ESSEX	Grd			BERKSHIRE	Grd
1	J.ROGERS	221	1	0	P.S.COOKSEY	199
2	M.S.TWYBLE	220	1	0	P.J.SHARP	195
3	D.J.COLEMAN	204	1	0	H.W.MURPHY	200
4	D.SANDS	203	1	0	A.C.P.MILNES	185
5	K.C.C.MAH	201	1	0	D.S.TUCKER	178
6	G.KENWORTHY	199	1	0	I.R.HENDERSON	169
7	B.KEMISH	197	1	0	K.D.SMALLBONE	165
8	J.H.HODGSON	197	0	1	J.T.MUNDAY	172
9	D.SHERMAN	194	½	½	M.C.BOWHAY	166
10	G.J.MOORE	186	1	0	P.J.COLBY	164
11	D.J.MILLWARD	184	1	0	A.J.COX	158
12	P.L.WILLIAMSON	183	½	½	D.A.GOLD	156
13	M.ROBERTS	183	1	0	B.G.WILLIS	154
14	A.DUNN	183	1	0	N.W.DENNIS	155
15	J.C.MOORE	178	1	0	W.P.TINKLER	143
16	R.P.WHITE	178	1	0	S.B.JAMES	142
17	L.MARDEN	177	1	0	A.B.JONES	142
18	I.J.MYALL	174	1	0	S.J.R.TURNER	138
19	I.B.N.SMITH	172	1	0	K.SAVOY	137
20	R.PARKER	169	1	0	(default)
	ESSEX		18	2	BERKSHIRE

Essex had white on the odd boards.

This was another fine win for the in form Essex First team, who now have five wins from five matches. First to finish was Ivor Smith who gained many tempi from the opening and crashed through at f5. Jonathan Rogers took 19 moves to dispose of an ex-Colchester player (game below). Russell White's opponent arrived late and left early after an unusual Ruy Lopez. Michael Roberts found a strong kingside attack against the Sicilian. Graham Moore's opponent exchanged into an opposite colour bishop ending only to find his pawns were on the wrong squares.

Brian Kemish won from a closed Siciliam despite playing most of the game two pieces short. Brian is moving to Swindon soon and will be missed by all the team who enjoy watching his "total chess". David Millward also found the Closed Sicilian profitable when his rooks got to work on the e-file. Larry Marden won a couple of pawns against the Centre Counter and exchanged down to an easy endgame. Paul Williamson dispelled our hopes of a clean sweep, his Pirc defence equalising easily.

Michael Twyble, goaded by his captain, won a very fine game. David Coleman showed how to beat the Caro Kann. David Sands continues to improve: despite looking to be in a worse position, after infiltrating with his rook he won a knight.

Gary Kenworthy showed his experience, complicating the position so much that although white reached the time control his position was hopeless. Andrew Dunn gave a very professional first appearance winning a pawn and converting to a comfortable endgame. Ivan Myall kept his 100% record from a Slav defence his advanced pawn being decisive. Karl Mah outplayed his opponent in the middle game.

Our only loss came from John Hodgson who lost the exchange and then the game, but was philosophical saying he is saving his best chess for the difficult games ahead. John Moore's game became quite complicated before John gave up his queen for a winning position. It was left to David Sherman to agree to a draw to complete the match.

Credit must be given to Berkshire captain Nigel Dennis for agreeing to play on a day when the weather was very poor and advising the Essex captain that his team were one player short. This saved Robert Parker a needless journey.

(Acknowledgments: Richard Manning)

	P	W	D	L	Pts	GP
Essex	5	5	0	0	5	74½
Kent	6	4	1	1	4½	67½
Middlesex	5	3	0	2	3	49½
Oxfordshire	5	2	1	2	2½	51
Hertfordshire	5	2	1	2	2½	44½
Cambridgeshire	5	2	0	3	2	47½
Sussex	5	2	0	3	2	47½
Surrey	4	1	1	2	1½	32½
Berkshire	6	0	0	6	0	43

The three remaining matches for Essex are against Oxfordshire, Middlesex and Cambridgeshire. Two teams from the Southern Counties are guaranteed a place in the National stages of the competition, and the SCCU County finishing in 3rd place will also be accepted this year.

J.Rogers - P.S.Cooksey

Board 1 Essex v Berkshire (27/1), 1996

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 d6 10.b4 c5 11.Qc2 Threat Ng5 11...Qc8 12.bxc5 dxc5 13.d5! f5? [13...exd5 14.cxd5 Bxd5? 15.Ng5] 14.e4 Na6 15.Bb2 Rd8? 16.Rfe1 Bf8 17.Ng5 Nc7 18.exf5 exd5 [18...exf5 19.Bh3! g6 20.Qc3] 19.f6 1-0