Just one board win and we would have retained the title. It was not to be and Bury regain the trophy for the seventh time. Looking forward, we will have even more trouble winning this trophy next year if Bob's rating stays where it is come September - not that we would wish any poor results on him of course.

This was not the result we were looking for; a draw or even a 1½-2½ loss would have still given us a reasonable chance of retaining the title, but this gives us a mountain to climb. Now we need to win at least three of the four boards in our final match against Ipswich. Anything less could need a tie break, or worse, we could lose the trophy altogether.
  John finished first in a game that moved along at quite a pace, reaching move thirty while the other three boards were still mid-teens (in fact when John finished his 48 move game Bob was still on move 13). It was a very open Nimzo-Larsen that boiled down to a rook and pawn ending with John slightly better with an extra pawn. It wasn't enough as John was unable to gain the opposition after exchanging rooks to avoid a perpetual.
  It was a long time before any of the other boards finished. Jim was engaged in a tough battle and came under a lot of pressure with not so much as a pawn coming off the board in the first hour of play. He held things together well, but was running low on the clock. His opponent then miscalculated and lost the exchange for a pawn, but still had a playable game therefore a draw was agreed. David finished soon after having struggled to fend off multiple threats throughout his game. It was essentially a game of attrition as first one, then two, then three and finally four pawns were lost. He battled on to a rook and minor piece ending hoping his opponent might slip up, but no such luck.
  We were now 2-1 down as Bob brought up the rear. His King's Indian had become extremely complicated, although Bob appeared to be slightly better. His opponent appeared to have all the critical squares covered, so it was difficult to see how Bob could find something decisive. As pieces were exchanged Bob's advantage diminished, but he wasn't giving up and as so often happens, in trying too hard for a win you end up losing.

This is the second match in our bid to retain the U1800 Trophy, which for the third consecutive season has only us, Bury and Ipswich competing. And after tonight's victory we are definitely on track.
  With everyone arriving in good time we had a nice early start. There were no early exchanges however and after an hour or so of play the boards were all looking decidedly crowded. On the plus side all of our guys were starting to build up a useful time advantage.
  Jim was the first to finish after his time advantage had done a 180. His French had produced its fair share of complications which eventually led to Jim emerging with a passed a-pawn after all of the major pieces were exchanged. However, his two knights versus a knight and bishop were not up to the task of even keeping that pawn, let alone advancing it, and along with an exchange of knights, the pawn went with them. Although a pawn down on the king's side, they were locked and Jim's remaining knight was ideally posted on a square opposite to the colour of his opponent's bishop. There was no way his opponent could penetrate so Jim offered a draw, which was duly accepted.
  Bob and Simon more or less finished together, giving us a one point lead. Bob adopted the King's Indian in response to his opponent's English and that early time advantage grew quite large as the game developed. It ended with Bob having five pawns to his opponent's knight and three pawns. Such endings can go either way and Bob advanced his pawns to good effect. His opponent's knight however proved up to the challenge and when the final position of three pawns versus one pawn and a knight became locked a draw was agreed.
  Simon's Queen's Gambit developed fairly quietly, but after a great deal of queen's side pressure Simon was able to pick up a pawn. While he continued to push this advantage his opponent put up stubborn resistance, but it took its toll on her clock. After the queens were exchanged Simon's grip on the rook and bishop ending was such that his opponent was hard pressed to find any move that didn't lose. With his king now threatening to enter the fray his opponent was ready to resign when her flag fell.
  Graeme responded to the Centre Counter rather quietly with 2.d3 and a slow build up of opposing forces developed. Graeme's early time advantage disappeared but his position improved and he eventually emerged a pawn to the good. After the pieces were whittled down to just a bishops of the same colour Graeme pick up another pawn. And then a third. They weren't all connected but with four pawns against one he started their advance, and while his opponent struggled on we had no doubt how this would end.
  A valuable victory that puts us firmly on the top. The return matches for all three teams are not until April, so we'll be there for quite a while.

There may only be three teams in this competition this season, but as the holders it would still be nice to win it again, especially as we have only done so twice in the competition's thirty odd year history (although we do have a pretty healthy record of finishing last). Undaunted by that last thought we set off for Ipswich with confidence, in spite of the efforts by Essex Highways to close the border with Suffolk. and Ipswich Borough Council hiking parking rates and installing machines that refuse to issue parking tickets after taking your money.
  It was clear that going solely on the basis of ratings, we should win this match comfortably, but in reality it was anything but comfortable. Jim was the first to experience that having entered a very complicated game that took an inordinate amount of time to figure his way through. His chances were not looking good, but in the end it was the clock that defeated him.
  John followed soon after facing a very lively Italian Game that trod paths he was completely unfamiliar with and he felt he was about to enter a prepared opening trap (and not for the first time). Having navigated the numerous threats and being finally able to castle at move twenty, his position gradually improved. He even managed to win a pawn but was too hasty in advancing it, allowing his opponent to break through with a pawn of his own in the centre. It was a repeat of Jamie's situation in his game the previous evening, where John had to give up his rook when the enemy pawn queened and then had to advance his king and pawn to make his opponent do the same.
  With only half a point from two boards things were not looking too good. Bob seemed to have an edge but it was difficult to say if it was enough, and what Simon had was hard to describe, but it certainly wasn't an edge. The funny thing is that both games ended in identical ways, thanks to a certain amount of luck (or was Caïssa taking pity on us for having messed up our week so much?)
  Simon had bravely entered a dangerous trap by accepting the tempting offer of his opponent's rook on a1 with his queen. He should have lost it for an additional bishop but his opponent miscalculated and Simon got two rooks for his queen instead. A very difficult game ensued but the uneasy balance was maintained to the ending where two rooks and a knight were facing a queen and a knight, with equal pawns. One of Simon's central pawns was under threat so he did the only sensible thing and defended it with his knight. His opponent then increased the pressure overlooking the fact that Simon's knight move wasn't a defensive one at all and immediately resigned when his king and queen were forked. The match was now level.
  Bob's game had come down to a bishop v knight ending, with Bob holding the knight. Bob was a pawn up but it was a backward h pawn and it was difficult to see how he could make that pay. Bob cleverly positioned his knight for a trap, allowing his opponent to attack that backward pawn with his bishop, which he did. That pawn was then advanced h2-h4 turning it into a passed protected pawn. Without much thought beyond the danger that such a pawn posed, his opponent exchanged pawns en passant allowing another deadly fork of king and bishop, resulting in instant resignation once his opponent realised he was in check. It is very early days, but this puts us tie with Bury at the top of the table. And our first encounter with them is next week, at home.