Staines B opened their Division Four campaign with an excellent 4½–1½ away win over Hounslow B on Monday night. Hounslow is never the easiest venue, with the no-increment time control adding extra pressure as the clocks run down, but Staines took control through the middle boards, scoring a perfect 4/4 from boards two to five.

O’Sullivan seals the win

With Staines leading 2½–1½, Liam O’Sullivan had the chance to secure the match on board two against 1705-rated JJ Padam. Playing Black against the Torre Attack, O’Sullivan absorbed White’s early pressure before the position began to open up.

A critical moment came after 29.Bd1, when Black’s queen appeared to be running short of squares. O’Sullivan found 29…Rxd1!, a tactical resource which allowed the queen to escape and changed the character of the position completely. With the immediate sequence largely forced, O’Sullivan played the captures quickly and used Padam’s thinking time to calculate the complications that followed.

The resulting position remained roughly equal but highly imbalanced, with Black’s bishop and knight facing White’s rook. O’Sullivan soon generated threats against the exposed White king and went on to win material, reaching the position below with a decisive advantage.