Keynsham arrived announcing they were two players short. That left Tom and I out of the action, but it gave us a nice two-point head start.

George appeared to have Jack out of book early in the opening, with Jack spending quite some time on the first few moves. A tense battle then ensued. I missed the crucial moves, but when I checked in on the game later George's position was suddenly lost. I couldn't tell whether George had miscalculated an attack, or was forced into a desperate attempt to get out of Jack's imminent assault. Perhaps Jack will pass on his game for all to see. A great win against tough opposition.

James' opponent played the Chigorin Defence. James was able to take advantage of some inaccuracies to work to get a passed pawn and very active pieces. He then diligently pressed home his advantage to get another connected passed pawn on the queen side. Then when his opponent gifted a bishop, it was all over before the two pawns had the chance to make a dash for glory.

Jack had an exciting game against Jim. He was constantly applying pressure on White's position, and although White held on well, a mistake gave Black the chance to infiltrate White's defences to force a win, and thankfully for Jack, his opponent missed a drawing chance on move 31.

Dave's game against Duncan was a very well-balanced Caro-Kann. A close closed game all the way, that extended well into the evening. Although the match was already won, and the team didn't need the point, Dave continued to strive for victory, and appeared the only one actively pushing. In the end, a draw was agreed, although Dave was kicking himself for missing the one chance earlier on in the game to get an advantage. These moves always seem obvious when the engine points them out later.

5.5 - 0.5 and nice to get our first win of the season.