The B team arrived at Redland Park full of enthusiasm, for what is always a tough fixture. After filling in the team sheet (and much chit-chat), there was suddenly a deafening silence (from our six) as the board order was revealed...

What! Really? Where had this team come from ? Callum Brewer on board one, Phil Nendick on board six ? Previous prep... straight out the window !

Oli and Derek were first to finish. A tense theoretical battle where white sacked a pawn for two bishops but, when pieces started to liquidate and the pawn was regained, there was little play left and a draw was agreed. After evaluating the game downstairs, neither player could see much more with any certainty.

Hugo was next to finish against Peter. Another theoretical battle and, despite the mass liquidation, the most interesting part of the game was the king ending whereby Hugo had a chance to put Peter in zugzwang, but neither player was probably expecting any opportunities at this point of the game. Draw agreed.

Now time for everyone to bunker down. You could almost feel the tension in the air. There was much to play for, regarding the match and league positions. Nothing was certain, and several complicated positions remained.

Graham had the unenviable task of taking on Mr Dilleigh (remember him?). Steve took on an IQP position and Graham was making great progress but, when Graham tried to clarify the position too quickly, he overlooked that Steve could win a pawn on the kingside. It reached a bishop ending where Steve, despite being a pawn up, couldn't make any progress thanks to his weak blockaded IQP. Again no sign of how to break through, so draw number three was agreed.

Now for a couple of wins.

Both Dominique and Mike H like a bit of a double-edged game, and they didn't disappoint. Dominique won a pawn, then sacked a knight for two more, which made it a knight for three pawns. It looked like he would get some play, but when Mike won a pawn back, Dominique hastily sacked a rook. It didn't pay dividends and ultimately he lost him the game. Nonetheless, a very entertaining affair

2.5 -1.5 for Horfield. A bit nervy now for sure, but with Martin and Oscar still deeply entrenched in their own personal battles, we didn't lose faith.

This was soon rewarded with Martin pulling off a great win. Phil had neatly won the exchange for a pawn early on. However, later he let Martin's knight slip into his position, and Martin, through true grit, made his passed c-pawn too big of a problem for Phil. Martin won another pawn, and converted his advantage with great coordination. It was a very exciting game from both Martin and Phil, and well worth having a look. Back to all square!

Now all eyes on board one, with our King Pin playing Callum Brewer. Dr Marks has done a great captain's job in recruiting Callum. The sort of signing D&F like to pull off. I have to take my hat off to you Peter. No more please !

Callum is a young but very talented player. Oscar is not quite so young, but still a very talented player... To cut to the chase, Callum had a Carlsbad pawn structure, and managed to win a pawn. Later on Oscar won it back with his active rook on the seventh rank. Some promising opportunities were missed by both sides in a time scramble but, once all the pawns were traded in an equal but tense rook ending, a draw was agreed. A very pleasing and well earned 3-3 draw for the B team.

Mr T and I certainly had our entrance fee rewarded, and to use Dave's phrase "that was a hell of an entertaining match".

Stop press: Wait ! The best bit is still to come..

20 mins after the end of the match, Peter had to literally tell us to "shove off" to get us to vacate the premises, we took his point and left. Whilst outside on the pavement, and just about to shake Peter's hand and depart, there was a frantic banging coming from the gloomy darkness of the entrance door!

Now I know some teams don't like Oscar playing against them, but trying to lock him in for the next two weeks is taking it a bit too far. Luckily, Peter immediately ran to the door and let Oscar out. Thank goodness we don't have to make a complaint to the LMC, and let our paranoia run away with us.

Please also take a look at the excellent Horfield report by Peter Marks.