This was, dare I say it, a match of three halves. JL lost on the three bottom boards but won on three of the top four. Which left Jamie odd man out at the end.
Board 1: Roger Williamson (2212) (JL) 1-0 Luke Maher (1872) (L2)
A quite sedate Bogo-Indian led to a slight white advantage out of the opening. An advantage which became somewhat permanent when Luke felt compelled to play ...f6. From that point on, however, things went slightly awry, and I found myself having to escape into a queen and pawn ending a pawn up but uncertain as to what the objective truth of the position was. Fortunately, time becoming a factor for both players, Luke permitted me to swap my central passed pawn for an outside passed pawn, making things easier than perhaps they should have been.
Board 2: Ian Stephens (1777) (L2) 0.5-0.5 Jamie Kumar (1921) (JL)
This was the last game to finish. Jamie played the stronger game, but Ian handled his clock much better. Which is a euphemism used to obscure this spectator's agony watching our man decide whether or not to prosecute a winning ending with only the ten second increment left on his clock. Like the little green puppet (not Kermit) might say, there is only do or not do - so either do it or don't not do it. Nevertheless, a draw was a far from horrible result for the team, as it secured us a match point. But it was scant reward for a well-played game up until that point.
Board 3: Joe Ormrod (-) (JL) 1-0 Hon Meng Moh (1949) (L2)
A Blackmar-Diemer gambit became a French Defence became a Blackmar-Diemer again. Black, clearly unfamiliar with the type of position resulting, conceded the dark squares, and that was that. An attractive exchange sacrifice from Joe finished the job, but the game never really got going.
Board 4: Farzaneh Mousavi (1660) (L2) 0-1 Rob Frith (1927) (JL)
Something similar happened here, only in a Queen's Gambit Accepted. Farzaneh blundered very early on. Rob found himself in a position he couldn't lose. He still had to win, of course. Which he did relatively efficiently.
Board 5: Shay Hanlon (1722) (JL) 0-1 Joel Bartlett (1815) (L2)
And the same again here. This time it was our player who went down quickly. As on board three, a Blackmar-Diemer became a French. Only this time it stayed a French. White abandoned the (essential) fight for d4. Black capitalized.
Board 6: Arda Ulku (-) (L2) 1-0 Thomas Francis (1587) (JL)
There was a bit more meat on this encounter, even if it was largely hanging from the bone. A slightly offbeat treatment of the Sicilian Kalashnikov by white should probably have been punished by Tom. When he failed to play actively enough, however, it became a one-sided affair. Arda snaffled the backward d6 pawn. No fixing that.
Board 7: Keeghan McGarry (1486) (JL) 0-1 Xavier Sottrel (1743) (L2)
Finally, there was something gothic on board 7. There are two roads, as the poet says: 'that of the man of iron and arrogance who rides firm in his faith through the doubtful woods of the world', and Keeghan's - the short one. Which is to say that our hero, having embarked on a sacrificial rampage should have forged on and made himself worthy of the hostile approbation of both the devil and of death. Alas, at the fork in the road, our knight turned left when he should have gone right and found himself impaled on his own lance. Next time - and there is always a next time - he must remember that one path beckons immortality, the other this match report.