Joseph and Henry, both with the full 2 points after round 2, had an intense game in round 3 – but won by Joseph quickly once Henry’s position was breached.

The longest game of the evening was David against James ending in a thriller on the clock … James who came out of the opening a piece up ended in an end game with a knight against David’s 3 extra pawns. David just managed to win by checkmate with 1 second left on the clock.

Michel won a a piece relatively early in the game but Koji found creative ways to remain active with the rest of his pieces, among which his queen, which had a game-ending effect when Michel marched his king into a dangerous net of harmful checks.

Toby did not come well out of the opening and Richard knew well enough how to benefit from the opening advantage and end the game not too long into the evening.

Hannah came a pawn up against Melvin and that was enough for Hannah in the endgame to win.

Similarly, Long managed to defeat Miguel Angel convincingly in the late middle game after he had won material earlier in the game.

Next game will take place on 10 October and that leaves some time for either Koji or David to prepare some surprise for the for now unstoppable Joseph.