Tim writes:
All, the second stage of the split Weekend Four has been held at Birmingham Airport, where Oxford 1 recorded a loss by 1½-6½ against Guildford 1 and 3-5 v White Rose 1.
To be honest, we weren't expecting great things from either match — especially when you have skip blundering away merrily on board 4 — but there were some highlights. On Saturday, Aidan tripped up a Spanish IM while Francesca scored her fifth draw of the season, this one by far her most creditable: Black against GM Glenn Flear.
Today, we roped in Robin and Sam from the seconds & thirds for their debuts and I was staggered to see them score 1½ between them, with Robin being commendably alert to a tactical finish when the opportunity presented itself. Sam's solid draw with a 2139 WFM will have him clamouring to be allowed back into the first team sharpish. Who do I drop in his favour?! Between those two boards, there was a tremendous effort from Zoe who held her 2233 opponent in a pawn-down Q+P ending. Skip is mildly jealous of that because he lost a Q+P ending with level pawns! Go figure.
FM Tom Eckersley-Waites
If skip's maths can be trusted, he reckons Tom has gained the necessary 1 rating point to sneak up to 2300 for the first time ever, allowing him to claim the title of FM. Well done to him!
Final Weekend: Div 1 draw
Our Ox1 regulars should note that the pairings for rounds 9-11 are announced: R9, White v Barbican 1, R10, Black v Guildford 2, R11, White v Blackthorne Russia.
Oxford 1
Saturday
| Guildford 1 | 2533 | Oxford 1 | 2176 | |||||
| w | Short, Nigel | g | 2664 | 1 - 0 | Zakarian, David | f | 2386 | |
| b | Edouard, Romain | g | 2612 | 1 - 0 | Rose, Matthew | 2291 | ||
| w | Jones, Gawain | g | 2642 | 1 - 0 | Eckersley-Waites, Tom | 2299 | ||
| b | Pert, Nick | g | 2557 | 1 - 0 | Harvey, Marcus R | f | 2317 | |
| w | Suarez Real, Alberto | i | 2462 | 0 - 1 | Rawlinson, Aidan | 2182 | ||
| b | Hebden, Mark | g | 2491 | 1 - 0 | Dickinson, Tim R | 2121 | ||
| w | Flear, Glenn | g | 2465 | ½ - ½ | Matta, Francesca | w | 1918 | |
| b | Milliet, Sophie | i | 2377 | 1 - 0 | Hayward, Philip T | 1898 | ||
| 6½ - 1½ | ||||||||
Sunday
| White Rose 1 | 2351 | Oxford 1 | 2080 | |||||
| w | Adair, James | i | 2436 | 1 - 0 | Zakarian, David | f | 2386 | |
| b | Palliser, Richard | i | 2439 | ½ - ½ | Eckersley-Waites, Tom | 2299 | ||
| w | Wells, Peter | g | 2441 | ½ - ½ | Harvey, Marcus R | f | 2317 | |
| b | McNab, Colin | g | 2429 | 1 - 0 | Dickinson, Tim R | 2121 | ||
| w | Gourlay, Iain | f | 2373 | 1 - 0 | Rawlinson, Aidan | 2182 | ||
| b | Townsend, Paul | 2320 | 0 - 1 | Nandi, Robin | 1986 | |||
| w | Weller, Jean-Luc | 2233 | ½ - ½ | Varney, Zoe | 1900 | |||
| b | Vrbova, Niki | wf | 2139 | ½ - ½ | Bentham, Sam | 1450 | ||
| 5 - 3 | ||||||||