There was interesting progress in the club tournaments last night.
Alex took a major step towards winning division 1 with a win over Nick who missed a tactical win of a crucial pawn after a slow build-up of small positional advantages. Steve and Mike drew after a very long Kings Indian where the bishops and pawns were tripping over each other.
This leaves Alex requiring three (or probably two) draws to win the competition from his remaining three games. Steve could still triumph if Alex trips up.
Nick’s loss makes him a virtual certainty for relegation but all bar the top two could suffer similarly. Three and half points represents certain safety although three, or even two and half with a high S-B, could be enough if other results are favourable.
In division 2, Marc played another smooth game giving Peter no chance as he just pushed him further and further back. Gerry won very well against Neil – he was always better and a series of pins led to the gain of a piece and a winning attack – see game.
This completes a brilliant first campaign for Marc who has scored seven wins and four draws to win the division with some style. There is still competition from six others for the second promotion place with five of them facing each other in the remaining nine games!