Author: David Hulme

Just a note to remind all members that the AGM will start at 7.30pm on Tuesday.

This should be followed by a team Blitz Event where teams will be arranged on the night based on whoever wishes to join in – and should be a lot of fun.

The last two weeks of July has seen both of our SCS teams in action. League leaders (our “A” team) had a nervy win over Alsager on 23rd July with draws on the top three boards Jules H (board 1), Pawel (2) and Jamie (3). The key result came on board 4 as Phil Grocott brought home the bacon at the death.

The B team had a significant rating advantage over Meir on the 23rd and duly won 3-1 thanks to victories by Finn, Richard and Nigel. On the 30th the B team made the short trip to Alsager and emerged again with a 3-1 win to strengthen our hold on the top two league positions. George Bowkett and Joe won on top two boards and backed up by draws from Ebube and Gerald.

The “A” team are now strong favourites to win the SCS with a perfect 8 pts from 4 matches, with 3 matches remaining. The Bees have helped by taking points off other clubs and currently sit second in the table on 7 pts from 5 games.

Tuesday 16th saw the 3rd annual challenge for the WC Trophy, as Wallasey pulled out all the stops to bring 22 players, as the 23rd fell foul with a car breakdown en-route. The St Mary’s Centre provided a superb setting with 27 boards set up in the main playing hall, and another dozen in the coaching & analysis room. The scene was set as the packed venue contained around 70 players and supporters with the match commencing at approx 7.45.

It was a joy to see so many players in action, with teams arranged within a total difference of just 38 points over the 22 boards to try and give both clubs a fair chance of success. Crewe’s chairman Dave Price even managed to set up a live score card from the LMS linked up to a large TV screen so everyone could see the latest score as the match progressed.

It was over an hour before the first results started to roll in, and it was soon apparent how close the match would be as there was never more than a point or two between the team scores – nothing like the landslide election result.

After last year’s comfortable win for Crewe was instigated by scoring 8.5pts from the top 10 boards, this year was the reverse as Wallasey outgunned the hosts by notching up 6.5 pts from the top 10. The middle and lower boards were shared more evenly but the trophy was secured for Wallasey only when the 21st game was completed to edge their score to 11.5 pts at just before 10.30 with the final game finishing at 10.35.

See the match card on the LMS for the full scorecard. Crewe 10.5 vs Wallasey 11.5 This was Wallasey’s first win in the Annual Challenge, after Crewe won the first two matches.

To celebrate this annual challenge, the hosts provided a superb buffet and free drinks to ensure everyone was well fuelled in the travelling contingent having made the 45 mile trek in 9 different cars setting off from Wallasey at around 6 o’clock.

After the match concluded Wallasey captain Alan Kelly was presented with the (infamous) WC Trophy before photographs were taken of the whole successful Wallasey team – see picture above.

As is now customary the losing skipper was then presented with the remains of a toilet roll by the victorious captain.

All in all it was a fantastic night and a brilliant effort by Wallasey to bring 22 players (raised from 14 last year and 8 the year before). The atmosphere was amazing as everyone played the games in a really sporting and friendly manner befitting two large and successful clubs, with much banter before, during and after the match.

After the presentation Crewe laid down the challenge for next year with the intention of trying to take 30 players to Wallasey. Thanks were given to both captains for arranging such an enjoyable evening, and especially for the travelling Wallasey squad.

Tuesday (9th) saw a big increase in numbers at the St Mary’s with over 40 members in attendance after two weeks of lesser. The main action was in the 1st round of the Open Knockout as 12 of the 16 players slugged it out. There were wins for No 1 seed Richard Lee, No 4 Bart Fajfer, No. 5 Cyrus Pereira and No.9 Gee Cross. Meanwhile there were two shocks as last years finalists and club champions (Harry and Carmel) got dumped out by underdogs David Hulme and Martin Frisher. In the Major KO, Oskar won the Armageddon with George Bowkett. The Intermediate KO saw wins in (the preliminary) Round 1 for Nathan Fourie and Tim Weston as last years U1600 winner Julian Bulbeck edged through after an Armaggedon battle. Mike Keenan drew with George Jelliss in the first of the 2nd round games, with the Armageddon set for next week.

Tonight (Thursday 11th) has seen our South Cheshire B team held to a 2-2 draw with Kidsgrove. Joe Moxon and Kobus won on the top two boards, while Kidsgrove succeeded on boards 3 & 4.

Next week is expected to be an exciting club night as we host the annual WC Challenge. This year Wallasey have pulled out the stops and so far arranged for 23 players to make the 45 mile trip from Wallasey to compete for the trophy. This will be the 3rd match in the series, with Crewe holding the upper hand with two previous victories. The current plan shows a difference of just 6 points between the two teams ratings, based on 1st July issued by the ECF.

Next Wednesday (17th), is the North Staffs AGM held at Meir’s new venue. If anyone is keen (or mad) enough to wish to attend please let chairman Dave Price know.

For future reference, our own AGM is to be held on Tuesday 6th August and the secretary will issue the Agenda and Reports in due course. These will be sent to all 78 members shown on the website players list. The meeting should last less than an hour, before we have a Blitz event for all those interested.

After last weekend’s busy and successful congress with over 30 of our members in action, it was a relatively quiet night at St. Mary’s on Tuesday with 29 members attending plus our visitors from Kidsgrove as the majority had a little break from chess.

Despite the lower numbers, there was much to enjoy. The main event was our “A” team hosting Kidsgrove in the South Cheshire Shield, while the last game was played in the club championship 23/24 competition and the first game was played in the Summer knockout.

The “A” team had a narrow win 2.5-1.5, with Pawel and Phil winning on boards 2 and 4 with the white pieces and George Bulbeck getting the only points with black in the match with a draw on board 1.

Wednesday we had both our teams in action with the “A” team at Meir’s new venue and the “B” team at Newcastle.

The “A” team had a comfortable win 3.5-0.5 with wins from Julian Hawthorne (bd 1), Pawel (bd 2) and Jamie (bd 3), while captain Steve settled for the draw. Having played 3 matches in 8 days, the “A” team have made a 100% start and lead the table by 2pts at this early stage of the summer season.

The “B” team came away from The Bridge Club in Newcastle with the match secured after a 3-1 success. Nigel captained the team (as Dave Price had a rare night off) and led the way with a win on bd 2. George Bowkett and Kobus also did the business in the 3-1 win.

Crewe’s 7th (Long play) Congress took place over the weekend 28-30 June at the superb Mornflake Stadium, home of Crewe Alex FC.

Our club made up over 15% of the 199 players involved, with members in each of the four sections (Open, Major U1950, Inter U1700, Minor U1450). The Congress Committee had set a maximum limit of 200 players which had been met nearly 4 weeks before the start date, but with late withdrawals found ourselves one short.

With over 30 club members in the Congress there was hope of a few prize winners – with 17 up for grabs.

As it turned out we had just one prize winner – the only player in the whole congress to score 100% – 12 year old Oskar Jarzynski, who was ranked 45th out of 70 players in the Intermediate section. Each opponent was rated much higher than Oskar, with the Swiss Manager Program showing a performance rating of 2421 for the event !

Congratulations to Oskar.

There are three sections this year, with 16 members in the Open and Major and over 20 players in the Intermediate competitions. Please check the 2024 Summer section on the LMS. The draws can be seen by following the website links via

1. Fixtures + Tables
2. Internal Comps
3. 2024 Summer

1st round games in the Open and Major to be played by 31st July. For the Intermediate section there are 1st and 2nd round games to be played by 31st July due to the extra numbers involved.

The draws for later rounds have already been done with pairings shown in the Notes/comments for each round

Tuesday 25th June saw England advance in the Euros, so a quiet night at St Mary’s was anticipated. Following our record attendance of 49 last week we were reduced to 29 players to see the climax of the Club Championship.

Division 3 had already been secured by 12 year old Jamie Roberts in his first full season at the club. With a score of 9.5/11, the key to success was a crucial win over 2nd placed Mike Keenan who finished with a very impressive 9/11. Pete Kanalos exceeding expectations (scoring 8/11) was 3rd.

Division 2 saw the long awaited final night with three players in contention with the last two games taking place. Joint leaders Dave Price and James Coney with 6pts each went head to head knowing the winner would be champion. The other game saw Richard Fish playing Julian Bulbeck in the knowledge that a win for Richard would be enough to win on tie-break if the top two drew. Chairman Dave played solidly and blew open James’ defences with a central pawn push that led to a pawn advantage that ultimately proved too much and secured Dave the vital win to become champion – his first trophy at the club after 10 years at the helm. Richard was held to a draw to finish joint second on 6pts.

Congratulations to Dave and Jamie who will collect their trophies at the forthcoming AGM.

Tuesday also saw our two teams face each other in their first matches of the South Cheshire Summer Shield (for teams of 4 with maximum total rating 6000). The “A” team had a slight advantage in rating terms based on the January grades used in the Summer Shield. Steve Ballantyne (SCS “A” team captain) predicted a close match and this was certainly the way it turned out. First to finish was a draw between our two 12 year old stars – Jamie and Oskar on board 2. On board 1 Neville’s experience and better knowledge of the opening gained the initiative which George Bowkett could not prevent, to give Nev the full point for the “As”. Nathan Fourie (B team) held the higher rated Phil Grocott to a draw to leave the match in the balance. Another youngster playing for the B team Finn Charbonneau, pushed Doug Barnett into another long fought draw to conclude the match 2.5-1.5 in favour the As.

Last night was yet another superb night for the club as the final rounds (No 5 & 6) took place in both of our Annual Swiss Rapidplay competitions.

There was a record attendance of club members with 49 in total, comprising 46 players, 1 controller and 2 members playing social chess.

Firstly looking at the Open rated section, we had 6 players who started the night in the joint lead on 3 out of 4 pts as reported in last week’s News Item. Only two of the six managed to win in Round 5 with Martin Burns and Cyrus Pereira being successful, while defending champion Carmel Barwick could only draw with Martin Frisher to leave them both on 3.5pts together with Andy Raeburn. So the scene was set with Martin B playing Cyrus in a winner takes all clash on board 1, while Martin F, Carmel and Andy hoped the top board would produce a draw to allow them to all potentially finish on 4.5 pts. However Martin Burns held his nerve to beat Cyrus and emerge as the sole winner with the only unbeaten record in the competition of four wins and two draws. Carmel finished as runner-up after her win in the final round, to end on 4.5 pts.

Turning attention to the U1600 event, 12 year old Jamie Roberts started the night as the leader with 3.5pts, with five players just behind on 3pts. Jamie won his game in Round 5 to maintain his lead as James Marshall won to stay on his tail just half a point behind, and Finn Charbonneau also won to move into 3rd place on 3.5pts. As Jamie had played James in an earlier round this meant Jamie would play Finn in the final round, with these three now the only possible winners. James played Julian Bulbeck on board 2 and came unstuck to finish on 4pts meaning Jamie needed just a draw to win the competition, while Finn needed a win to catch Jamie and then see how the tie break would work. In a cracking game Finn built up a ferocious King side attack that put Jamie deep in time trouble. Under pressure Jamie sacked a piece, but Finn kept his head to set up a mating attack after his own piece sacrifice and win the game. With Jamie and Finn both finishing on 4.5 pts, the tie break of Direct Encounter worked in favour of Finn to leave him as the winner.

Congratulations to Martin and Finn who will be awarded their trophies at the forthcoming AGM, with their names now added to the Club website’s Honours List.

Last night was another fantastic club night as we held Rounds 3 and 4 of our Annual Rapidplay competition. This year due to the growth of the club we decided to hold two separate sections – one as Open Rated and one for players rated Under 1600. There are 21 members in the Open section and 29 in the U1600.

The competition is being held later in the season than previous years due to the NSDCA League/Cup fixtures, with dates fixed as 21st May for the two opening rounds and the final rounds (5 & 6) taking place next Tuesday (18th June).

Several players have been allowed to take byes during the opening two nights, receiving a half-point bye for any round missed which allows youngsters to play the first round of the night, so as not to interfere with school programs and exams. However there are no byes available for Rounds 5 & 6.

Firstly looking at the Open section we have a pile up of 6 players on 3pts after 4 rounds, with two more just a half point behind. There have been plenty of surprise results as the No1 seed has dropped two points already. The leading pile up comprises Kamil, Cyrus, Carmel, Martin B, Karl and surprise contender Martin Frisher. Just behind these are Andy R and Ebube who has excelled having already played two of the joint leaders. Our promising youngster (not), Doug Barnett was delighted to take the scalp of tournament controller David Hulme, with his first ever win against David after nearly 10 years at the club !

Turning attention to the U1600 section, we have (a real youngster) 12 year old Jamie Roberts leading the way with 3.5 pts, ahead of a chasing pack on 3pts which includes several of the expected trophy chasers – Nigel, Adam, James M and newcomer George Bowkett, and surprise package Mario. With another five players on 2.5 pts it promises to be a tense and tight fight next week, although George is out of the contest due to being back at Cardiff Uni.

In the likelihood of tie-breaks being required to determine the two section winners the controller has decided these will be as follows. If the TB does not produce a winner then trophies will be awarded to all joint winners

1. Direct Encounter – if just two players involved then their result dictates. And if more than two players involved, it is necessary that all have played each other and the highest scorer from these games is the winner. Otherwise this TB cannot be used.
2. Number of wins – this means 4 wins is better than 3 wins and 2 draws etc
3. Sum of the opponents scores if all played same number of games
4. Average of all opponents scores if played different number of games.

Thanks to Steve who kindly acted as the Results marker.

Below is a photo from the night showing 44 players in action.