Main (13/27)
Not the best turnout we've ever had, but August is always a lean month. What we lacked in quantity we made up for it in quality - this cliché is turned every time numbers are fewer than expected, have you noticed?

By the Sunday morning we had 3-3: Brian Lever vs Tony Fawcett and John Hedge vs Gheorghe Filipas. Ten others were on 2-3 and had a chance to win with 5-6 if we didn't produce a 6-6. Tony beat Brian, and John beat Gheorghe. From this sequence the draw was Tony vs John and Gheorghe vs Brian - with Tony winning going to 5-5 and Brian winning to equal John on 4-4. In Swiss formats the top four players, when possible, play against each other but although the pairing of Brain vs John was perfectly correct, Tony couldn't play Gheorghe. However, three others emerged on 4-5 and were potential opponents for Tony in the 6th Round, Paul Plumptre, Marcus Wrinch and Paul Gilbertson. The latter had already played Tony and it was Paul Plumptre who was drawn out to play him. Although this left Marcus and Paul Gilbertson as a possible pairing, such a match would have meant that Gheorghe and Peter Christmas (playing in the Main as a spare and a refugee from the Consolation, brought in during the 4th Round to level off both elements) would have to play each other for the second time that weekend. Because Marcus had already played Peter he was matched with Gheorghe and Paul played the spare man.

In what was a very one-sided 6th Round match between Paul Plumptre and Tony, Tony emerged victorious over Paul in a very short time. Regrettably I was unable to record the match so Tony's victory (and Paul's crushing defeat) will not become public knowledge! The Runner-up was decided on the tie-breaker between John and Marcus who both ended up with 5-6. Personal head-to-head ties didn't part them, but on shared opponents John triumphed for beating Paul Plumptre whereas Marcus suffered his only defeat against him.

I checked the Biba records and discovered it has only taken Tony Fawcett 8 years, 6 months and 17 days to win his first ever Biba 11 point event! What a patient man he is!!

Main: John and Tony J

Consolation (14/27)
We had three on 2-3 and they were paired off: Nicky Check vs Stewart Pemberton, leaving Peter Bennet vs Richard Biddle, a 1-2 randomly drawn to play against Peter. Both Stewart and Peter won which produced a play-off for the trophies and it was Peter who came out on top.

Consolation: Stewart and Peter

Friday 500 (8)
Peter Christmas beat Mick Butterfield in the Final, leaving Arthur Wright and Marcus Wrinch as losing semi-finalists. However, Marcus Wrinch is still #1 in the chart, but Paul Gilbertson has slipped back to a 13 point gap in 2nd place. Richard Biddle remains static in 3rd and Jeff Barber moves up to 4th. We lose Neil Young and Peter Christmas, this weekend's winner, enters in 15th place. With a potential 60 points up for grabs between now and December the bottom half of the list is at risk of missing out on the chance of the £500 first prize.

Poker (7)
Mick Vacarey triumphed in the poker with Tony Fawcett (at last making some inroads) in 2nd place. Lawrence Powell and John Hedge being 3rd and 4th respectively. Myke Wignall remains #1 despite not being at the SAC. John Hedge and Paul Gilbertson swap positions for 2nd and 3rd; Vicki Pemberton remains at #4 and Tony Fawcett finally makes the money at #6.

Team (5)
The usual suspects triumphed here with Nicky Check taking 1st place and Richard Biddle 2nd. I went out in the 1st Round to give them both a chance.

Finally
The weekend went along smoothly - until the end and afterwards when an accusation of botching the draw was made against me. Further details will emerge later on this issue.