A big match v Clifton A saw both teams at approaching full strength so a tough tussle was in prospect. The first to finish was Reinhold, playing against Carl, who was coming back from injury. Carl pushed forward aggressively but Reinhold defended staunchly and a blocked position was reached and a draw agreed.

I (Nigel) was next to finish against Dave Collier; we first played each other in the late 1970s! I got an early advantage with some apparently impressive central pawns in an unusual opening. However I missed a tactical point, which Dave spotted, and the situation resolved into a drawish looking endgame, which the machine thinks was good for me. My judgement was lacking so we settled for a draw.

Attention shifted to the battle of the Morrises on Board 6. Mark had stood level, and indeed offered a draw but Gareth persisted and Mark blundered a pawn. Gareth then pushed forward with his Kingside majority to open up Mark’s King and gain a key victory.

Oli on top board managed to get his pieces nicely developed and pushing forwards. James is a very strong player and he gradually neutralised the pressure then gained space on the Kingside and finished with an exchange sacrifice to fatally expose Oli’s King. 3-1 to Clifton.

Harood’s game was unbalanced. He had gained the advantage of 2 bishops v 2 knights in a dynamic position at the cost of allowing his Kingside pawn structure to be shattered. I don’t know how the players interpreted the position; Dominic gave up a rook to promote a pawn but Haroon gave it back to remove the new rook(!) and reached a position with bishop and 5 pawns v knight and 4 pawns. This could have been tricky, however Dominic’s knight was stranded on the edge of the board. Haroon was not going to let the game slip so we were 3-2 down with just board 3 undecided.

I missed the early part of the game during which James acquired John’s Queen for three minor pieces. Again I don’t know who was happier with this trade but it turned out that James’ Queen could not find any targets, whilst John’s pieces formed a protective shield around his King with a knight securely blockading an isolated pawn from e5. James made every effort to unbalance the position but John slowly won a pawn or two and then rolled his extra pawns down the board to seal a 4-2 triumph for Clifton A.

They take over from us at the top of the table so we will seek revenge in the return match.