Dave chose this match to change this season's trait of clinching or saving the points in the final minutes. On this occasion he invaded with one knight and backed it up with another, so that the full point looked on the cards long before his teammates started baling out with arguably some fairly turgid draws.

Nevertheless Neil's and Nigel's draws were all part of the master plan and, when Oli, who had looked to have the better of his game, also found there was no way through with opposite coloured bishops and interlocked-pawns, we had a 2.5-1.5 lead with just Richard's and my games to go.

Richard's opponent built up some threats with heavy pieces, although these were somewhat blocked by his own advanced-pawn. He also lodged a bishop on c2 attacking Richard's rook on d1. However tempting this incursion may have looked, it turned out to be a losing move because Richard was able to advance a-pawn to d6 with discovered check and then move it on to d7, ignoring the threat to his rook. He was spolit for choice for how to convert an excellent win.

With the match now won I offered a draw and, although immediate analysis indicated tricky play could ensue on both sides, our silicon friend later showed that a series of exchanges should indeed lead to an even endgame.

So a 4-2 win secured our place in the top two at least until other matches later this week are played out.