As we entered the Minor Knockout for 2026-27 we reckoned we had two squads capable of progressing, the Bishops and the Rooks against Clifton and Thornbury respectively, while the Knights were probably going to be out-rated by Cabot.

Late circumstances had a hand in what transpired. First Elmira was indisposed, so the Rooks recruited Dan from the Knights. In a way the Knights were not too bothered since Cabot had indicated that they would be a player short, so the Knights would have a one point start!

But the Tuesday match at Clifton did not go according to plan. Their juniors proved to be too good for the Bishops on the night and won the top four boards and it was left to Hector and Greg to stem the flow. Could the other two teams do any better two days later?

The Knights, with their one point starting advantage, were up against a Cabot team with an average rating of around 1700 over the top four boards against our 1450. So it was a minor miracle that Joe and Shaun both beat their much higher rated opponents and, with John playing out of his skin to clinch a vital draw, we ran out narrow winners. Extremely well done!

The Rooks, meanwhile, had tough opposition at Thornbury. Alexei and Alejandro both played very solidly to eliminate any danger on the top two boards and, with Dan also holding board six, we reached a final situation needing one and a half points from the two remaining games.

Fortunately Grant’s opponent, Jim, was apparently having what we might call “an off night” and Grant soon looked pretty assured for the point. All I (Ian) needed was a draw to clinch the match on board count but I was able to capitalize on a lead in development to press through until Dan, faced with unappetizing choices, overlooked a mate in one.

So we have two teams through to the second round in what, as we have learned from bitter experience, will be very challenging encounters early in the new year.