This season we have withdrawn the Club’s team in the Minor division, due to a combination of lack of a captain and the likelihood that we would have a significant number of fixtures at LL Mindsports in Hammersmith, which has changed from Thursdays to Tuesdays; the number of probable Tuesday fixtures would conflict with Tuesdays needed for our Essex League and North Circular League fixtures.
The League responded to our overtures to have no fixtures at Mindsports for our remaining (1st) team. The Club’s “Home” venue will be St. Margaret’s House, Bethnal Green (SMH), with other fixtures being played at opponents’ home venues; matches are split between five at SMH and five at opponents’ home venues. There are, however, two fixtures on Tuesdays (Imperial College and GLCC).
In the tabbed display below, select the the individual match cards for that team down the left.
Team Captain
Keith Jones
Venues with start times
19:00 ALB Albany. The Wheatsheaf Public House, 25 Rathbone Place, London W1T1JB
18:45 CAV Cavendish. Millman Street Community Centre, 50, Millman Street, Holborn, London WC1N 3EW
18:30 GLCC Greater London. Upper Vestry House, St George’s Church, 6-7 Little Russell Street, London WC1A2HS
18:45 ICU Imperial College Union. Imperial College London South Kensington Campus, Prince Consort Road, London SW72BB
18:30 MET Metropolitan. The Artizan Community Centre, Gravel Lane (off Middlesex Street), London E17AW
18:45 SMH St. Margaret’s House, 21 Old Ford Rd, London E2 9PL (3-4 mins walk from Bethnal Green tube station, Central Line)
London League: new website
Match Programme navigation London | Central London | Essex | North Circular | Sundry Fixtures | Aggregate stats
LL1
Fixtures
| Date | Opponents | Venue | H-A | Wanstead Result |
| Tue 17 October 2023 | Imperial College 1 | ICU | 3–5 | Won |
| Thu 26 October 2023 | Cavendish 2 | CAV | 4–4 | Drew |
| Mon 13 November 2023 | Albany 1 | ALB | 4½–2½ | Lost |
| Wed 6 December 2023 | Wimbledon 1 | SMH | 6–2 | Won |
| Wed 10 January 2024 | Dulwich 1 | SMH | 4–4 | Drew |
| Tue 13 February 2024 | Greater London 1 | GLCC | 4½–3½ | Lost |
| Wed 6 March 2024 | British Bangla 1 | SMH | 4½–3½ | Won |
| Wed 20 March 2024 | Kings Head 1 | SMH | 5½–2½ | Won |
| Thu 4 April 2024 | Metropolitan 1 | MET | 7–1 | Lost |
| Wed 29 May 2024 |
Streatham 2 | SMH | – |
LL1
| London League Division 2 at 04 Apr 2024 | P | W | D | L | Pts | % |
| Terry Whitton 1897 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5½ | 61.11 |
| David Spearman 2103 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 55.56 |
| John Cawdery 2089 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4½ | 56.25 |
| Steve Rix 1988 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4½ | 56.25 |
| Philip Staniland 1867 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 70.00 |
| Ian Hunnable 1889 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 42.86 |
| Keith Jones 1740 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2½ | 41.67 |
| Mark Murrell 1809 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Istvan Karacsony 1825 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| Partha Mulay 2065 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 37.50 |
| Paul Barclay 1796 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Krishna Raikundalia 1600 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Pete Meadows 1749 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 25.00 |
| Ryan Colclough 1784 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ½ | 12.50 |
| David Smith 1592 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 15 Players | 71 | 26 | 20 | 25 | 36 | 50.70 |
LL1
Played Tue 17 October 2023, at ICU
| Imperial College 1 |
v | W&W | |
| 1 | Jain, Gautam R 2095 (2095) (W) | ½ -½ | Spearman, David 2096 (2103) (B) |
| 2 | Adriel, Au 2022 (2022) | 0 -1 | Cawdery, John 2089 (2089) |
| 3 | Muhunthan, Charukgan 1922 (1922) | 0 -1 | Rix, Steven JL 1998 (1988) |
| 4 | Lam, Kai 1688 (1688) | 0 -1 | Whitton, Terry D 1903 (1897) |
| 5 | Ye, David 0000 () | 1 -0 | Hunnable, Ian D 1885 (1889) |
| 6 | Kousouris, Georgios 1533 (1533) | ½ -½ | Colclough, Ryan 1771 (1784) |
| 7 | Goverse, Vincent 1447 (1447) | 0 -1 | Jones, Keith S 1745 (1740) |
| 8 | Mjeku, Endri 0000 () | 1 -0 | Meadows, Pete 1749 (1734) |
| Average: 1785 (six ratings) | 3-5 | Average: 1905 |
Keith Jones had assembled the strongest team he has put out as LL captain, only to have Boards 4 and 5 – Ashley (1945) and Vladimir (1983) – withdraw at short notice, both unwell. Some proactive work by Mark Murrell – co-ordinating three matches on the evening, requiring 24 boards – resulted in substitutes Ryan and Pete attending ready to play. Fortunately, Imperial College were also missing some of their best players.
The start of the match was quite chaotic as IC’s normal room at ICU, Room 4, was not available, i.e. locked, so an alternative had to be found. This was Room 5 which was two floors down, but only had one table in it. As several of the Wanstead players had not arrived, arrangements to intercept them were needed. Meanwhile, the home players were busy finding tables and chairs from other rooms, delaying the start by 25 minutes, but by then everyone had arrived and whatsmore, found the room.
The early results seem to be part of this disorder: the two Wanstead losses, each against players without published ratings. But these were the only defeats for the visitors as the other games provided four wins and two draws for a Wanstead victory by 5-3. A great start.
LL1
Played Thu 26 October 2023, at CAV
| Cavendish 2 |
v | W&W | |
| 1 | FM Lewis, Andrew P 2322 (2328) | 1-0 | Spearman, David 2096 (2103) |
| 2 | Goldberg, Jeff A 2111 (2133) | ½-½ | Cawdery, John 2096 (2089) |
| 3 | Harari, Zaki 2084 (2081) | 1-0 | Rix, Steven JL 2006 (1988) |
| 4 | Scrimgour, Alan 1993 (1999) | ½-½ | Whitton, Terry D 1908 (1897) |
| 5 | Sherwood, Chris C 1937 (1940) | ½-½ | Hunnable, Ian D 1877 (1889) |
| 6 | Dsilva, Prajval 1950 () | 0-1 | Murrell, Mark R A 1814 (1809) |
| 7 | Green, Barry N 1924 (1924) | 0-1 | Jones, Keith S 1752 (1740) |
| 8 | Waterman, Howard J 1913 (1919) | ½-½ | Raikundalia, Krishna 1585 (1600) |
| Average: 2030 | 4-4 | Average: 1892 |
An excellent result. Outrated on every board, against a Cavendish squad all rated above 1900 and led by FM Andrew Lewis, the team did well to share the points. The tail wagged to good effect to level the scores with the two wins and Krishna – drafted in at short notice to cover a late a withdrawal – holding Howard Waterman.
LL1
Played Mon 13 November 2023, at ALB
| Albany 1 |
v | W&W | |
| 1 | Senior, Gary 2133 (2128) | 1-0 | Cawdery, John 2094 (2089) |
| 2 | Sagues, Vincent 2080 (2085) | ½-½ | Spearman, David 2089 (2103) |
| 3 | Dunn, Maxim W 2068 (2042) | 1-0 | Rix, Steven JL 1990 (1988) |
| 4 | Stern, Robert C 1968 (1968) | 0-1 | Whitton, Terry D 1921 (1897) |
| 5 | Todd, Chris J 1914 (1909) | ½-½ | Staniland, Philip 1876 (1867) |
| 6 | Groves, Howard 1886 (1892) | ½-½ | Jones, Keith S 1749 (1740) |
| 7 | Okosieme, Iozeph 1876 (1880) | 1-0 | Colclough, Ryan 1761 (1784) |
| 8 | Default 0000 () | 0-0 | Default 0000 () |
| 4½-2½ |
LL1
Played Wed 6 December 2023, at SMH
| W&W | v | Wimbledon 1 |
|
| 1 | Mulay, Partha 2099 (2065) (B) | 1-0 | Dubey, Mark J 2019 (2014) (W) |
| 2 | Spearman, David 2093 (2103) | 1-0 | Cannon, Neil 1973 (1970) |
| 3 | Cawdery, John 2080 (2089) | 1-0 | Hughes, Anthony 1903 (1910) |
| 4 | Whitton, Terry D 1917 (1897) | 0-1 | Rennie, Gordon 1834 (1791) |
| 5 | Hunnable, Ian D 1902 (1889) | 1-0 | Carpenter, Stephen CD 1776 (1822) |
| 6 | Staniland, Philip 1899 (1867) | 1-0 | Slonczuk, Pawel 1671 (1672) |
| 7 | Murrell, Mark R A 1808 (1809) | 0-1 | Fonseka, Anik 1556 () |
| 8 | Barclay, Paul R 1798 (1796) | 1-0 | Selim, Omar 1473 (1435) |
| Average: 1950 | 6-2 | Average: 1776 |
A bloodthirsty match; no draws. Ashley Freeman and Steve Rix were two withdrawals from the original line-up, or we might have done even better. Mark and Paul were the substitutes, while skip Keith Jones still had himself in reserve.
Wimbledon, however, were markedly weaker than when we faced them last season WW v Wimbledon 2022-23 with the top three from that match missing, plus Ian Heppell.
Mark found himself faced with a returning player who was clearly of a class or two higher than his curent ‘P’ rating. Terry made an error in move selection turning a promising position into a losing one. The six winning games are given below; you can write your own match report on those!
Partha’s notes to his game are illuminating: it’s a remarkable position. In an open, fluid, position, the top 4-5 variations are all evaluated by the engine as equal (not approximately equal, but 0.00) for a long time. It is quite understandable how, encountering this position for the first time OTB, this equality, where the seeming imbalance should apparently give one side the advantage, was a source of uncertainty for Partha. In fact, it seems it was difficult to go wrong! We believe that Mark Dubey’s choice to press for a win when he had a forced draw by repetition is explained by the match situation where WW were winning and draws were then no good for Wimbledon.
The winning games
User notes for the game board: the squares of the board are also active “buttons”: click on e7 to flip the board, then d2 (the same square) to flip it back. (The player names don’t flip, which is why we give “White” and “Black” to save confusion over who’s who when the board has been flipped.) In game notes, variations given between square brackets [ ] can be played through on screen, with sub variations in the analysis given between parenthases ( ); just click on the move you want to play from, then click on the game move before the analysis to carry on where you left off. (Moves given in narrative are not live so are only for reading.)
LL1
Played Wed 10 January 2024, at SMH
| W&W | Score | Dulwich 1 |
|
| 1 | Mulay, Partha 2107 (2065) | 0-1 | Randall, Ryan 2205 (2210) |
| 2 | Spearman, David 2100 (2103) | ½-½ | Pridding, Andrew M 2182 (2183) |
| 3 | Cawdery, John 2092 (2089) | ½-½ | Andrews, B Peter A 2042 (2070) |
| 4 | Rix, Steven JL 1995 (1988) | 1-0 | Rasalingam, Haran 2017 (2025) |
| 5 | Whitton, Terry D 1912 (1897) | 1-0 | Simpson, Benjamin K 2017 (1977) |
| 6 | Hunnable, Ian D 1902 (1889) | 0-1 | Morley, Oliver 1801 (1786) |
| 7 | Staniland, Philip 1884 (1867) | 0-1 | McKenna, John R 1656 (1622) |
| 8 | Murrell, Mark R A 1796 (1809) | 1-0 | McKenna, James F 1597 (1593) |
| 4-4 |
LL1
Played Tue 13 February 2024, at GLCC
| Greater London 1 |
v | W&W | |
| 1 | Zapolskis, Antanas 2270 (2240) (W) | 1-0 | Cawdery, John 2098 (2089) (B) |
| 2 | Phan, Stefanus 2182 (2173) | ½-½ | Spearman, David 2099 (2103) |
| 3 | Stojanas, Justinas 2091 (2107) | ½-½ | Rix, Steven JL 2007 (1988) |
| 4 | Rihel, Jason M 2034 (2033) | 0-1 | Whitton, Terry D 1921 (1897) |
| 5 | Ismailov, Roman 2054 (2024) | 0-1 | Hunnable, Ian D 1903 (1889) |
| 6 | Dawson, Euan 1918 () | ½-½ | Karacsony, Istvan 1840 (1825) |
| 7 | McDonnell, James J 1879 (1902) | 1-0 | Colclough, Ryan 1746 (1784) |
| 8 | Vasiliev, Dmitry 1852 (1860) | 1-0 | Jones, Keith S 1747 (1740) |
| Average: 2035 | 4½-3½ | Average: 1921 |
LL1
Played Wed 6 March 2024, at SMH
| W&W | v | British Bangla 1 |
|
| 1 | Mulay, Partha 2109 (2065) (W) | ½-½ | Rida, Ruqayyah 2140 (2049) (B) |
| 2 | Spearman, David 2112 (2103) | 1-0 | Landau, Jonathan 1973 (1976) |
| 3 | Cawdery, John 2086 (2089) | 1-0 | Khan, Tariq 1932 (1907) |
| 4 | Rix, Steven JL 2030 (1988) | 1-0 | Finnegan, Oliver 1899 (1885) |
| 5 | Whitton, Terry D 1929 (1897) | 0-1 | Alahi, Mohammed 1862 (1823) |
| 6 | Hunnable, Ian D 1907 (1889) | 0-1 | Mugalu, Hassan 1874 (1935) |
| 7 | Staniland, Philip 1868 (1867) | 1-0 | Hossain, M Mohammed Ashraf 1722 (1737) |
| 8 | Jones, Keith S 1739 (1740) | 0-1 | NILIM, ARMAN 1621 (1383) |
| Average: 1973 | 4½-3½ | Average: 1878 |
LL1
Played Wed 20 March 2024, at SMH
| W&W | v | Kings Head 1 |
|
| 1 | Mulay, Partha 2118 (2065) (B) | 0-1 | Okike, David C 2243 (2230) (W) |
| 2 | Spearman, David 2116 (2103) | 1-0 | Gilfillan, Andrew 2131 (2113) |
| 3 | Cawdery, John 2079 (2089) | ½-½ | Black, Richard 2089 (2092) |
| 4 | Rix, Steven JL 2044 (1988) | 1-0 | Randall, Simon 2035 (2026) |
| 5 | Whitton, Terry D 1917 (1897) | ½-½ | Mackenzie, Colin 2039 (2045) |
| 6 | Hunnable, Ian D 1910 (1889) | ½-½ | Inzani, Michael PL 1972 (1992) |
| 7 | Staniland, Philip 1903 (1867) | 1-0 | Cowan, Xavier 1883 (1960) |
| 8 | Karacsony, Istvan 1867 (1825) | 1-0 | Anderson, Peter F 1864 (1874) |
| Average: 1995 | 5½-2½ | Average: 2032 |
LL1
Played Thu 4 April 2024, at MET
| Metropolitan 1 |
v | W&W | |
| 1 | Deflesselle, Tanguy 2195 (2220) (B) | 1-0 | Spearman, David 2122 (2103) (W) |
| 2 | Calvert, D Ian 2028 (2025) | 1-0 | Rix, Steven JL 2052 (1988) |
| 3 | Lees, Fraser A 2014 (1986) | ½-½ | Whitton, Terry D 1931 (1897) |
| 4 | Law, Jeremy 1942 (1942) | 1-0 | Murrell, Mark R A 1837 (1809) |
| 5 | Vachtfeidl, Petr 1940 (1952) | 1-0 | Jones, Keith S 1729 (1740) |
| 6 | Carmichael, Ned 1932 (1922) | 1-0 | Colclough, Ryan 1739 (1784) |
| 7 | Marrow, Jonathan P 1832 (1832) | ½-½ | Meadows, Pete 1678 (1734) |
| 8 | Lenaghan, Kevin P 1824 (1845) | 1-0 | Smith, David 1529 (1592) |
| Average: 1964 | 7-1 | Average: 1828 |
LL1
To be Played Wed 29 May 2024, at SMH
| W&W | Score | Streatham 2 |
|
| 1 | – | ||
| 2 | – | ||
| 3 | – | ||
| 4 | – | ||
| 5 | – | ||
| 6 | – | ||
| 7 | – | ||
| 8 | – | ||
| – |