Central London League 2023-24

This Season we are again entering Divisions 3 and 4.

The first team came close to promotion last season, so will be looking to go one better this time.

In the tabbed display below, select the team tab along the top, then the individual matches for that team down the left.

Team Captains:

1st Team – Matthias Lataille

2nd Team – Krishna Raikundalia

CLL website

Match Programme navigation London | Central London | Essex | North Circular | Sundry Fixtures | Aggregate stats

 Date Home Score Away Result
Thu 21-Sep-23 Wanstead 1 2½–2½ West London Drew
Thu 12-Oct-23 Wanstead 1 2½–2½ Hammersmith 2 Drew
Thu 02-Nov-23 Hackney 1 1–4 Wanstead 1 Won
Thu 16-Nov-23 Battersea 3 3½–1½ Wanstead 1 Lost
Thu 14-Dec-23 Lewisham 1½–3½ Wanstead 1 Won
Thu 11-Jan-24 Hammersmith 2 4–1 Wanstead 1 Lost
Thu 25-Jan-24 Wanstead 1 3½–1½ Lewisham Won
Thu 07-Mar-24 West London 1½–3½ Wanstead 1 Won
Thu 21-Mar-24 Wanstead 1 2½–2½ Hackney 1 Drew
Thu 25-Apr-24 Wanstead 1 4½–½ Battersea 3 Won

Played 10; Won 5; Drew 3; Lost 2
Points: 13
Place: =1 on Match Points, 2nd on Game Points difference.

CL1
 Central London Lge D3 at 25 Apr 2024 P W D L Pts %
Peter Nickals 1705 7 5 2 0 6 85.71
Ian Hunnable 1889 10 5 2 3 6 60.00
Paul Barclay 1796 7 1 6 0 4 57.14
Ryan Colclough 1784 6 2 3 1 58.33
Matthias Lataille 1794 7 3 1 3 50.00
Mark Murrell 1809 5 2 1 2 50.00
Krishna Raikundalia 1600 2 2 0 0 2 100.00
Colin Li 1604 3 1 1 1 50.00
Davide Segat 1531 1 0 0 1 0 0.00
Davi Diniz Afonso 1746 1 0 0 1 0 0.00
Inder-Veer Singh 1737 1 0 0 1 0 0.00
             
 11 Players 50 21 16 13 29 58.00

 

CL1
Played Thu 21 September 2023
  W&W 1
v West London
1 Hunnable, Ian D (1889A) (B) 0-1 Jezierski, Colum (1998K) (W)
2 Lataille, Matthias (1801A)  0-1 Burke, John (1945K – March 2023) 
3 Colclough, Ryan (1799A)  ½-½ Hayler, Andy (1964K) 
4 Nickals, Peter (1698A)  1-0 Default
5 Raikundalia, Krishna (1600A)  1-0 Default
    2½-2½  

A tough opening fixture, in more ways than one. Players arriving at the venue were greeted with torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightning. (Anyone for Lightning Chess?) Then Peter and Krishna found that their journeys were wasted as the opposition were defaulting two boards. Apparently they had notified the Controller by email at 18:15; woefully short of courtesy for a match starting at 18:30. Representation has been made to the Controller who is looking at what action can be taken as we understand this is not West London’s first offence.

West London called correctly to give us Black in two of the three contested games, with all three of their players rated well over 1900. Fortunately, Ryan was able to hold Andy Hayler to a draw, to square the match.

CL1
Played Thu 12 October 2023
  W&W 1
v Hammersmith 2
1 Hunnable, Ian D (1887A) (B) 1-0 Billenness, Greg (1862A) (W)
2 Barclay, Paul (1800A)  ½-½ Sarfas, Robin (1803A) 
3 Lataille, Matthias (1786A)  0-1 Cuff, Andrew (1716A) 
4 Colclough, Ryan (1769A)  1-0 Chandrasekaran, Rahulan (1613K) 
5 Segat, Davide (1531K)  0-1 Lambert, David (1599K) 
  Average: 1755 2½-2½ Average: 1719

For the second match we lost the toss, so had the majority of Blacks, but secured another draw. We might have done better as Paul had won a bishop for two pawns. Black defended well, however, and Paul was unable to force the win. Both our wins are given below. Ryan produced another smooth performance from a Ruy Lopez, picking off Black’s a-pawn then converting the win in a K & P ending. Ian’s game was last to finish, yet had only lasted 18 moves, White having lost material with an unsound attack, eventually exceeding the time limit.

Games

TIPS – To flip the board, click on square e7 (with White at the bottom) or with Black at the bottom click d2 (it’s the same square – one row down from the top, five squares from the left).
Play through variations on screen by clicking on moves within square brackets [ ] then return to the game moves by clicking the previous game move (in bold).

CL1
Played Thu 2 November 2023
  Hackney 1
v W&W 1
1 Jones, Zebedee 1608A – sub (B) 0-1 Hunnable, Ian D 1883A (W)
2 Cullen, Ben 1903K 0-1 Murrell, Mark RA 1820A
3 Conway, Paul 1872K 0-1 Lataille, Matthias 1780A
4 Levy, Chris 1810A 1-0 Diniz Afonso, Davi 1729A
5 Burgoyne, Peter 1665K 0-1 Li, Colin 1582K
  Average: 1772 1-4 Average: 1759

Our first toss won and full value for our three Whites! Yet the fortunes wavered, particularly for Mark and Matthias, so Davi might not have been the only casualty. Games given below.

Thank you Colin for stepping in for Peter at the last minute. Having shared the points with Hackney in both matches last season, 4-1 is a convincing win.

Games

I had a much less challenging opponent than originally declared when Zebedee stepped in for the absent Emyr (1883), but nonetheless an interesting game – Ian
And my wild one – an unusual queenside advance for Black in an offbeat Dutch. The ending was very hairy……but fun – Mark
Not the best game – I blundered and then my opponent blundered back. – Colin

CL1
Played Thu 16 November 2023, at Pimlico
  Battersea 3
v W&W 1
1 Jason Robinson 2095 (B) 1-0 Ian D Hunnable 1883 (W)
2 Alan H Palmer 1754 1-0 Mark R A Murrell 1820
3 Michael Gilyatt 1570 ½-½ Paul R Barclay 1800
4 Chris J Watt 1493 1-0 Ryan Colclough 1757
5 Zoya Boozorginia 1273 0-1 Peter A Nickals 1692
    3½-1½  
CL1
Played Thu 14 December 2023, at Pimlico
  Lewisham v W&W 1
1 Wood, Peter (1903K)  ½-½ Hunnable, Ian D (1902A) 
2 Smith, Kenroy (1788A)  ½-½ Barclay, Paul (1798A) 
3 Alvares, Owen (1767K)  0-1 Lataille, Matthias (1784A) 
4 Kizilay, H Gokhan (1717K)  0-1 Nickals, Peter (1713A) 
5 Makhanasa, Shreyansh (1728P)  ½-½ Li, Colin (1605K) 
  Average: 1781 1½-3½ Average: 1760

Coming off the back of defeat in the previous match by the same score, this was the team’s second win and a good way to end the year. Outrated by an average 21 points a board, a solid performance undefeated was led by the skipper’s 14 move win! Yes, you heard: 14 moves – game given below.

The Game

CL1
Played Thu 11 January 2024
  Hammersmith 2
v W&W 1
1 Brixel, Christof (1992A) (B) 1-0 Hunnable, Ian D (1902A) (W)
2 Kennelly, Paul (1820A)  1-0 Lataille, Matthias (1790A) 
3 Morgan, Richard (1802K)  ½-½ Colclough, Ryan (1751A) 
4 Kahane, Erasmus (1746K)  ½-½ Nickals, Peter (1738A) 
5 Cuff, Andrew (1727A)  1-0 Li, Colin (1615K) 
  Average: 1817 4-1 Average: 1759

 

CL1
Played Thu 25 January 2024
  W&W 1
Score Lewisham
1 Hunnable, Ian D (1902A) (B) 1-0 Wigbout, Rod (1892K) (W)
2 Lataille, Matthias (1790A)  1-0 Malet, Arnaud (1865K) 
3 Barclay, Paul (1785A)  ½-½ Craig, Andrew (1775K) 
4 Singh, Inder-Veer (1758K)  0-1 Smith, Kenroy (1797A) 
5 Colclough, Ryan (1751A)  1-0 Alvares, Owen (1744K) 
  Average: 1797 3½-1½ Average: 1815
CL1
Played Thu 7 March 2024, at Pimlico
  West London
v W&W 1
1 Jezierski, Colum (2010K) (W) 0-1 Hunnable, Ian D (1907A) (B)
2 Hayler, Andy (1956K)  1-0 Murrell, Mark RA (1863A) 
3 Burke, John (1945K)  ½-½ Barclay, Paul (1789A) 
4 Sturt, Charles (1712A)  0-1 Nickals, Peter (1718A) 
5 Default 0-1 Raikundalia, Krishna (1582A) 
    1½-3½  
CL1
Played Thu 21 March 2024, at Pimlico
  W&W 1
v Hackney 1
1 Hunnable, Ian D 1907A (B) ½-½ Conway, Paul 1846K (W)
2 Murrell, Mark RA 1863A  ½-½ Levy, Chris 1775K 
3 Barclay, Paul 1789A  ½-½ Dyte, Alistair 1837K 
4 Colclough, Ryan 1711A  ½-½ Burgoyne, Peter 1628K 
5 Nickals, Peter 1718A  ½-½ Jones, Zebedee 1607A 
  Average: 1798 2½-2½ Average: 1739

 

CL1
Played Thu 25 April 2024
  W&W 1
v Battersea 3
1 Hunnable, Ian D 1909A (B) 1-0 Riggs, Samuel 1715A (W)
2 Murrell, Mark RA 1835A  1-0 Hunt, Arnold 1506K 
3 Lataille, Matthias 1824A  ½-½ Morales, Joel R 1548K 
4 Barclay, Paul 1787A  1-0 Watt, Chris 1468K 
5 Nickals, Peter 1731A 1-0 Blackwell, David 1351K 
  Average: 1817  4½-½ Averate: 1518

Report by Ian Hunnable

In a five board match, winning the toss might be considered to render that side an advantage. On this occasion we lost the toss, giving us the advantage of the Black pieces, as our President would say.

In our first meeting (16 November Battersea 3 were much stronger on the top two boards, though we should have done better than to lose 3½-1½. This time, outrating the opposition by an average 300 points a board, we corrected that slip up, coming very close to inflicting a whitewash.

To add verisimiltude to the oppening remark above, our first two wins were indeed with Black, at top and bottom. After my opponent had gone astray in a sharp line of the French, I was just in time to see Pete pick up a knight with a nice tactic. Then Mark added a third win, first picking up the exchange, then giving it back to snuff out Black’s counterplay and leave himself a winning ending. This left Paul and Matthias still in play, both of whom stood better.

Paul’s game was a complex and crowded board with few exchanges, the players having castled on opposite sides. Paul appeared to have the better attacking prospects, having prised open the h-file and, having repelled Black’s first attack on the other wing, Paul sacrificed a knight to open the opposing king’s position and soon provided the coup de grace.

This left Matthias to complete the whitewash. When I first saw the game in progress, Matthias was attacking White’s king with both rooks and queen; it seemed only a matter of time. What I was unaware of at the time was that Matthias had already survived an opening blunder, in his words “confusing my opening lines and not checking myself before moving”. White, having passed up the opportunity for material gain, now defended Black’s attack resourcefully and escaped to an ending of Q, R and 4P v Q, R and 5P; White a pawn down. Here, White had a loose fortress, bounded within the squares f2, f4, c4 and c2 with pawns on f3, e4 and c3, in which resided K and R while White’s Q had a wider role of marauding raids to bother the Black K, while Black’s Q and R were unable to penetrate. Eventually, the extra pawn fell, the queens were traded and the R & P ending was dead drawn. Matthias has sportingly allowed the game to be published, so you will be able to see for yourself, soon.

The last paragraph to be completed or amended as and when the games are received. All games supplied by the players will be appended to this report.

CL2
Date Home Score Away Result
Thu 14-Sep-23 Streatham 2 2–2 Wanstead 2 Drew
Thu 28-Sep-23 Wanstead 2 3–1 Hackney 2 Won
Thu 19-Oct-23 Pimlico 4 1½–2½ Wanstead 2 Won
Thu 09-Nov-23 Hackney 2 ½–3½ Wanstead 2 Won
Thu 07-Dec-23 Wanstead 2 3–1 Kings Head 2 Won
Thu 15-Feb-24 Kings Head 2 1–3 Wanstead 2 Won
Thu 04-Apr-24 Hammersmith 3 1½–2½ Wanstead 2 Won
Thu 11-Apr-24 Wanstead 2 1½–2½ Pimlico 4 Lost
Thu 02-May-24 Wanstead 2 2½–1½ Hammersmith 3 Won
Thu 09-May-24 Wanstead 2 1½–2½ Streatham 2 Lost
CL2
 Central London Lge D4 at 09 May 2024 P W D L Pts %
Davi Diniz Afonso 1746 6 3 2 1 4 66.67
Paramaguru Gurusamy 1491 5 3 1 1 70.00
Nigel White 1413 5 3 1 1 70.00
Almas Dohon 1535 3 2 0 1 2 66.67
Ben Harte 1732 2 1 1 0 75.00
Zain Qureshi 1482 2 1 1 0 75.00
Peter Nickals 1705 2 1 1 0 75.00
David Smith 1592 3 0 3 0 50.00
Finbar McLoughlin 1843 1 1 0 0 1 100.00
Michael Buckingham 1588 1 1 0 0 1 100.00
Ryan Colclough 1784 1 1 0 0 1 100.00
TU Senan 1610 1 0 1 0 ½ 50.00
Krishna Raikundalia 1600 1 0 1 0 ½ 50.00
Pete Meadows 1749 2 0 1 1 ½ 25.00
Colin Li 1604 3 0 1 2 ½ 16.67
Matthias Lataille 1794 1 0 0 1 0 0.00
 Walkover  1 1 0 0 1 100.00
             
 17 Players 40 18 14 8 25 62.50

 

CL2
Played Thu 14 September 2023
  Streatham 2 Score W&W 2
1 Isaacs, Ruairi (1784A) (W) 0-1 McLoughlin, Finbar (1843P) (B)
2 Evans-Young, Matthew C (1725P)  1-0 Diniz Afonso, Davi (1746K) 
3 Hills, Elliot ()  1-0 Li, Colin (1604K) 
4 Hanney, Matt (1619P)  0-1 Gurusamy, Paramaguru (1491P) 
  Ave rating 1709 2-2 Ave rating 1671
CL2
Played Thu 28 September 2023
  W&W 2 v Hackney 2
1 Diniz Afonso, Davi (1740A)  1-0 Landman, Aharon (1651K) 
2 Li, Colin (1604K)  0-1 Jones, Zebedee (1597A) 
3 Buckingham, Michael (1588K)  1-0 Davidson, Calum (1403P) 
4 Gurusamy, Paramaguru (1491P)  1-0 Saunois, Anthony (1186A) 
  Average: 1606 3-1 Average: 1459
CL2
Played Thu 19 October 2023
  Pimlico 4 v W&W 2
1 Schmidt, Stefan () (B) ½-½ Diniz Afonso, Davi (1737A) (W)
2 Gunawardana, Thivan (1687A)  ½-½ Harte, Ben (1728K) 
3 Dunmore, Keith (1631K)  ½-½ Smith, David (1586A) 
4 Simon, Steve (1211K)  0-1 Dohon, A () 
    1½-2½  
CL2
Played Thu 9 November 2023
  Hackney 2
v W&W 2
1 Wouters, Oliver (1632P)  (B) 0-1 Harte, Ben (1733K)  (W)
2 Kirk, Jack (1560K)  ½-½ Diniz Afonso, Davi (1729A) 
3 Hassine, David (1479K)  0-1 Dohon, Almas (1626P) 
4 Saunois, Anthony (1180A)  0-1 White, Nigel (1442A) 
  Average: 1463 ½-3½ Average: 1633

 

CL2
Played Thu 7 December 2023, at Pimlico
  W&W 2
v Kings Head 2
1 Diniz Afonso, Davi (1719A) (W) 1-0 Jerram, Richard (1761K) 
2 Li, Colin (1605K)  ½-½ Balatoni, Richard (1649K) 
3 Gurusamy, Paramaguru (1491)  ½-½ Bonn, Doug (1537K) 
4 Qureshi, Zain (1535K)  1-0 McGann, John M (1302K) 
  Average 1587 3-1 Average 1562

Excellent result, fourth win on the bounce and a great way to end the year. Top of the table on 9 points, with a three point lead. The next three teams each have a match in hand, but respectively with point scores of 6, 5, 4, Wanstead 2 will still be top even when those teams (Hammersmith 3, Streatham 2, Kings Head 2) catch up their game in hand (2 points for  win).

CL2
Played Thu 15 February 2024, at  Pimlico
  Kings Head 2
v W&W 2
1 Chantrell, Paul 1764A (B) 0-1 Diniz Afonso, Davi 1762A (W)
2 Osborne, WK Bill 1681K  ½-½ Senan, Tu 1618K 
3 Ainscow, Faye 1605A  ½-½ Smith, David 1525A 
4 Tierney, John 1301K  0-1 White, Nigel 1473A 
  Average:  1588 1-3 Average:  1595
CL2
Played Thu 4 April 2024, at Pimlico
  Hammersmith 3
v W&W 2
1 Venkataraman, Viswanathan 1751P (B) 0-1 Gurusamy, Paramaguru (W)
2 Croasdale, Mark 1656A  1-0 Dohon, Almas 1581K 
3 Lambert, David 1613K  ½-½ Qureshi, Zain 1564K 
4 Default 0-1 Walkover
  Average:  1673 1½-2½ Average:  1573
CL2
Played Thu 11 April 2023, at Pimlico
  W&W 2
v Pimlico 4
1 Gurusamy, Paramaguru (B) 0-1 Hall, Lawrence 1720K (W)
2 Raikundalia, Krishna 1573A  ½-½ Gunawardana, Thivan 1623A 
3 Smith, David 1528A  ½-½ Gittens, Bryan 1420A 
4 White, Nigel 1470A  ½-½ Simon, Steve 1197A 
    1½-2½  
CL2
Played Thu 2 May 2024, at Pimlico
  W&W 2
v Hammersmith 3
1 Nickals, Peter (1735A) (W) ½-½ Croasdale, Mark (1722A) B)
2 Colclough, Ryan (1705A)  1-0 Eastham, Rory (1488K) 
3 Meadows, Pete (1706A)  0-1 Ewart, Thomas (1430A) 
4 White, Nigel (1475A)  1-0 Encina, Ulysses (1355K) 
  Average: 1655 2½-1½ Average: 1499
CL2
Played Thu 9 May 2024, at Pimlico
  W&W 2
v Streatham 2
1 Lataille, Matthias (1792A) (B) 0-1 Fox, James (1795A) (W)
2 Nickals, Peter (1735A)  1-0 Mohamed, Nadir (1720P) 
3 Meadows, Pete (1706A)  ½-½ Hanney, Matt (1605K) 
4 White, Nigel (1475A)  0-1 Marshall, David (1470K) 
  Average: 1677 1½-2½ Average: 1648