After the disappointment of a stutter against Grendel the previous week, the B-team found themselves facing possibly the strongest line-up in the league. I said last week that somebody would pay for the poor run recently by Mike and me and that our opponents had better watch out. Well, I got it half right!

Andrew C was facing his namesake, the IM from Clifton. An unclear game led to both sides offering draws soon after the other and you don't turn down a draw against a 207 unless you are very confident of victory, so Andrew banked his half.

I suffered something of a car crash against Manuel and lost the exchange from which there was really no come-back. But Mike emphatically reversed his fortunes and there was no dithering as his taws swarmed all over John, with a bottle-washer delivering the coup de grace. Look it up, if necessary under “Marble (toy)” if you need any further explanation.

All of which left the score level with three unclear games unfinished. It was all far too close to call. Steve was under pressure but fighting hard to hold an isolated pawn. At one stage I thought it was a goner and then a bit later it seemed to be securely held. However, the pressure did tell in the end and Chris converted to put us one down.

Oli had been a pawn down but regained it while my back was turned and emerged into a rook ending with a passer in the middle and seemingly prospects of a win. I couldn't see the path to victory although maybe the engine will find something. But who cares? That was another draw against a 200+ player and, with Black, too! An excellent hold by Oli.

Of course this meant we were 3-2 down and Andrew M was in a blocked position but with a knight that was far superior to Scott's bad bishop. Whether there was a win to be had was another matter and Scott duly offered a draw. Once Andrew knew the match score, he realized he had better play on.

The game continued with Scott forcing a pawn to the seventh and Andrew embarking on a sequence of checks in order to claw back a bit of time on the increment. There was just time for the gallery to glance over at the Minor KO match, which was equally finely poised with the scores level against South Bristol and a draw no use to us because of board count. It was Aron against Dave. Aron had given up his queen for two rooks and his king was dodging checks while he now had R + B + N which were inching ever nearer to the enemy monarch. It was difficult to know which game to concentrate on.

I'm not 100% certain which game finished first. I think it must have been Aron, when Dave held out his hand, having strayed into a mating net. No doubt we'll hear a lot more about that match elsewhere. So back to the B-team, where by now they were both relying on the increment. Andrew finally found a check which enabled him to get the queens off and cover the enemy queening square with his knight. From there on it was a relatively simple matter to use his king to guide his pawn majority home. Although he was apologetic for his victory it had been very well played again, Andrew!

It had been an exhilarating finish to the evening. Two thrilling games had led to outstanding results - a draw against the mighty Clifton B where the average grades had been 169 against 189 - and to crown the night, a victory in the MKO against one of the top teams in the competition over recent years.

A final thought, none of the excitement of these games would have been possible without the introduction of the incremental time rules only a few years ago. What an excellent decision that has turned out to be.