Lots of action in division two as Newcastle B's three wins secured with varying degrees of good fortune enabled them to take over top spot, albeit with several teams below them having sufficient games in hand to overhaul them. The division seems now to be splitting into two, with the top half moving far enough clear of the bottom half that it seems safe to say that the title will be contested only by those in the top half. The lower half are all dangerous teams though, and will doubtless have a say in the final destination of the title through taking points from any pretender not fully on their game.

Division three is definitely shaping up to be a private squabble between the two Cheddleton sides, with the C teams win over the D on the last playing day of the month giving the former a useful edge. The other teams are involved in a private battle for third place, though Alsager B's three losses in the month has done nothing for their chances of engaging properly in this contest.

Fenton now have a firm grip on division four, so the main attention now switches to the battle for the silver medal position for which a faltering Newcastle D have been caught by improving Meir B, with the other teams sufficiently in contact that a good run of results could still see them sneak into the runners-up slot.

RR v Phil Cattermole after 16 ... Ne5

We join the game after 16 moves with RR expanding on the queenside, Phil on the kingside. So far we have just swapped one pair of knights, but the centre is about to open.
17 a6 Not a move I particularly want to play, as it reduces my chances of opening he queenside, but with threats of Qg5 I don't think I can afford to allow the b7 bishop to stay on the long diagonal.
17 ... exd3, 18 Bxd3 Bc8, 19 Be2 Kh7, 20 Qd2 preparing f4, though Fritz seems to think that once the smoke has cleared after the line commencing
20 f4 Ng4, 21 Bf3 Qxe3+ I'm clearly ahead.

20 ... Bd7, 21 f4 Ng4, 22 Bxg4 fxg4

RR v Phil Cattermole after 22 ... fxg4

A more sensible plan over the last few moves would have been to exert major piece pressure down the half open d-file. Now I have the hole on e4 to worry about (though Phil has no knight to fill it) and a potential endgame problem defending the c-pawn. But I do have some compensation in the form of Phil's doubled g-pawn and a knight I can make difficult to drive away:

23 b5 Rae8, 24 Rae1 Qe4, 25 Bc1 Looks ugly, but provides excellent support for my central pawns.

25 ... Bf5, 26 Rd1 Bd7, 27 Qb4 h5, 28 Qb3 h4
29 Qa2 All these queen moves have enabled RR to defend the c-pawn and mate threats on g2. It might well have been more sensible though to endeavour to exchange queens.

29 ... Bf6, 30 Qf2 (difficult to find moves with other pieces)
30 ... Bd8, 31 g3 Kg7, 32 Bg2 with the threat of double checks
32 ... Bf6, 33 Qg2 Clang! the e-pawn is no longer protected.
33 ... Qxe3+, 34 Qf2 hxg3, 35 hxg3 Qe4, 36 Rfe1 Qa8

RR v Phil Cattermole after 36 ... Qa8

Time to put paid to any chances of problems on the h1a8 diagonal:
37 Qg2 Rh8, 38 Qxa8 Rxa8, 39 Rd2 with obvious intentions to double on the d-file. Better to break the bishop pair with Nc2, Bxb2 being met by Re7+ and Rxd7.

39 ... Rae8, 40 Rde2 Rxe2, 41 Rxe2 Kf7 (Re8 to exchange rooks is a mistake as after the exchange Ne7+ wins the c-pawn)
42 Kf2 g5, 43 fxg5 (f5 Rh2+, 44 Ke3 Rxe2+, 45 Kxe2 Be5, 46 Kf2 Kf6 and hopes of holding the endgame are slipping away)

43 ... Bxg5, 44 Kg2 Bf6, 45 Rf2 Rh6

RR v Phil Cattermole after 45 ... Rh6

At this point I should point out two other factors. Phil has just over 2 minutes left, RR nearly five. One obvious plan is to keep material on and dare phil to find a win in the remaining time. In practice this would surely give me good drawing chances. However we are currently trailing 1 - 2 in the match, and a quick glance at Alex' game does not show an obvious plus to him. Consequently I need a win, yet if I spend too much time calculating my time advantage will be spent.

46 Nc2 Kg7, 47 Rxf6 Rxf6, 48 Ne3
Nb4 better as this prevents Bd6. Fortunately Phil is moving quickly.
48 ... Kg6, 49 Bxf6 Kxf6, 50 Nd5+ Kd5, 51 Nxc7 Kd4
52 Nd5 Kxc4, 53 Nxb6+ the point of the manoeuvre, which fails:
53 ... axb6, 54 a7 Kxb5 and my kings on the wrong square.