Oxford 1 are a step closer to promotion and a return to division 1 after rounds 7 and 8 of the Four Nations Chess League which took place near at Hinkley, Leicestershire, over the weekend of March 23 and 24.

On the Saturday, Wessex fought to the last but were ultimately out-classed on the top boards and Oxford won 5-3.

The following day Bristol 1 — with two International Masters — proved much tougher opponents. The match started ominously when Aidan Rawlinson missed a simple tactic and had to resign after just 16 moves — but Oxford battled back and were undoubtedly less satisfied than Bristol when the match was eventually drawn 4-4.

On board 2, I ventured the King’s Indian Defence against David Buckley and, unusually, it went to plan, as you can see below. The three points from the weekend leave Oxford 1 lying second to King’s Head in the promotion pool and two more wins from their three remaining matches should guarantee promotion.

White: David Buckley Black: Matthew Rose 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 I’ve long been tempted to ditch the King’s Indian from my repertoire — but games like this one keep me hooked. 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 c6!? Usual is 7…Nc6 — but I’ve also played 7…Na6 and 7…Nd7 with success.

8.Be3 8.d5 is also possible against which I was going to play 8...Na6 8...exd4 9.Bxd4 I was attracted to the move 7...c6 by the game Gustafsson–Kramnik from last year’s Dortmund congress. That game continued 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.f3 d5 11.cxd5 Nxd5! 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Rc1 a5!? 14.Qb3 a4 15.Qxd5 Qxd5 16.exd5 a3! 17.b3 Nc6!? 18.Nc2 Rxe3! 19.Nxe3 Nb4 20.Rc4?! Nxa2 21.Ra4?! Rxa4 22.bxa4 Bd4 23.Kf2 Nb4 24.Rc1 a2! 25.Rxc8+ Kg7 26.Rc1 Nxd5 27.Rd1 Nxe3 and White resigned. I think taking on d4 with the bishop as David played is more testing for Black as it doesn’t allow the 10…d5 trick.

9...Qe7!? 9…Re8 is usual but I knew that my move was tricky and had been Alexi Shirov’s choice in the past. 10.Re1 Nbd7 11.Qc2 Nc5 12.Bf1?! White should play 12.h3 so that his bishop can rest easy on e3. 12...Ne6! 13.Be3 Ng4 14.Bd2 Nd4 15.Qd1 I’d intended meeting 15.Qd3 with 15...Ne5 — but actually 15...Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 Be6 is even better; when Black has some advantage. For example 17.b3 can be met by 17...Bd4!

15...Be6! 16.Ng5 h6 17.Nxe6 Qh4! I’d seen this move when playing 15...Be6. 18.Bf4 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 fxe6 20.Bxd6 Otherwise White is a pawn down for nothing. 20...Qh4 A forcing move — but the computer finds 20...Nc2! which wins immediately. 21.Bg3 Nf2+! 22.Kg1 After 22.Bxf2 Rxf2 with threat like 23...Be5 and 23...Nf3 White won’t be long for this world. 22...Nxd1 23.Bxh4 Nxc3 24.bxc3 Nc2 and White resigned.