Essex Knockout Plate Final
Played 21 September 2022, at Thurrock
| Thurrock | R1 | R2 | Ilford |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Omoruyi, Jaden 1778 (B, W) | 0-1 | 1-0 | Subramanian, Venkatesh 1924 (W, B) |
| 2 Sadhasivam, Mangalaram 1758 | 0-1 | 0-1 | Barton, Tom A 1863 |
| 3 Abedin, Farhan 1526 | 0-1 | 0-1 | Twitchell, Neville H 1824 |
| 4 Wilson, Mathew 1875 | 0-1 | 0-1 | Ghose, Rahul 1833 |
| 5 Van Litsenborgh, Rudi 1383 | 0-1 | 1-0 | Page, Jeffrey 1752 |
| 0-5 | 2-3 | ||
| Thurrock | 2-8 | Ilford | |
Ilford won the toss and had White on odds in R1. One of the Ilford players missed his train and Thurrock sportingly delayed the start until he arrived; play got under way at 8.00 pm.
First blood to Ilford when Neville won Farhan’s queen. Disaster struck minutes later, when, faced with a defensible mate threat Matthew picked up a bishop which couldn’t offer a defence, realised his error and resigned. Ilford extended their lead to 3-0 when Tom prevailed against Mangalaram. The landslide continued as Venkatesh mated Jaden in the endgame and Jef completed the whitewash, coming back from a piece for a pawn down to win.
In R2, only one outcome could save Thurrock: a 5-0 win and a replay.
Thurrock’s dreams of a fatantstic reverse were put in context when Rahul scored the winning point for Ilford after 20 minutes. More one-way traffic when Tom won, a piece up. The carnage continued, with Neville getting the better of Farhan in a R+P ending. But the last two games finally brought something for Thurrock to cheer as Rudi saved the whitewash when Jef put a rook en prise (for the second time!) and Thurrock salvaged a little more pride when Jaden won on top board.
While Ilford were the hot favourites with a clear rating advantage, the scoreline doesn’t do Thurrock justice; they were better than that and, looking to the future, their two young players gave a good account of themselves. At least skipper Malcolm took their beating with a smile.
Congratulations to Ilford on a job well done.
Links: KO Page | KO Tables | Plate Final on ECF LMS