We were glad to welcome Yate for the first match in the new Division Three.

With various players still on holiday or otherwise unavailable, we called up James the elder and Tom to fill the gaps. Tom soon rewarded us with a nice win but this was counterbalanced by John. The two James possibly had slight plusses and Junior settled for a sensible draw while James H carried on pressing.

I had had most of the threats in my game but used a lot more time without making the most of it. Mike played his usual solid stuff but shed a pawn and he, also, ran low on the clock. So we reached the closing minutes with the possibility of a win from James to clinch some points. I accordingly offered a draw but Jeremy, sensing the benefit of a handy time advantage in the closing stages, declined.

And so it came to pass that Mike overstepped the time limit and James shook hands. I thought he had won but the position deceived my eyes and James' advanced pawn was not, it turned out, about to Queen. Almost immediately my opponent gave up a pawn which he intended to regain immediately. However, there was a trap which won a piece for me and, with it, the game.

So, a match which could have gone either way ended up with the points shared. Fair enough, considering some rustiness all round after the Summer break!