Battersea fielded our strongest ever line-up last night as GM Simon Williams and IM Gavin Wall helped scrape a draw in a Central London League relegation double-header.
YouTube streamer and tournament commentator Simon, aka the Ginger GM, scored a vital point for Battersea 2 against HMC 1’s 228ECF-rated International Master John Pigott in the penultimate match of the season.
Gavin, a stalwart of Richmond and Twickenham Chess Club, came up against the former Nigerian champion David Okike but unfortunately lost.
Battersea 2 are involved in a relegation dogfight with HMC’s second team who were simultaneously playing Battersea 1.
Our first team won that match 2-3 to give Emil Todorow‘s Battersea 2 team a chance of survival. Had the result gone the other way it would have been all over.
Meanwhile, in the Battersea 2 match draws for Blair Connell, Aldo Camilleri and Tommaso Penna left the result all square.
It means Battersea 2 and HMC 2 are now level-pegging. They meet on May 17 in a winner-takes-all match to decide who goes down.
The last time a GM turned out for Battersea was in December 2015 when Keith Arkell won his game for our first team in the London Chess League.
