John Boyd 1-0 Martin Seeber
Joe Watson 1-0 Manoj Aurora
Paul Bielby 1-0 Mark Younger
Ian Maughan 0-1 Mike Smith
Brian Towers ½-½ John Wall
Paul was first to finish, winning a pawn in the early middlegame and seemed to effortlessly convert his advantage. Joe by his own admission was ‘outplayed in the opening’ and was reduced to shuffling his pieces around before pulling out a devastating combination to turn the tables. Brian was pressing for most of the game but settled for a draw as time was running out. Ian sacked (or lost?) a pawn early on and had some initiative but couldn’t break through and eventually was ground down by a dogged opponent. John was apparently ‘a very patient player’ in the words of his opponent who marvelled at how he could win without moving one of his bishops.
Thursday 05th November 2015