A couple of weeks ago, some of our members ventured over the hills to Yorkshire, for the Leeds Congress. Guess what? Carmel only went and won the open section! Her recent victory in the Les Hall Memorial meant that she has won every open competition in our club, but this is her first win in a weekend congress open. I think, and unusally Mr Secretary agrees with me, that this is the first time any Crewe CC player has won an open. Well done Carmel; may it be the first of many.
When Bobby Fischer won the 1964 US Chess Cchampionsip with a score of 11/11 people were pretty impressed. A few years ago, a prize fund of $64000 was set up, to be awarded to the first player to repeat the feat of winning the championship with a 100% score. I thought it would be a good idea to offer £6.40 to anyone who wins the Crewe CC Open Championship with a 100% score. Harry was on 4/4, and looking good, but on Tuesday night he had to face Andy Raeburn. Andy is in great form and held Harry to a draw. Keep the day job Harry. £6.40 will be carried over to next year.
Phl Grocott continues his fast start in Division 3 of the Club Championship, and is now on 4/4. This year we have a 5th (yup 5th) division of the individual championship, which is currently being lead by one of our newer members, Barry Wood, on 4/5.
Chess players, like many athletes, can be a bit superstitious. Some players like to boost their chances of success by bringing a lucky pen to the board. Mario has taken this to the next level; he sticks to the same beautiful pen, but after losing on Tuesday he tells me he is going to change the ink, see picture below.
As is normal at this time of year we had a few league matches going in the main room. One match that caught my eye was Crewe E v Crewe F. There was an age gap of more than 70 years between Crewe E’s youngest and oldest player. The board 1 pairing was the battle of the 13 year olds, Oskar and Jamie, Jamie was on top for most of the game but blundered a rook in the blitz finish. We all know that feeling. Crewe F won the match.
Crewe D beat Newcastle, 4-0. It was not as easy as the result suggests though; Simon, top board for the D’s, had to defend patiently for hours until he got his breakthrough. A very young Crewe L lost 0-4 to Holmes Chapel C, but our juniors will only get better.
Late news; last night Crewe A scraped a draw against Alsager. It could have been worse, their clever team captain took them to the wrong venue. Message to captains; always read your emails.
A band of Crewe CC players are heading off to play in the fabulous Scarborough Chess Congress this weekend; we wish them well.
Stay tuned.