By defeating Cowley 1 on April 4, Witney 1 secured enough points to finish ahead of City 1 and secure their first division 1 title for ten years.

The club — seemingly in the doldrums in recent times — has been reborn thanks largely to the energy and enthusiasm of first team captain Mike Truran.

As well as success on the board, Witney also set an example by organising other chess-related activities — such as the recent opening preparation lecture by grandmaster Peter Wells.

Furthermore, Witney 3 topped their division — so congratulations to Mike and all those at the club. Key to the first team’s success this season has been Mark Hannon.

Playing on board 4 or 5, his splendid 12 out of 13 in the league is sure to gain him the first division top scorer award.

The following game — played in January — is rather one sided; but well demonstrates the ability to punish inaccuracies that has made Mark such a feared opponent.

White: Dave Robson (Cowley 1) Black: Mark Hannon (Witney 1) 1.e4 e5 2.d4!? exd4 3.c3 Robson chooses the Danish gambit — recommended by Nigel Davies in the first of his excellent Gambiteer books.

3...c5!? The usual way to decline the gambit is Capablanca’s 3...d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Be2 Bxf3! 9.Bxf3 Qc4 when Black has few worries. Mark’s choice is rare and at least has the merit of requiring Dave to think for himself.

4.cxd4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Nxd4 We now have a Scotch — but without the c-pawns — or perhaps a Sicilian minus a pawn each! Black’s structure looks less attractive than in the Scotch proper. On the other hand, as in the Sicilian, Black’s Queen has access to the queenside.

6...Nf6 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Qd3!? Probably better was 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bd3 d5 when White could take advantage of the absence of his c-pawn with 10.Qa4.

8...d5!? 8...Qe7 9.f3 d5 would have been even stronger.

9.exd5 Qxd5 10.Nxc6 Qxc6 11.Bd2? White should be thinking about equalising and 11.Qb5 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Bd7 13.Qxc6 Bxc6 14.f3 would have been a good way to do it.

11...0–0 12.Qc4?! White should probably have castled; but after 12.0–0–0 Be6 Black is still having all the fun.

12...Re8+ 13.Be3 Nd5! 14.Qxc6 bxc6 15.Kd2?! Dave has succeeded in swapping queens but his king is still under fire. It’s relatively best to play 15.0–0–0 — gifting Black a pawn — but escaping the coming onslaught.

15...Bf5 16.Rc1 Unfortunately for White, 16.Bd3 Nxe3 17.fxe3 Rad8 just loses a piece Similarly, after; 16.Bc4 Nxe3 17.fxe3 Rad8+ 18.Ke2 Bg4+ 19.Kf2 Rd2+ 20.Kg3 h5 White is unlikely to survive.

16...Rad8 17.Ke2 Bg4+ 18.Ke1 18.f3 is no better since 18...Nxe3! (18...Rxe3+ also wins of course.) 19.fxg4 Nxg4+ 20.Kf3 Re3+! leads to mate.

18...Nxc3 0–1 White resigned since 19.bxc3 Bxc3+ 20.Rxc3 Rd1 is mate.