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Last night the H team played their final league match of the season, and were beaten by Kidsgrove, suffering just the 2nd defeat of a 16-match program. The season finished as it started – with rare defeat – and in between had a superb 14 match unbeaten run with 12 wins and 2 draws to secure the NSDCA 4th division title.

The key match was played just last week when we faced 2nd placed Fenton B, who started the season with a 12-match unbeaten run before falling to successive defeats – firstly against our I team and then the H team, to leave our Humble H team in an unassailable lead.

The H team started the season with the main goal of providing league chess to as many as possible and by the end of the campaign had used 15 players. The main members of the team (who played at least half the matches) all performed superbly scoring in excess of 70%. Tim Weston had an outstanding season making a major contribution to the success of the team scoring 12.5/15. Adam Fields and Nathan Fourie scored 6.5 pts each from just 9 & 8 games respectively. Before xmas Kobus Nienaber was the board one player, scoring 4/6 and gave the team a solid base before Adam took over the mantle, together with cameos from several one-off turns. Phil Grocott was a regular player with 6 appearances, and Matthew Dean scored a creditable 4/5. The other 9 players ensured we did not default a single board, and thanks go to Tim for being the main team driver for away matches.

Well done to all the squad, who can expect the team to be promoted to Division 3 next season.

Friday night is not normally a good night for us to play matches, but we exceeded our wildest dreams last night by taking two cup teams and an army of supporters down to Leek.

In the Intermediate Cup (U1600) our team proved too strong for Cheddleton as we ran out comfortable winners 3.5-1.5 to progress to the final. George Bulbeck got us on the score sheet with an unusually early finish on board 5 (by 9.15) to give us a 1-0 lead before Pawel secured a hard fought draw on bd 4. Cheddleton’s rapidly improving junior Charlie Swinson then swung the match in the host’s favour by winning on bd 3. The significance of this result on board 3, meant we had to score more than one point from the two remaining games. Captain Nigel performed dilligently to overpower his opponent on board 2 to put us back in the lead. On board 1, 13 y/o Jamie Roberts gained the ascendancy with a pawn advantage but Nigel was sweating profusely and praying for Jamie to take the draw that would secure victory. However Jamie’s position had improved so much that he did not want to let go of a “near certain” win and duly put the contest to bed with a strong win to conclude the match 3.5-1.5, which would have been a fair expectation of the result given our rating advanatge over the 5 boards. We will face the winners of the Alsager vs Kidsgrove semi, having to play away again in the final for the 3rd time in this competition.

In the other semi for the Perry Cup (U1375) our Perry B team had another big rating advantage especially on boards 3 and 4 of the four board match. Mal Green swept to an early victory on board 4, before Cheddleton’s youth produced another fine victory on board 2 as Rowan Webb won for the hosts. Again this meant we needed at least 1.5 pts from the last 2 games to go through to the final (due to the tie break procedure that would give Cheddleton the win if the score finished 2-2). Everything appeared to be under control with Mike Keenan heading towards victory after two and a half hours at the board (No 3), but in the midst of time pressure failed to block a check; so the game was stopped for a few moments to give his opponent an extra two minutes which put a lot of pressure on Mike with his time down to just under one minute ! Mike managed eventually to force a queen exchange which led to immediate resignation from his opponent. This left another of our 13 y/o players – Tommy Cooke to conclude the match against an experienced opponent. Tommy played a very mature middle game to block an opposition pawn that had got to the 7th rank for the price of a pawn advantage to Tommy. Slowly but assuredly Tommy forced exchanges of all pieces to remove the remaining support for the pawn on the 7th, and mop up a further pawn advantage and go on to deliver the telling blow and give us a 3-1 victory. Our B team will face the winners of the Crewe A vs Meir in the final.

In addition to these two cup matches, 11 year old Jack Patullo played a long play rated game and then a further three rated Rapid play games emerging successfully from all 4 games. We had a further two members (Dave Roberts and Gerald Parton) playing Rated rapid-play games against a couple of newcomers to Cheddleton Chess Club, meaning we had 12 players from each club in competitive action. On top of this we had five more members/parents who travelled and supported our teams which incredibly meant we outnumbered the hosts at their venue !

The power of our club to bring so many of our members together was yet again evident on another superb night for both Crewe and Cheddleton Chess Clubs.

Today I was delighted to receive a glowing report about our club from Colin Abell the LMS Administrator, on behalf of Cheddleton and particularly Bill after the league match between Crewe G and Chedd B on Tuesday, as follows:

Hello David,

I want to thank you for the provision you put in place for Bill on Tuesday.

I spoke to Bill on the phone yesterday and he was effusive in his praise for the way you accommodated his needs and also for Neville’s gentlemanly behaviour during the game.

For various reasons it is likely to be his last Stoke League game and he was very pleased to have finished on such a positive note.

David Shiers has also told me how much he enjoyed seeing two senior gentlemen displaying not only a high level of skill but also such a friendly and sporting approach to the game.

Reporters comment: I was in awe to witness the match on Tuesday, where Neville Layhe and Bill played on board 2. Due to Bill’s fading eyesight he contacted us in advance to request so he could play on a separate Brail board to be used alongside the normal matchplay board. It was great to see two senior citizens with a combined age of just over 170 !, engage in a tough and skilful game of chess and both play in a brilliant spirit that was a credit to both of them, our clubs and the NSDCA.

This just shows how powerful our great game can be in bringing together players and clubs. When there was a discrepancy in the positions on the two boards, chairman Dave Price intervened and using his newly acquired Arbiter knowledge was able to reconcile the two boards with great assistance and co-operation from both players who were so keen to play in the proper spirit.

Thank you to Neville and Bill and it was fitting that after some two and a half hours of competitive play, they sportingly agreed a draw !

The club continues to go from strength to strength as witnessed by the ever growing number of members. This last month has seen an average of 45 club members attending each week with additional visitors from many opposition club teams, with as many as 20 visitors on one occasion.

Today has seen the latest publication of ECF Ratings, with the number of Crewe players moving up to 113, a staggering increase of 8 newly rated players in a single month.

The club championship remains a hive of activity with 4 divisions. Several new members have recently joined the competition but with only 3 months remaining to complete all games any new members will now play anyone free in a rated friendly game if they wish.

The 4 divisions have a total of 48 members involved, with promotion and relegation keeping everyone on their toes.

In division 1 we have 13 players and Harry Gardiner (5/6) is favourite to retain the title of Club champion, but currently trails leader Andy Raeburn by 1/2 point with two games in hand. Top rated Richard Lee (3/5) is also unbeaten like Harry and is now in joint 4th with Martin Burns (3/5), as this pair sit just behind Gintare (aka Gee) Cross on 3.5/5. Everyone has 12 games to play in total so anything can happen yet.

In division 2, we only have 9 players, but getting games played has proved very tricky so far due to the commitments in representing league teams. Only 11 games have been played to date with Oskar Jarzynski in the lead on 3.5/4. Ebube Christian is in 2nd place on 2.5/3, and we should see a sharp increase in activity over the next few weeks as the NSDCA league season runs down.

Division 3 (10 players) has seen 20 games played to date and is approx 45% complete. All 10 players have notched up points on the scoreboard and also dropped points in a wide open tournament. Currently Mario Scarpa (3.5/6) leads the way jointly with Nathan Fourie (3.5/5). Tim Weston sits 3rd with 3/5.

Division 4 has 16 players, with several members lying dormant, with a larger number actively competing. Tommy Cooke has been the busiest and tops the table with 6/7. David Roberts is in second place with 4/6, just ahead of William Hogben (3.5/4) and David Taylor (3.5/5).

All sections have a cut-off of 31st May, so we have 13 weeks to go in all competitions and everything to play for.

Starting with the top flight – Division 1 – our B team wrapped up the title earlier this month after the convincing 4-0 win at Holmes Chapel. The “A” team have completed their campaign and have secured 2nd place for the second season in a row. Meanwhile the C team have three matches to go.

The 2nd division appears to be out of reach for our two teams. The D team sit 2nd in table with 9pts from 9 games and just one game left, while leaders Macclesfield have 10 pts from 6 games. The E team have every chance to finish above the Ds, with 7 pts from 6 games, and may push the leaders if they can somehow steal a victory when they go head to head despite facing a likely deficit of approx 1000 rating pts.

The 3rd division sees our F team in pole position under the competitive captaincy of Nigel Gardner. The squad all being closely rated allows for rotation of players and despite many teams have highly rated players on top board, we are able to gain points at all levels. The major obstacle in front of the F team is they have to play contenders 3 times in the last 4 matches including two matches against Chris Hankey’s Gables “A” team, and 2nd placed Newcastle “A”. For me one of the surprises of the season has been our G team. Having gained promotion from div4 last season, it was anticipated it might be too difficult to secure 3rd division status. With a settled engine room of Jamie Roberts, Pawel Stanny and Neville Layhe they sit 3rd in the table and should finish comfortably mid-table.

The best news is that G team captain Steve Ballantyne is expecting to return to the club next week following his recent operations after a heart attack in November.

The 4th division sees the biggest surprise (in my mind) with our H team on the verge of clinching the title after a run of 13 unbeaten games since their 1st match. With two matches to play, they face the two nearest rivals – Fenton B on 11th March and Kidsgrove on the 20th . Only Fenton B can catch the H team but they also play a higher rated Kidsgrove. The I team gave the H team a huge helping hand by pulling off an unexpected win against Fenton B last week, despite the absence of captain and board 1 Mario, and being outrated by the previously unbeaten Fenton team.

Our U team heads the new U1300 division and is close to securing that trophy with one game to play.

February has seen the club play 21 league and cup matches in our busiest ever month.

The club secretary has already recorded, in suitably glowing terms, that Crewe B will be the new NSDCA league champions. With one game left to play Crewe B remain invincible, and no one can catch them. A very impressive performance; well done to Captain Lambton and his crew.

And now on to more important issues. Crewe A ended the season, on Tuesday, with a trip to Alsager Cricket Club to play last season’s league champions. Things started badly. Richard made another long trip to play for us, but this time lost to Jonathan Blackburn, Our team captain continued his drawing rut, getting absolutely nowhere against Julian Kirk-Ogrady. Bart had a promising postion, it was awkward, but he was an exchange up against Simon Hood. Simon’s central pawns became bigger and bigger as they marched down the board and it was starting to look dodgy for us. Then in an instant things turned. Bart allowed his opponent to queen a pawn, but then sacrificed a rook for a checkmate; maybe that counts as a queen and a rook sac? Anyway; clean bowled by Bart! (Sorry could not resist that one). I have asked Bart to send in the game score to our webmaster, as it is worth seeing the flashy finish. Harry, who has had a great season, was playing nicely and at one point got to a winning rook and pawn ending against John Booth. Chess is such an absorbing game; so often of an evening you suddenly realise that your drink has gone, a couple of hours of your life have vanished, and now you are in another bewildering blitz finish. As Harry’s time reduced so did his winning chances. John won a pawn but there was no realistic way for him to win the game. Harry stopped the clocks at one point, claiming repetition, but as the game score was no longer kept the claim was denied. The game continued for another minute or so but a draw was then agreed. Match drawn. Alsager A -2 Crewe A – 2.

Bit of a weird season this one, we have finished, but as Mr Blackburn pointed out, Alsager still have half their matches left to play! For 2 years in a row we have narrowly missed out on winning the league. Still I have really enjoyed it, as always, and hope the rest of the team did too. So thanks to Richard, Bart, Harry, Dave H and Christian for taking part.

A commanding 4-0 win away at Holmes Chapel saw the B team claim the 1st division title last night. After two seasons of missing out by the narrowest of margins it appears all it needed was a change of captain. David Lambton took over from David Hulme at the start of the season and the Bees have been flying high ever since. Despite never being at full strength until last night the Bees had stung harmoniously with every team member scoring at least 50%. It is unfair to name anyone for special mention, but Martin Frisher had excelled scoring a perfect 5/5 before tripping up in game 6, and then was promptly axed from the team by the cut throat captain. A quick look at the stats behind the table shows all regular team players have performance ratings in excess of 2000 – a superb achievement. The team has been boosted by the return of the 2022/23 club player of the year, Carmel Barwick who together with Gee Cross has formed a formidable female duo in the team’s engine room to compliment David L and Martin F. Lee Farrington despite only playing occasionally contributed significantly with 1.5 pts from 3 games taking on the league’s elite on board 1. Cameo performances by Lukasz Michalek and Neville Layhe should not be overlooked as the Bees bask in their glory, and play their final game against defending champions Alsager “A” next month.

Well done to David and all of the team !

Yesterday, Crewe I played its last away game of the league season. This match was originally scheduled some time ago but was postponed due to the refurbishment of the Kidsgrove Chess Club… and what a good job we did! The renovation has transformed the club into a place of beauty and comfort never seen before.

This is no trivial detail because, when you have to endure defeat, doing so while sitting on a massive pinewood chair at a grand wooden table next to a lit fireplace makes it far less unpleasant. I mean, we lost 3½ – ½, but boy, what an absolutely stunning setting!

Well, what else can I say? Each of us once again faced an opponent rated about 200 points higher… it was always going to be an uphill battle.

As for me, I managed to make my opponent sweat—really sweat—but, unfortunately, not quite enough to secure a victory. As usual, I published the game on our website. The time pressure got the better of me in the end, I blundered, and the rest, as they say, is history.

This last weekend has seen the annual Blackpool Chess Conference (or congress) take place. Normally we have an army of members who make the small trek but this year we could only send a batallion of six.

Although none of our members featured in the prize lists (as far as I know) all six punched above their rating levels.

In the Open section Simon Layhe notched up two wins against players rated more than 200 pts higher, and despite losing three (including a 2298 rated opponent) saw his rating move from 1897 to 1912.

Andy Raeburn also chanced his arm in a higher section (Major U2050) than he could have played. Like Simon he scored a very good 2/5 to see his rating edge north by 3 pts to 1812 (it must sound like an overture to Andy).

Chairman Dave pushed himself up a section (Inter U1850) as well and despite only winning one and drawing one of the five games, saw his rating remain static at 1614 – a sign of how well he played with all opponents rated 100-200 pts higher.

Young Jamie Roberts played in the Minor U1700 section and notched up 3pts, with a best win vs an 1851; to see his rating climb 31 pts to 1662.

However Jamie’s dad, Dave refused to be outdone by his son and scored a superb 3/5 in the Standard U1550 section to see his rating climb by 33pts to 1224. This is even more impressive when you consider Jamie’s rating moves double the amount of Dave’s for every win.

And Mal Green had a strong congress too scoring 50% from his 5 games, to see his rating climb 26 pts to 1273.

Well done to all, and what is clear … is that Dave P must have led the drinking as his rating did not move as much as the others.

The Italian term obliterato normally refers to a bus ticket that has been validated. You know how it works: you get on the bus or train, show your ticket, and the controller stamps it with the punch machine…

Last night, I learnt the English meaning of the term when Crewe I was obliterated by Newcastle B. Man, and what a punch machine they were! Peter was the only one to secure a draw, while the rest of us… well, let’s just say the scorecard looked like the three of us just played a long castling: 0-0-0

What can we say? This was the third time in a row in which our opponent were rating not 100, not 200 but some 250 points more than us!!!
At least I can say that I gave my opponent a very hard time. I didn’t just go down quietly without a fight.

As usual, my game is published on the database page of our website.