Southbourne A v Highcliffe A

Thanks to Southbourne again for a warm welcome and a lovely setting for both our teams.

First to finish was Bruce and Martin playing a few moves into a rather complex position, a draw offer from Martin led to a friendly chatter and an agreement.

Second to finish was board 4 where there was a rather quiet game in which Jamie and Richard agreed a draw in a knight and a few pawns each ending which neither side seemed to be able to play for the win.

Board 3 I spent the majority of the game pressing against Len but I think we both played slightly inaccurately after a few weeks away from the game which Len agreed, Lens pieces were tied down with a potential passer and upon seeing the situation on board 1 I offered a draw which Len felt he had to accept.

Lastly, Russ sacrificed a pawn which Christian held on to leaving a knight vs bishop ending but Christian had the extra pawn so a draw was agreed so that we could go to the pub!

It’s been a pleasure captaining this team as they’ve all played their part being rock solid and the team almost captained itself!

Once again there were 4 individual draws between the 2 teams!

Well played to all the Highcliffe team players for winning the B&DCL Division 1 Championship, your first ever in the league's 72 years! You must all be very proud of what you have achieved.