Bedford C 1.5 – 3.5 Leighton Buzzard B
- Gerry Nolan 0.5–0.5 Adrian Matthews
- Giuseppe Valerio 0–1 Peter Taylor
- Peter Gill 0-1 Fred Dorn
- Nigel Staddon 0-1 Andreas Eggenhoffner
- Peter Housden 1-0 Default
It started well, with LB defaulting on Board 5, so we began play 1-0 ahead. That was as good as it got! First, Peter G ended up with his d-file full of his opponent’s Queen and 2 Rooks bearing down on him and lost shortly afterwards. It turned out his opponent was a recently returned player who used to rate 177, so not a good start.
I had a solid positional advantage against Adrian, but there wasn’t enough to win it, so we agreed an early draw. I’ve now played Adrian twice within 9 days and drawn both times with different colours, so that must be a record in its own right.
Next, Nigel lost an early exchange, then slipped up again towards the end, giving LB another point.
So it was all down to Giuseppe – a win would draw the match. He reached a point where he had a pawn advantage, but a positional disadvantage. Sadly, in a shortage of time, he lost a piece and then lost the game on time, though it was irretrievable by then.
All told, Bedford C remains firmly rooted to the foot of the table. Fortunately there’s no relegation…