There were 24 people at the club last Wednesday which included two visiting the club for the first time. With no league matches this week or scheduled tournaments some members were paired up to play games as part of the club’s internal winter competition. In addition there were plenty of friendly games going on
In Division 1 the game between Lukasz and Neville had a slightly quicker time limit as Lakasz needed to catch a train, it ended in a relatively quick draw. However a second Division 1 game between Dave Lambton and Martin Burns went the full distance and was last to finish on the night. With Dave managing to secure two extra connected passed pawns on the queenside Martin had to resign.
In Division 2 George Bulbeck managed to beat Steve Balantyne in a close encounter and in Division 2 Joe Hignett playing white beat Mathew Dean in a sharp game with both players having various attacks.
Next week sees the long awaited start of the North Staffs League and Crewe have 4 teams competing throughout the week, two of these are on the Wednesday so next week’s club night might be slightly quieter than usual. Its good to see league matches back as for most members this will be the first time they have played members from other clubs since before the covid lockdown. Hopefully Crewe members will have an advantage over some of those from other clubs as they will not have played any competitive chess during this period