A great result for the C team, giving us 3 wins from 5 matches so far this season. Admittedly, it was helped by a default from OU on one of the boards, but a win is a win! In any case, the four of us were giving away an average of 15 rating points per board.
On board 1, I was under a lot of pressure for most of the game, but reached a satisfactory position and offered a draw, which was refused. I think my opponent had been ahead on points for so long that he thought there was a win in the game. I eventually grabbed a pawn and the game was easily won after that.
On board 2, Peter G had a tricky game and ended up with probably a lost position, but his opponent’s clock ran out of time. However, he complained that he thought there was another 15 minutes to be added (it was already 22:50 by that stage and most people had left already, so he must have been dreaming). Peter sportingly agreed a draw at that point, rather than a win, as we had already won the match, but it highlights the fact that many people are unclear about when the flags on the clock flash and some education is probably necessary. If we’d needed this game to win the match there would probably have been a lot of unnecessary contention.
On board 3, Nigel got into a wild position, but eventually wasn’t able to hold it.
On board 4, Peter H played a great tactical match and won well.
So a good night overall, but the clock issue needs to be addressed, perhaps with a bit of guidance formally issued by Adrian to explain how the new clocks work.