Rice! Gardiner! Crewe CC crisis?

For the third year in a row, the springtime streets of Crewe had been buzzing with excitement, an excitement which built to a peak on 8 April 2025, the day of the NSDCA Open Cup final. Yes, for the third year running, the final was to feature Crewe CC, and their New Firm rivals, Alsager CC. Alsager won the coveted cup in 2023 at the Mal’s. Crewe won it in 2024 at St Mary’s. This year the final was held at Alsager Cricket Club.

As you know, I do like going to Alasager’s venue. I have never understood cricket but I do like a cricket club. There is a cosy bar. If you go when the nights are getting lighter you can have a pre-match look at the beautiful cricket pitch (is it pitch is it, field, park?). The bar was already filling up with fans when I got there. Some of the fans may have had one eye on the big screen, which was about to show the Champions League match between Arsenal and Real Madrid, which clashed with the main event. Alsager Chess Club are a very friendly bunch, and I would recommend that you check them out if you can; obviously, having said that, Crewe Chess Club is miles better.

The Crewe captain was delighted in being able to field 6 of the highest rated players in our club. Well, OK, 5 of the highest and the captain. Pre-match nerves were amplified when our star player, Richard, sent a message to say that he was going to be late. Jonathan Blackburn, his opponent, sportingly agreed to delay the start of their game, but y’know, it had me worried for a bit.

Alasger’s non-playing captain, Jon Blackburn, won the toss and declared that his son Jonathan would play white.

Boards 2 to 6 started off an the scheduled time. Silence, as usual, fell on the match room.

Alsager got the first point on the board. Lee, our board 2, was up against Simon Hood. Later in the bar Lee admitted that he wa improvising in response to Simon’s Taimanov. As I may have mentioned before, Simon is a strong player, and when given the chance he really stuck the boot in. Jonathan B has done an interesting Youtube video on the game, and I would recommed you have a look. North Staffs Chess league Open Cup Final

On board 5 we had a repeat of the league clash between Harry Gardiner and Alsager’s Tal disciple, Greg Cannon. Last time I sat next to these two during a game I kept having to duck as Greg threw material at Harry. Same thing happened again. At one point Harry seemed a bit baffled and he was using quite a lot of time, but he kept cool, hung on to the material, and when the dust settled Greg had to resign. Harry will, we hope, soon break the 2000 ECF grade barrier, as he continues to improve.

I had to play Alan Thomason; again. Yet again he showed that he knows his openings, and he had me under pressure with a Philidor. I was lucky, when the tacitcs turned in my favour he lost his queen for a rook and knight. Crewe took the lead. The fans in the bar were going nuts; though that could have been because of Declan Rice’s skills.

I did not see much of Kamil’s game, but he came back to form for the final, beating Julian Kirk-O’Grady. Bart had a advantage against John Booth, but as he could not see a clear win, and did not have much time left, he offered the draw. This made made sure of the team win. Crewe CC had won the cup.

The last game to finish was the last game to start, between the league’s top two players. Jonathan won a pawn and ground Richard down again.

Alsager CC 2.5 – Crewe CC 3.5.

Thanks to Alsager CC for hosting the event.

Crewe Open Cup winners 2025- (l/r) Bart, Martin, Richard, Harry, Lee (Kamil absent)

Stop Press: There is now a bit of a crisis developing at the Crewe CC. Last week Nigel’s team won the U1600 Cup at Kidsgrove to add to the collection, and I am really not sure where we are going to store the increasing pile of trophies we have won this season. Full list to follow.