This was always going to be a tough game. Getting there was the first issue but everyone except Nikos got a lift there from Ashraf, for which I am very grateful. Once we were it was all set for kick-off. Despite fireworks blowing up not far away we all remained cool.
The first to finish was Ben with a solid draw, which is also showing he can be a regular A team player. Second to finish was Ashraf with a win that tipped the match in our favour.
Now the score was 0.5 - 1.5 to us with three games to play. A fair amount of time after Ashraf's win was Abdallah to gain a draw against a very strong player (I've played him before and lost last season). The two final games with Nikos and me had to be adjourned after three hours of play. Abdallah had now seen his first adjourned game as he tells me no other countries allow adjournments (we had to be different some how :-) ).
As long as both don't lose then we got a result out of the match, which will have made the trip worth it. Trip back was another matter as all five of us had crammed into Ashraf's car, so once again many thanks to Ashraf.
Steve Spikings - University A Match Captain
After two match wins, we were hoping to put a good in a good showing against University A, who we managed to beat twice last season (about the only team we did manage to beat, is a disappointing season). Seeing that David Balfour and Sherif Gonem were not playing for the University, was a good start, as they were their top two boards last season. I though that this team must be weaker than the teams we beat, but now I am not so sure. Despite University's top board being un-graded he certainly knew his way around a chess board and Nikos who I played on board two last season, was now on board four, despite increasing his grade by 9 points.
As the University's captain says Ben played very solidly and our game was the first to finish. I initially offered the draw which was declined, but Ben offered it back a few moves later. After a bit of a think, I accepted it, as I had used a lot more time than Ben, but I was beginning to like the end game position that had arisen. It was a bit of relief to find that Fritz thought the position was even though, as after the other games went against us, agreeing to the draw was looking like a bad choice.
John Zastapilo on board five let his position slip away from him and we were a point down. Nick Burton on board one was a pawn down, but had an attack going. Both players played well, as it looked that Nick was going mate his opponent at one stage. In the end all Nick had was a perpetual against his opponents Queen and a draw had to be agreed.
The other two games were adjourned, but I think the best that Eastleigh Railway B can hope for is one point from these two games, so it looks like this will be the University A team's first win of the season and our first loss. Congratulations to the University for a well balanced match and we look forward to the return match.
Graham Stuart - Eastleigh Railway B.