Board 1. I (Greg) had the black pieces against Rayyan Mussa. I played the Black Lion system but Rayyan’s coach, Oli, knew I liked this system and had prepared Rayyan with a counter Black Lion approach involving a sacrifice. However, Rayyan made a mistake in its delivery and so I went up a knight for a pawn. Rayyan is a strong player and counter-attacked forcefully but I was able to maintain my material advantage until we finally reached an endgame with a draw through repetition. I had hoped for a win but ended up having to continually check his King to prevent him promoting a pawn.

Board 2. John Paines had the white pieces. He says: "I had white against Will Cook who played the Caro-Kann. It was a fairly even game but I was able to win a pawn in the late middle game. Will managed to achieve a position where we both had passed pawns and when he offered a draw I accepted it, as I couldn’t readily see how to play for a win without risking Will queening before me. Engine analysis showed that more enterprising use of my rook could have obtained the full point."

Board 3. Hector Hu had the black pieces. He played the Caro-Kann defense, kept the balance during the opening and middle game, but lost a bishop before entering the endgame, then White prevailed with an unstoppable passed pawn, which led to Hector’s defeat.

Board 4. Shaun Walsh had the white pieces. He says: "After e4 Black opened with D5, the Scandinavian and the Nf6 variation. White turned down the PxP variation and got on with developing with Nf3. The opening continued to a fight for the d4 square occupied by White’s Knight. Black played g5 to chase away a defending Knight on f3 but loses it after Qh4 threatening mate on h7. Thereafter Black built up a strong attack on White's central Knight winning a pawn back. Play continued with possible drawing chances before White blundered a Bishop under time pressure and with it the game."

Board 5. Per Saunders had the black pieces. He says: "It was an enjoyable game. We both pressed but it was even throughout the opening and middle game. We eventually came to a frenzy of trades. Although I was a pawn down after this, it should have been a draw with good endgame technique - sadly for me, I proved to be lacking in this area… Next time!"

Board 6. Vivaan Suresha had the white pieces. I have no specific details but unfortunately his opponent prevailed.

The final result - a 5-1 loss.

Gregory Sumner