I reckon I have spent about 25 of the last 30 Easter breaks in Bolton, playing chess. The casual observer may well ask why. I love it; it is a great tournament, run by a very experienced crew. Of course, it is nowhere near as good as the Crewe Congress, which will be held again in June this year. The late great Harry Lamb used to run Bolton Congress as a five rounder, with a blitz tournament thrown in on the Saturday afternoon. I never played the blitz; as it was called the “Busy Persons Tournament” I did not feel it appropriate for me to enter. Nowadays the congress is back to being run as a brutal six rounder. Join me next year as I waste another Easter.
Anyway, I was pleased to observe that there seemed to be a growing number of young adults competing. I had the misfortune to be drawn against a few of them, and they can play a bit. One of the stars of the show was Crewe CC member Carmel Barwick. Carmel is on great form, and went on to share first place in a tough Major, scoring 5/6. She did not lose a game. This impressive result means that she has now hit the magic 2000 ECF rating marker. Her rating is now exactly 2000.
But there is more. The very next day, back at the ranch, Harry Gardiner continued the defence of his club championship title by beating Nev. Harry is now pretty much certain to be club champ again, but guess what? Harry’s latest win also gave him a rating of….. exactly 2000.
There is yet more. Chairman Price, and others in the club, have put in a lot of effort into nurturing the juniors in the club, and we have a great bunch of young ‘uns. So one final thing to note is that Tommy Cooke, who has only been playing rated chess for a year or so, has seen his rating grow from 1282 to 1541 and is currently on an incredible winning streak of 17 rated games! I mean, 17 games; wow! Nuff said.
Another week, another trophy or two to make space for in the yet to be purchased Trophy Cabinet !
While both of these teams have had their feet up on the sofa this week, other results have gone their way to leave them with uncatchable leads at the top of their respective divisions.
On Monday (14th) our V team went to the Gables in the U1300 division to take on Gables U who were 4 pts behind the leaders – Crewe U – with two matches to play. The V team did the business and came home with a 3-1 win thanks to Matthew Dean (bd 1), junior Jack Patullo (bd3) and Lee Bebbington (bd 4). This result secures a 1-2 finish for our teams in the U1300 division. In addition to the four board match, there were three other friendly rated games played as we continue to provide match opportunities for as many as possible.
On Tuesday our two 2nd division teams were in action where the title has already been won by Macclesfield. The D team finished their campaign with a good result beating a strong Alsager B team narrowly (2.5-1.5) as George Bulbeck provided the decisive blow with a win on bd 4, while the other three games ended in hard fought draws. Meanwhile our E team played at home against Holmes Chapel B and came off second best with a surprising defeat 1.5-2.5. Our only winner on the night was new member Kumar Saravanan (bd4), with Doug Barnett (bd 3) getting a draw.
On Wednesday a shock result came in from Newcastle where visitors Alsager D pulled off an unexpected win against Newcastle A to leave our F team as NSDCA 3rd division champions with a game to spare.
The club continues to be in rude health after another packed night at St Mary’s on Tuesday where there were 15 internal competition games played on top of the two league matches. Meanwhile chairman Dave Price was overwhelmed in the social room where many potential new members were learning the basics.
Congratulations to captains Nigel Gardner (F team) and Malcolm Green (U team) along with both team squads on winning the NSDCA league divisions.
For the third year in a row, the springtime streets of Crewe had been buzzing with excitement, an excitement which built to a peak on 8 April 2025, the day of the NSDCA Open Cup final. Yes, for the third year running, the final was to feature Crewe CC, and their New Firm rivals, Alsager CC. Alsager won the coveted cup in 2023 at the Mal’s. Crewe won it in 2024 at St Mary’s. This year the final was held at Alsager Cricket Club.
As you know, I do like going to Alasager’s venue. I have never understood cricket but I do like a cricket club. There is a cosy bar. If you go when the nights are getting lighter you can have a pre-match look at the beautiful cricket pitch (is it pitch is it, field, park?). The bar was already filling up with fans when I got there. Some of the fans may have had one eye on the big screen, which was about to show the Champions League match between Arsenal and Real Madrid, which clashed with the main event. Alsager Chess Club are a very friendly bunch, and I would recommend that you check them out if you can; obviously, having said that, Crewe Chess Club is miles better.
The Crewe captain was delighted in being able to field 6 of the highest rated players in our club. Well, OK, 5 of the highest and the captain. Pre-match nerves were amplified when our star player, Richard, sent a message to say that he was going to be late. Jonathan Blackburn, his opponent, sportingly agreed to delay the start of their game, but y’know, it had me worried for a bit.
Alasger’s non-playing captain, Jon Blackburn, won the toss and declared that his son Jonathan would play white.
Boards 2 to 6 started off an the scheduled time. Silence, as usual, fell on the match room.
Alsager got the first point on the board. Lee, our board 2, was up against Simon Hood. Later in the bar Lee admitted that he wa improvising in response to Simon’s Taimanov. As I may have mentioned before, Simon is a strong player, and when given the chance he really stuck the boot in. Jonathan B has done an interesting Youtube video on the game, and I would recommed you have a look. North Staffs Chess league Open Cup Final
On board 5 we had a repeat of the league clash between Harry Gardiner and Alsager’s Tal disciple, Greg Cannon. Last time I sat next to these two during a game I kept having to duck as Greg threw material at Harry. Same thing happened again. At one point Harry seemed a bit baffled and he was using quite a lot of time, but he kept cool, hung on to the material, and when the dust settled Greg had to resign. Harry will, we hope, soon break the 2000 ECF grade barrier, as he continues to improve.
I had to play Alan Thomason; again. Yet again he showed that he knows his openings, and he had me under pressure with a Philidor. I was lucky, when the tacitcs turned in my favour he lost his queen for a rook and knight. Crewe took the lead. The fans in the bar were going nuts; though that could have been because of Declan Rice’s skills.
I did not see much of Kamil’s game, but he came back to form for the final, beating Julian Kirk-O’Grady. Bart had a advantage against John Booth, but as he could not see a clear win, and did not have much time left, he offered the draw. This made made sure of the team win. Crewe CC had won the cup.
The last game to finish was the last game to start, between the league’s top two players. Jonathan won a pawn and ground Richard down again.
Alsager CC 2.5 – Crewe CC 3.5.
Thanks to Alsager CC for hosting the event.
Crewe Open Cup winners 2025- (l/r) Bart, Martin, Richard, Harry, Lee (Kamil absent)
Stop Press: There is now a bit of a crisis developing at the Crewe CC. Last week Nigel’s team won the U1600 Cup at Kidsgrove to add to the collection, and I am really not sure where we are going to store the increasing pile of trophies we have won this season. Full list to follow.
On Thursday 3rd April Nigel Gardner led the infamous Gang of Five on a trip to Kidsgrove to stage a heist.
The final of the NSDCA (U1600) Intermediate Cup was hosted by Kidsgrove in the luxurious dining room at The Red Bull, where the cast of two teams was surrounded by supporters from both clubs.
At the start of the match the visitors from Crewe would have been slight favourites, and this was vindicated as we took an early lead when George Bulbeck won on board 5 around 9pm. However there was a long wait, as the suspense mounted and the tension became palpable as Kidsgrove took a strangle hold on the match. Within a few minutes of the News at Ten gongs sounding, James Wolstenholme produced the first shock of the night with a superb win on board one against Crewe’s rapidly improving 13 year old junior currently rated 1697. As the second gong struck, so did Dave Johnson on board 2 for the hosts to put them in the driving seat 2-1. On board 3, Kidsgrove just needed a draw and looked well in control after an unsound piece sacrifice from Finn Charbonneau left him on the backfoot. At one stage the draw was offered by Kidsgrove, but was turned down maturely, in the knowledge that would give the Cup to the hosts. Meanwhile on board 4, Pawel Stanny was edging towards success for Crewe, in a game that swung too and fro but was being pushed by the host’s captain.
As the clock approached 10.25, the tension in the room rose to another level as supporters and spectators gathered round the two remaining games. And then it all suddenly concluded within seconds as both games finished and the reporter now hands over to the Crewe captain Nigel …..
“As the evening reached a tense climax with Crewe 2 – 1 down, our final pair of Pawel & Finlay were on the boards. What they were attempting had a high degree of difficulty but with perfect synchronisation they pulled off simultaneous victories on either side of the onlooking crowds.
Many thanks to Kidsgrove for being great hosts at a very enjoyable and chess-friendly location. They were 5 very hard fought games. Also thanks and congratulations to my team who have overcome 3 difficult draws and opponents to seize the prize.”
In the words of a Kidsgrove board 1 namesake
“The crowd are on the pitch……………………they think its all over………………..
IT IS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Below is a picture of the gang of five taken before the match, when all was calm
This was the last game of the season for Crewe I. We secured a 3-0 victory which puts us in the 4th position of the league table, although we might soon become 5th
This is because at the moment Newcastle B is only am inch behind us and still have 3 games to play. With the prospect of a likely victory on at least two of those matches, they will likely climb ahead, leaving us just an inch behind them. Time will tell.
The end of the season also marks the completion of my very first experience as team captain, which has been very rewarding. Several of our matches have been against players who were each rating 150 and even 200 higher than us. With that in mind, getting where we are now is quite an achievement.
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.
