Wednesday 26th January

We thought Mursal was in for a tough time against such a highly graded opponent so it was really pleasing to see him with a clear advantage in the endgame. Unfortunately Mursal blundered and lost. I'm sure there will be plenty of wins against even stronger players in the future though. Azmiddin was forced to return material to avoid mate and ended up losing against another strong opponent. I had the advantage throughout my game but chose the wrong continuation in time pressure, pieces were exchanged and neither of us fancied what looked like a lot of hard work in a R+P ending. Kev came out all guns blazing and blew away a couple of his opponents pawns for a win. Ian's games seem to be developing clear and uncomplicated characteristics. Tonight he took advantage of a mistake and never looked back. I saw nothing of Eric's game so can't comment.

Paul B