Swashbuckling debutant James Johnson produced an astonishing display of chess under pressure to save a point and keep the Division 3 title race alive. AAARgh, a horrible start as Tom commits a school boy error. 1-0 down with seconds gone. Well played Steve for spotting the error. It got worse as Man with Hat played his worst game for eons starting poorly getting worse then worser. Well played Mike for a comprehensive win and apologies as well for not giving you the game that you deserved. Its so early its yesterday and I’m already surveying the wreckage of a match that we desperately needed to win. No obvious signs of a win until Francis skilfully refutes his opponents attack. 1-2 and it’s the turn of the young pretender James of Macclesfield who politely asks MWH if a draw is OK. MWH replies that 2 wins would be nice (chuckles all round). James plays like an assured veteran in his first competitive match but then he over eggs it and loses a piece. Not to worry he has a big time advantage over VJ and just needs to play accurately under pressure and under the auspices of the baying mob. And I miss it, I’ve turned away and returned to find James has indeed unpicked VJ’s defences and was that a mate left hanging? No problem James still took a Queen for a Rook giving him a Queen V Rook and Bishop. I saw the bishop drop before I was called to the other game where the players had played out a couple of illegal moves. A big thank you to the Secretary for his guidance but by the time Geoff had altered the clocks Gentleman Bill and our Tony had shook hands. A horrible performance from MWH, wrong board, wrong colour, wrong opening, wrong opponent and too much Brexit – a perfect whine. All of which was balanced by a brilliant performance by James. Tony Lane met Tony Lane (in case you were wondering) and a point was rescued and the season is still alive (Mrs Hat has her hands on her hips and is definitely not amused)! Well played Altrincham and barring major upsets we hope to see you again next year.