KO Final

6/5/2008
    Clifton   Horfield
1 b James Cobb 1 - 0 Steve Dilleigh
2 w Chris Beaumont ½ - ½ Alex Easton
3 b Andy Pickering ½ - ½ Chris Jones
4 w David Collier ½ - ½ Thomas Weiss
5 b Gareth Morris 0 - 1 Phil Nendick
6 w Duncan Grossett ½ - ½ Martin Davies
7 b Dominic Bennett 0 - 1 John Richards
8 w Eddie Bromilow ½ - ½ Mike Levene
      3½ - 4½  

Clifton were without John Curtis, but we were lacking Igor Nor. The Final promised to be an interesting tussle, and it did not disappoint.

Thomas got a draw against David Collier, followed by Alex's draw against Chalks. My game was next to finish, as I crashed through Dominic's king-side to put Horfield in the lead (2-1) and clinch my first-ever unbeaten season (+13 =6 -0, since you ask).

Chris was next to get a half, and then all attention shifted to Mike's game against Eddie Bromilow. It was dead drawn, but Mike had about one minute left to Eddie's twenty. Eddie could have run Mike out of time, but sportingly agreed to a draw (3-2).

Martin got a draw against Duncan, leading us with one point to find to win the match. A half would be insufficient - we would lose on board count. Steve's game did not look good, but Phil suddenly shifted up a couple of gears and went through Gareth's position like a hot knife through butter. The Cup was ours! (JR)

KO Semi-final

11/3/2008
    Horfield   South Bristol
1 b Alex Easton 1 - 0 Bob Radford
2 w Steve Dilleigh 1 - 0 David Neagle
3 b Chris Jones 1 - 0 A McCann
4 w Phil Nendick 1 - 0 D Jones
5 b Martin Davies 1 - 0 C Fletcher
6 w John Richards 1 - 0 P Plumley
7 b Colin Watson 1 - 0 Pollitt
8 w Alex Dunn ½ - ½ Taylor
      7½ - ½  

Not too taxing. JR must have been eating tintacks all week, he was attacking with all guns blazing. Still, I think mine was fewer moves (20). Clifton beat Bath ( a weak Bath side) very easily so we have them in the final. (MD)

KO Round 2

22/1/2008
    Horfield   Clevedon
1 b Phil Nendick ½ - ½ Shane Roberts
2 w Tom Weiss 1 - 0 Andrew Borkowski
3 b Martin Davies ½ - ½ David Painter-Kooiman
4 w Alex Easton 1 - 0 Default
5 b Steve Dilleigh 1 - 0 Default
6 w Colin Watson 1 - 0 Default
7 b Prakash Chatterjee 1 - 0 Default
8 w Chris Jones 1 - 0 Default
      7 - 1  

It's not often you start a match already having won it. Clevedon knew a week ago they had just six players, then it dropped to four, and on the night only three. Apparently, the Bristol Rovers-Fulham match was a bigger attraction for a number of their players. Rovers won, so I guess the Clevedon men made all the difference. Horfield and Rovers are both in the next round. (JR)