Category: News

Crewe CC continues to grow, and readers of this stuff will know that this year we have entered two teams into the NSCDA Open Cup. On Thursday the Cup B team had an away trip to face the mighty Alsager . You remember the last time I went to Alsager; we went to the wrong venue? Anyway this time we got to the Thirteen Club in good time. We headed for the usual room, and then I had a moment of panic; there were no chess sets to be seen, the lighting was down low, and a stage was being kitted out with musical instruments. Surely not; had I done it again? My panic was over when a genial chap came over and asked “chess or jazz?” When I declared the purpose of our visit he pointed us to a back room. Phew!

Quick observers quickly observed that Alsager were missing a few of their players, but they still looked pretty decent over the 6 boards. I settled down against Alan, my usual foe whenever we play Alsager, and I slipped into my usual opening difficulties. Then the band started up. Maybe twenty five years ago I was coerced into going to a jazz club in London, and I recall that every time a musician completed a complicated solo routine there was a ripple of applause from the audience; I also recall that the drink prices were very ambitious. The jazz experts at Thirteen Club behaved in the same manner as on that evening from long ago, but the bar prices were more reasonable than in London. I was enjoying myself, in spite of my troubles against Alan.

Anyway, after a bit I went for a shufty at the other boards; we were all seated individually around the edge of the room, with a snooker table in the middle. The games were all looking pretty even, but when I got to Jamie’s board I nearly had to do a double take; Jamie, playing the experienced Tim, seemed to be all in for a mating attack after about 10 moves. The game finished shortly after and we were 1-0 up.

I had dropped a pawn but was in a decent position, and Alan offered me a draw. I thought about it for a bit but then decided, safety first, and I accepted. Next game to finish was Oskar, who I thought was doing well, so it was a surprise when he told me he had lost; 1.5-1.5.

Other boards were looking decent enough, but something was brewing on board one. Young James, who is improving fast, was having a lively game against Jonathan, who is by far the best player in the league. James was an exchange down but his bishop pair was looking more than enough compensation, and he had a big time advantage. Jonathan was trying to make things awkward, but the crowds started nudging each other, as an upset looked more and more likely. I have to say that James tidied up very nicely and was two bishops for a rook up when his opponent resigned. A fantastic result for James, I think his best ever, and pretty handy for the Crewe team.

When Andy agreed a draw with Isaac it meant we were guaranteed a surprise match win. Gee was a pawn down in an ending, and John gradually ground out the win, to make the match score 3-3, but we had won on board count.

It was great to see that Alsager CC seems to be thriving and has found a pleasant second home; there were even people playing chess in the bar area. Thanks also to the excellent jazz band, I have played in all sorts of venues, with all sorts of background noise, but this was pretty good.

There is a strange twist to this tale. I got home and the jungle drums had been beating already. I had a few messages congratulating us; our Cup A team were especially chuffed, as they were a bit wary of having to play Alsager. Then a message came in; we had been penalised one point for fielding a team in an “incorrect” board order. Unusually for me I had actually read the rules and we played our team in playing strength acording to the published rules on the NSDCA website. There has been some hot debate since, and the situation is yet to be resolved. We have the ridiculous situation where the records show Alsager won the match 3-2, but Crewe are through to the next round! I will leave it there, but if you see me in a corner going on with myself, feel free to tell me to shut up.

Stay tuned.

This was a closely fought match against Alsager C. Douglas drew first blood with a win on board 3. Nev followed shortly afterwards with a draw on board 1.

I held a clear advantage on board 4 until a blunder turned the game around and led to my defeat. That left the score at 1½– 1½, with everything depending on Pawel’s game on board 2.

Pawel had built a very solid position with plenty of trumps up his sleeve, but he was desperately short of time. When his clock dropped below 30 seconds, he found some excellent moves to improve his position still further. His opponent, feeling completely stuck, offered a draw, which Pawel accepted (with just 1 second remaining on his clock!).

This hard-earned draw saved us from defeat and secured a 2 – 2 team result. Overall, a tense but satisfying draw against strong opposition.

It’s time for my monthly report again as February finished just yesterday. As usual I will report on the League first and then the Internal Competitions. Despite it being the shortest month of the year we managed to play 23 matches in the NSDCA, winning a superb 15 out of 21 external matches with 2 draws and just 4 defeats. Two derbies also took place, with the G team beating the H team in div 3 and F beating D to go into pole position in div 2.
We’ve recently had two heavenly reports from captains of our A & G teams, but there is so much more to sing about as our D team now lead div 2 (temporarily), and the Incredibles (I team) lead div 4.

It seems there is no stopping Alsager “A” running away with the division 1 title. All of the potential challengers have beaten up each other to leave Alsager almost home and dry. So far Alsager have only dropped one point against our “A” team, while all others have dropped at least 7 pts. With 4 of Alsager’s last 5 matches against Crewe teams, we will have to see if we can possibly derail their title aspirations. Hopefully all of our three teams can avoid relegation, with the C team in greatest danger but should be good enough to stay ahead of the league’s new arrivals – Northwich.

Division 2 currently shows Crewe D at the top, but our F team are probably favourites following their recent crucial “derby success” against the D team. On a run of 5 successive wins the F team have two games in hand on the league leaders and trail by just one point. This division is so competitive that even 6th placed Cheddleton “A” (7 pts adrift, 3 games in hand) could win promotion if other results went in their favour and they won all remaining games. Stafford also have two games in hand on the leaders trailing by two points and with matches to play against the top two have it in their own hands as well. Crewe “E” sit comfortably in midtable and potentially have the easiest run in with four games to play against the bottom three.

Division 3, shows the G team gloriously in pole position for now under the enthusiastic leadership of Super Mario. Recently they extinguished the only 100% record accross all five divisions when beating then league leaders Holmes Chapel “B” with an excellent performance. However as Mario reported it is only a temporary state of affairs as the lead is only one point and Holmes Chapel have three games in hand. That surprise result has opened the door to a challenge from Cheddleton B, with these two to play each other twice yet. Our other team in div 3, Crewe H face a relegation battle which is unsurprising following last season’s promotion from div 4. A run of two wins from three games since the turn of the year has given the team hope of survival. Now with 5 pts from 9 matches, they face a tough run in, but have two matches to play against Alsager D who also have 5 from 9. Kidsgrove “A” will be watching nervously with 6 pts from 10 as these three battle it out to avoid relegation.

Looking at division 4, The Incredibles (I team) have performed heroics to give themselves an outstanding chance to win an unlikely promotion. Led from the front by skipper Steve Ballantyne the team continues to punch above its weight. With two matches remaining it is now a two horse race between Crewe I and Cheddleton C, with our Incredibles one point ahead. Both teams have played 10 matches and have it in their own hands to secure the Div 4 trophy with the potential title decider on Friday 20th March at Cheddleton. This week Chedd C play Gables B and will leapfrog the I team with any win, but a draw leaves Crewe I ahead on matches won !! Meanwhile the draw specialists (J team) netted a further 3 pts from 3 matches in Feb, suffering their first defeat of the season at Kidsgrove (B), before winning at the 10th attempt. Normal service was resumed in match 11 with their 9th draw of the season and they conclude the season at home on 10th March facing a rejuvenated Fenton team strengthened by the return of Steve Hill (rated 1798 !!).

Our two teams in Div 5 (K&L) have performed extremely well when you consider these are Crewe’s 11th and 12th teams, playing against other clubs much higher teams such as Meir’s 1st team, Chedd’s 4th, Holmes Chapel’s 3rd, and Gables 3rd and 4th. Our two teams are near the foot of the league, but the priority is simply to give league chess opportunity to as many members as possible. The L team comprises entirely juniors with an average age under 12 as previously reported.
We pride ourselves on the fact that we have had 72 members playing in the NSDCA so far this season which can only help promote the wonderful game in the North Staffordshire region.

They say that nothing lasts forever… but, boy, let’s celebrate it while it lasts!
Crewe G is in pole position!

I know, I know. It will change as soon as the other teams complete their game, but still, our position doesn’t look bad at all.

Last week we’ve beaten Holmes Chapel B. Yes, you read correctly: the same Holmes Chapel B that won every single game of the season… until last week. Their combined rating was 600 points higher than ours and yet we delivered a surprisingly solid victory. And the most surprised of all was me, managing (God knows how) to beat an opponent rating 1600 with my 1350!
I was runnig out of time and ideas, then I remembered reading somewhere that Bobby Fischer sacrificed a rook and another major piece to gain positional advantage that led him to victory… so I thought “if it worked for him there was no reason why it shouldn’t work for me”. How very humble of me… but it did work beautifully indeed: I gave away my rook but I could use my bishops to pin all other pieces like a voodoo doll. You can see the game here.

Tonight we played against Gables A and delivered another victory. Thanks to Nev, who took all their fire power on himself in board 1, leaving the rest of us with manageable opponents. In our previous game against them, we lost 2^1/2 – 1^1/2 and today the match had the very same score, but this time we were the winning team. Do they call it Karma?

Apparently it can cost “$50k to $100k” to go on a trip up Everest; I think the higher end is for those who plan to come back alive. For just £30 you could get an annual membership at Crewe Chess Club; oxygen thrown in for free; highs and lows guaranteed.

Pictured above are 2 intrepid members of the Crewe A team, as they enjoy the view from the summit of the NSDCA league table; read on for details.

After a narrow victory at Holmes Chapel last week, this Tuesday Crewe A hosted Macclesfield. The Macclesfield team seem a pleasant bunch, but beneath this exterior lurks a mean team, who have had a successful return to the first division this season. Bart got us off to a good start with a win but then the team captain, having stumbled out of a rubbish opening into a decent position, promptly blundered the game away. Harry got a draw so the result was all left with Jamie.

Followers of this site will already know that Jamie had a great weekend in Blackpool, winning his first weekender , the Blackpool u1850. He returned to the club to a hero’s welcome, but the pressure was back on him again. He confused his opponent in the opening, going a pawn up, then an exchange up. I liked the way he converted this, using the classic “swap one advantage for another” principle. Jamie is on a great run and secured the match win for us. This took us to the top of the league, where we may, or may not, still be, at the time of writing.

Crewe B were in action on Tuesday too. After whitewashing Crewe C a couple of weeks ago they faced Holmes Chapel. Carmel and Jim won their games to win the match 3-1. Good to see Jim returning to the club and getting back into the beautiful game again.

There was some action in the internal competitions too,with the last game to finish a typically wacky effort from Mario. Mario was a piece and 3 pawns down in a blitz finish against Steve B, but one mighty pawn prevailed against all. Blitz eh?

Elsewhere this week the D team beat Newcastle to stay in the second division promotion fight. If a Crewe team gets promoted, could we have 4 teams in the top division? Could Mr Secretary cope with the logistics of this? Who knows?

I should also mention that Captain Weston lead the H team to a win against The Gables.

The E and J teams travel into Staffordshire tonight; good luck to them.

It’s all go.

Stay tuned.

Another great result from Dads Army + Mario against our nearest rivals 2.5 – 1.5

Cheddleton took first blood with a quick win on Board 1 0-1. I was pleased to hear the confidence in Keith’s voice when his young opponent offered him a draw, it was a resounding Nooo. Keith went on to win 1-1. on Board 3 at 9pm there were no pieces taken, 5 minutes later and Phil accepted a draw after looking at my game 1.5 – 1.5. I was a minor piece up but 30 minutes down on time. It was a huge relief when i eventually won 2-5 – 1.5

Mario once again stepped in for Alan and took the brunt on Board 1, if i’m correct his opponent has won all of his games so far. Thanks Mario it enables the rest of the team to have a fighting chance. Great team play from Phil to accept the draw offer.

We had a great win last night against Alsager 0-4

First to finish was myself on Board 1 just after 8.30. Just before 9 pm Mario won on board 2 with a good solid display to make it 0-2. Phil had a shaky start but a mistake by Jess enabled Phil to capture a \rook. He took full advantage and played well to win quite comfortably 0-3. Keith on board 4 had all eyes on him for about 45 minutes, i can’t imagine the pressure he was under being watched by both teams. He played a very solid game to wear his opponent down 0-4 Well played Keith. Thanks to Mario for filling in for Alan and being our driver on the night.

The Incredibles are temporarily top of the league but Cheddleton have 2 games in hand. We have to play them twice in our remaining 3 games. They are the strongest team by far in Div 4, they out grade us by 600+ points. The question is do i enrol the help of the big guns from Crewe to win the league ie Harry, Gee or Jamie, or do i stick with the fab four. My team and Dave Hulme know what i will do.

Mario deserves a special mention. He has now gone more than 3 months without losing, 11 games in total. It coincides with the ink change in his pen. When you play me in the internal division 3 Mario don’t be surprised if your pen goes missing.

Apologies for the late composure of this note as February has already kicked off with about 10 games played last night, on top of the 3 league matches. I am increasingly awestruck as the club grows in popularity as underlined last night. We had 58 of our members at the club (including several potential newbies) even when many of the regular juniors were absent.

Starting with the top section – division 1 – and the potential Club Champion. It seems Harry is determined as ever to retain the prestigious title as he continues on his merry way. His dominance is highlighted with his current score of 8/9 (unbeaten again so far) being way ahead of second place – Andy Raeburn on 4.5/9. It seems everyone is determined to help Harry as we keep taking points off each other. The only exceptions to this are Carmel (2/2) and returning member Jim Grange (1.5/2), but it is difficult to see how they can catch the runaway leader. The scrap to avoid relegation currently has the original No.1 seed at the bottom of the pack – showing how competitive this tournament has become !

Division 2 sees George Bulbeck leading the way as he attempts to improve on last season’s 3rd position to try and regain his spot in the 1st division. George has a narrow advantage (4/5) over 2nd place Kumar (3.5/5). With five of the 13 players having only played one game, they will find increasingly difficult to catch up. The bottom of the table sees last season’s 3rd division promoted player yet to notch up any points, showing the jump in standards/rating between the sections.

In division 3 Phil Grocott maintains the lead with a superb 6.5/7 and a current tourney rating of 1687. H team captain Tim Weston is his closest rival with 4.5/6 just ahead of Mal Green 4/6 and Steve Ballantyne 4/7. Three players sit at the foot of the table with only 1/2 point on the scoreboard to date, so there is likely to be a lot of tension in the run-in. With Pete Kanalos not seen at the club for some time they all need to overtake his single point to be safe.

Division 4 continues to be led by two of our summer recruits. Simon Humphries with 7/9 is being chased by Sam Ollier 6/7, with Sam having the upper hand due to his win in the head to head. Gerald Parton with 5.5/8 has yet to play Sam so their game could be vital in deciding who wins the division. Youngster Jack Patullo is the only player to defeat Sam so far and with 4/6 could yet feature in the promotion race. Based on current ratings the leading 4 players in this division are all higher rated than 6 of the Div 3 players, so there will likely be a sizeable restructure at the end of this season in addition to the automatic promotion/relegation places.

Division 5 continues to provide a solid grounding for newcomers to the club. Having started with 13 players it has now expanded to 17. Barrie Wood another of our Summer recruits has dominated this section until recently. With 11/15 and just one more game scheduled, there will be an anxious wait to see if anyone can catch him. 2nd placed Andrew Caccamo has returned to the club after a year out and is closing the gap now having scored 8/10 with Mayank Patil hot on Andrew’s heels in 3rd place (6/8) and yet to play Andrew. Several other players have only dropped a couple of points so could easily appear as contenders, but have played many less games than Barrie. Most pleasing is watching the number of members joining in this competition with most recent additions being Jasper Ludlow, Richard Berrisford, Jo Estridge and Wallace Hung.

Over the last 3 weeks of January we had average attendances of 56 members, plus visting teams ensuring there is always lots going on at the club. The latest count shows we now have 84 members with a possible 10 more in the pipeline having visited the club since 1st January !!

Yesterday, Crewe G had a triumphant night, beating Crewe H 4-0! In fairness, as a team we were rated some 400 points higher, which is very unusual considering we are normally rated at least 200 points lower than our opponents…

I was concentrating on my game on board 4 and glanced every now and then at board 3. The game seemed even, with the queens chasing each other around an island of pawns, but next time I watched , I saw that both queens were still on the board… but they were both white! Board 1 had already secured a victory before anyone could realise it and my game was also a success (of course, it was: I have the unbeatable pen!).

Only board 2 remained in play… it was the last game to finish, not only in this match but in the whole club, which would not have been unusual had it not been for the most curious way of playing it. Both players had around 5 minutes left on the clock and all the pieces were still on the chessboard, save for two knights. A quick look at the notation revealed that they had only made 18 moves! I am renowned for running out of time, but board 2 took it to the next level.

Midnight was approaching and, all of a sudden, both players started to move the pieces quickly, as if the knights were about to be turned into mice and the chessboard into a pumpkin… nearly all pieces were exchanged and the game ended when White realised that Black’s pawn promotion was inevitable. The curious thing about this game is that it took hours to get to move 18 and only 5 minutes from move 19 to the final move 63!

What a night!

It was a bad start to the New Year when we had to postpone all of our matches scheduled on the first night (6th January) due to the weather. Even so January has seen us play 14 matches, with 8 in the league and 6 in the Cup comepetitions (see pt 1 of the news). Of the 8 league matches, 2 were derbies and we managed 2 wins with 1 draw and suffered 3 losses.

League Div 1 saw very little action with only two matches played in the month, which allowed Holmes Chapel A to go joint top, and Crewe B notching up a 4-0 whitewash over our C team to move towards mid-table safety. As previously reported it is almost impossible for Crewe to retain the 1st division title this season as Alsager “A”, Holmes Chapel “A” and Macclesfield seemed destined to slug it out.

In Div 2, our E team had a superb win against Crewe D to join the pack chasing promotion, while Stafford leap-frogged from 5th to top by beating Cheddleton “A” on the last Friday of the month. Just 3 pts separate the top 5 teams and with all teams to play each of the contenders it is just too tight to call. Alsager B – although languishing in 6th position could finish top if they win all of their remaining games, and bottom placed Newcastle are far stronger now than at the start of the season and will have a big impact on who wins promotion.

Division 3 has the only team with a 100% record as Holmes Chapel B continue to dominate the division. Only second placed Cheddleton B can pose a serious threat. For our part Crewe G have performed admirably so far to pick up 7 pts from 7 matches to maintain mid table safety, while our brothers in Crewe H find it tough going in a relegation battle. Last time out Crewe H won their first match of the season at Kidsgrove to raise hopes of avoiding the drop. This was thanks mainly to two members stepping in as cover with Simon Humphries (bd 4 win) and Sam Ollier (bd2 draw) supporting captain Tim’s vital win.

Division 4 sees both of our teams exceeding expectations. Steve Ballantyne’s I team are just one point behind leaders Cheddleton C but have played one more game. However with four matches to go the I team have it in their own hands to win the division as they have to play the league leaders both home and away. The story of the season for us so far, is our J team (10th team !!) having the incredible record of Played 8 and drawing all 8. I am not aware of any team ever having a record like this in the NSDCA …. perhaps Colin Abell may provide some stats to back this up (or challenge it) in due course.

Division 5 is very much under the control of Meir’s experienced team. Having only dropped one point from their 8 matches they are massive favourites to take the Div 5 trophy, although Cheddeton’s D team and Holmes Chapel’s C team are breathing down their necks. From Crewe’s point of view our two teams were never likely to threaten the leaders, but we have given 18 members the chance to play league chess, with many playing league chess for the first time and our L team comprising 8 juniors with an average age of approx 12.

All in all we have provided 70 members to play in the league so far this season, for which we should all be very proud, and allows league chess to continue to grow in the North Staffs District.