On 2nd October, Andrew, Doug, Frank and young Timmie headed down to the Old Mill to play the club's first home match against one of the league's top teams. Doug played a superb positional masterpiece in which he tied his opponent in knots. Zugzwang is a position in which one player, whatever they play, it will make their position worse - it's not that common but Doug achieved it for several moves on the trot by which time he was able to march his kingside pawns through and win the game. Timmie played an excellent opening, castling queenside in a London System. I haven't seen the whole game so all I know is that he lost later on - fantastic experience though. Frank was also doing well out of the opening but got his moves in the wrong order and lost a piece early on. After that his opponent took no risks and took the whole point. Andrew, playing on top board also had a great position out of the opening playing a Queen's Fianchetto system. Somehow in the complications, however, Andrew dropped a pawn and it didn't look good. That was when Andrew decided unsettle his opponent and infiltrate with his queen. Both players were short on time and relieved in the end to agree a draw. So not a win, but loads of potential!
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