South Cheshire Shield

Kidsgrove scored their first points in this season's South Cheshire Shield with a 2.5 - 1.5 win against Holmes Chapel on Wednesday evening. Kidsgrove names first :

Derek Northage  1  Martin Gill  0
Dave Johnson  0  David Price  1
Julian Cook  0.5  George Scattergood  0.5
Julian Hawthorne  1  Paul Clifford  0

Hickman Cup Final

The postponed Hickman Cup Final between Stafford and Lichfield will now be played on Thursday 6th June @ Stafford.

Newcastle Rapidplay Jamboree

This year's Newcastle Rapidplay Jamboree is being held on Tuesday 2nd July. As usual there will be 2 sections - Open and U130. It will be teams of 4 players with 2 matches each and 30 minutes each on the clock. All games will be graded. Minimum of ECF bronze membership required for all players. Entry fee is £1 per team to cover the cost of room hire. Entries to Martyn Harris please.

Change Of Date For U120 Semi-Final

The Staffs U120 Semi-Final against Essex has been moved back a week to Saturday 15th June. The venue is likely to be Sawtry in Cambridgeshire.

South Cheshire Shield

Newcastle beat Holmes Chapel by 2.5 - 1.5 in their opening South Cheshire Shield match on Wednesday evening. Holmes Chapel's cause wasn't helped by fielding an overgraded player on board 1 who had to be counted as a default. Holmes Chapel names first :

Ben Scattergood  1  John Day  0  (HC player overgraded so game awarded  to Newcastle)
Martin Gill  0  Pete Shaw  1
David Price  0.5  Richard Cantliff  0.5
George Scattergood  1  Derrick Jones  0

UK Chess Challenge

The Staffordshire Megafinal stage of the UK Chess Challenge was held last Saturday at St Edwards Academy in Leek. You can click here to view a list of the results.

Staffs U120's To Face Essex In County Championship Semi Final

Despite defaulting on board 12, Essex still proved too strong for Lancashire in their Quarter Final match on Saturday, coming out on top by 7 - 5. So Essex will now provide the opposition for Staffs in the Semi Final. This is an away match for Staffs but will, presumably, be played at a halfway point. Warwickshire play Kent in the other Semi-Final.

Staffs U140's Fail To Progress In County Championship

It was a disappointing end to the County Championship campaign for the Staffs U140 team with a 9.5 - 6.5 defeat at the hands of Kent yesterday. You can click here to view the full match score card. Team Captain Denis Nesbitt has submitted the following report :

Unfortunately we suffered defeat at the hands of Kent. A few factors were not in our favour on the day. With both the Rhyl Congress and the successful Staffs U120 playing on the same day many players were unavailable to the U140’s.

With 3 people dropping out the team in the last few days prior to the match it was touch and go whether a full team could be raised, but it is a testament to the team and the support I have had throughout the year that people were able to turn out at such short notice, the last confirmation being on Friday afternoon!

Absolutely everyone gave it their best yesterday and indeed throughout the season. Finally I would like to thank all the players who have represented the team this year for turning out and supporting the team and myself. Your support has been truly humbling to me – for you to give up your Saturday afternoons in support of Staffordshire chess is greatly appreciated.

Staffs U120 Match Score Card

The full match score card from Saturday afternoon's U120 County Championship Quarter Final match against Hertfordshire is now in. You can click here to view it and, as you will see, NSDCA players contributed 4 of the 6.5 points. Team Captain Peter Evans has also submitted the match report below :

Quarter Final Recovery

An extraordinary turnaround was seen in the County U120 quarter final when Staffordshire played Hertfordshire on Saturday.

Staffordshire quickly fell 4 - 0 behind due to a mixture of good play and the occasional blunder.

However,  the match slowly began to turn. Simon Jones put Staffs first points on the board with a draw on board ten and Jacob Cartlidge scored Staffordshire’s first full point on board 9 with a winning rook and pawn endgame.

Nic Wright then played a fine combination attack to win on board three and this was followed by George Scattergood going two pieces up, forcing the Hertfordshire board six to resign.

John Fenby drew on board two after defending a difficult position well and the match was equalised by Steve Emmerton winning on the top board. Steve had won his opponent’s queen for the loss of a rook; however the position was still difficult and after patient play Steve was able to create space to create a winning queen attack.

All was level and there were just two games left. Bob Brodie was a late replacement on board 5 and he justified his selection with his accurate defence to draw the game.

Danny Torbica on board ten was last to finish when he was able to checkmate his opponent, giving Staffordshire a win by 6½ to 5½. We look forward to June’s semi-final.

Staffs Open Team Go Down Against Kent

The Staffs Open team went out of the County Championship at the Quarter Final stage following a 10 - 6 defeat against Kent this afternoon. The highlight of the day for Staffs was a fine win by Lawrence Cooper of Stafford against Grandmaster Neil McDonald on board 1. You can click here to view the full match score card.

Staffs U120's Through To County Championship Semi-Finals

This afternoon saw a tremendous performance from the Staffs U120 team, coming from 4 - 0 down to beat Hertfordshire by 6.5 - 5.5 in the County Championship Quarter Final. We now meet either Essex or Lancashire in the Semi Final. I don't yet have the full match score card from today's match but watch this space as it should be available very soon.

2012/2013 Season Comes To A Close

The 2012/2013 season finally came to an end last night with Cheddleton 'B' beating 4 man Holmes Chapel Rooks by 4.5 - 0.5 in Division 2. Cheddleton names first :

Simon Edwards  1  Malcolm Roberts  0
Colin Davison  1  Jon Blackburn  0
Phil Birks  0.5  Sandra Blackburn  0.5
Jacob Cartlidge  1  George Scattergood  0
David Millington  1  Default  0

Division 1 Ends With A Default

The Division 1 season has now come to an end, with Alsager defaulting their final match against Stafford due to player unavailability.

No Joy For NSDCA In County Cup Finals

There were no trophies for the NSDCA clubs in last night's County Cup Finals. Stafford's match against Lichfield in the Hickman Trophy was postponed as Lichfield were unable to raise a team. Cheddleton and Fenton were both defending trophies that they won last year - sadly, unsuccessfully.

Cheddleton lost by 3 - 2 against Warley Quinborne in the Gothard Cup. Warley Quinborne names first :

A Singh  1  Roger Edwards  0
J Fahy  0  Alastair McFadden  1
S Smith  1  John Yee  0
J Turner  1  Bill Armstrong  0
J Packenham  0  Chris Sizeland  1

Fenton were beaten 3 - 2 by Lichfield in the Jackson Trophy. Lichfield names first :

Mike Hoare  0  Rob Taylor  1
David Fone  0.5  Steve Emmerton  0.5
Mike Page  0.5  Mike Smith  0.5
Gary Haime  1  Stuart Hull  0
Marco Ho  1  Ernie Wilkinson  0

Curtain Comes Down On Division 3 Season

The Division 3 season came to a conclusion last night with KIdsgrove beating Cheddleton 'D' by 2.5 - 1.5, a result that confirms Kidsgrove in 3rd place in the table. Kidsgrove names first :

Ian Jamieson  1  Roger Edwards  0
Derek Northage  0  Jacob Boswell  1
Steve Nixon  0.5  David Hallen  0.5
Dave Johnson  1  Ali Arshad  0

Newcastle Win The Withnall Trophy

Newcastle just edged out Fenton in a very close Withnall Trophy Final last night, coming out on top by 3 - 2. With boards 1, 2, 3 and 5 all being drawn it was left to Richard Cantliff to bring the trophy to Newcastle with a win on board 4. Congratulations to Paul Clapham and all of his team. Newcastle names first :

Paul Clapham  0.5  Steve Emmerton  0.5
Pete Shaw  0.5  Mike Smith  0.5
Nic Wright  0.5  Stuart Hull  0.5
Richard Cantliff  1  Robert West  0
Steven Cooper  0.5  Ernie Wilkinson  0.5

Wolverhampton Summer League

Peter Evans has just been appointed Captain of Stafford in the Wolverhampton Summer League. However, it now appears that most, if not all, of his players will be unavailable. He has asked me to post a request for anybody graded U121 in the January 2013 Grading List, and who would like to guest for Stafford, to please contact him. The furthest that anybody would be required to travel would be Wolverhampton or Cannock. He doesn't expect anybody to commit to playing every game but just now and again when they are available. Peter can be contacted by telephone on : 01785 601928 (Home) or 07773 791017 (Mobile) or by email : peterfkevans@live.co.uk.

Alsager Kick Off South Cheshire Shield With A Win

Alsager beat Kidsgrove by 3.5 - 0.5 last Tuesday in the opening match in this season's South Cheshire Shield. 
Alsager names first :

Brian Birchall  0.5  Derek Northage  0.5
Frank Clarke  1  Dave Johnson  0
Michael Matar  1  Julian Cook  0
Neville Jones  1  Julian Hawthorne  0

This Wednesday's match between Newcastle and Alsager has been postponed as both teams are struggling with player availability.

County Cups

Next week is County Cup Finals week, where NSDCA clubs are well represented. Stafford are playing Lichfield in the Hickman Cup, Cheddleton are defending the Gothard Cup against Warley Quinborne and Fenton are defending the Jackson Trophy against Lichfield. These matches are all being played next Thursday 16th at Stafford. On Wednesday 15th Newcastle play Fenton in the Withnall Trophy at Newcastle.

Next Saturday is also Quarter Final day in the County Championship. The Staffs Open team are playing Kent, the U140 team are also playing Kent and the U120 team are playing Hertfordshire. There will be a strong contingent of NSDCA players in all three teams and I'm sure that everybody wishes them lots of luck in their respective quests to reach the Semi-Finals.

League Season Drawing To A Close

Three matches at Cheddleton last night have almost bought the league season to a close. The Division 4 season concluded with a 2.5 - 1.5 win for Cheddleton 'F' against Meir 'C', a result that took them into the runners-up spot. Cheddleton names first :

Simon Edwards  0.5  Steve Hill  0.5
Jack Healings  1  Mike Judd  0
Sam Beardmore  1  Bob Perry  0
Dominic Taylor  0  Ray Rhodes  1

Stafford 'B' took the runners-up place in Division 2 without even pushing a pawn as Kidsgrove were held to a 2 - 2 draw by Cheddleton 'E'. Cheddleton names first :

Colin Abell  0  Ian Jamieson  1
John Yee  1  Derek Northage  0
Matthew Carr  0  David Johnson  1
David Rose  1  Julian Hawthorn  0

In another Division 3 match Cheddleton 'D' beat Newcastle 'D' by 3 - 1. Cheddleton names first :

Roger Edwards  0  Martyn Harris  1
Jacob Boswell  1  John Day  0
David Millington  1  Nic Wright  0
David Hallen  1  Derrick Jones  0

The only league matches outstanding now are : Kidsgrove v Cheddleton 'D' in Division 3, Cheddleton 'B' v Holmes Chapel Rooks in Division 2 and Alsager 'A' v Stafford 'A' in Division 1. The first two matches are both being played next week, whilst the Alsager v Stafford fixture has still to be arranged.

Meir 'B' Win The Division 4 Derby

Meir 'B' finished their Division 4 season with a 2.5 - 1.5 win against Meir 'C' last night. There is now only one match left to play in Division 4 - Cheddleton 'F' v Meir 'C'. Cheddleton 'F'  only need a point from this match to grab the runners-up spot ahead of Cheddleton 'G'. Meir 'C' names first :

Steve Hill  1  Peter Windows  0
Steve Gregory  0  Tom Healey  1
Mike Judd  0.5  Ray Rhodes  0.5
Bob Perry  0  Stuart Green  1

Fenton Score Card Now In

The score card for Fenton's Division 4 match against Meir 'C' is now in. Fenton names first ;

Rob Taylor  1  Stuart Green  0
Geoff Yates  0  Bob Perry  1
Mike Smith  0.5  David Hackney  0.5
Robert West  1  Abby Sergeant  0

Tiny Pawns Get Another Point On The Board

Holmes Chapel Tiny Pawns finished their season with a 2 - 2 draw against Fenton 'C' in Division 4 last night. Holmes Chapel names first :

George Scattergood  1  Steve Emmerton  0
Carmel Barwick  1  Stuart Hull  0
Ellen Scattergood  0  Ernie Wilkinson  1
Isaac Barwick  0  Steven Walley  1

Cheddleton 'A' Take Runners-Up Spot In Division 1

Alsager 'A' have defaulted this Friday's match against Cheddleton 'A', the points taking Cheddleton 'A'  into 2nd place.

Fenton Take Division 4 Championship

No score card to hand at the moment but Fenton 'B' beat Meir 'C' by 2.5 - 1.5 last night to take the Division 4 title for the 4th time in the last 5 seasons.