Tournament leader Jamie Brotheridge faced Clint Stewart. A Dutch Defence, White gave up the Bishop pair for the Knight pair in a tough positional encounter, and later gave a piece for 3 pawns. Black was unable to hold the pawns and, consequently, was unable to hold the game.

Kevin Perrin met Rob Loveband in a Reti/Catalan positional fight. White appeared to be slowly gaining the ascendancy, but then misplayed a promising combination, dropping a piece for 2 pawns. A subsequent desperate exchange sacrifice failed to rectify the situation and Black took the full point. Rob remains undefeated by Kevin in tournament play.

Patrick Cook faced Michael Schreenan and again adopted the Catalan Opening. After picking up a pawn in the opening, White carefully set about converting his edge into the full point, avoiding some pitfalls along the way.

John Abson took on Tim Commons and played the Evans Gambit!, a rare guest at the club in recent years. White was unable to cash in the surprise value and shed more material in pursuit of a speculative attack. Black calmly gobbled up the offerings and took the point when Whites attack vanished.

Swyzer Bell played Scott Stewart. A Dutch Defence, White was quickly crushed after he lost a piece in the opening.

Emphasising the cut-throat nature of this competition we are through four rounds without a single draw.