On Wednesday we had a trial run at playing chess safely
Only 8 players at anyone time and social distancing was maintained at all times
Harry and Rick Shaking hands
Using the clocks was fun but the game begins
After a serious game Harry was victorious
The night was a success and players are hoping we can continue.
34 players took part in the Newcastle Mini Congress last weekend and Crewe took a total of 9 players.
2 Players in the under 160 Karl and Doug
4 Players in the under 130 section Simon, Dave P, Les and Harry
3 Players in the under 100 section Lukasz, Ben and Phil
Ben had an impressive score in his first congress with 3 out of 5
Below Joint first in the under 130 section Harry Gardiner Simon Layhe and Les Hall all scoring 4 out of 5
Below Lukasz Michalek winner of the under 100 section at the with a fantastic 4.5 out of 5
Crewe Players from back left
Simon, Dave P, Nigel,Karl,Les, Ben,
Front Rich (non player ) Lukasz and Harry
For full results
Lukasz Michalek and Les Hall played for the under 100 County team at Leicester on Saturday. In view of the new grades, Lukasz got promoted up the board order to no 5 and I was demoted to board 7. After 6 boards staffs were 5_1 up, with both of us Crewe boys winning
For full results U100 results
Three players from Crewe travelled to Nottingham Rapid play congress over the weekend. Les had a tough day in the intermediate section. Doug had some tough games and ended with 2.5 out of 6. Neville ended with an impressive 3.5 out of 6
Don’t panic folks this is not about any illustrious gang of crooks, but a brief report on exploitsat the Shropshire Chess Congress for six of our regular congressers.Bart Fajfer took on the challenge of playing in the Open Section which included several GMsand IMs in the field 30. Bart chalked up a very useful 2pts from 5 games, to exceed his FIDE rating for the tournament and by my reckoning missed an extra half-point in round 4 when last to finish after a superb endgame fightback.Neville Layhe played in the Major section (U170) and was seeded near the bottom of the section. Final scores are unavailable at the time of writing and had scored a very decent 1.5/4 going into the final round, playing the ubiquitous Huddersfield based Bob Clegg (grade 163).Our best performers were Doug Barnett and Simon Layhe both scoring 3/5 in the Intermediate section. Chris Rhodes had a super Sunday to claw his way to 50% with two wins, and Les Hall mustered a half point with all of his opponents being 25-40 grade points higher.
Crewe Chess Club held it’s first Rapid play congress at the IBIS Hotel
The event had 4 sections and a total of 82 players took part
Open Section
Winner Mike J Surtees 5.5 out of 6
Second place was IM Lawrence Cooper 5 out of 6
Third was Jonathan LB Blackburn 4.5 out of 6.
The grading prize was won by Colm Buckley
Major Section
Winner Oleg Cukovs 5.5/6
Second John Hall 5/6
Third Richard Szwajkun 4/6.
The grading prize was won by Micheal Owen 3.5/6.
Intermediate Section
Joint Winners David Pickup and Karl Lockett both 5/6.
Joint third place was Michael J Fisher and Andrew Townsend both 4.5/6.
The grading prize was won by Philip Shaugnessy 3/6.
Minor Section
Joint Winners Nick D Holmes and Simon Layhe with 5/6.
Joint Third Andrew Beswick and Terry Sulivan 4.5/6.
The grading prize was shared between Richard Bohm and Stuart Hamilton
This week Crewe took on cheddleton twice. The first game was at home Under 130 Cup.It was a hard fought match on all boards. It could have gone either way at various times. A particularly impressive performance by Amy who continues her great performance. Crewe won 3 – 2 We will now face Newcastle in the Intermediate Cup Final on Wednesday 11th April.
Our Division 4 team Crewe D took a trip to Chedddleton to play the top team in division 4.This time we were not so lucky and lost to Cheddleton 2.5 – 1.5
Wednesday, Crewe hosted 3 teams all captained by Dave P the Under 150 Cup, E team and F team.
Crewe faced Newcastle in the U150 cup, Board 3 was the first to finish and no surprises as Doug and John agreed a draw. Board 1 fell to Newcastle and shortly after Dave P was happy with a draw. Newcastle secured the win after a draw on board 5. Nev played on but after a long game a blunder gave Newcastle 3.5-1.5 win
Crewe E played against Meir C and and as always fought hard. Amy had another good win. Chris was the last to finish and a very good game to watch but despite his efforts the team only managed a draw as Meir C being the first team to steal a point from Crewe E.
Crewe F faced Cheddleton G. Thanks to Josh who played his first game for our F team. Tough games all round for our team and we only managed 2-2 draw. But it was nice to see Harry use his time wisely and secured a good win on board 2.
Monday our F team played against Meir B.
Les was the first to fall in super quick time and was checkmated in only 16 moves!
Board 3 was next to fall, then Captain Dave P secured our teams first win of the night. All eyes on board 2 Simon, the game could have easily fallen in favour of Meir but Simon fought on and his win meant a 2-2 draw.
Wednesday was another busy night at the mal’s with the B team playing against Kidsgrove and our C team against Fenton C. It was great results for both teams the B team had a convincing win 3-1. The C team went one better and won 4-0
For those of you waiting for the January grades they are now out
Well done to all the players who’s grades have improved
Amy has jumped from 83 – 118
Harry Gardiner moved from 31-76
See player list for all grade changes.