Wednesday 9th January

Stuart seemed to be holding up the several minor and major pieces which were pointing straight at his king with not much more than a pawn, a knight, and the uncanny ability to find the only place to put his pieces. Gradually he eased out of the pressure and he was left with two Rooks and a Knight for a Queen. The pieces manoeuvred the Queen into a trap on a1 and the game looked finished but over on the other side of the board unseen by anyone apart from Stuart's opponent an untouchable pawn galloped heroically to h8 and a couple of forks for a couple of pieces later it was all over. A very imaginative finish. Mohammed's comment on his game was 'Tough. Very tough.' Ken had severe pressure on g2 and the players traded blunders around the time control. Fortunately Ken was left with a mate in 2. Azmiddin's game looked even throughout while Kev seemed to be trying to win the game and have more time on his clock than he started with but didn't quite manage it this time. Some bizarre play by Ian's opponent allowed a mate on f7 in 13 moves. Nice to get back to winning ways.

Paul B