Stafford Return To Top Of Div 3

Stafford 'B' returned to the top of Division 3 with a 3-1 win
over Kidsgrove 'A' last night. Kidsgrove remain bottom of
the league, still without a win this season.

K Wozniak  1  C Ford  0
A Leadbetter  1  S Elliott 0
P Evans  1  J Cook  0
B Ondrejkovic  0  S Nixon  1

Boris Ondrejkovic was making his debut on Board 4 for Stafford, never having played league chess before.

Newcastle Woes Continue

The slump in the fortunes of Newcastle continued when the 'A' team
were beaten 4 1/2 - 1/2 at home by Alsager 'A' in Division 1 last night.

B Jones  0  S Hood  1
I Jamieson  0  K Zak  1
A Paling  1/2  J Booth  1/2
G Lee  0  B Zitha  1
M Harris  0  J Kirk-O'Grady  1

Cheddleton Held By The Knights

Table topping Cheddleton 'B' were held to a 2 1/2 -  2 1/2
draw by Holmes Chapel Knights in last night's Division 2 match.

A Raeburn  1/2  S Edwards  1/2
I Chester  1/2  J Yee  1/2
J Hicks  1/2  V Luzajic  1/2
A Roberts  1  K Grzybowski  0
D Price  0  A McFadden  1

A Bad Week For Newcastle

A 3rd defeat in as many days continued a bad week for Newcastle teams when the 'C' team were beaten 3-2 at Macclesfield in Division 2.

P Cattermole 0  A Richardson  1
G Laurence  0  R Coats  1
V Kumar  1  W Fuller  0
R Pomeroy  1  J Day  0
M Renshaw  1  P Shaw  0

Meir Back In The Lead

Meir 'C' reclaimed top spot in Division 5 with
a 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 win at Fenton 'D'.

G Yates  0  T Healey  1
N Davies  1/2  S Green  1/2
D Whitehurst  1/2  M Judd  1/2
J White  1/2  D Hackney  1/2

Performance Grades

The latest performance grades have just been published on the Newcastle website. These are based on all NSDCA league and cup games up to the 25th March, plus games from the Newcastle, Leek and Frodsham congresses. Click here to view the grades.

Monday Evening Results

Meir 'A' beat Newcastle 'B' by 3-2 in Division 2.

S Hill  0  A Paling  1
C Ferry  1  M Harris  0
T Healey  1/2  G Lee  1/2
D Fuller  1  N Wright  0
R Rhodes  1/2  P Amarasinghe  1/2

Fenton 'B'  kept their remote title aspirations alive with
a 3 1/2 - 1/2 win over Newcastle 'D' in Division 3.

A Stott  1/2  F Westfield  1/2
R Taylor  1  P Clapham  0
S Emmerton  1  S Cooper  0
P Tideswell  1  D Jones  0

Terriers Trounced

The Staffs Terriers U120 County team finished their season with
a 7 1/2 - 4 1/2 drubbing at the hands of Nottinghamshire on Saturday.

The unavailability of several key players, plus last minute withdrawals, meant that Staffs travelled with a severely weakened team.  Thanks to the juniors of Cheddleton we were eventually able to field a full team of 12 players but were no match for Notts on the day.

Click here to view the full scorecard.

This ends a disappointing season for the Terriers with only one win to show for it. Even this was because Leicestershire defaulted the match so can hardly be counted.

My thanks to everybody who has turned out for the Terriers this season and we must now look forward to next season with renewed optimism.

A Friday Evening Treble For Cheddleton

Cheddleton 'D' moved a point clear of Stafford 'B' in Division 3
 with a 3 1/2 - 1/2 win over Fenton 'B'.


R Edwards  1  J Amison  0
R Walker  1/2  R Taylor  1/2
A McFadden  1  S Emmerton  0
D Hallen  1  S Hull  0


In Division 3, Cheddleton 'X' beat Alsager 'C' by 3-1.


P Birks  1/2  B Birchall  1/2
A Cartlidge  1/2  N Jones  1/2
L Dimmick  1  R Martin  0
J Cartlidge  1  S Duncan  0


Cheddleton 'I' replaced Meir 'C' at the top of Division 5 
after beating them by 2 1/2 - 1 1/2.


W Armstrong  1  T Healey  0
J Healings  1  A Cooling  0
J Boswell  1/2  S Green  1/2
S Beardmore  0  R Perry  1

Kings Getting Closer

Holmes Chapel Kings have moved to within a point of Stafford 'A' at the top of Division 1, and still have a game in hand, following a 3 1/2 - 1 1/2 win against Alsager 'A' last night. This was in spite of defaulting a game on Board 3.


P Bennett  1  S Hood  0
M Hancock  1  Kamil Zak  0
Default  0  B Zitha  1
M Roberts  1/2  J O'Hare  1/2
I Chester  1  Klaudia Zak  0

Wednesday Evening Results From Newcastle

Newcastle 'A' were beaten 3 1/2 - 1 1/2 by Cheddleton in a Division 1 match.


A Paling  0  R Shaw  1
M Harris  1/2  S Edwards  1/2
B Jones  0  D Buxton  1
I Jamieson  1  J Yee  0
G Lee  0  W Armstrong  1


In Division 3 Newcastle 'D' were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom club Kidsgrove.  Kidsgrove remain bottom of the league, still without a win this season.


F Westfield  1  C Ford  0
P Shaw  1  S Elliott  0
P Clapham  0  J Cook  1
S Cooper 0  S Nixon  1

Macclesfield Beat The Knights

Holmes Chapel Knights stay bottom of Division 2 after losing 3 1/2 - 1 1/2 at Macclesfield last night.


P Cattermole  1/2  A Raeburn  1/2
G Laurence  1  J Hicks  0
M Jouannet 0  A Roberts  1
J-P Taylor  1  B Scattergood  0
A Brough  1  G Scattergood 0

County U-140's Sign Off With A Win

Following their trials and tribulations of the last month, Ray Dolan stepped in to organise the County U140 team for their final match of the season against Warwickshire. A weaker than usual Staffs team included several players from the Bulldogs and Terriers U120 teams, plus a couple of ungraded players. However, the team rose to the occasion and, despite being outgraded by Warwickshire on every single board, pulled off a magnificent 8 1/2 - 7 1/2 win. Well done to Ray for his efforts, including also stepping in to play, and win, on Board 1 when one of the Staffs players failed to arrive.

Click here to see the full score card.

Better Late Than Never !!

I usually try to get news and results up on the site within 24 hours. However, I've not been at home for a couple of days so my apologies for the delay in reporting the matches below.

Stafford 'B' returned to the top of Division 3 on Thursday evening following a 3-1 win over Holmes Chapel Pawns who, unfortunately, could only muster 3 players for the match.

K McNulty  1/2  B Scattergood  1/2
K Wozniak  1  G Scattergood  0
G De Visme  1/2  S Blackburn  1/2
D Barker  1  Default  0

On Friday evening Cheddleton 'B' beat Newcastle 'B' by 3 1/2 - 1 1/2 to go back to the top of Division 2, a point ahead of Cheddleton 'C' and Newcastle 'C'. However, this may only be a temporary state of affairs as both of these teams have games in hand.

S Edwards  1/2  A Paling  1/2
J Yee  1  G Lee  0
R Edwards  1  M Harris  0
K Brownlee  0  S Onions  1
A McFadden  1  P Amarasinghe  0

The all-Cheddleton match in Division 5 ended with a 4-0 win for Cheddleton 'G' over Cheddleton 'H'.  This win moves Cheddleton 'G' to joint top spot, along with Meir 'C'.

J Healings  1  A Mihai  0
J Boswell  1  T Holland  0
S Beardmore  1  D Lomax  0
D Holland  1  K Smith  0

In another Division 5 match, Cheddleton 'E' missed the chance to go to the top of the table when they were beaten 3-1 by bottom team Fenton 'D'. This was Fenton's first win of the season and was enough to lift them off the bottom of the table in front of Cheddleton 'F'. However, Cheddleton 'F' have 3 games in hand so this may well change before the season ends.

K Grzybowski  0  S Hull  1
D Rose  1  P Tideswell  0
D Graham  0  D Whitehurst  1
G Hamilton  0  J White  1

Fenton Seal Division 4 Championship

Fenton 'C' wrapped up the Division 4 Championship with a game to spare following a 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 win at Alsager 'C'. It is now mathematically impossible for anybody to catch them. This is the 3rd consecutive season that Fenton have been Division 4 Champions.

B Birchall  1/2  J Amison  1/2
R Martin  0  R Taylor  1
O Horrocks  1  E Wilkinson  0
T Sullivan  0  D Whitehurst  1

Wednesday Results From Holmes Chapel

Meir 'A' scored a rare win in their Division 2 match at Holmes Chapel Rooks last night - Clive Ferry's words not mine !!  Final score 3-2.

J Blackburn  1  S Hill  o
M Roberts  0  C Ferry  1
S Blackburn  0  T Healey  1
C Gay  0  D Fuller  1
P Clifford  1  A Cooling  0

Bottom of the table Holmes Chapel Knights held Newcastle 'C'
to a 2 1/2 - 2 1/2 draw.

A Raeburn  0  I Jamieson  1
I Chester  1/2  R Coats  1/2
J Hicks  0  J Day  1
A Roberts  1  P Shaw  0
G Scattergood  1  N Wright  0

Holmes Chapel are proving to be the strong men of the Division with the Knights and Rooks holding up the table between them.

Performance Grades

The latest performance grades have just been published on the Newcastle website. These are based on all NSDCA league and cup games up to the 11th March, plus games from the Newcastle, Leek and Frodsham congresses. Click here to view the grades.

Season Finale For Kidsgrove And Newcastle

Kidsgrove 'B' and Newcastle 'E' completed their final Division 4 fixture yesterday evening. Despite only being able to field 3 players Kidsgrove still proved too strong for Newcastle and ran out 3-1 winners. This result moves Kidsgrove into 2nd position, albeit only temporarily as all the teams behind them have several games in hand.

D Northage  1  P Clapham  0
S Elliott  1  D Jones  0
J Cook  1  H Shabani  0
Default  0  S McGowan 1

Meir Go Top Of Division 5

Meir 'C' leapfrogged over the Cheddleton 'E', 'H' and 'G' teams to go top of Division 5 with a 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 win over Cheddleton 'F'.

T Healey  1/2  C Abell  1/2
M Judd  1/2  P Tomczak  1/2
S Green  1/2  J Jackson  1/2
D Hackney  1  E Smith  0

All Square At Fenton

Fenton 'C' and Alsager 'C' shared the points in a 2-2 draw in Division 4, with all four individual games being drawn. This result moves Alsager up to joint second, along with Meir 'B'.  Fenton now move 3 points clear of the chasing pack with only 2 games left to play.  Alsager and Fenton play each other again on Thursday in a return fixture in what could be a crucial match.

R Taylor  1/2  J Smith  1/2
S Emmerton  1/2  N Jones  1/2
E Wilkinson 1/2  O Horrocks  1/2
D Whitehurst  1/2  S Duncan  1/2

8 Board Open Cup Final

The Final of the 8 Board Open Cup between Stafford and Cheddleton will take place at Stafford on Wednesday 13th April.  As a consequence of this, the Division 1 match between Stafford 'A' and Holmes Chapel Kings has been moved back from the 14th April to 12th May so that Stafford do not have matches on consecutive evenings.

Friday Evening Results From Cheddleton

Cheddleton 'B' and Cheddleton 'C' were both in action in Division 2 last night, both teams coming out on top.

Cheddleton 'B' beat Holmes Chapel Rooks by 4-1 to move
into joint 2nd place, along with Newcastle 'C'.

S Edwards  1/2  J Blackburn  1/2
J Yee  1  M Roberts  0
R Edwards  1  S Blackburn  0
A McFadden  1  G Scattergood  0
J Healings  1/2  P Clifford  1/2

Cheddleton 'C' leapfrogged Newcastle 'C' into top spot
with a 4-1 win against Meir 'A'.

D Buxton  1  S Hill  0
W Armstrong  1  C Ferry  0
P Birks  1  T Healey  0
D Hallen  1/2  D Fuller  1/2
D Rose  1/2  S Gregory  1/2

Last Night's Division 1 Results

Stafford 'A' extended their lead at the top of Division 1
with a 3-1 win over 2nd placed Holmes Chapel Kings.

M Armstrong  0  P Bennett  1
S Pedder  1  J Turner  0
R Hyde  1  M Hancock  0
K McNulty  0  I Bates  1
K Wozniak  1  J Blackburn  0

Newcastle 'A' recorded their 5th draw in 7 matches
with a 2 1/2 - 2 1/2 draw at Alsager 'A'.

S Hood  0  A Richardson  1
K Zak  1/2  A Paling  1/2
J Booth  1/2  M Harris  1/2
B Zitha  1  B Jones  0
A Thomason  1/2  G Lee  1/2

Stafford Win At Newcastle In Division 3

Stafford 'B' have moved into joint 2nd position in Division 3
 following a 3-1 win at Newcastle 'D' last night.


F Westfield  0  K McNulty  1
N Wright  0  A Leadbetter  1
R Cantliff  1  P Evans   0
S Cooper  0  G De Visme  1

Fenton Go Clear In Division 4

Fenton 'C' moved 2 points clear of Meir 'B' at the top
of Division 4 with a 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 win at Kidsgrove 'B'.

D Northage  1/2  D Griffiths  1/2
S Elliott  0  S Emmerton  1
D Johnson  1  G Yates  0
S Nixon  0  D Whitehurst  1

Cheddleton Go Top Of Division 3

Cheddleton 'D' went into top spot in Divsion 3 following a 3-1 win at Holmes Chapel Pawns last night. Cheddleton are now a point clear of Fenton 'B' with a game in hand.

B Scattergood  0  R Edwards  1
G Scattergood  0  K Brownlee  1
S Blackburn  1/2  K Grzybowski  1/2
J Morris  1/2  D Hallen  1/2

County Team News

Ray Dolan has taken charge of the County U140 team for their final match of the season at home to Warwickshire on the 19th March.

Alan Thomason, the County U160 Captain, has decided to step down at the end of this season.

This means that there are vacancies for both U140 and U160 Captains next season. Anybody interested in taking on one of these jobs should contact Andrew Davies, the County Secretary, at generalsecretary@staffordshirechess.org.uk.

Friday Evening Results From Cheddleton

Cheddleton 'B' beat Macclesfield by 4-1 in Division 2.

S Edwards  1/2  D Risley  1/2
J Yee  1  P Cattermole  0
V Luzajic  1  A Brough  0
A McFadden  1  M Renshaw  0
K Grzybowski  1/2  A Sime  1/2

In Division  5 Cheddleton 'I' beat Cheddleton 'H' by 3-1.

C Green  1/2  J Jackson  1/2
J Hollins  1/2  J Healings  1/2
M Kelly  0  J Boswell  1
O Hollins  0  S Beardmore  1

According to the fixture list there should also have been a Division 5 match between Cheddleton 'E' and Meir 'C' but I have no details on this.

Stafford Lead Division 1

Stafford 'A' went a point clear at the top of Division 1
last night after a 2 1/2 - 2 1/2 draw at home to draw specialists Newcastle 'A'. Newcastle have now drawn 5 of their 7 matches.

L Grinsell  1/2  A Richardson  1/2
M Armstrong  1  G Lee  0
S Pedder  0  A Paling  1
K McNulty  1  B Jones  0
K Wozniak  0  M Harris  1

Wednesday Evening Results

Newcastle 'C' moved into top spot in Division 2 after a 4-1 win against bottom team Holmes Chapel Rooks.


I Jamieson  1  J Blackburn  0
R Coats  1  M Roberts  0
J Day  1/2  S Blackburn  1/2
W Fuller  1  P Clifford  0
P Shaw  1  J Morris  0


Cheddleton 'D' have gone into 2nd place in Division 3, a point behind Fenton 'B' but with 2 games in hand, following a 3-1 win at Kidsgrove 'A'.  Kidsgrove were only able to raise 3 players for the match so Cheddleton sportingly agreed to take only 3 players and the bottom board was declared a half point default for both teams.


D Northage  0  R Edwards  1
C Ford  0  K Brownlee  1
S Nixon  1/2  D Hallen  1/2
Default  1/2  Default  1/2 

Monday Evening Results

Macclesfield lost by 3-2 at home to Cheddleton 'B' in Division 2 last night despite Cheddleton defaulting a game on Board 5.

P Cattermole  0  S Edwards  1
G Laurence  1  J Yee  0
M Jouannet  0  V Luzajic  1
A Brough  0  K Grzybowski  1
R Murphy  1  Default  0

In Division 2 Holmes Chapel Knights moved off the bottom of the table, and level with last night's opponents, following a 3 1/2 - 1 1/2 win at Meir 'A'.

S Hill  1/2  A Raeburn  1/2
C Ferry  1  I Chester  0
T Healey  0  J Hicks  1
D Fuller  0  G Scattergood  1
R Rhodes  0  D Price  1

Fenton 'C' and Cheddleton 'X' played out a 2-2 draw at Fenton Sports & Social Club. However, the one point takes Fenton back to joint top of Division 4 with Meir 'B' but with 3 matches in hand.

J Amison  1/2  P Birks  1/2
R Taylor  1/2  A Cartlidge  1/2
E Wilkinson  1/2  L Dimmick  1/2
D Whitehurst  1/2  J Cartlidge  1/2

Meir 'B' missed the opportunity to go clear at the top of Division 4 following a 3-1 home defeat by Kidsgrove 'B'. 

A Cooling  0  S Elliott  1
M Judd  0  J Cook  1
S Green  1  D Johnson  0
R Perry  0  S Nixon  1