A return to home territory saw us hoping to hit winning form again after two non-victories in away matches.

First to finish was Steve on Board 1, he played a sharp and largely theoretical line which led to a balanced but dynamic position in which he was happy to settle for a draw after some shaky results. Next came my game on Board 2. I secured a space advantage but was unable to open the position to capitalize on it, so a draw was agreed; after 30 moves so not too short. A third draw followed on Board 6, a game in which Thomas Ash, making what I believe was his A team debut, went a pawn down but with some initiative as compensation. I wasn't convinced this was sufficient, but he proved me wrong as he simplified down to a drawn pawn ending.

Now was the time for our engine house on the middle boards to show their power. Reinhold played a thematic game on the Black side of a Caro Kann. He demonstrated that his positional trumps outweighed White's aggressive efforts and with some accurate tactics clinched a fine victory. Meanwhile on Board 4 Aron had established a positional advantage with a better pawn structure and the two bishops in an open position. He was not about to let this advantage slip and brought home yet another win as his opponent cracked under the pressure of Aron's play and some time shortage. This clinched the match.

There was still Jack's game to be decided, a complex position had been reached with few exchanges and a weird pawn structure for White with doubled d pawns. These turned out to be to his advantage as while Jack was striving to get at the White King, the front d pawn stormed down the board opening lines for the queen and bishop and also winning material. Jack tried hard to create some confusion as his time ran short, but Stuart Iles kept calm and converted his position by capturing the newly reborn queen on f1.

The match result of 3.5 - 2.5 in our favour was about right based on the play and after some friendly chat we look forward to our return visit to the seaside in the spring.