Clint Stewart versus Rob Loveband was a Bird's Opening, a speciality of Clint and his brother Scott. Rob tried an unusual Queens Indian-type structure and was doing well until he dropped a pawn while trying to trade material. Clint applied pressure and gained a firm grip on the position. Mutual time trouble resulted in a chaotic position in the late middle game and Rob twice missed winning moves. Both players reached move 40 with seconds to spare and Rob resigned shortly after due to his material deficit.

Rob Bailey took on Jamie Brotheridge with a Closed Sicilian. Black won a pawn in the early middle game through a declined piece sacrifice, but White eventually regained the pawn. Black later sacrificed a piece for 2 pawns and a dangerous attack on the White King and followed it up with a further sacrifice of the exchange in a faulty combination. White missed his chance and ended up with only 2 rooks for his Queen and a subsequent blunder forced his resignation.

John Frangakis versus Scott Stewart was a Dutch Leningrad, unsurprisingly. Black won a piece in the middle game to have control of the game, and later added a couple of pawns to his material haul before subsequently winning comfortably.

Michael Schreenan met James Eldridge and was confronted by the Philidor Defence (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6). In an even and lively middle game, White gained 2 rooks for the Queen, but was then outplayed by Black who scored a convincing win.

Kevin Perrin played John Abson. From a Queens Gambit Accepted, a messy middle game was reached. White then won several pawns, and added a piece and a rook to his advantage before finishing John off with a crushing combination.

Tim Commons faced Patrick Cook who answered 1. e4 with the Alekhine Defence (1. e4 Nf6). Tim opted for the uncompromising 4 pawns attack, but misplayed it and dropped the exchange. Black then outplayed White in a sharp, tactical middle game and won quickly after returning the exchange for a mating attack

One other game, Patrick Cook versus Scott Stewart postponed from Round 6, was played during the week. A Larsen as expected, not much happened before the players agreed to a short "Grandmaster" draw.