Tonight's match was against probably the most dangerous of several promotion chasing challengers in Division 3. We were expecting some tough games and a close contest. Cabot brought two very strong top boards together with several players whose grade I believe almost certainly understates their ability. We also had a competitive team since we had to draft in Dominique as a late replacement for James. For once, the match (almost) started on time.

Early indications were less than encouraging. Alex appeared to me to be building up an attack against Robert's castled king, I had the inferior position after move 4 and it didn't get much better, whilst Nigel had 'unexpectedly sacrificed' a piece for two pawns in the opening. Dominique's position looked solid and Richard also seemed fine.

I had missed the opening to Neil's game and when I first looked I received a nasty shock as Richard had just made a discovered attack on Neil's queen which netted it for a knight. Some more moves were made but the inevitable resignation followed. A surprise result combined to our problems on mine and other boards meant that I could see the match slipping away.

Then things turned in our favour. Robert had managed to counter Alex's attempted attack and, I thought, had the chance of picking up a-pawn - yet perhaps it was slightly poisoned. A few exchanges later left an opposite coloured bishops ending with equal material: draw offer accepted. This was certainly a well-earned and important half point which raised our morale. 0.5-1.5

Nigel had been developing his pieces whilst preventing Jason from doing so. He looked to be applying severe pressure to his opponents King which was still stuck in the middle of the board, with very few defenders. This eventually told when Nigel found a back rank mating combination with rook and queen. Richard had similarly made good progress - from what I thought might have been a drawn position - and was able to establish a rook on the 7th where it was too powerful for Phillip to withstand. The match had completely turned in the space of a few minutes: 2.5-1.5.

That left Dominique and myself to immediately offer draws. Neil accepted in a position where there appeared to be no real chances for either player unless they wanted to take unnecessary risks. Alastair declined my offer - which must have been missed by my teammates who seemed puzzled as to why I hadn't offered a draw. My chances of a draw increased following exchanges of-pawns, but my opponent continued to press for a win, especially as he had far more time on his clock. I was then offered the opportunity to try for an attack although with little time remaining I opted for what I considered to be a drawn ending. This proved more difficult to hold than I initially thought. Eventually I removed any threats of Alastair queening his passed-pawn and offered another draw with minutes remaining. This time his teammates encouraged him to accept and the match was won.

Another very close match that could have gone either way yet we managed to convert the win. The result leaves us in a strong position, although one slip up could see us returning to mid-table.