There's no beating around the bush with this one. It was not a great night for D&F in the 4NCLO.
Venkataramanan, TS vs Meadows, Michael
I may have been the only one to claim a point in the evening but I was surely the least deserving. My opponent attacked much too early and forced the black pieces action (not even requiring them to move), while leaving the b1-knight and a1-rook at home. The epitome of one side losing rather than the other winning.
Saunders, Aron vs Karumazondo, Ernest
Aron, to the surprise of no one, had a wild game. This time it was a Marshall Gambit. I assume there was buckets of theory to be had and it's all very confusing and sharp. Every time I checked in something requiring time and concentration was happening. Unfortunately it also happened that black was slowly forcing the mating attack through.
Stone, Andrew vs Williams, Stephen
Steve's game was also a theoretical one, this time in a Slav Defence. White built the typical big centre and a misplaced bishop compelled black to sacrifice for a pawn or two, but it didn't stop the white attack and the game was soon over.
Pickup, Ian vs Holland, Edward
Ian appeared to be taking all the space and blunting black's chances early on, but somehow things came back to black. It was still relatively level when a nasty series of checks forced the king to a position that would see it skewered for the queen.
** Downend 2 2.5 - 1.5 Hertford 3**
Kosznik, Dariusz vs Ash, Thomas
Thomas was not the only player to gain a massive advantage and find it lost later on, but I'm sure that's little comfort to anyone. Expert handling of a Sicilian Defence, but only the final knockout blow was missing.
Brown, Keanu vs Mooney, Graham
I'm sure it's preference but I can't help but feel robbed when 1.e4 leads to a Carlsbad structure. Nevertheless, Keanu handled his Caro-Kann well and was doing fine until the centre disappeared and with it, a solid knight was lost.
Anderson, James vs Bleeg, Elliott
Unbeatable Elliott had another strong showing, coming under immense pressure in the endgame but holding on for a level ending and, in an understandable confusion of lichess icons, offered a draw with the flag of peace, forgetting it was, in fact, a flag of surrender. Personally, I refuse to count this as a defeat for Elliott.
Lewis, Catherine vs Flood, Raymond
Catherine went bold with an early-h4 attack but the time taken allowed black to cause some issues in the middle. Despite the material equality, the position appeared to swing more and more in white's favour until a bold queen invasion allowed black an even bolder, more concrete queen invasion.
Often, after a bad result, captains say something along the lines of, "We'll do better next time!" and I strongly suspect that will be the case here. Mostly because it would be quite difficult to do worse!