12th seed John Abson faced 4th seed Jamie Brotheridge this round and “played his socks off”! After 1. e4 d5 (the Scandinavian Defence) the opening rapidly metamorphosed into an Advance French Defence. Jamie, strangely favoured to win this encounter found John’s resistance surprisingly robust. After John found a brilliant, winning move (19. e6!), Jamie was left red faced and would have resigned but for John’s draw offer, prompted by stage fright.

2 time champion Peter Miitel met the dangerous unrated debutant Joel Beggs and played his usual Colle-like opening. Peter gained a pawn in the opening and then demonstrated his technique by “chopping wood” to reach a pawn ending, still a pawn to the good, which he converted comfortably. A setback for the well placed Joel.

Robert Bailey met Mitchel Bailey and after 1. e4 a Caro-Kann ensued, predictably enough. Mitchel had gained a pawn and the 2 Bishop’s by the early middlegame with his quiet, unspectacular style and after picking up a 2nd pawn seemed on track for a win. Rob, however, had been building up an attack against Mitchel’s king and when launched, it proved to be a brilliant counterstroke, forcing Mitchel’s resignation.

Tournament frontrunner, Patrick Cook, played an English opening against Michael Schreenan and had no trouble howling in the full point after winning a piece for a pawn in the opening.

Darren Young versus John Frangakis was postponed, as was Kevin Perrin versus Tim Commons.

Top seed Scott Stewart, in the process of moving interstate, has been anxious to complete his tournament beforehand and so faced the played of honour Kevin Perrin, in advance of round 12. A Bird’s opening, Scott found himself under pressure early by his determined opponent after giving up the exchange and a pawn for vague attacking chances and a dangerous looking passed pawn. This seemed insufficient against Kevin’s solid technique and the game looked over when the players reached a queen plus minor piece endgame with Scott 3 pawns(!) in arrears. However, inventive tactics by Scott combined with Kevin’s growing time pressure transformed the position and only Scott’s exposed king prevented him pressing for a win, instead of accepting a draw.

The postponed round 4 game Mitchel Bailey versus Scott Stewart was also “played” during the week. The players reprised an “infamous” game from the 1970s (Miles vs Reuben, Luton 1975) when they agreed a draw without making a move!