Match Report: Horfield C vs Downend D (11 April): Not one to remember for too long

Not our finest night. We started boldly by giving our visitors a 1-0 advantage on board one and from there it didn’t get a whole lot better. On board two Joaquim had the better of his game against Alan until the end of it. White had won the exchange and dominated the seventh rank but in a moment of blindness blundered a double attack on king and rook. This levelled up the material but black had two connected passed pawns which turned out to be decisive. On board three Piotr fell for one of the Caro-Kann opening traps; a knight sac and the queen was gone for two minor pieces. As it goes! The slightest consolation is that it won’t happen again. On boards four and five we at least troubled the scorecard with a pair of draws. An under the weather Mike and Dan agreed an early draw after 18 moves and Graham and John a slightly longer one where a pair of rooks were lined up on the two semi-open files and nothing much was going to happen. Finally on six Harry got caught out in the opening and wasn’t able to resist Alexis’s pressure over the length of the game.

It is the taking part that counts.