| Clay Cross | 3 | 1 | Nomads E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jerome Redhead | 1 | 0 | Duncan Chambers (w) |
| Neil Cameron | 1/2 | 1/2 | Eric McKenna |
| Keith Myhill | 1 | 0 | Robert Shaw |
| Brian Redhead | 1/2 | 1/2 | Jo Woollard |
Nomads won the toss, and chose white on odds.
Robert miscalculated an early exchange, trading a bishop for two pawns. He was able to generate a promotion threat with his kingside pawn majority, getting one pawn to the seventh rank, but Keith eventually blocked him. Once it was clear he could force promotion, Robert resigned.
Eric castled first in a solid defensive opening, exchanging first minor pieces then queens. When the dust settled Eric and his opponent had two knights and seven pawns each. Once it was clear neither player could make progress a draw was agreed.
After swapping off bishops Duncan positioned his queen threateningly on g6, then exchanged knights. More exchanges followed, leaving Duncan two pawns down with a single rook, bishop, and queen, then Jerome outmanoeuvred Duncan, winning his bishop outright. Facing a clear material disadvantage, Duncan resigned.
Against Jo, Brian opened aggressively, his queen penetrating to a4, but Jo repulsed this attack., going two pawns up. Going into the endgame, she had a rook and six pawns, including connected passed pawns on g6 and f7, against a rook, bishop and just two pawns. After some manoeuvring, Jo won the bishop with a promotion threat, leaving her with a rook and five pawns against a rook and a single pawn, but she was running short on time.
With just 50 seconds left on the clock, Jo succumbed to a stalemate trap, and the match was over.
Considering we were outgraded on every board, this was a respectable result.