John-Paul became club champion for the first time when 2 games were decided suddenly by Secretary-style blunders. John E was certainly holding his own when he moved his queen to allow mate in 1. Joachim looked well up with John A behind on material and also playing on the time increments. Sadly a couple of blunders led to the loss of, first a rook, and then a queen. None the less John-Paul's play has certainly merited his success.
Meanwhile Ant defeated Tom to take the Pomeroy Cup. Tom put up a good fight but Ant used all his experience to find a number of challenging moves - to cap a good campaign.
Denzil's guile meanwhile threw the Quickplay competition wide open when he saw off the secretary 2-0,
overcoming an early loss of the exchange in game 2.
Macclesfield held one of the favourites, Fenton, to a draw in the North Staffs league, thanks to excellent wins by Phil and Ant. Meanwhile there was significant progress in the various competitions. By defeating John A, John-Paul finally crushed any hope for Carl winning the Club Championship. The game between J-P and John E is now looking to be a key one. Watch this space!
Jake completed his Pomeroy Cup campaign by defeating Dan. There are 3 games left with Tom to play Dan, Brian and Ant. Can Ant be caught?
For once, games in the Secretaries Quickplay competition didn't feature the Secretary. Marcus moved into 2nd place by taking 3 points off Joachim. Tom picked up 2 wins from 3 games and with Denzil also now on the board, everyone features in the league table. Still, Geoff's lead looks formidable.....
The secretary obviously decided the best way to get ahead is to play lots of games - in the hope that he could establish a lead to scare the others! On Monday he fitted 4 games into the 3 hours, sharing the spoils with both Jake and Ant. He wasn't slow to point out he now had a 3 point lead in the competition (of course many have still to open their accounts as they've not yet played!)
John's Club Championship quest has had a slow start but on Monday he defeated Denzil in just his 3rd match. Some now wonder whether he's a dark horse about to make a late run.....
Ant gained revenge on Daniel in the Pomeroy Cup and with just 4 matches left has established a lead. Will he be caught? Watch this space.