Ashby 4 were away against a strong Kirby Muxloe team, who heavily outrated us on every board, but came away with an unexpected 2.5 - 1.5 win. GM Mick Brown made short work of his opponent on board 3, but this was then offset on board 2, where IM Ian Maskery's Caro Kann turned into a Caro Can't to put Kirby level. Ric was the exchange down in his game on board 4 but, with no way through, his opponent offered the draw and Ric bit his hand off. This left all eyes on Steve on board 1, where he was up against an opponent rated almost 300 points higher. A tense endgame ensued, with both players short on time. A series of exhanges left both players with a King and 3 pawns on the board. However, Steve with a Kingside pawn majority, lured his opponent to the wrong side of the board and his subsequent Kingside pawn push meant that he promoted his pawn first and instant resignation by his opponent.
Match score cards from both of last nights matches can be viewed from the tab at the top of the page.
Elsewhere, Les Fancourt beat Peter Anderton in the 5th round of the Club Championship.