Christmas At Cheddleton

The Seven Seas Tournament

There was a great turnout for the clubs' Christmas fun tournament - the Seven Seas (Cs – Cheddleton Chess Club Christmas Crazy Chess Competition).  38 club members took part in a game with no fixed rules. The rules were changed at random by the competition organiser Roger Edwards, so that on the point of winning, players could be instructed to change sides or remove the Queen. Every year there seems to be a giant killing feat - this year 13 year old Andrei Mihai had a victory against a well-known national arbiter. The higher-graded players eventually prevailed and there was a three way tie between Dave Buxton, Dave Millington and Alex Cartlidge. On a tie-break Alex took the 2013 title. There was a vote of thanks at the end for Roger Edwards for all his hard work in organising the event. The juniors expressed their thanks to Chairman Robert Milner and Colin Abell from St Edwards Academy.  Thanks also need to go to Bill Armstrong, Dave Rose, Dorothy Poole and Cathy Hallen for all the support they continuously give.

Chess On BBC Radio 4

Chess is returning to the BBC with a series of interviews over the course of a week with public figures with an interest in the game. The program is called Across The Board and is being broadcast for 5 consecutive days on BBC Radio 4 at 1:45 pm, commencing on Monday 30th December. You can click here for further details.

Pawns Pasted

The curtain came down on 2013 with Newcastle 'D' whitewashing Holmes Chapel Pawns in Division 4 in the final NSDCA match of the year. Holmes Chapel names first :

George Scattergood  0  John Day  1
Carmel Barwick  0  Pete Shaw  1
Paul Barwick  0  Watson Fuller  1
Isaac Barwick  0  Ben Lack  1

Fenton 'D' Win The Derby Match

Fenton 'D' won the bragging rights in tonight's Division 5 match, beating Fenton 'C' by 3.5 - 0.5. Fenton 'D' names first :

Stuart Hull  0.5  Mike Smith  0.5
Jason Plant  1  Geoff Yates  0
Steven Walley  1  Ernie Wilkinson  0
Joe Orsolics  1  John White  0

Cup Postponement

This Tuesday's Intermediate Cup match between Alsager and Cheddleton has been postponed. The match has now been re-arranged for 11th February.

Third Defeat For The Kings

Holmes Chapel Kings suffered their 3rd successive defeat in Division 1 last night, going down by  3.5 - 1.5 at home to Cheddleton 'A'. Holmes Chapel names first :

John Turner  0  Craig Whitfield  1
Mike Hancock  1  Colin Davison  0
Andrew Raeburn  0  Simon Edwards  1
Ian Bates  0.5  John Yee  0.5
Ian Chester  0  Jacob Boswell  1

Fenton March On In Division 4

Fenton 'B' scored their 5th successive win in Division 4 last night, beating Newcastle 'E'
by 2.5 - 1.5. Fenton now top the table with 10 points from 5 matches and also have a match in hand of their nearest rivals. Fenton names first :

Ray Hyde  1  Paul Clapham  0
Derek Whitehurst  0.5  Steven Cooper  0.5
Robert West  0  David Meakin  1
Ernie Wilkinson  1  Derrick Jones  0

Wednesday Win Double For Cheddleton

Cheddleton played 2 matches in Division 3 last night, winning both of them. Cheddleton 'E' beat Newcastle 'E' 2.5 - 1.5 to go 2 points clear at the top of the table. Newcastle names first :

Alan Paling  0  Bill Armstrong  1
Paul Clapham  0  Roger Edwards  1
Nic Wright  0.5  Roger Walker  0.5
Watson Fuller  0  David Hallen  1

Cheddleton 'F' won 3 - 1 at Stafford 'B', leaving Stafford second from bottom of the table. Stafford names first :

Ken McNulty  0  Phil Birks  1
Kazik Wozniak  0  Alex Cartlidge  1
Andrew Leadbetter  0  Jacob Cartlidge  1
David Barker  1  Dominic Taylor  0

Alsager Whitewashed

Alsager 'A' were beaten 5 - 0 at Holmes Chapel Knights in Division 2 earlier this evening. The Knights have now moved up to 2nd place in the table while Alsager remain rooted at the bottom with 6 defeats in 6 matches. Holmes Chapel names first :

Andy Raeburn  1  John Booth  0
Ben Scattergood  1  Gordon Parker  0
Ian Chester  1  Alan Thomason  0
George Scattergood  1  Steve Brown  0
John Hicks  1  Andrew Barker  0

Kidsgrove Draw Level At Top Of Division 3

Kidsgrove joined Cheddleton 'E' at the top of Division 3 following a 2.5 - 1.5 win at Alsager 'B' last night. Alsager names first :

Doug Barnett  0  Ian Jamieson  1
Frank Clarke  0.5  Steve Nixon  0.5
Andy Barker  1  Dave Johnson  0
Les Hall  0  Julian Hawthorne  1

Meir Up To 3rd In Division 3

Meir 'A' moved up to 3rd in Division 3 following a 3.5 - 0.5 win at Holmes Chapel Pawns last night. Holmes Chapel names first :

George Scattergood  0  Steve Hill  1
David P Price  0  Clive Ferry  1
Paul Clifford  0.5  Tom Healey  0.5
David C Price  0  Tony Cooling  1

Monday Evening Blues For Fenton

Fenton played two matches last night and were beaten in both of them. In Division 2 Fenton 'A' went down for the third time this season against a Cheddleton team, this time losing by 3.5 - 1.5 to Cheddleton 'D'. Fenton names first :

Alex Richardson  0.5  Matthew Wyza  0.5
Rob Taylor  0.5  John Yee  0.5
Steve Emmerton  0.5  Jacob Boswell  0.5
Mike Smith  0  Alex Cartlidge  1
Stuart Hull  0  Jacob Cartlidge  1

In Division 5 Fenton 'D' were beaten 2.5 - 1.5 at Meir 'C'. Meir names first :

Steve Gregory  0.5  Derek Whitehurst  0.5
Gwyn Price  1  Jason Plant  0
Ray Rhodes  0.5  Robert West  0.5
Mike Judd  0.5  Steven Walley  0.5

Win Double For Staffs County Teams

There were two County matches yesterday afternoon, with Staffs being successful in both of them. 

The Open team beat Worcestershire by 11 - 5 to score their second successive win in the Minor Counties Championship. You can click here to view the full match scorecard.

The U120 team beat Nottinghamshire by 7.5 - 4.5 to record their second win of the season and maintain their 100% record. You can click here to view the full match scorecard.

Division 2 Scorecard

I've just received the scorecard from Monday's Division 2 match between Macclesfield and Cheddleton 'D', the result of which was published earlier this week. Macclesfield names first :

Geoff Laurence  1  Matthew Wyza  0
Tony Soames  1  John Yee  0
Phil Cattermole  1  Jacob Boswell  0
Ray Pomeroy  0.5  Alex Cartlidge  0.5
David Mallinson  0  Jacob Cartlidge  1

Newcastle And Meir All Square In Division 4

Newcastle 'D' and Meir 'B' drew 2 - 2 in Division 4 last night. Newcastle names first :

John Day  0.5  Clive Ferry  0.5
Watson Fuller  1  Tom Healey  0
Ben Lack  0.5  Mike Judd  0.5
Scott McGowan  0  Stuart Green  1

Holmes Chapel Double In Division 2

Holmes Chapel had 2 wins in Division 2 last night. The Knights won by 3 - 2 at home to Cheddleton 'C'. Knights names first :

Andy Raeburn  0.5  Colin Davison  0.5
Ben Scattergood  0  Simon Edwards  1
Ian Chester  0.5  Jacob Cartlidge  0.5
George Scattergood  1  Sam Beardmore  0
Richard Blackwell  1  Dominic Taylor  0

The Rooks won by 3 - 2 at Newcastle 'B'. Newcastle names first :

Reinhold Heinlein  0.5  Mike Hancock  0.5
Barry Jones  0  Ian Bates  1
Paul Clapham  0  Malcolm Roberts  1
Nic Wright  1  Joe  Morris  0
Pete Shaw  0.5  Paul Clifford  0.5

Kidsgrove Into Semi-Final Of Intermediate Cup

Kidsgrove beat Stafford by 4 - 1 last night in their 1st Round Intermediate (U130) Cup match. They will now meet Meir in the Semi Final on 6th January. Kidsgrove names first :

Derek Northage  0.5  Andrew Leadbetter  0.5
Dave Johnson  0.5  Denis Nesbitt  0.5
Steve Nixon  1  Peter Evans  0
Julian Cook  1  David Barker  0
Julian Hawthorne  1  James Topp  0

Cheddleton Win At Alsager In Division 4

Cheddleton 'H' won 3 - 1 at Alsager 'C' in Division 4 last night. Alsager names first :

Neville Jones  0  Karol Grzybowski  1
Oliver Horrocks  0  Paul Shelley  1
Dick Martin  1  David Rose  0
Val Lukanov  0  Daniel Lomax  1

First Win Of Season For Stafford

Stafford 'B' got their first win of the season in Division 3 last night, beating Holmes Chapel Pawns by 2.5 - 1.5. Holmes Chapel names first :

George Scattergood  1  Ken McNulty  0
David P Price  0.5  Andrew Leadbetter  0.5
Joe Morris  0  Denis Nesbitt  1
Paul Clifford  0  David Barker  1

Macclesfield Unstoppable

Macclesfield won their 6th match out of a possible 7 in Division 2 last night. A 3.5 - 1.5 win against Cheddleton 'D' took them 5 points clear at the top of the table and it's very difficult to see anybody catching them. Unfortunately I don't have the full match scorecard in yet.

Monday Evening At Meir

There were 2 matches at Meir last night. Meir 'A' were beaten 2.5 - 1.5 by Newcastle 'C' in Division 2. Meir names first :

Steve Hill  0  Alan Paling  1
Clive Ferry  0.5  Paul Clapham  0.5
Tom Healey  0.5  David Meakin  0.5
Steve Gregory  0.5  Steven Cooper  0.5

Meir 'D' were held to a 2 - 2 draw by Cheddleton 'J in Division 5. Meir names first :

Eddie Burke  0  Sam Beardmore  1
Ray Rhodes  0  Caroline Mountford  1
Tony Cooling  1  Andrei Mihai  0
David Hackney  1  Sian Jones  0

Cheddleton 'B' Take The Points At Fenton

Cheddleton 'B' won a very close fought encounter with Fenton 'A' in Division 2 last night. With 4 of the 5 games ending in draws it took a rare mistake by Alex Richardson, with both players in time trouble, to give Cheddleton the match by 3 - 2. Fenton names first :

Alex Richardson  0  Dave Buxton  1
Ray Hyde  0.5  Phil Birks  0.5
Steve Emmerton  0.5  Colin Abell  0.5
Mike Smith  0.5  Roger Walker  0.5
Ernie Wilkinson  0.5  Jack Healings  0.5

Performance Grades

Martyn Harris has just published the first performance grades of the season on the Newcastle website. Click here to view them.