Worcestershire Chess League Results 2009-10

Worcestershire Chess League
Detailed Results 2009-10 Season

Last updated 15 May

Navigation: Division 1 Division 2 Knock-Out Cup Bottom of page Worcs Chess Home

Division 1

Halesowen 1 - Kidderminster 1			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Malcolm Hunt Mark Bethel Andrew Ambrose Rob Grimes Don Curry John Llewellyn	½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ -½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	Maurice Bissell Mark Riley Frank Pickett John Varilone John Gittus Clive Billinge
	Result	5 - 1	Played 22 Sep

Worcester City (H)- Malvern (A)			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Steve Mellor Peter Kitson Ray Collett Jim Keene John Clark Pat Greenow	½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	Brian Turner Geoffrey Herbert John Knee Peter Yeadon Tony Shaw Barry Stone
	Result	1½ - 4½	8 Oct
Match report from Ray Collett. The League Champions opened their account with a fine away victory. The first game to finish was Malvern's win on bottom board, but it wasn't until after 10pm that board 5 completed. On board 5, Tony Shaw found a fine exchange sac for a dominating position. John Clark ran out of wriggle room when his position was raked by two raging bishops. Defending an English Opening, Ray Collett allowed a knight to stray off-side and John Knee dominated the centre of the board. Faced with the loss of a central pawn, Ray tried to complicate, but John saw his way to a double-rook-and-pawn ending a pawn to convert. Board 2 ran to the wire. Peter had built a promising position, but was a little short of time. In the ensuing scramble his king walked into a mate just before the time control. Board 1 tested the Caro-Kan Classical Variation. On board 1, at the close of the session was a complex queen and pawn ending. Neither side could see a way to so a draw was agreed. The adjourned game is a rook and pawn ending. Although the Malvern player had drawing chances against inaccurate play, he resigned without resuming play. A short report was also published by Worcester News.

Kidderminster 1 - Worcester City			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	John Wrench Gerald Link Mark Riley Frank Pickett John Gittus Clive Billinge	1 - 0 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	Steve Mellor Peter Kitson Ray Collett Andrew Farthing John Clark Roger Yates
	Result	4½ - 1½	Played 4 Nov
Match Report from Ray Collett. Nether team had all their best players available and Kiddermister captain Frank Pickett was pleased with the result. John Wrench played the black side of a Ruy Lopez and crushed his opponent with a king side attack. Peter Kitson ground out a win after winning a pawn in a rook and pawn ending. Board 3's game saw both sides with chances, but the players agreed a draw when they had exchanged off to an ending with opposite coloured bishops.

Halesowen 1 - Worcester City			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Stewart Fishburne Mark Bethel Mike Hadley Andy Ambrose Jon Asbury John Llewellyn	0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0	Steve Mellor Peter Kitson Ray Collett Jim Keene Andrew Farthing John Clark
	Result	3 - 3	Played 17 Nov
Match Report from Ray Collett. The match had a distinctly Nordic flavour with half of the games featuring the Scandanavian Defence. First to finish were Jim Keene and Andy Ambrose who agreed a grandmaster draw in the middle game. On boards one and two, Worcester's players were attacking, but on board 6 they were down a piece. City went one up when Steve Mellor flushed Stewart Fishburn's king into the open and mated him in the centre of the board. City went 2 up when Peter Kitson's patient attack from a Two Knight's Defence forced Mark Bethel to resign. The final position was a qeen and pawn ending with both sides threatening mate, but Peter had the move. Fourth to finish were Ray Collett and Mike Hadley who agreed the draw in a dead level queen and knight ending. Jon Asbury and Andrew Farthing had a blocked position and Andrew sacrificed a rook to expose the white king. Jon thought he was lost when his queen was captured with a discovered check, but an advanced passed pawn supported by a rook turned the tables and Andrew surrendered at the close of play. In the unfinished game, John Clark had blockaded the board to stop John Llewellyn's extra piece getting through, but at the adjournment, it looked as if the blockade was not sufficiently strong to stop superior forces breaking through.

Kidderminster 1 - Malvern			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	John Wrench John Chester Mark Riley Frank Pickett John Varilone Paul Thomas	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0	Brian Turner Ian Clarke Geoff Herbert John Knee Tony Shaw Barry Stone
	Result	2½ - 3½	Played 18 Nov

Worcester City - Kidderminster 1			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Steve Mellor Peter Kitson Ray Collett Jim Keene Andrew Farthing Roger Yates	½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1	John Wrench Maurice Bissell Gerald Link Dave Close Mark Riley Frank Pickett
	Result	2½ - 3½	Played 21 Jan
Match report from Ray Collett. Boards 1, 4 and 5 agreed early draws and by midway both sides had a point and a half each. Worcester, however, looked doomed. The Kidderminster captain Frank Pickett took a gift of a piece early in his board 6 game and soon converted, while the Worcester captain, Ray Collett was toiling against Gerald Link after making an error in a King's Indian Defence. The struggle on board 2 featured a Grand Prix Attack against Maurice Bissell's Sicilan Defence. As players swapped off pieces in the remaining two games draws were looming. Maurice Bissell and Peter Kitson ceased hostilities when they reached a minor piece ending, but after match analysis seemed to show that the Worcester player did have pressure. With Kidderminster now requiring a draw only to win the match, Gerald Link offered draw in a rook and pawn ending where he was a pawn up. The Worcester captain saw little alternative but to accept especially as he had not thought playable a move computers calculate to be drawing.

Worcester City - Halesowen 1			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Steve Mellor Peter Kitson Ray Collett Andrew Farthing Jim Keene John Clark	0 - 1 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1	John Edge Mark Bethel Mike Hadley Andy Ambrose John Llewellyn Maureen Clarke
	Result	3 - 3	Played 4 Feb
Match report from Ray Collett. Although Worcester led after the first session, in both adjourned games their players were a piece down for pawns. Of these games, Jim Keene's looked the better one for wangling a draw, which he did on resumption. Steve Mellor, however, recognised that resistance was futile and resigned against John Edge without resuming play. Board 1 saw Steven Mellor playing a Caro-Khan Defence yet again. In a complex ending, Steve's knight was trapped and players have agreed to resume on 16 February. On board 5, battle recomences on 2 March. Mark Bethel played an Alekhine's Defence against Peter Kitson, who got pressure and won a pawn. Mark Bethel defended well, but a couple of moves after the time control blundered a rook. Andrew Farthing's won in record time with only 18 moves played. On board 6, a King's Indian Defence led to a complex middle game where white looked to be gaining space with a powerful defended pawn on e6. Unfortunately for Worcester, Maureen Clarke exploited a pin to win that pawn, after which White's game crumbled.

Malvern - Kidderminster 1			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Brian Turner Ian Clarke Geoffrey Herbert John Knee Tony Shaw Barry Stone	0 - 1 1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1	Maurice Bissell Gerald Link John Chester David Close Frank Pickett John Gittus
	Result	2 - 4	Played 5 Feb
Match result from Geoffrey Herbert. This upset, where neither club was at full strength, throws the League wide open. Ian Clarke against Gerald Link was adjourned and Ian won on resumption.

Halesowen 1 - Malvern			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Stuart Fishburne John Edge Mark Bethel Dale Jackson Mike Hadley John Llewellyn	½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0	Brian Turner Ian Clarke Geoffrey Herbert Tony Shaw Maurice Ginger Barry Stone
	Result	3 - 3	Played 9 Mar
Match reported by Geoffrey Herbert.

Malvern - Worcester City			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Brian Turner Ian Clarke Perry Walker Geoffrey Herbert John Knee Barry Stone	½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½	Ray Collett Andrew Farthing Jim Keene John Clark Roger yates Phil Smith
	Result	4 - 2	Played 12 Mar
Match report from Ray Collett. Worcester were missing their boards 1 and 2 for this match, but for most of it the games looked even and the first result did not come until more than two hours of the session had been used. First result was a draw on board 6 where Barry Stone had been fiercely attacking black's king in a Sicilian Defence. Geoffrey Herbert played a French Defence against John Clark and obtained a middle game advantage, which was duly converted. Andrew Farthing defended a Queen's Pawn Bf4 variation from Ian Clarke. Ian playing white developed some pressure but it was not enough to force a win. Jim Keene and Perry Walker also agreed a draw. Malvern forged further ahead when Geoffrey Herbert forced Roger Yates to sac a bishop for a passed pawn. At the time control Board 1 was still playing and Brian Turner, in a complicated but probably superior position offered a draw to Ray in a rook and minor piece ending.

Malvern - Halesowen 1			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Brian Turner Ian Clarke Geoffrey Herbert John Knee Maurice Ginger Barry Stone	1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1	Stewart Fishburne Mike Hadley Jon Asbury Don Curry John Llewellyn Maureen Clark
	Result	3½ - 2½	Played 26 Mar
Match result from Geoffrey Herbert who comments on 27 March: "Could be a tight finish for the league..." Brian Turner has the advantage in the adjourned game and plays Stewart on 27 April. The Championship title will hinge on this game or be decided at the adjourned game in the match immediately below. Brian Turner beat Stewart Fishburne at adjournment.

Kidderminster 1 - Halesowen 1			Div 1
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5 6	Maurice Bissell Gerald Link John Chester David Close Mark Riley Frank Pickett	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1	Stewart Fishburne Mark Bethel Default Andy Ambrose Jon Asbury Don Curry
	Result	2½ - 3 ½	Played 7 April
Match report from Halesowen Club website. Stewart Fishburne plays on against Maurice on 28 April but the league may be decided the day before, if Stewart doesn't hold a difficult ending in the other match against Malvern (see above). Maurice Bissell resigned rather than spend an evening in a fruitless rearguard action.

Division 2

Redditch (H) - Greenlands (A)			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Rob Mitchell Krysztof Krowicki Rob Bricknell Giles Stanton Michele Clack	½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	Ian Ellis Steve Shaw Richard Collett Brian Allsop John Lloyd
	Result	3½ - 1½	Played 15 Sep
Match report based on e-mail from Giles Stanton - Redditch's board two blundered a piece early on in a four knight's opening. On top board, Ian Ellis did well to survive when 3 pawns down. He found a perpetual check to gain the draw. Board 3 looked to be the most exciting game. Although Rob Bricknell was material up, Richard had a promising attack. Rob found some good defensive moves and kept the pawn to win the game.

Hagley - Headless Cross			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Jim Friar Andrew Moore Francis O'Gorman James P Friar Joseph D Friar	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1	Glenn Cox Ronald Thompson Mark Hore Kevin Day John Holmberg
	Result	3½ - 1½	Played 2 Oct

Headless Cross - Redditch			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Glenn Cox Ashley Davis David Richardson John Holmberg Paul Roberts	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	Rob Mitchell Ray Trinder Krzysztof Krowicki Giles Stanton Michele Clack
	Result	3 - 2	Played 19 Oct
Match report [based on e-mail from Giles Stanton] Ray Trinder praised Ashley for his imaginative finish to their game which Ray did not see coming. In the end it was all down to the top boards. Glenn had the exchange and three pawns to the good and Rob resigned.

Hagley - Greenlands			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Jim Friar Peter Keate Francis O'Gorman James P Friar Joseph D Friar	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0	Laurence Wheatley Ian Ellis Ian Truscott Steve Shaw Richard Collett
	Result	3 - 2	Played 23 Oct

Droitwich - Headless Cross			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Arnold Kirkland Rob Fuller W (Bill) Watson Tom Parkes Barry Tidsell	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0	Glenn Cox David Richardson Ronald Thompson Mark Hore John Holmberg
	Result	2½ - 2½	Played 26 Oct

Droitwich - Hagley			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Arnold Kirkland Rob Fuller W (Bill) Watson Tom Parkes Bert Foord	0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 -1	Jim Friar Andy Moore Peter Keate Greg Voskanian Graham Wyle
	Result	1 - 4	Played 23 Nov

Redditch - Halesowen 2			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Rob Mitchell Krsyzstof Krowicki Rob Bricknell Giles Stanton Michele Clack	½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1	Jon Asbury John Llewelyn Maureen Clark Paul Evans Dave Etheridge
	Result	2½ - 2½	Played 12 Jan
Match report from Giles Stanton. At the end of the playing session Michele Clack adjourned against Dave Ethberidge. Michele hoped to draw to give Redditch the first win of 2010. In the cold light of day, despite always being able to capture one of her opponent's passed pawns, another one could not be stopped from promoting. This was a shame because at one stage, Michele had a commanding position with all her pieces attacking an exposed king. Dave Etheridge defended stoutly and then agressive counter-play gained his passed pawns. Rob Mitchell, Redditch's board one, played well to get what looked like a straight forward win with the possibility of his more active king winning the h-pawn and allowing his own h-pawn to promote. However, with three pawns each on the queenside swapped off, his opponent just had the move to gain the opposition and draw. On board 2, Krsyzstof Krowicki did not do himself justice possibly the result of lengthy return journey from Poland the previous day. On board 3 Maureen Clark allowed Rob Bricknell to get a dominent position and win the exchange and a pawn with no counter-play. On board 4 in a Ruy Lopez Paul Evans misplaced a piece and lost two tempi. While in trying sort his troops out, Paul blundered a piece and resigned. An eventful drawn match!

Redditch - Kidderminster 2			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Rob Mitchell Anthony Boyle; Rob Bricknell Richard Turner Peter Seeley	0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½	John Varilone Clive Billinge Mike Kitchen Terry Pountney Ken Durnell
	Result	1½ - 3 ½	Played 19 Jan

Greenlands - Droitwich			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Lawrence Wheatley Roy Peters Richard Collett B Allsop G Hunter	½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1	Arnold Kirkland Rob Fuller WW (Bill) Watson Tom Parkes Bert Foord
	Result	2 - 3	Played 26 Jan
Match reported by Controller

Hagley -Reddich			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Jim Friar Andrew Moore Peter Keate James P Friar (J) Joseph D Friar (J)	1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1	Tom Robinson Rob Bricknell Kris Krowicki Giles Stanton Michele Clack
	Result	3 - 2	Played 12 Feb
Match report from Jim Friar (Snr) - Hagley won their fourth match against Redditch maintaining their 100% record. On board 1 Tom Robinson blundered in the opening and ended up a rook down in 10 moves. Andy expertly defended Rob Bricknell's sacrifice to go into the ending a rook up. On board 3 Peter Keate lost a pawn in a complicated bishop vs knight ending. Unfortunately the bishop proved to be too powerful for the knight. Giles Stanton defended James's Grand Prix Attack. James sacrificed a pawn in the opening to win two later on. After over three hours of play, James used these extra pawns to win. On board 5 Michele managed to threaten mate which gained a tempo and won the game. A tough match!

Kidderminster 2 - Hagley			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Dave Close Clive Billinge Mike Kitchen Terry Pountney Ken Durnell	0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1	Peter Keate Francis O'Gorman Graham Wyle James P Friar Joseph Friar
	Result	½ - 4½	Played 3 Mar
Match report from Jim Friar (snr). On board 1, Dave Close blundered his Queen for a Bishop. On board 2, Francis O'Gorman won the exchange. After a complex middle game, Clive Billinge's king couldn't hide from threats from a rampant queen and rook. After a mass swop off on board 3, which left a bishop and six pawns against knight and six pawns, the players agreed a draw. This left Hagley needing only a draw in either of the remaining games. James Friar battled on in a knight and pawn ending, which looked drawn, but James forced a pawn through with his king and knight, whilst Terry Pountney's knight menaced the queen-side pawns. At the end Terry Pountney couldn't stop James's king side pawn. Hagley's captain, Joseph Friar, led by example. In a wild Budapest Gambit he trapped Ken Durnell's rook. Ken tried to escape but lost a knight to but it made no difference. After the swop off Joe remained a rook up in the ending.

Headless Cross - Halesowen 2			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Glenn Cox Ashley Davis David Richardson Mark Hore Ronald Thompson	½ - ½ ½ -½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	Jon Asbury Don Curry John Llewellyn Maureen Clark Paul Evans
	Result	2 - 3	Played 15 Mar
Match report from Glenn Cox.

Halesowen 2 - Droitwich			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Jon Asbury Don Curry John Llewellyn P Evans D Etheridge	1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1	Arnold Kirkland WW (Bill) Watson Bert Foord Tom Parkes Barry Tisdell
	Result	4 - 1	Played 16 Mar
Match report from Halesowen Club's website.

Halesowen 2 - Hagley			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Mike Hadley Jon Asbury Don Curry Maureen Clark Joyce Evans	½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1	Jim Friar Andy Moore Frank O'Gorman James Friar (Jun) Joseph Friar (Jun)
	Result	2 - 3	Played 23 Mar
Match report from Jim Friar. Hagley finished off their season with another win making a clean sweep in the league. First to finish was board 3. In very congested position Francis O'Gorman (Hagley) got one of his rooks trapped. But while Don Curry (Halesowen) deploying his forces for a queen-side attack, Francis sacked a knight to allow his queen to infiltrate Don's King side. Don found himself powerless to stop Francis winning most of the pawns and the game. On board 5, Joseph Friar (Hagley) put together such a ferocious attack from a Scotch Gambit that Joyce Evans lost a piece. Joseph followed through by demonstrating a mate with two knights and a rook. On board 2, Halesowen struck back. Andy Moore (Hagley) playing the black side of a Benko Gambit had to sacrifice a piece to stop Jon Asbury (Halesowen) queening a pawn. The game lingered, but the extra piece made the difference. Finally, Hagley players on boards 1 and 4 agreed draws to secure the match and the Division 2 Championship. James was a piece up so Maureen agreed without hesitation.

Droitwich - Redditch			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	John Loynes Arnold Kirkland Rob Fuller Bill Watson Bert Foord	½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½	Rob Mitchell Dave Spowart Rob Bricknell Jason Cole Giles Stanton
	Result	2 - 3	Played 29 Mar
Match report from Giles Stanton. On board one John Loynes (Droitwich) did well to nullify Rob Mitchell's (Redditch) threats to gain the draw. On 2, Dave Spowart was playing his first match for Redditch, but succumbed to a knight fork losing queen for rook. On 3, Rob Bricknell continued his fine form with an advanced pawn to win his game against Rob Fuller (Droitwich). On 4, Jason Cole (Redditch) also won playing against Bill Watson (Droitwich) using his most studied opening of the season (the Torre). Bill Watson overlooked a bishop attacking a rook to lose the exchange. Jason Cole (Redditch) ground out a well earned point. On 5, Giles Stanton (Redditch) played a Kings Indian Attack to avoid Bert Foord's (Droitwich) French Defence, but Bert continued to put up stout defence and counter thrusts throughout. A draw was agreed.

Kidderminster 2 - Headless Cross			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Mark Riley Clive Billinge Paul Thomas Terry Pountney Ken Durnell	1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ -½ ½ -½ 1 - 0	Glenn Cox Dave Richardson Ronald Thompson Mark Hore John Holmberg
	Result	3½ - 1½	Played 31 Mar
Match result from Controller.

Halesowen 2 - Kidderminster 2			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	John Llewellyn D Ethridge M Vile Mrs J Evans C Haddon	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	Mark Riley Clive Billinge Paul Thomas Terry Pountney Ken Durnell
	Result	1½ - 3½	Played 6 Apr
Match result from Ken Durnell.

Kidderminster 2 - Droitwich			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Mark Riley Clive Billinge Michael Kitchen Terry Pountney Ken Durnell	½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0	Arnold Kirkland WW (Bill) Watson Bert Foord Barry Tisdell J Chen
	Result	2½ - 2½	Played 14 Apr
Match result from Ken Durnell.

Greenlands - Halesowen 2			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Kevin Hurney Richard Collett B Allsop J Lloyd G Hunter	½ - ½ ½ -½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0	Jon Asbury D Etheridge A Taylor John Southcote C Haddon
	Result	2 - 3	Played 13 Apr
Match reported on Halesowen Club's website.

Kidderminster 2 - Headless Cross			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Mark Riley Clive Billinge Paul Thomas Terry Pountney Ken Durnell	1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ -½ ½ -½ 1 - 0	Glenn Cox David Richardson Ronald Thompson Mark Hore John Holmberg
	Result	3½ -1½	Played 13 Apr
Match reported by Ken Durnell.

Headless Cross - Greenlands			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Glenn Cox Ashley Davis Mark Hore Ronald Thompson John Holmberg	½ - ½ ½ -½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1	Lawrence Wheatley Andrew Wiggins S Shaw Richard Collett J Lloyd
	Result	1 - 4	Played 19 Apr
Match result from Controller.

Greenlands - Kidderminster 2			Div 2
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Andrew Wiggins Richard Collett B Allsop John Lloyd G Hunter	0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1	Mark Riley Paul Thomas Mike Kitchen Terry Pountney Ken Durnell
	Result	½ - 4½	Played 27 April
Match report from Ken Durnell.

Wheatley Memorial Knock Out Cup

Hagley A - Kidderminster 1			Wheatley Mem Cup
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Jim Friar (163) Andrew Moore (152) James P Friar (116) Joseph D Friar (100) Kyle Reed (102) Handicap	½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1¾ - 0	John Wrench (164) Dave Close (146) Mark Riley (146) John Varilone (139) Tim Yates (129)
	Result	4¾ - 2	Played 21 Jan
Match report from Jim Friar. The Wheatley Cup first round pitched Kidderminster 1 against holder's Hagley "A". Kidderminster outgraded Hagley by 90 points and conceded a 1¾ points handicap. On board 1 John Wrench played an Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez. Moving the wrong Rook to challenge the centre allowed Jim Friar to pin his opponent's knight. Complications ensued which John defended admirably to finish with a bishop and five pawns each, after which a draw was agreed. Andy Moore defended a delayed Benko Gambit from Dave Close. Andy won a second pawn giving him two outside passed pawns. Andy won a further pawn and converted. On the bottom board there was another Ruy Lopez and there were fluctuating fortunes between Kyle Reed and Tim Yates. A draw was agreed when the major pieces were swapped. This win gave Hagley the match on handicap, but the remaining two games continued unabated. On board 3 Mark Riley gave a pawn to weaken James Friar's King side, but the attack was neutralised leaving Mark a pawn down in a opposite Bishops ending. So another draw was agreed. The final game saw Joseph Friar playing white against John Varilone's French Defence. Joseph gave a pawn away to stop mating threats and at the end both sides had a queen, bishop and rook, with Joe a pawn down. Joe had weaknesses on the Q-side, but John's king was hemmed in on h8 otherwise he would allow Joe to get perpetual check. So the final game was agreed drawn. The final result was Hagley (Div2) beat Kidderminster (Div 1) 3-2 without the handicap!

Greenlands - Worcester City			Wheatley Mem Cup
Board	Home team	Result	Away team
1 2 3 4 5	Lawrence Wheatley (155) Andrew Wiggins (149) Ian Truscott (146) Richard Collett (112) Brian Allsop(105) Handicap	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 1½ - 0	Peter Kitson (169) Ray Collett (151) Andrew Farthing (146) Jim Keene (142) Ed Osbourn (est 125)
	Result	2 - 4½	Played 30 Mar
Match report by Ray Collett. Originally awarded as a Worcester home match, Worcester agreed to play at Greenlands to facilitate the progress of a competition delayed by postponed fixtures early in the New Year. Worcester outgraded Greenlands and had to overcome a handicap of 1½ points. This they did with ease. First game to finish was Jim Keene's win on board 4. Jim obtained a massive protected passed central pawn and crashed through. This result was followed by Peter Kitson's win on board 1 against Larewnce Wheatley's Colle system. At this stage Greenlands had the advantage only in Andrew Wiggins' game, the other two games looking leaning slightly Worcester's way. On Board 3 Andrew Wiggins (Greenlands) was a solid pawn up, but was using too much time. When Andrew was down to his last 5 minutes, he made a slip allowing Ray Collett to snatch back a pawn more than equalising the position. Worcester's captain reviewed the positions in the other two games in play. Collett saw that his board 5 had the opposition in a king and pawn ending and his board 3 had an outside passed pawn so anticipated at least 1½ points from the unfinished games. Collett offered Andrew Wiggins a draw, which was immediately accepted. Worcester's remaining games did not disappoint their captain. Ed Osbourn on board 5 demonstrated fine endgame technique making the king and pawn ending win look simple. Andrew Farthing's game against Ian Truscott had reached a rook and pawn ending. Andrew had an advanced outside passed pawn and a rook on the seventh as well as an advantage in time. To finish the game he simplified to a king and pawn ending, which he won. When the players shook hands we saw that Ian had only 2 seconds left and had resigned just before being timed out! This match was also reported by Worcester News.

Worcester City - Hagley (played at Greenlands)

Wheatley Mem Cup

Board

Home team

Result

Away team

1
2
3
4
5

Peter Kitson (169)
Ray Collett (151)
Andrew Farthing (146)
John Clark (109)
Ed Osbourn (120 est)
Handicap

1 - 0
½ - ½
½ - ½
0 - 1
½ - ½
0 - 0

Jim Friar (165)
Andy Moore (152)
James Friar Jnr (136)
Joseph Friar (126)
Kyle Reed (109)

Result

2½ - 2½

Played 11 May

Match report from Ray Collett. The pre-match meeting of captains was tense. Hagley won the cup from Worcester last year after their three-year tenure: City were determined to get it back. The handicap format of this tournament means that teams often drop higher rated players and bring rapidly improving players into their side. Hagley deployed on top boards their most experienced players and were clearly hoping their juniors would deliver the goods as they have in so many matches this season. Worcester decided to use three of their five best ranked players. It turned out that both sides had nearly equal grades so a straight win would be sufficient. In the event of a drawn match board count would decide. A thrilling match with spills galore ensued. Andy Moore, Hagley's Captain, won the toss. The first surprise was Hagley's decision to choose black on odd boards so only two Hagley players had white. This was a strange choice because white is reckoned to have a slight advantage. When players had emerged from the opening stages of their games, Hagley had positional advantage on board 2, and on board 5 Hagley had a two pawn advantage. The other games were even. The first result was after only an hour's play when Andrew Farthing and James Friar agreed a draw after early exchanges has produced an even endgame. By this stage, Worcester's chances looked bleaker because Collett on board 2 had just blundered the exchange against Andy Moore. The remaining four games went to the wire. Board 1 was the next to finish. Peter Kitson (Worcester) had employed his favourite King's Gambit, which was accepted by Jim Friar (Hagley). Peter had a positional advantage, but James defended staunchly and players entered a minor piece ending with James having a knight against Peter's bishop. Peter's original plan to win a pawn did not suceed because of the knight's activity. Peter switched plans trying to trap the knight on the edge of the board. In the time scramble Peter won. So first blood to Worcester! Board 2 was next to finish. Ray had doggedly played on the exchange down for a pawn, but Andy Moore's pieces had plenty of activity. With an inspired sacrifice of rook for pawn on e6, it looked all over for Ray Collett and Worcester's chances.

Moore (Hagley) - Collett (Worcester City)
Wheatley Memorial Cup Final 11 May 2010. Board 2

Here white played 29 Rxe6!

This should be a winning move. Andy missed the best line, but it was still very difficult for black to defend in actual play.

White's bishops' fire raked a denuded black king position. Ray just managed to avoid immediate mates and Andy was having to think longer as black consolidated his position. Then Ray blundered allowing Andy to force a series of exchanges leading to a position where both sides had bishop and queen with Andy having the attack and extra pawns. By now Andy had only 2 minutes left whereas Ray had a quarter of an hour. Andy saw no immediate prospect of a win. When Ray offered a draw it was accepted immediately. Post-game analysis, however, showed that Andy had missed a forced sequence that should have mated or won Ray's queen. Meanwhile Worcester's Ed Osbourn, short of time, was still two pawns down on board 5 and Joseph Friar (Hagley) had a positional advantage on board 4. Ed Osbourn flashed out moves in the last seconds to get a drawn king and pawn ending on board 5. For Hagley, Joseph Friar's pieces were gradually forcing back John Clark's. As the game entered the final minutes, young Joseph Friar proved to be better in the time scramble. Joseph claimed victory to level the match score when John's flag fell. The match tie-break, board count, gave Worcester a narrow cup win. Hagley's Captain, Andy Moore congratulated the Worcester team and Worcester City's Captain Ray Collett thanked Lawrence Wheatley for organising and controlling the competition. (Report amended 13 May)

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