And the most exciting match of the season yet! With the score tied at 2-2, the match depended on the results from the top two boards, where our Stuart Clarke took on Ali Janooby, and John Turner played Mitchell Burke.

On Board 2, John was pressing for a win, but the clock shows that he has 10 minutes left to Mitchell’s 34 minutes. Not a good ratio for a far from simple endgame. Meanwhile, on Board 1, a similar scenario developed – Stuart was way behind Ali on time, but it was not clear who had the advantage in a very complicated position, with both kings feeling uneasy.

Matters developed on both boards, anxiously watched by both teams. John managed to develop a clear win, but was left with excruciating time trouble, while Stuart gained the upper hand, but also looked likely to lose on time.

Matters came to a head on Board 2 first. With a clear win on the board but seconds left on his clock, John headed towards checkmating his opponent, but under overwhelming pressure, put his queen on the wrong square and allowed a stalemate.

The match now depended on Stuart’s result. He had a winning position, but did not have the time to win it. However, he did have the time to repeat a position three times, achieving the draw which concluded the match 3-3. You can see this excellent game here.