BEDFORD A 3-2 MILTON KEYNES A
Ledger 1-0 Borrowdale
Habershon 0.5 Smith
Arulnandhy 0-1 Elwin
S. Pike 0.5 Freeman
Botteley 1-0 Whiteside
Another narrow victory took Bedford to a maximum 5 wins out of 5 after half the season. The first games to finish were the draws on 2 and 4. Steve Pike seemed to have the better position for a long time, although the apparently active piece play probably flattered to decieve . On 5 Mike Botteley won the exchange and the game, but we looked in trouble on 1 and 3. Steve Ledger rode his luck in a highly tactical game in which White was ahead on material but had his queen awkwardly placed on a8. Eventually White went seriously wrong (see game) and his queen had to give up the ghost. Adrian Elwin scored a consolation win for MK, but Bedford A march into the new year at the top of the league.