Bedford A hauled themselves off the bottom of the Division 1 table, but only after Bedford B had taken a 2-0 lead. Mike Botteley’s piece sacrifice was too speculative and Richard Bodily cashed in with some ease. James Gardner also sacrificed material to exploit two advanced Q-side pawns. However, Qais Karimi massed his forces for a successful blockade and James resigned when it was apparent he had no way through.
At this point, although Mindaugas Beinoras was a solid pawn up, the other two games seemed balanced. Then Chris Hill went wrong on move 31 (see game) and missed one further chance to equalise when Andy Chapman failed to find the best continuation. Steve Ledger next broke through to win material with the aid of a pawn threatening to promote. This left Mindaugas to win Bedford A the match, which he achieved against a valiant rearguard action by Marc Obi. The spectators admired the unerring accuracy (see game ending) and cool clock handling of the international master.