Wednesday night saw the final rounds in divisions 1 and 2 of the Club Championships.
Top seed Bart Fajfer overcame junior Harry Gardiner to clinch division 1 of the Club Championship to finish a point clear of the field with 5 pts in the 6-round swiss competition. Harry was one of 3 other players in contention going into the last round and was handed the toughest task in the pairings. For much of the game the junior held his own until Bart’s superior endgame technique swung the game decisively. Simon Layhe held the No. 2 seed Karl Lockett to a draw to finish in second place with a score of 4, while four players finished with 3.5 pts – Karl, Harry, Rick Renegade and Doug Barnett (who only played 5 of the games).
In division 2, Nigel Gardner was already assured of at least a 1st place tie as had already completed the 9 games scheduled with a score of 6. Another junior was the only player who could catch Nigel’s tally, and Lukasz Michalek duly achieved the same score with a win in his last game against George Jellis to end in joint 1st place with Nigel. The competition was very close run with two players ending with 5.5 pts being Mike Keenan and secretary Les Hall. Several players could not get all their games in, and could have tied for the title if they had played all of them, as Kobus Nienaber finished on 4/7 with Adam Fields and Ben Harrison on 3/6.
Congratulations to Bart, Nigel and Lukasz.
In other news the south Cheshire Shield “A” team opened the summer campaign with a 2-2 draw at Alsager. Lukasz Michalek took advantage of a big grade discrepancy to win on board 4, while Dave Price drew on board 3, and Simon Layhe earned a good draw on top board against an opponent graded 21pts higher.
This week (Wednesday 26th June) is the club’s 5th Annual Time & Point Handicap which starts at 7.30pm. Please let David Hulme know in advance (if not already done so) if you wish to play in this event which aims to give every member a fair opportunity to win the competition via a Handicap system.