We headed for Bath, hoping for a repeat of our win last time v University, but expecting tough opposition from the current league and cup winners.

The top two boards were decided quickly, Steve chose a line against David which produced an early ending and, although David had a slight pull, the game headed for the safety of a draw. Meanwhile on Board 2 I (Nigel) had gone for an aggressive approach but Roy quickly steered the game to the safety of a draw. Time for a quick postmortem and then to settle down with a pint to watch the other games evolve.

Things looked promising, Reinhold was the exchange up but Clive’s minor pieces, especially his knights, were very active and Reinhold’s king was a tad exposed. All three results looked possible.

Peter had gambitted a pawn for quick development - the type of position he plays well - and this had brought dividends as he followed up with a temporary rook sacrifice to open up the white king so, as material equality was restored, he had what looked like a mating attack with queen, knight and rook all firing at a poorly defended king.

The lower two boards were also looking good. Mark had won the exchange at the cost of a pawn and whilst black’s position was going to be hard to break down there seemed little danger of a loss. Meanwhile Dave had more than equalised but with only rook and knight each and a symmetrical pawn structure it was going to take some endgame wizardry to win.

Events proceeded in our favour. It turned out that Peter did not have a mating attack but he was able to win the queen for rook and knight and then his queen made short work of wrapping up the position. Mark’s position simplified down and some good defence from Barry produced an ending with few winning chances so a peace agreement was made. Reinhold had negated Clive’s chances and a counterattack down the e file, as time ran short, was decisive.

This left Dave who had some initiative in a knight ending and as he pushed forward, displaying fine endgame technique, the pressure told on Patrick who got his knight misplaced and let Dave’s g pawn rush through and win the game.

So we ended with a 4½-1½ victory, the same as against University, and hopes of completing a hat trick in our next match against Clifton A.