Perhaps it was our reputation preceding us (after all, three wins on the trot is quite the talking point) or perhaps it was because I was about to refer to Clifton's B as stronger than their A-team, but another over 200 graded player was conjured out of the ether, which for those keeping track brings Clifton's total to five! (A fourth knockout title in four years may prove to be a big ask.)

Once again we had three players missing for which they receive curses and epithets, but we also had three willing substitutes, all of whom deserve praise and thanks. We've seen some surprising upsets this season but were out-graded by almost 20 points per board. Steve chose a non-confrontational opening but was soon able to strike back at the centre. I was out opening knowledge after 3.Nc3 in the Caro-Kann, though it may be suggested that could also be the case with 3...dxe4. Gareth broke with his tradition of avoiding 1.e4 and an unusual position emerged. Fortunately, white was able to safely castle the queen away on b1.

John was dazzling everyone with his exciting queen exchange repertoire, but Andrew was finding ways to complicate the position, both for himself and black. It seemed like if only either side had a few extra moves checkmate would have been unavoidable (Edit: I had a long drive back last night and know what I mean by this, even if it holds true in every game). Martin also had an unusual opening in that it wasn't an Accelerated Dragon. Duncan played solidly and appeared to be causing some grief to black's space. Toby and David was thrashing out some advanced theory, but the pace quickly dropped as white achieved an interesting bind and black attempted to free the position.

The moves in my game flowed as if it'd been a forcing sequence from move 1, and after "establishing" a Ne5 outpost five times, we agreed a draw. If this is actual chess I must say I don't care for it. Stephen looked to have survived the worse of a central onslaught with asymmetric pawns the only imbalance of note. Having equalised, Stephen also secured a draw. 62 grading points neutralised.

Toby reorganised his pieces and gave black very little to work with, but his own plan would need a lot of moves to come to fruition. Since they were both quite low on time at this point, they also agreed to split the point. 85 points neutralised!

Martin had come under heavy pressure as Duncan invaded with both rooks and a knight, but he surprised the bookies (and captain) by swapping off to a same-coloured bishop endgame down only a doubled pawn. Full credit goes to Martin for pulling defensive resources out of thin air. 95 points neutralised!

Andrew, who had gone in for a knight and bishop vs rook endgame after being enticed by a few extra pawns, was slowly finding that black's active king and rook roaming the open board were probably up to the task. There was a draw offer from black at one point, but Andrew was having far too much fun with the tactical tricks (I strongly recommend a look through the game - writing as a swindler and barring the result, this was a master class of tricks). Unfortunately, the tricks proved one tempo too slow and a back rank threat cost white a piece. After yet more tricks black finally found themselves snaffling off the pawns for the point. Well done to John for safely navigating the treacherous endgame.

After Gareth's queen had done its duty on the b-file, attention was switched to the d-file and d8-h4 diagonal. Nigel tried to stake a claim for central control but white appeared to be two steps ahead and with a more exposed king, black found the problems set insurmountable.

It's never nice to lose a match, but 2-4 against a team as strong as Clifton A, as out-graded as we were, is hardly the most disappointing result. Onwards to Clevedon and North Bristol to round out the first half of the season!