AFTER losing their last three Worcester & District League games against Droitwich, Malvern Chess Club finally stopped the rot with a draw.

The match could have gone either way and a draw was probably a fair result. The results were as follows, Malvern players first with white on the odd boards.

1) B Turner - P Kitson. 2) I Clarke 0-1 D Adshead. 3) G Herbert 1-0 A Kirkland. 4) D Spencer - W Watson.

Malvern got off to a good start on board three. Geoffrey Herbert played the Vienna Game, an opening that was popular in the romantic age in the 19th Century. Arnold defended passively, allowing Geoffrey to open the King's bishop file and generate a strong attack. He was able to break up the defences around the black king, won a pawn and obtain complete dominance of the black squares. This forced Arnold's resignation, as checkmate was unstoppable.

Board one featured an unusual variation on the Ruy Lopez. Peter Kitson won the opening battle and gained an excellent position with the strong centre pawns. Brian hung on grimly, showing great strength of character. Once a problem with the lighting of the board had been resolved, Brian found the best defensive line, which reduced the game to a drawn ending and preserved Malvern's lead.

Denis Spencer played the Slave Defence against Bill Watson's Queen's Gambit on board four. Denis won a pawn after some exchanges and established a passed queen's rook pawn. However, this was countered by Bill's passed centre pawn and more active pieces. With the time control looming, both players decided that a draw was the safest option.

Ian Clarke played a King's Indian Defence on board two. He lost a pawn early on and was soon in trouble. He fought back after the queens had been exchanged and won a rook for knight but had to use up a lots of his time. Dave Adshead had to play for a win due to the match situation. He exploited Ian's time trouble to turn the game by advancing and queening a pawn, thereby levelling the scores.