MALVERN Chess Club, playing away against Kidderminster in the County Division One, had a closely contested match, which finished in a three-all draw.

Malvern had white on the odd numbered boards. Details are as follows, Malvern names first:

1, B Turner - J Wrench; 2, G Herbert - M Bissell; 3, I Clarke 1-0 D Close; 4, D Spencer - M Riley; 5, M Ginger 0-1 J Gittus; 6, T Shaw - K Durnell.

On board one, John Wrench played the solid French Defence against Brian Turner. Although Brian gained strong pressure against weak central pawns, John found a sound defensive formation and a draw was agreed.

Maurice Bissell lost a pawn in the opening on board two but an oversight by Geoffrey Herbert allowed Maurice to gain the initiative. Geoffrey beat off the threats but in the resulting queen and pawn endgame his king was too exposed to enable him to capitalise on his extra pawn. Game drawn.

Board three saw Ian Clarke play against a Pirc Defence and obtain a strong pawn centre. Dave Close chipped away at this and emerged with two pieces for a rook. Ian was forced into a combination, which weakened the black king's defences and Dave had to resign faced with the loss of his queen.

On board four, Denis Spencer played the Scandinavian Defence but white advanced a centre pawn allowing a transposition to a superior version of the French Defence. With the centre closed and equal material a draw was agreed.

Black, on board five, played an irregular system against Maurice Ginger who missed an important pawn advance and emerged with a strategically lost game after the ensuing tactics. Maurice's attempts at counter play failed and black won the simple endgame.

Tony Shaw played the Slav Defence on board six and the situation on the Queen's side became very tense. The centre was resolved just before adjudication time with Tony being a pawn up. Tony tried to convert his advantage in the second session but a draw was agreed.