Category: News

No it’s not a school report, but results from last nights matches. Starting with the B team, wins for Ola Titiloye and Doug Barnett together with draws from Karl Lockett and Martin Gill ensured Newcastle D went home empty handed. So eventually the B team are on the move with two consecutive wins – like the proverbial buses. Conversely the D team went to Newcastle and suffered the exact reverse, a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the hosts F team. The only ray of light was an excellent result for James Marshall picking up our single point with a win. The E team hosted Fenton C and found the visitors employing a Mr Default on board 4, so should have been optimistic looking for both points. The visitors fought hard with  a win on board 1, and draws on boards 2 & 3 with our Mike Williams and Dylan Sayers respectively. Watching the board 3 game was great entertainment for any spectators and a stalemate ensued with one player having a bishop and 3 pawns against a lone king, after his opponent sacked his opposite coloured bishop to leave the draw ! So honours even as Fenton pursue the Division 5 title.

The Wirral team picked up a glorious half point from tonight’s drawn match against Chester B. Luck smiled on us as our opponents were missing two of their top three players graded 198 and 185. Still heavily outgraded on 3 boards it was a surprise result and a bonus in the relegation battle. An early win on board 4 for Ola against a loose Scandinavian set us on our way before David Hulme was outgunned on top board. Neville Layhe took a kind draw offer when a pawn down in an endgame but was probably fair value. Chris on board 5 missed a chance to trap a knight which may have given him a draw but it was not to be against his 140 grade opponent. Meanwhile Karl forced a superb win on board 2 as he put his opponent under immense positional and time pressure. Next week we face a Wallasey 2 team in fine form already secure in mid table and outperforming their big brothers Wallasey 1. This draw takes Crewe off the bottom of the table temporarily but still in need of further points.

See link below for latest Wirral League Tables

http://www.wirralchessleague.com/tables.php

 

The U150 Major Cup team travelled to cup holders and favourites Cheddleton last night as overwhelming underdogs. The match went to form as Cheddleton won 3.5-1.5, but from all accounts was closer than result suggests. Early losses on boards 1 and 4 did not help our cause, with the three others putting up a spirited fight. On board 2 Neville Layhe secured a draw to leave Ola Titiloye on board 3 and Dave Price on board 5 in play. Ola managed to win a long end game while Dave eventually fell on his own sword from a promising position. Cheddleton will face either Fenton or Newcastle in the final.

Neville Layhe has surged ahead in the “A section” of the winter tourney with 3 wins from 4 games. Closest contender is unbeaten Karl Lockett with 1.5 pts from 2 games. Several players have yet to take part in the tourney.

In the B section we have five players all on one point so there is all to play for. Simon Layhe, James Marshall and Dylan Sayers all have 1 from 1 and Steve Ballantyne and Les Hall have 1 from 2.

The Winter Tourney is there to provide competitive chess when members are not involved in league matches, and with a heavy fixture schedule for the club it is proving difficult to get many games played. The tourney will run to 31st May, so hopefully members can get the majority of their games played.

New members will be encouraged to join in the appropriate section for their ability.

The division 4 match last night ended all square (2-2) and leaves the C team hot on the tail of league leaders Cheddleton E. The C team (with 12 pts from 9) are 1 point behind the leaders with a game in hand while Newcastle E sit 3rd a further 2 pts behind having already played 10 matches. The biggest threat comes from 4th place Cheddleton F who have a game in hand on our C team and sit 2 pts behind. In the drawn match captain Dave Price won on board 2 and James Marshall won on bd 3.