Witney 1 secured the Oxfordshire first division title a fortnight ago with a narrowest possible victory over bottom placed Didcot 1.

Witney 1 have also reached the final of the Frank Wood Shield — to be played on May 10. Their opponents in the final? Witney 2!

Meanwhile, in division 2, MCS/Blackbirds 1 might just deny the Witney Club further success by pipping Witney 2 to the title and promotion to division 1.

Back in division 1, Cowley 2 are favourites to claim the runners-up spot and this despite a recent defeat to City 1.

That match saw two of the league’s best players, City’s Jon Manley and Cowley’s Gerard O’Reilly, lock horns for the second time this season. In October, Gerard had come out on top — would he be able to repeat the feat? Let’s see.

White: Jon Manley Black: Gerard O’Reilly 1.e4 e6 For some reason the French is a popular choice against Jon’s 1.e4 — but caveat emptor — he usually scores well against it.

2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7!? The centre is usually closed in the French defence, which means that there’s scope for a wider variety of moves than in open positions. Gerard’s choice is a perfectly playable alternative to the usual 4...c5.

5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 b6!? Again 6...c5 is usual — but Gerard intends to swap of the light squared bishops. This is a frequent plan for Black in the French since the pawn structure means Black’s light squared bishop is usually inferior to White’s.

7.Qg4 Ng6!? 8.h4 h5 9.Qd1 Ba6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.Bg5 Qd7 12.Ne2!? Qc6 13.f4!? A typical blocked up French position and not too bad for Black you might suppose — but databases show White scoring a surprisingly dominant 80 per cent from this position.

13...Nb8 14.0–0 Nd7 15.Qd3 Ne7!? Aiming for f5 — but it won’t get there. Black’s problem here is finding somewhere safe for his king. He can’t legally castle queenside, and after castling kingside he will lose his h-pawn.

16.Bxe7 Kxe7 17.f5 Rae8 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Qg6 Kd8 20.Rf3! 20.Qxg7 is possible but Jon realise that opening up the files in front of White’s king is a risky business, and that there’ll be time yet to cash in.

20...Kc8 21.Nf4! Nf8?! Black is so tied up he can’t find a move which doesn’t make things worse for him. In fact, the counter-attacking 21...Qa4!? was possible, when if 22.Nxe6 then 22...Nxe5 23.dxe5 Rh6 regains the piece with fair chances.

22.Qxg7 Nd7 23.Ng6! Winning the exchange and remaining in control. Here Gerard had had enough and resigned. 1–0