County chess returned to Nottinghamshire this January with two matches played at Bramcote vs Staffordshire.
Notts outrated the Staffordshire throughout; however over the board this wasn’t noticeable and Staffordshire after being behind by 31/2- 1/2 with the first four declarations, fought back and in fact held the home side on Boards 1-9. Notts won the lowest three boards which was the deciding factor in the overall result.
Staffordshire had to concede a board on the morning of the match because of a late withdrawal through illness. This was the deciding factor with the actual score 51/2 -51/2 over the eleven games played. The Nottinghamshire team consisted of four adults plus seven juniors selected by the Junior Committee. With all the other games finished the deciding game was on Board 4 where the Notts player scored the full point to even the score on games played and win overall.
Neil