Against the top teams we've come up short on the top boards. This was repeated against the Division 2 winners. Mike  saw Jerry off pretty smartly. I was always on the back foot against Florian, and played an unsound move which cost me my c pawn, an exchange and the game. Beneath the top boards we were competitive. Neil had a rock-solid draw. Nigel showed his improvement with a fine draw against Steve ECF 166, finding some resourceful defence. Alan managed to emerge with a draw under strong pressure from Graham .