23/02/23
| Bury C | | 2½ – 1½ | Saxmundham B | |
| 1 | Zbynek Strela | 1675 | 0 – 1 | Mike Usher | 1784 |
| 2 | Peter Newton | 1568 | 1 – 0 | Matthew Lawes-Wickwar | 1650 |
| 3 | Hugo Smith | 1458 | 1 – 0 | Hugo Brown | 1333 |
| 4 | Mark Webb | 1401 | ½ – ½ | Lee Osmon | 1364 |
Sax B travelled to Bury Thursday evening for a top-of-the-table clash with Bury C, and went down to their first defeat of the season 2½ – 1½ in a closely fought match, with all four games lasting late into the evening. Despite the loss, Sax B stay top by just ½ point, with three games to go.
Matthew and Hugo both lost, both describing their game in the same way “I messed up”! Indeed Matthew was still in with a fighting chance when he allowed a simple mate. Lee drew his game and is starting to rebuild his confidence after a string of losses. Mike brought home the full point after playing the Staunton Gambit for the first time (which his opponent declined) and was always better, winning the exchange and seeing out the resulting RvN endgame easily enough.