Sunday morning – Round 4:
Of the 6 joint leaders overnight, only Roger de Coverley could post a win, which put him in pole position going in to the final round. Top-graded Mackle, playing the white pieces, might have been expected to get a win from Alan Brusey, 43 grading points below him, but he could not convert to a full point. Only 3 other players from the top half could also get win, Gilmour, Stephens & Bass.
| Round 4 | ||||||
| 1 | Mackle, D. | (2½) | ½ | ½ | Brusey, A. W. | (2½) |
| 2 | De Coverley, R | (2½) | 1 | 0 | Piper, S. J. | (2½) |
| 3 | Helbig, P. D. | (2½) | ½ | ½ | Homer, S. J. | (2½) |
| 4 | Dilleigh, S. P. | (2) | ½ | ½ | Medina, P | (2) |
| 5 | Gilmour, A. J. | (2) | 1 | 0 | Littlejohns, D. P | (2) |
| 6 | Paulden, T | (2 | ½ | ½ | Bolt, G. | (2) |
| 7 | Abbott, M. V. | (2 | ½ | ½ | Regis, D. | (2) |
| 8 | Stinton-B M. H. | (1½) | 0 | 1 | Stephens, J. K. | (1½) |
| 9 | Bass, J. W. | (1½) | 1 | 0 | Shaw, M | (1½) |
| 10 | Gosling, B. G. | (1½) | ½ | ½ | Wheeler, J. F. | (1½) |
| 11 | Rinvolucri, A. J. | (1½) | ½ | ½ | Jaszkiwskyj, P | (1½) |
| 12 | Woodruff, A. C. | (1) | 0 | 1 | Jepps, G. N. | (1) |
| 13 | Pittman, F. J. | (1) | ½ | ½ | Wensley, O. E. | (1) |
| 14 | Fewkes, J. E. | (1) | ½ | ½ | Dean, S. K. | (1) |
| 15 | Bartlett, S. | (1) | 1 | 0 | Morgan, J | (1) |
| 16 | Page, M. | (1) | 1 | 0 | Annetts, I. S. | (1) |
| 17 | Czegeny, M. | (½) | 0 | 1 | McKinley, C. T. | (½) |
| 18 | Frangleton, A. A. | (½) | 1 | 0 | Dillon, P. | (0) |
It was up to Steve Homer with White, a local player with an attacking style, to stop de Coverly. Up to the middle game he did indeed seem to have a slight edge, but de Coverly held his nerve and the position, and gradually turned things round, getting an outside passed pawn to the 7th rank, and Homer’s pieces were tied up trying to prevent it queening. Mackle won to get him to 2nd place, but just as Helbig was launching what looked like a winning attack, his opponent stopped the game claiming there may have been a 3-fold repetition. The Arbiter was called to check it out; there was no repetition, the attack continued and he won in just a few more moves, to join Mackle on 2nd=.
Mark Abbott won a good game against one of last year’s joint winners to claim the senior grading prize, while Jepps also beat one of last year’s winners to get the U-162 grading prize.
| Round 5 | ||||||
| 1 | Homer, S. J. | (3) | 0 | 1 | De Coverley, R | (3½) |
| 2 | Gilmour, A. J. | (3) | 0 | 1 | Mackle, D. | (3) |
| 3 | Brusey, A. W. | (3) | 0 | 1 | Helbig, P. D. | (3) |
| 4 | Stephens, J. K. | (2½) | 1 | 0 | Paulden, T | (2½) |
| 5 | Regis, D. | (2½) | 1 | 0 | Bass, J. W. | (2½) |
| 6 | Piper, S. J. | (2½) | ½ | ½ | Dilleigh, S. P. | (2½) |
| 7 | Bolt, G | (2½) | 0 | 1 | Abbott, M. V. | (2½) |
| 8 | Medina, P | (2½) | ½ | ½ | Bartlett, S. | (2) |
| 9 | Wheeler, J. F. | (2) | 1 | 0 | Page, M. | (2) |
| 10 | Jaszkiwskyj, P | (2) | 1 | 0 | Gosling, B. G. | (2) |
| 11 | Littlejohns, D. P | (2) | 1 | 0 | Rinvolucri, A. J. | (2) |
| 12 | Wensley, O. E. | (1½) | 0 | 1 | Jepps, G. N. | (2) |
| 13 | Shaw, M. | (1½) | 1 | 0 | Frangleton, A. A. | (1½) |
| 14 | McKinley, C. T. | (1½) | 0 | 1 | Fewkes, J. E. | (1½) |
| 15 | Dean, S. K. | (1½) | ½ | ½ | Stinton-B M. H. | (1½) |
| 16 | Morgan, J. | (1) | 1 | 0 | Pittman P. J. | (1½) |
| 17 | Annetts, I. S. | (1) | ½ | ½ | Woodruff, A. C.. | (1) |
| 18 | Dillon, P. | (0) | ½ | ½ | Czegeny, M | (½) |
In the Major, Colin Sellwood and Morgan Nielsen played out a long draw to become joint winners.
In the Minor, the clear leader, Graham Mill-Wilson, drew with Norman Tidy to claim the Nat-West trophy, leaving the latter in a ties with Paul Errington and Rob Fursman for 2nd=. The grading prixes went to Ray Hood (U-113) and Peter Carrick U-101.
The prize list is as follows:-
| Open | Name | Grd | Club | score | Prize (£) |
| 1st | R. de Coverly | 184 | Bourne End | 4½ | 200 |
| 2nd= | D. Mackle | 214 | Newton Abbot | 4 | 110 |
| P. D. Helbig | 180 | S. Bristol | 4 | 110 | |
| GP (U-179) | M. V. Abbott | 173 | Exmouth | 3 | 30 |
| (U-162) | G. N. Jepps | 160 | Frome | 3 | 30 |
| Major (U-155) | |||||
| 1st= | C. Sellwood | 151 | Camborne | 4 | 135 |
| J. H. Nielsen | 140 | Wimborne | 4 | 135 | |
| 3rd= | P. Tew | Cardiff | 3½ | 24 | |
| D. J. Jenkins | 139 | Camborne | 3½ | 24 | |
| C. M. Strong | 139 | Clevedon | 3½ | 24 | |
| GP (U-140 | T. V. Earnshaw | Exeter | 3 | 15 | |
| S. L. Hamilton | Warley | 3 | 15 | ||
| GP (U-136) | P. Brackner | 134 | Dorchester | 3½ | 30 |
| Minor (U-125) | |||||
| 1st | G. Mill-Wilson | 119 | Yate & Sodbury | 4½ | 160 |
| 2nd= | N. F. Tidy | 124 | Teignmouth | 4 | 60 |
| P. T. Errington | 122 | Bournemouth | 4 | 60 | |
| R. Fursman | 4 | 60 | |||
| GP: (U-113) | R. Hood | 101 | Exeter | 3½ | 30 |
| (U-101) | P. Carrick | 93 | Norton Radstock | 3½ | 30 |
| Best team of 4 | Wimborne | 13 | 20 |
A handshake gets the final round under way. Homer V de Coverly nearest.
Brusey V Helbig ahead of a mild contretemps near the end.
Abbott (B) on his was to a win and a Grading Prize.
Annetts & Woodruff, discover they were old Exmouth members and settle for a quick draw.
Mill-Wilson needed a draw to win the Minor Section - and got it.
Roger de Coverly clear winner of the Steve Boniface Trophy.
Graham Mill-Wilson, clear winner of the Minor Section.