| Open University | Bedford B | |||||
| Board | Name | Grade | Score | Score | Name | Grade |
| 1 | Jake Chan | 178 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Qais Karimi | 167 |
| 2 | Graham E Borrowdale | 175 | 1 | 0 | Alex Taylor | 168 |
| 3 | Dominic Bartram | 163 | 1 | 0 | Marc ON Obi | 160 |
| 4 | James NO’D Alexander | 157 | 1 | 0 | Steve C Pike | 163 |
| 5 | Paul Endersby | 119 | 0 | 1 | Toby Cox | 164 |
| 28-Nov | 3.5 | 1.5 |
The B Team headed to face the Open University looking to maintain their good start to the season.
Qais was first to finish. From the opening Qais had managed to win a pawn, although being doubled h pawns, their usefulness was limited. The position simplified to a rook and pawn ending, with Qais’s rook being more active. However the position looked drawish, which became a reality when Qais unintentionally allowed a threefold repetition.
My game was next to finish, and really the less said about it the better. I went wrong early on and although there was no material loss, my position was dreadful and I never had an opportunity to get into the game and Graham squeezed the life out of me.
Steve had a solid, if cramped position in his came out of English opening. His opponent resourcefully sacrificed the exchange in order to open up Steve’s king. Deciding attack was the best form of defence, Steve looked for a knock-out blow, but unfortunately succumbed first.
Toby played a really good game on Board 5. He gave up a pawn in the opening to give himself much more space and play in the game. He was able to re-gain the pawn and continue to turn the screws on his opponent. He won a further pawn in the ending and ran out a comfortable winner.
For much of the evening, Marc looked to have much the better of the game on Board 3. At one point it looked like he was going to catch his opponent’s king in the middle of the board, but it managed to escape and with it much of Marc’s advantage. The bishop and pawn ending looked drawn, but a mistake meant a vital pawn was lost, and subsequently the game.
A 1.5 – 3.5 reverse saw the Team lose their first match of the season, but still in the hunt at the right end of the table