Well done, Cs. A great start to the second half of the season. Everybody contributed.

First, Toby got us away with a safe draw in an open position. It's important that the first result is a positive one and Toby secured that for us.

Then Andrew won beautifully with a strong king's side attack. He said he could have won it quicker, but nobody on the planet finds all the best moves all the time and it was just the pressure he imposed on his opponent that won it for him.

I adopted my favourite theory that developing pieces is greatly over-rated and grabbing-pawns is much more fun. Anyway I won a dead drawn ending so I'll probably do the same thing again.

Dave then came into the bar where I was supporting my teammates' efforts by having a pint and not watching the games.

Dave was buzzing with sheer excitement about his 18 move win, saying it was one of his best games for a long time. That means it must have been very good considering his recent form being so strong anyway.

Can't wait to see it on the games page. Apparently the ending is crushing? So, 3.5 - 0.5 and the match secure.

I went back in to the match room, not to gloat (heaven forbid), just in time to see James a piece up and mopping up another win.

It was left to Keith to finish the match in a strong position, which clock pressure denied him the time to find a win, so a draw saw us home 5 - 1.

Well done. Great effort.