Cannock League Rapidplay

The Cannock League are holding a 25th Anniversary Rapidplay tournament this coming Saturday 20th April at the Ryecroft Community Hub in Walsall. If anybody is interested in entering, they can do so from the following link - https://cannockleaguechess.wixsite.com/home/25yr-tournament.

Crewe Win The Open Cup

Congratulations to Crewe on winning the Open Cup with a 5-1 win against Alsager in the Final earlier this week. I'm sure this will go some way towards minimising the disappointment of losing out to the same opponents for the Division 1 title. 

U1850 County Championship

Staffordshire have been draw away against Yorkshire in the National Stage of the U1850 County Championship. The match will be played at the Sheffield Chess Centre on Saturday the 27th April, starting at 13:30. Anybody interested in playing for the team should contact Peter Evans, the team Captain, via email - peterfkevans@live.co.uk.

Should we win the match we will progress to the Quarter Finals, where we would play Hampshire.

You can click here to view the full draw.

Alsager Win Division 1

Many congratulations to Alsager on winning Division 1 for the first time in their history. A win at Macclesfield last night, in their final match of the season, put them level on points with Crewe 'A'. However, the League tie break rules mean that they become Champions, by virtue of the fact that they won more matches - 8 against Crewe's 7. 

Crewe Chess Congress 2024

The hugely popular, and highly successful, Crewe Chess Congress will be taking place over the weekend of 28th/30th June. Entries are now being taken and you can click here for full details and an online entry form - https://crewechessclub.co.uk/congress-entry/. If past experience is anything to go by it is likely to be over subscribed, so get your entry in early to avoid disappointment.

British Rapidplay Championship

Many congratulations to Jacob Boswell of Cheddleton on taking joint 3rd place out of 219 entrants in last weekend's British Rapidplay Championship. Jacob finished on 8.5/11, just a half point behind the winner. He also beat GM Mark Hebden in the final round.

Crewe 'G' Win Division 4

Crewe 'G' have become the first Divisional Champions of the season. Fenton's loss against Meir on Tuesday evening means that they cannot now be caught, so congratulations to them. 

MCCU County Championship - U1850 Section

Staffordshire played Lincolnshire in the U1850 section of the MCCU County Championships on Saturday afternoon. The match ended in an 8-8 draw, but Lincolnshire won on board count. As the only two Counties to have entered a team in this section, this was actually the Final. As runners-up Staffordshire have now qualified for the National stage of the competition. This will be held sometime in May and we are likely to be the Away team.

North Staffs were well represented in the Staffordshire team, with players from Newcastle, Alsager, Fenton and Stafford taking part. Please click here to view the full match score card. 

If you are interested in playing for Staffordshire, then please contact Peter Evans, the Team Captain. He can be reached by email at peterfkevans@live.co.uk, or by telephone - 01785 601928.

RIP Oliver Horrocks

I have received the following from Alsager Chess Club:

"Alsager Chess Club recently received the sad news of the passing of Oliver Horrocks. 

He died peacefully on the 2nd February 2024 at the grand old age of 93 years.

A very good player in his time, some current Members struggle to recall when he was first associated with Alsager, but we think it was since the 1960's.

Away from his chess hobby, Oliver was a community leader, formerly he was the Rector of Barthomley.

He was the dearly loved husband of Pam and loving father of Joe and Clare.

He will be sadly missed."

UK Open Blitz Finals

Congratulations to Jacob Boswell of Cheddleton on finishing in 8th place in this weekend's UK Open Blitz Finals. A score of 8/15 put him ahead of 4 IM's and a GM. Click here to view the final ranking cross table and results.

Congratulations also to Carmel Barwick of Crewe, who finished 8th in the Women's Fnal, with a score of 7.5/15. Click here to view the final ranking cross table and results.