A win against Dartford brought us to the halfway point of the season in first place in the league.

Against Dartford Jim Johnson had a good strategical win and Rohit Vishwakarma won smoothly. Tony Packham had a solid draw and Dave Bland, in his first game for the club, lost a pawn but held the draw. Ian McAllan, playing on a 15 second increment, knocked over a piece and made his move with one second left and later offered a draw despite being two pawns up to clinch the match by 3.5 to 2.5.

Our good run ended abruptly against Charlton five days later, when we lost 1.5 to 4.5. Dave Bland won a good game and Jim Johnson drew.

Ian McAllan