of our highest graded players for assorted reasons, so it was always likely to be a tight match.
In the end John Tobisch lost a rook and pawn ending, and I agreed a draw in a slightly better position where I was way behind on the clock, so pressing on seemed risky.
Antanas had a fine win against the strong Martin Smith (who a couple of years ago was graded 2299).
John Burke had a level looking ending with a minor piece each and lot of pawns, and indeed that ended peacefully.
Andreea was a pawn down in a rook ending but with a time advantage, but her opponent played accurately and converted despite having just a couple of minutes left.
The final score was as follows.
| West London | Colour | Grading | Result | Ealing | Grading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andreea Navrotescu | Black | 2387 | 0-1 | Andrew Harley | 2146 |
| Antanas Zapolskis | White | 2270 | 1-0 | Martin Smith | 2130 |
| John Burke | Black | 1965 | ½-½ | Mark Winterbotham | 1881 |
| Andy Hayler | White | 1965 | ½-½ | Hristo Colov | 1856 |
| John Tobisch | Black | 1910 | 0-1 | Simon Healeas | 1837 |
| Average grade | 2099 | 1970 | |||
| Score | 2-3 |
Board 4: A.Hayler (1965) vs H.Colov (1856)