Dave Wightman resumed the adjourned Semi-Final in this year's Birmingham League Division 3 Individual competition against 23 times champion Lee Collier.  The game had begun with a cagey but somewhat passive opening by black, which allowed white to develop a strong kingside attack against the castled king.  White sacrificed two pawns and then a piece to open up the position, only for black to hold out thanks to some fortuitous knight placements which covered all of the numerous weaknesses in the black pawn structure.  When the attack finally subsided, black was still a pawn ahead and this was the position at the adjournment.  In a queen and bishop ending, finding the winning line was going to prove difficult due to the constant threat of perpetual checks.  However, black eventually managed to extinguish the last embers of the kingside attack, finally shoring up the defences in front of the king with great relief.  This allowed the attention to turn to the queenside and the slow process of shepherding the pawn majority forwards.  In the end, in a flurry of moves as the second time control approached, black was able to use the increasing space advantage on the queenside to finally break into the white position and corner the white king.  So, Dave moves on to the final in May, but thanks are due to Lee for a fantastic game, full of excitement and tenacious defence.  Good luck for the rest of the season