Downend A went to Horfield to face their strongest possible squad. Although their average grade of 181 on paper matched that of South Bristol A in our first match, this time they all turned up and we knew that we had a battle on our hands! Every single one of our players was out–graded.

Nigel returned to board 1 with an excellent win against their highest graded player in a solid performance, giving no chances to Carl for counter–attack. On board 2, Michael won a pawn in a sharp opening, although this led to complications which favoured Derek who exploited every bit of his advantage to coerce Michael in to what proved a fatal mistake. Martin achieved a very good draw on 3 in a game that seemed to me to be quite even throughout. I faced Steve Dilleigh on board 4 and after many good moves by both of us in positions that initially were slightly in my opponent's favour, I held out for an opposite coloured bishops draw.

Our bottom two boards were the last to finish (in order) just before the time control in a somewhat tense finish! Ian Ponter won a piece but then got in to time-trouble (again!), declined a draw, then made an illegal move with seconds left on his clock to cause great confusion. To his great credit, Phil then very sportingly offered a draw to leave the match all square. Ian Pickup, who after many book moves (some maybe weaker than others on both sides) emerged from a Sicilian Najdorf a pawn up, with the board having been simplified. His opponent had seconds for the ending and inevitably his flag fell.

It was an evening where we all played our part – one way or another – and those that hadn't had good results so far showed their true worth; others can look back on their performances that have kept us unbeaten so far.

Next match Clifton A. They are potentially another step up, with their team averaging almost 190. This is good news for the League, which is definitely stronger these last two years, although can anyone topple them this year?