Last Tuesday was always going to be difficult, with our TVA team facing the mighty Kingston A on the same evening that our Ellam Trophy team met Dorking 1 in a critical Ellam Trophy encounter. To make matters worse, Gavin and Mike were both unavailable, which had a knock-on effect.

It could have gone worse, though. Kingston A were a couple of players short of full strength, so we were able to score a few points.

Excellent results there from Maks and Victor, and we also had chances on the top two boards. I’ll publish Maks’s report, including extracts from the games on boards 2 and 4, separately.

As a result, our Ellam Trophy team was severely weakened and we were outrated heavily by our Dorking opponents. Nevertheless, we managed to pull off a remarkable victory.

What a great win for Simon against an opponent with a nearly 300 points higher rating! Great wins also from Tom and Karl, as well as a draw from Mike.

The league table with one match to go demonstrates that it’s very tight between ourselves and Wimbledon 2, with Coulsdon 2 not out of the running if the top two teams both slip up.

Meanwhile, our TVD team were also up against it at the Twickenham Club, taking on one of Division 3’s strongest teams.

This time there was no miracle, the only score coming from captain Laurie, sharing the spoils with a 300 points higher rated opponent.

Thanks to all who played, especially to those who played up from their usual teams, and also to our captains, Maks, Sampson and Laurie, who faced a difficult task this week.