News

Last night (Tuesday 20th) saw our SCS “A” team win the South Cheshire Shield. Last week they were held to a draw by Stafford who are the only team to take any points off Steve Ballantyne’s squad, and went into last night’s game against Newcastle in the knowledge that a draw would secure the trophy.

Any early nerves were settled when top board Julian Hawthorne notched up the first win before skipper Steve added a second win to guarantee the Shield would be coming back to Crewe for the first time since 2017. Safe in the knowledge of the team’s success Pawel offered a draw which was swiftly accepted and Jamie Roberts concluded the A’s campaign with a further win to give a final score of 3.5-0.5. There is just one match left in the Summer Shield and the “A” team have finished the season with a record of PLd 7, won 6, drawn 1 to be worthy champions.

CONGRATULATIONS TO STEVE AND ALL THE TEAM MEMBERS.

In other news, there were a couple of Club Summer Knockout games also played. In the Major KO Chinenye was held to a draw in his quarter final last week with James Coney and their Armageddon tie break being played last night. Chinenye managed to scrape through with the extra minute and be the first player to secure a semi-final spot in the Major.

The Intermediate KO saw two quarter-finals take place last night. Gerald Parton emerged victorious from his clash with Matthew Dean, while Julian Bulbeck and Kobus Nienaber battled to a draw before Julian clinched the Armageddon to take his place in the semi-finals.

Next week is the deadline for all remaining quarter-finals, with one game outstanding in the Open, three in the Major and two in the Inter.

Looking ahead, the 2024/25 club championships should start on 3rd September with a new 4th division being added. The annual Time & Point handicap for the Les Hall Memorial Trophy takes place on 10th September, with all summer KO semi finals and finals to be completed by the end of September.

The new league season should start in early October, with the club running 11 teams in the NSDCA. Please note our club premises are not available on Tuesday 1st October.

A quick reminder; the Leyland Congress starts next Saturday, 24 August. This is a 3 day, 6 round, long play event; so that should satisfy chess addicts out there.

(the interesting bit of the AGM).

Lukasz Michalek won the Les Hall memorial trophy. Lukasz is the first player to win this handsome piece of silverware twice.

Steve Ballantyne’s team won the NSDCA Division 4 title by a mile. Steve suprised us all when he presented each player on his team with a trophy. Nice touch Steve. My team got nowt from me.

Dave Lambton captained the “D” team to collect the NSCDA Division 2 trophy.

The “D”s looking a bit chuffed. On a sad note, the club will no longer be uplifted by the ready smile of Joe Moxon, on the right of this picture, as he is going back to Nottingham.

The “A” team thought they had won the league, but they hadn’t. Crewe did however win the Open Cup for the first time; see below as modelled by the team captain.

Jamie Roberts collected the Junior Player of the Year, was part of the Division 4 winning team, and he won Club Individual Division 3 title. Lucky his dad was there to help him carry all the trophies home.

Welcome newcomer, Finlay C, won his first club competition; the Individual u1600 Rapidplay.

Julian; 2023 Summer U1600 KO winner, and plum farmer.

There have been calls for an investigation into how the next one happened. Chairman Price won the Club Individual Division 2 title. Did money change hands?

Aaannd the big one…. Harry won the the club championship, again.

Three of our members had a sunny break in Lancaster over the weekend (9th-11th) competing in this northern congress, where approx 120 players played in four sections.

Julian Hawthorne and Dave Price played in the intermediate section (U1750) and Simon Layhe in the Major section (U1900).

The inter section had the most players with over 40, with Jules and Dave sharing joint 9th place with 3 pts each out of 5.

Simon managed to fare even better being unbeaten over the weekend to end in a 6-way joint share of 1st place with 3.5 pts.

Congratulations to Simon .

Our SCS “A” team played away at The Gables on Monday (5th) and were hot favourites for the win with huge rating advantages on three boards against the Gables youngsters, while their top board would outgrade us. Captain Steve Ballantyne sent his brief report:

My game was first to finish. I sacrificed my Knight for his pawn on f2 to open up  his defence. He defended well but the attack was too strong  0-1. Pav was next to finish, after going a knight up and taking that advantage in to the end game it was 0-2.  Jamie was attacking well and after capturing his opponents Queen for 2 minor pieces it was soon 0-3.  Nev played well against an experienced opponent and eventually a draw was decided. A good win to keep Crewe A at the top of the league.

With two matches stil to play, the “A” team lead by 3 pts from our own B team and need 2 more pts to guarantee the (Summer) Shield Trophy.

In other news we held our AGM on Tuesday, where the main event was the presentation of trophies.

Followed by an enjoyable Team Blitz competition where 25 players participated in four teams. Richard Lee’s team won the competition (shown as Crewe 1 on the LMS Team Blitz event) as his players all scored more than 50% on their respective boards. The only player to score 100% (with 6 out of 6) was Ebube Christian, while 7 players notched up a healthy 5/6 including 3 of Richard’s team. This was our first Blitz event to be submitted for ECF rating separate to the main ratings.

Next week should be a busy club night with both South Cheshire teams playing at St Mary’s, and there should be a resumption of all three Internal Summer Knockouts which are at the quarter final stage.

Just a note to remind all members that the AGM will start at 7.30pm on Tuesday.

This should be followed by a team Blitz Event where teams will be arranged on the night based on whoever wishes to join in – and should be a lot of fun.

The last two weeks of July has seen both of our SCS teams in action. League leaders (our “A” team) had a nervy win over Alsager on 23rd July with draws on the top three boards Jules H (board 1), Pawel (2) and Jamie (3). The key result came on board 4 as Phil Grocott brought home the bacon at the death.

The B team had a significant rating advantage over Meir on the 23rd and duly won 3-1 thanks to victories by Finn, Richard and Nigel. On the 30th the B team made the short trip to Alsager and emerged again with a 3-1 win to strengthen our hold on the top two league positions. George Bowkett and Joe won on top two boards and backed up by draws from Ebube and Gerald.

The “A” team are now strong favourites to win the SCS with a perfect 8 pts from 4 matches, with 3 matches remaining. The Bees have helped by taking points off other clubs and currently sit second in the table on 7 pts from 5 games.

Crewe and Wallasey compete for the WC Cup once a year. As usual, the secretary has plenty to say before any match starts. The players wait patiently…maybe.

Opening moves. In the background you can see Gerald getting the butties laid out. There was a generous spread; all organised by Chairman Price.

Martin “sounds a bit like Fischer” Frisher played a belter of a game. When we expand our limited IT skills we might get to put the game on here. Until then you will just have to believe me when I say it was good. If you want to know anything about Fischer, just ask our Martin F. (he is the one in the black jacket)

Chinenye in action. Unfortunately he lost his game; but that shirt is gorgeous.

…

Jamie Roberts hung on for a draw against Mark Burgess.

Simon Layhe drew with Rick Purcell. Here is Simon being watched by his dad. Hard to say if Nev approves of Simon’s position or not.

Bit of a dodgy picture of the team captains, Dave and Alan. They kept dancing about, and I am no David Bailey. Hope you get the idea that they had a great evening. We all appreciate their efforts in organising such a special event.

The 2024 WC Cup winning team…Wallasey. Well done!

Tuesday 16th saw the 3rd annual challenge for the WC Trophy, as Wallasey pulled out all the stops to bring 22 players, as the 23rd fell foul with a car breakdown en-route. The St Mary’s Centre provided a superb setting with 27 boards set up in the main playing hall, and another dozen in the coaching & analysis room. The scene was set as the packed venue contained around 70 players and supporters with the match commencing at approx 7.45.

It was a joy to see so many players in action, with teams arranged within a total difference of just 38 points over the 22 boards to try and give both clubs a fair chance of success. Crewe’s chairman Dave Price even managed to set up a live score card from the LMS linked up to a large TV screen so everyone could see the latest score as the match progressed.

It was over an hour before the first results started to roll in, and it was soon apparent how close the match would be as there was never more than a point or two between the team scores – nothing like the landslide election result.

After last year’s comfortable win for Crewe was instigated by scoring 8.5pts from the top 10 boards, this year was the reverse as Wallasey outgunned the hosts by notching up 6.5 pts from the top 10. The middle and lower boards were shared more evenly but the trophy was secured for Wallasey only when the 21st game was completed to edge their score to 11.5 pts at just before 10.30 with the final game finishing at 10.35.

See the match card on the LMS for the full scorecard. Crewe 10.5 vs Wallasey 11.5 This was Wallasey’s first win in the Annual Challenge, after Crewe won the first two matches.

To celebrate this annual challenge, the hosts provided a superb buffet and free drinks to ensure everyone was well fuelled in the travelling contingent having made the 45 mile trek in 9 different cars setting off from Wallasey at around 6 o’clock.

After the match concluded Wallasey captain Alan Kelly was presented with the (infamous) WC Trophy before photographs were taken of the whole successful Wallasey team – see picture above.

As is now customary the losing skipper was then presented with the remains of a toilet roll by the victorious captain.

All in all it was a fantastic night and a brilliant effort by Wallasey to bring 22 players (raised from 14 last year and 8 the year before). The atmosphere was amazing as everyone played the games in a really sporting and friendly manner befitting two large and successful clubs, with much banter before, during and after the match.

After the presentation Crewe laid down the challenge for next year with the intention of trying to take 30 players to Wallasey. Thanks were given to both captains for arranging such an enjoyable evening, and especially for the travelling Wallasey squad.

In the 2023-24 season Harry Gardiner won the club championship for the second time. He has set a record that may prove hard to beat; he scored an amazing 10 points out of a possible 11; winning nine games and drawing two. Carmel, Cyrus and Dave Lambton trailed behind in joint second on 7.5 points; H beat them all on the way to victory. Harry is pictured above, getting ready for a game at St Mary’s, while Dave L looks on.