On paper this is a match that we should have won in reasonable comfort, but on the day it looked to be heading for complete disaster. At about half time all four boards looked to be in trouble, and the spectre of a 4-0 defeat was hovering, especially after Graeme moved his queen into the fray that left a bishop hanging. Lady luck then played her hand. Simon was put under constant pressure, but had weathered the storm well, however just as he had turned the game in his favour he missed a one move check that ended it all. Unfortunately Bob was unable to turn his game and luck was not in his favour as he attempted to retrieve a below par opening strategy. Luck now turned in our favour after Graeme's opponent failed to spot that hanging bishop and followed it with some less than accurate moves that Graeme took full advantage of and in the end cruised to victory in a king and pawn ending. Meanwhile Jim was struggling to salvage his game after he had to give up a piece earlier in the game. With just a rook facing a rook and bishop he was able to whittle away the pawns with persistent checks that in the end left his opponent with little choice than to accept a draw. We came away with that distinct feeling that we should have done so much better, but also relieved that it wasn't a whole lot worse.

We arrived at Ipswich to begin the season very early, with full nominated teams on both sides. Ipswich switched around their board order, but so did we to keep everyone on their toes.
  Quite early on in the match things were looking good. Simon had the best out of the early opening in his match, and the other boards were looking even better. Graeme quickly caused problems in the centre and won a pawn. Jim's opponent went for a dubious knight sacrifice, netting only two pawns for it and not nearly enough compensation, and Bob soon found himself able to simplify to a rook endgame with an extra pawn on both sides of the board. Graeme, Jim and Bob each made it look relatively straight forward to convert their advantages, and never looked in any danger.
  Simon, on the other hand, facing a familiar KID, sacrificed his c pawn for queenside activity. This proved unwise and he was always on the back foot after that. The game went the distance though, and with 2 minutes left on the clock he overlooked a single drawing chance, and after that the game was up.