Author: David Hulme

Tonight saw the SCS “A” team win the South Cheshire Shield after a close encounter with our own SCS B team. First game to finish was on board 2 where Rick Renegade (“A” team) was held to a draw by Martin Gill. Chris Rhodes was first over the winning line for the As and followed later by junior Amy Lovatt keeping up a 100% record in the comp to ensure victory for the A team and clinching the Shield. Last game to finish was the bd 1 game where the B team’s Martin Frisher tasted success in his first match for some considerable time.

The B team played their penultimate SCS match at Alsager on Tuesday night and emerged as narrow winners 2.5 – 1.5. The win looked unlikely after the bottom two boards scored 1-1 with Nigel Gardner picking up our full point, leaving Martin Gill and David Hulme in play and both serious material down. Martin Gill managed a fortunate escape on board 2 as his opponent missed a sacrifice leading to either a bank rank mate for us or a Rook advantage. Meanwhile David Hulme was under the cosh on bd 1 and claimed a 2 minute penalty in desperation to avoid defeat. Even then he was very lucky to get a draw thanks to an Alsager spectator mentioning he hadn’t pressed his clock with only 6 seconds remaining. At this stage David was down to a King and pawn remaining against a King and two knights.

The result meant Crewe B went into their final game against Crewe A as joint leaders and the possibility of winning the Shield if they could repeat their previous derby victory. Alas it was not to be for the Bees as Crewe A cruised to the title with a match to spare !

Congratulations to Dave Price and his team and commiserations to Les Hall and the B team.

Our A team headed off to Newcastle last night to take on the league leaders. We emerged victorious and replaced the hosts at the top of the table following a narrow win by 2.5 to 1.5. The match was in the balance as John Day’s win for the hosts ensured the scores were level with just the top board left in play. Earlier junior Harry Gardiner had performed well to earn a draw on board 4 against his much higher graded opponent, and Chris Rhodes won his game on bd 3 against experienced opposition. The match was clinched as Rick Renegade created havoc on bd 1 putting the Newcastle player under much time pressure leading to an error that left a clear win.

The A team head the SCS table with 6 pts from 4 matches, while Newcastle have completed their schedule with 6 pts from 6, heading our B team on 4pts from 4 and Alsager with 2 pts from 4.

Next week sees the B team travel to Alsager who may throw a spanner in the works if they win both their remaining matches.

Full details can be accessed from the League Management Tab of the NSDCA website.

Three of our members headed off to West Brom this weekend to contest the Midland Minor Championship for players graded U130. Dave Price and Rick Renegade (playing his first ever congress) were ranked 6th and 7th at the outset with grades of 125 each, while Les Hall started as 38th seed out of a field of 47.

Rick faired best to finish with 3/5 with a performance of 115 having played the ultimate 3rd place player and another to finish joint 4th. Both Dave and Les will probably be a little disappointed with their final scores of 2/5 and 1/5 respectively.

The South Cheshire Shield B team again punched above their weight in their latest match at home to Alsager on Wednesday night. Despite being some 100 grading points adrift of the opposition they held on for an excellent draw to take them 2nd in the Shield Table and maintain the possibility of winning the comp. Despite a loss on top board the team managed a 2-2 draw as Les Hall continued his fine form from the British Congress with a draw on board 2, and Richard Hind continued his recent progress with a further draw on board 4. The highlight for the team was a second consecutive win for junior Harry Gardiner.

Meanwhile in the club’s summer Rapid-play tournament Neville Layhe extended his lead with two further wins as his closest challenger, Rick Renegade only managed one game with a draw.

Another busy night at the club on Wednesday saw 18 members in attendance with 12 playing in the club’s summer Rapid-play competition and completing 15 games. Neville Layhe leads the pack with 5.5/7, with David Hulme close behind on 5/7 and one of our recent recruits, Rick Renegade sitting in 3rd place with 5/8. Doug Barnett is next with 3.5/4 and many players have games in hand to make in roads on the leaders.

Next Wednesday sees visitors Alsager taking on our B team in the South Cheshire Shield.

 

Les Hall completed a superb series of results to finish joint 2nd in the British U120 championship. From being in the pack with 2/3 after Wednesday’s win, Les progressed even more in rounds 4 and 5 beating both of his opponents with grades of 109 and 115 to finish on a brilliant 4/5 trailing the outright winner by just half a point. His performance grade for the tournament is an outstanding 140, showing a massive improvement on his current grade of 84 – well done Mr Secretary !!

Meanwhile in the U100 tournament Les finished in line with his 19th place starting rank , ending up with 50% in a multiple tie for 20th position out of a field of 51 players.

 

Les Hall is busy flying the flag for Crewe CC at Llandudno this week. He is currently playing in both the U120 and U100 championships. After 3 rounds he has scored a superb 2 pts in the U120 beating stronger opponents, while picking up 1.5 pts in the U100.

Last weekend saw Les joined by Mart Gill in the U120 weekender tournament. Mart finished 10th= with 3/5 and Les finished 27th= on 50% performing well above his current grade out of a field of 68 players.

Les will have the company of Doug Barnett in this weekend’s Rapid-play.

Full details of all the tournaments including the British Championship can be seen at:

www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/

A full house at the AMAL Club watched with baited breath as the B team under-dogs blew open the South Cheshire Shield (SCS) title race with a stunning 3.5-0.5 win over the “A” team. First off the mark was Rich Hind on board 4 (grade 25) with a blistering king-side attack to blow away the defences of his 105 grade opponent to put the B team in a surprising lead. On board 3, junior Harry Gardiner played his most patient game of his youthful career to make it 2-0 for the Bees. On board 2 Nigel Gardner appeared under pressure before breaking the shackles and eventually making it 3-0 for the B team. It is likely these three wins for Rich, Harry and Nigel represent their personal bests. Only Neville Layhe with a draw against Martin Gill on top board prevented a whitewash. This news will put a spring in the steps of Newcastle players who lead the table.

Meanwhile there was a superb attendance at the club with 22 members present in total with some enjoying friendly games, newcomers getting to use “chess-clocks” for the first time, and a hand full of games played in the club’s summer Rapid-play tournament.

Next week sees the club with no SCS league fixture while the British Chess Congress takes place in Llandudno, North Wales.

Our “A” team played its second South Cheshire Shield match last night, hosting title favourites Newcastle. With skipper Dave Price absent (at the Wirral AGM) it was left to Les Hall to marshall the troops. The team line up remained the same as last week and there were wins for Neville Layhe (Bd 1), Chris Rhodes (bd 3) and another impressive result for junior Amy Lovatt (on bd 4) who beat an opponent graded 100, as the match concluded in a 3-1 success for us.

The “A” team’s next match is against our own “B” team before the vital return matches with Newcastle and Alsager.

Both of our SCS teams were in action last night, with the B team travelling to Newcastle after last week’s stunning draw, and the A team hosting Alsager.

This time the B team could not prevent Newcastle from winning as their higher graded team did the expected business, but only by the narrow margin of 2.5-1.5. A predictable draw between our Martin Gill and John Day on top board looked like being our only score until Nigel Gardner took advantage of his opponent forgetting to press the clock and winning on time.

The “A” team commenced their SCS campaign with a resounding 3.5-0.5 win. Neville Layhe secured a top board draw with the black pieces, while junior Amy Lovatt had an early convincing win on board 4 before Chris Rhodes ensured the team victory with another win on board 3. All eyes then fell on board 2, where Rick Renegade was making his debut for the club and produced a very solid middle game turning a one pawn advantage into an overwhelming two passed-pawns and duly won.

Next week sees the “A” team host top of the table Newcastle.