Last night saw the club host the final of the Perry Trophy for players graded under 110 against Cheddleteon (who have a team in every NSDCA Cup Final). An exciting final developed as Crewe captain Les Hall was first to finish with a win on board 4 after a tussle to avoid stale-mating his young opponent. At this stage Cheddleton appeared to have advantages on boards 2 & 3 with board 1 equally balanced. Next to finish was Simon Layhe on board 2 with a win to put Crewe in a commanding 2-0 lead, after a complicated game giving up two rooks for a queen and pawn, and with the two remaining rooks splitting was able to pick up a rook and convert the advantage. James Marshall gained a match winning draw on board 3 after a difficult endgame being a pawn down with a Knight each and 5 pawns vs 6. I am sure the Chedd player missed one or two chances to win but had to agree the draw as as all pawns were eliminated while James was under big time pressure. With the match secure Chris Rhodes agreed a draw on board 1 when having just made a distinct gain.
The final score was 3-1 as Crewe retained the Perry Trophy.