| Milton Keynes A | Bedford A | |||||
| Board | Name | Grade | Score | Score | Name | Grade |
| 1 | Richard CP Freeman | 2118 | 0 | 1 | Ravi Arulnandhy | 2073 |
| 2 | Francesca Matta | 1960 | 0 | 1 | James Gardner | 2080 |
| 3 | Phillip Ekhaesomi | 1945 | 0 | 1 | Toby Cox | 2066 |
| 4 | Robert Whiteside | 1893 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Okwose Marc Obi | 1938 |
| 5 | Thomas Evans | 1683 | 1 | 0 | Theo Jenkins | 1576 |
| 1.5 | 3.5 |
The A team aimed to secure the title against Milton Keynes, but we were missing two of our core squad members, including our top board.
Marc seemed quite cramped out of the opening but managed to gain some activity when pieces were exchanged, and he secured a draw with the black pieces.
I was looking for revenge against Phillip, who I had lost to earlier in the season. I had a bit of a shaky start, and had to go down a pawn to keep activity, but after a some pressing I was able to find some tactics, and win a rook.
Ravi got a very comfortable position out of the opening, and never let his grip on control slip. He converted after a few exchanges allowed him to double up a queen and rook on the eighth rank. This put the team in the position of just needing a draw from two games to win the league.
Theo was making his debut for the A team. He seemed to have an active position, but placed his queen too deep into contested territory. It unfortunately got trapped, and despite setting a few traps, Theo lost.
James was defending early on, but having a solid position he was able to expand after the threats died down. He seemed to smoothly outplay his opponent. By the time he knew the team just needed a draw, he was already winning and about to go a piece up. He converted with ease.
Which puts the A Team three points ahead at the top of the table, meaning we have the league with a game to spare. Good Stuff!
Toby Cox, 27th April 2022