Exeter Chess Club:

I wrote last week of the inestimable value of a good county captain, and Cornwall's Anton Barkhuysen is undoubtedly one of this increasingly rare breed. His team pulled off an unexpected win against Wiltshire in Rd 1 of the WECU Championships, perhaps giving out a warning to their next opponents, Hampshire, that Cornwall should not be taken too lightly this year. It went unheeded, however, as Hampshire turned out a team no stronger on paper than Cornwall, and defaulted the bottom two boards to boot. The Cornish need no further encouragement these days, and routed them 10 - 6, with wins from R. S. Sefton, Craig Fearn, Gary Trudeau, Richard Woods and Colin Sellwood. If any reader can recall when Cornwall last won their first two matches of the season, please let myself or Ian George know the year, as it's probably before our time.

Simon Bartlett (Bodmin) won the Kingsbridge Rapidplay tournament on Sunday.

Devon's 1 ^st Division, the Bremridge Cup, is a 4 team, double-round affair between Tiverton, Teignmouth, Exeter and Exmouth. This is the latter's first venture into this exalted company, and it is proving difficult for them. On Saturday, they outgraded Exeter on every board, took a 11/2 - 1/2 lead with promising positions in three other games. For example, they had the option of going two pieces up in this position. Should Black take the proffered Knight, and what may happen if he does? Play it through - feel the pain!