For our last away league fixture we travelled to Clifton. They were not as strong as sometimes but were still formidable opponents.

On Board 4 Peter started with one of his favourite lines, gambitting a pawn for active development. Dave showed his experience as he returned the material to suck all the life out of the position - a draw.

On Board 1 events seemed to be shaping up for an exciting duel as opposite sides castling had occurred. However Steve and Carl thought better of it with few minor pieces left on the board - a second draw.

On board 3 Mark got a slight pull from the opening and both sides had the odd tactical trap but Duncan steered safely to a level ending - a third shortish draw.

The remaining three games all lasted deep into the session. Dave Tipper was short of space and his sophisticated attempt to relieve the pressure with Kh8 and Rg8 had little effect. The ending was tricky and slipped away as he ran short of time.

I didn’t see a lot of Reinhold’s game; he seemed to have good central control but then Gareth broke through to the eight rank on the King side. Was he overextended? Possibly, as he soon lost on time.

All square then with only my game v Igor left! I achieved no advantage from the opening so I tried a provocative idea which Igor quickly demonstrated to be just very bad, as he won a pawn with his rooks dominating and my knights badly hobbled. Time ran short and my knights managed to lose their fetters and gallop round the board winning material. The ending had some tricks but I was able to win the game and the match for the team. Dave Collier summed it up accurately ‘Well grovelled, Nigel".