We embarked on a triumvirate of matches over 13 days which would do much to determine our Division 1 title chances. We started against a strong and experienced Horfield A side; we were hoping to match them in both areas.

Oli’s game v Matias was a curious affair. Matias adopted an unorthodox development pattern, with his Queen exposed to early pressure from Oli’s nimble knight. His pieces never managed to display any coordination and Oli played accurately and soon wrapped up a quick win.

Board 2 saw Haroon with the White pieces against Derek Pugh. Both players are inclined to go for complicated positions and this game was no exception. Derek sacrificed the exchange to open up Haroon’s Kingside; Haroon responded in fine style and reached a very advantageous position. Unfortunately he picked up his f pawn rather than his Queen to recapture on e3; he still stood well but as time ran short he settled for a draw by repetition as by then the match was settled.

Board 3 was a sad tale for Tom. The game developed along positional lines then, as James missed the opportunity to free his position with a c5 thrust, Tom was able to win a pawn and as the position simplified this pawn pushed forward to b7 to cost James the exchange. Still, with bishop v rook and 3 pawns each all on the King-side there was hope. James defended doggedly but Tom was able to pick up a pawn and then unaccountably blundered the pawn back to reach a position where James may well have had a fortress. White had some chances of a zugzwang after infiltrating his King to e7 followed by a g6 thrust but it is possible that Black can keep the King out of e7. All very tricky but a draw was agreed.

On Board 4 Mark was in action against Steve Dilleigh. They went down a line of the French which Steve had played many times before, but Mark took full advantage of a poor knight manoeuvre to win 2 pawns and then showed sublime endgame technique to clinch the point.

Board 5 was the least exciting game of the night; Peter Kirby obtained an extra doubled and isolated d pawn in the opening but Reinhold countered sensibly to develop around it and may have had a small advantage on the board, but a disadvantage on the clock, when the draw was agreed.

On board 6 I (Nigel) was paired with Phil Nendick. He adopted an unusual first move (Nc6) against my 1d4. This led to a position where his knights were uncomfortably placed and castling was not possible. Phil took the practical decision to sacrifice an exchange to complete his development and get some play. I was able to contain this and gradually swap off pieces to a won position in which he blundered horribly to lose his Queen; this almost certainly just hastened the end.

We finished with a pleasing 4½ -1½ win, with no losses. Now for Bath A and Clevedon!