The team had bravely struggled to a good position of 2½-1½ thanks to wins from Paul Harnett, Ian Clayton and a draw from Colin White, and as the clock approached 10.30pm Harry's position looked hopeless - desperately short of time (a minute), his king about to be mated on the back rank by two rooks, an unstoppable advanced pawn in the centre, and down on material, and an opponent who appeared the epitome of calm, taking five minutes over his moves even at that late stage. But that was the key - it gave Harry time to th-

The team had already emerged from the bar and been informed that Harry was about to lose and so the huddle around the board was more for interest than any expectation, but within two moves, Harry pulled off a quite remarkable rook combination trapping his stunned opponent's king within his own pawn structure. "Mate" said Harry - and we thought that it was a joke, but no, he'd done it.

Such was the excitement, we couldn't restrain ourselves and congratulated Harry profusely, his poor opponent probably feeling like looking for the nearest stone to hide under.

The chatter on the way home didn't stop as we sped back to Chester with the sole objective of getting Harry home so that he could

Hayes, playing board four, gained the advantage almost immediately, capturing his opponent's pawn and creating a hole on his kingside. Hayes then went on to secure a quick victory as his opponent gifted him a bishop and then a queen.

Elsewhere John Vernon, Steve Bardell and Frank Howell all won to give Chester 4 their second win in as many games.