Although Grendel are not certainly relegated, their need for points is certainly urgent. As such we expected a relatively strong team. Compared to some of their more recent matches we weren't disappointed. Richard and Chris had slow starts on boards 1 and 2 with all four players choosing their openings carefully, though somehow a cheeky Nh3 found its way on to the board. Having narrowly escaped against Richard Johnson last time, I opted for a more sensible opening too.

Jerry on the other hand flew straight as his opponent grabbing all the space, snatching a-pawn and ploughing down the middle. Super-substitute Martin appeared to be playing something that wasn't an Accelerated Dragon, which may be a first, though I haven't checked Chessbase. In any case, Martin appeared to have a good position from the opening. Dr Charlie having completed a half marathon at the weekend (because apparently he's a walking, talking, chess-playing CV) chafed in a few minutes late but launched into a wild opening as well.

It didn't take long for the points to start rolling in for the home team. Following a bold kingside sortie, Charlie won a-pawn (I was predicting him to lose a bishop) and set about pinning Roger's pieces to his king. The pressure proved too much with Roger blundering a piece to give Charlie a nice birthday present. Shortly after, Martin showed why you don't deviate from the White-variations and claimed the second point. Jerry then converted his strong position without much difficulty and guaranteed the A-team at least one point from the match.

It wasn't going so well for Richard on board 1 or for me on board 4. Richard was defending in a difficult position and I had been compelled to exchange my queen (and positional security) for a rook, bishop and two pawns. Naturally Chris then spurned a draw offer instead believing that his double-rook endgame with solid and relatively symmetrical pawn structures would strongly favour him. Jerry was not amused. After a few shuffling moves and a glance at the other two boards, Chris returned the offer and split the point. Despite its dry appearance, Chris later assured me that there was some fruit to be found hidden within.

Pictured: Chris' endgame.

Richard's game eventually went south, though not without some fight. Unfortunately I missed some of the end due to severe time-trouble on my own. Having recovered into a very strong position thanks to a charging-pawn, I blundered a piece, recovered again only to blunder once again. To paraphrase E.T. Bell, "Time-trouble makes fools of us all."

Next week there's a break from the league for our foray into the Knockout tournament against Clifton!