Board 1. Alejandro Vilchez had Black against Matthew Plimmer. He says: "White adopted an aggressive Scotch Gambit structure, prioritizing rapid development and central control. Black accepted the gambit but lost time with repeated Queen and bishop moves, falling behind in development. White exploited this with strong piece activity and early castling. The critical moment came with 13.Nxf7!, a tactical knight sacrifice that exposed Black’s King and disrupted coordination. After 13…Ke7 14.Nxh8, White emerged a full rook ahead while keeping the initiative. Black’s king remained stranded in the centre, and White’s developing move 15.Bc4 added further pressure on the Queen and King. Facing significant material loss, poor development, and no viable counterplay, Black resigned on move 15."
Board 2. Alan Papier had the white pieces against Richard Barnes. He says: "I outrated my opponent by 100 points. I had the initiative and I had more space but then I messed up the move order. I needed to play h3 to prevent his bishop or knight landing there. I had to exchange my light squared bishop for his knight and then the light squares were his, leading to my eventual defeat."
Board 3. Hector Hu Black against Tarun Pamunuwa. His dad says: "White opened with English move C4, and Hector as Black answered with a King's Indian setup. In the middlegame, Hector found a tactic to win a piece with a bishop skewer, White then countered with a fierce King side attack. Both sides missed some critical best moves thereafter, but Hector finally managed to neutralize the threats and traded into a winning endgame. The game concluded with Hector's connected passed pawns pushed to the 6th rank, White then resigned."
Board 4. I had White against Cassian Powell. The game went 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bg4 3. e3 e6 4. Nbd2 Nf6 5. h3 Bh5 6. g4 Bg6 7. Ne5 a6 8. h4 h6 9. Nxg6 fxg6 10. Bd3 Kf7 11. h5 g5 12. Bg6+ Ke7 13. Qf3 Nc6 14. c3 Kd7 15. O-O Qe7 16. e4 dxe4 17. Nxe4 Rd8 18. Nc5+ Kc8 19. Re1 Rd6 20. a4 Nd7 21. b4 Nxc5 22. bxc5 Rd5 23. Bb2 Qd7 24. Be4 Be7 25. Bxd5 exd5 26. Re2 Rf8 27. Qg2 Rf6 28. Rae1 g6 29. c4 Rf4 30. f3 gxh5 31. cxd5 Qxd5 32. Rxe7 hxg4 33. Re8+ Kd7 34. Qe2 gxf3 35. Re7+ Nxe7 36. Qxe7+ Kc6 37. Qe8+ Qd7 38. Re6+ Kd5 39. Qxd7+ Kc4 40. Kf2 R. Playing the Colle system, I was able to punish the Bg4 pin, this time forcing fxg6 leading to Bg6+ and a secure B outpost. 24 Be4 attacked the trapped R and won the exchange. 35 Re7+ was a time-trouble blunder, Qe6+ is best. My opponent then blundered with 36 … Kc6 leading to the eventual loss of his Q and then his resignation. With 5 minutes left I managed to forget to press the clock and lose over 2 minutes of precious time. So I was pleased eventually to secure the win.
Board 5. Shaun Walsh had Black against Adam Mussa. He says: "I played against the Advance variation of the French against a well prepared junior with junior time controls. Adam was well prepared and we reached the best moves to move 7. After which Black attacked on the King side. Black chased a black squared bishop weakening his Kingside pawns and opening up the White and Black diagonals in the process. White achieved a position with many winning ways but Black made a few critical mistakes which cost the game."
Board 6. Archie Fleck White against Rafal Cala. He says: "I lost an early bishop to a tricky opening tactic. I did my best to hold on from there but ultimately was outgunned until the end. Not a very exciting one for me, unfortunately, my opponent said he had watched a video on our exact position the same day and it happened to come up!"