We knew that a draw with Grendel B would virtually ensure a place in Division Four after Christmas so there was a certain amount of nervous tension when the E team settled down to play.

Miguel with White on board 2 was the first to finish. It was level after 15 moves when John failed to notice that his Queen was being overworked. When he recaptured after an exchange of minor pieces on b6, his bishop on e7 was no longer defended, so he resigned on the spot.

Meanwhile Chris got into a bit of a tangle on the dark squares. He might have been better off giving up the exchange but in fact lost a knight and Jake proceeded to swap off enough pieces to make the eventual result certain. Chris sportingly put his King in the corner so that Jake could have the pleasure of mating him.

Alan and Sam seemingly got their heads together and decided that the rest of the team would have to be patient before we knew the result. Their games lasted 67 and 68 moves respectively!

Alan’s game with Liam was a moderately dull affair for 20 moves although he did gain the advantage of the two bishops on an open board. Although he was briefly a pawn down, he chose to win back one on the wing, giving him long term promotion prospects. It was by no means straight-forward but Alan continued to find moves to ratchet up his advantage and when it reached a rook and pawn ending that b pawn became an unstoppable monster.

Sam’s game, perhaps, need not have gone on quite so long. His game, also, was level for 20 moves when John gave up his better bishop, allowing Sam’s remaining rook and bishop to dominate. By move 42 he had passed a and b pawns and plus 5 or 6 on the engine. He decided to amuse himself by promoting two Queens and then administered a textbook mate.

So we won by 3-1 and sit comfortably astride Division 4A with just one more game to come, against University C.

Gregory Sumner