A David & Goliath-style hold, a win against an International Master and a team captain’s last-gasp swindle to save the match in its dying seconds.
Sporting comebacks have been very much in vogue over the last week – and so it was last night at the Citadines.
With Battersea’s London League first team comprehensively outgunned against Richmond & Twickenham by an average of 20 ECF points, somehow, somehow we salvaged a draw right at the death.
Captain Midhun Unnikrishnan‘s game was down to the final few seconds when he came back from a piece down against 226-rated FM Iain Gourlay.
Under intense pressure as the clock ticked down Midhun was cool as a cucumber as he reduced the deficit before driving his titled opponent into a drawn king and pawn endgame.
The captain’s example followed some breathtaking heroics earlier on.
On board 2, newly-betrothed former skip Chris Beckett showed marriage has only increased his focus by beating IM Gavin Wall.
There were also wins for Tommaso Penna, Kazi Rahman and Emil Todorow – all against higher rated opponents.
Chris takes the p…
But it was on board 10 where the real shock happened.
Having been drafted in at the very last minute for the second time this season, Minor team captain Chris Rebbeck – whose team was also in the hall playing – managed another fighting draw against an opponent who on paper should beat him with ease.
>> Read Richmond & Twickenham’s match report here
Chris (91 ECF) made up a 70-point difference in grading, that’s around 500 Elo points, in this game:
It ended up being a crucial result as the match ended 5-5.
Battersea 1 are left third in the table behind Wood Green and Richmond & Twickenham but with two matches in hand over the second place team.
Afterward, Midhun described it as a “miracle” and said the match was “definitely one of the most exciting of the season”.
Battersea MI go top
Meanwhile, in another part of the hall, Battersea MI kept up their Minor division title charge with a 3-1 win over Hackney Gorki.
Wins for Joel Morales, Gregg Hutchence and Tom Butterworth saw the team go top of the table and needing just a draw – or to match the BBCA’s result – to win the division.
