Friday Evening Result

Division 4

Cheddleton 'F'  3  Stafford 'B'  1

County Cup Finals

The County Cup Finals have been put back a week to Wednesday 14th June as the Function Room at Stafford is unavailable on the 7th.

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 1

Newcastle 'A'  3.5  Holmes Chapel 'A'  1.5

Newcastle completed their Division 1 fixtures with a win last night.

Stafford 'A'   2.5  Cheddleton 'A'  2.5

Last night's draw means that Cheddleton have wrapped up the Division 1 title with a match to spare.

Division 3

Newcastle 'D'  0  Fenton 'A'  4

Fenton threw a spanner in the Division 3 works last night with a whitewashing of leaders Newcastle, leaving the field clear for a couple of other teams to catch them if they slip up again.

Division 5

Crewe 'D'  3.5  Cheddleton 'G'  0.5

Cheddleton 'G' can now no longer win Division 5 following last night's defeat. 

Crewe 'E'  1.5  Cheddleton 'H'  2.5

Cheddleton 'H' rounded off their Division 5 fixtures with a win last night, still leaving them nearer the bottom of the table than the top.

Staffordshire County Cup Finals

As many of you will be aware, the County Cups have been very poorly supported for a number of years. In an effort to save them from complete extinction it was agreed at the last County AGM that the format would be changed. This season there will be no knock-out rounds - there will just be an end of season Final between clubs from the North and South of the County, nominated by the NSDCA and the Wolverhampton League. Nominations have now been made and the Finals will be as follows :

Venue : Stafford Chess Club
Date : 7th June 2017
Hickman (Open) Cup
Stafford v Cheddleton
Gothard (U161) Cup
Sutton Coldfield v Fenton
Jackson (U141) Cup
Lichfield v Newcastle
Withnall (U121) Trophy
Walsall Kipping v Meir

South Potteries Rapidplay Championship

I'm probably getting ahead of myself here but the 3rd South Potteries Rapidplay Championship will be held on Sunday 25th June at the Tollgate Hotel & Leisure Centre on Sunday 25th June.

Due to space constraints entries will be limited to 18 this year, so if you want to play you will need to get your entry in early.

Please click here for full details and list of entrants to date.

Monday Evening Results

Division 4

Fenton 'B'  3.5  Crewe 'C'  0.5

Meir 'B'  1  Newcastle 'E'  3

Newcastle Congress

It was another very successful Congress at Newcastle over the weekend. Unfortunately there was not an Open Section due to a lack of entrants but the U130 and U160 Sections were extremely well supported. A full report will appear on the Newcastle website in due course but, after the dust had settled, the winners were :

U160  Karl Lockett (Crewe)

U130 Mike Lee (Holmes Chapel)

U100 Derrick Jones (Newcastle)

Friday Evening Results

Division 3

Cheddleton 'C'  1.5  Kidsgrove  2.5

Kidsgrove are finally off the mark with their first win of the season.

Division 4

Cheddleton 'E'  3  Newcastle 'E'  1

Cheddlerton 'E' increased their lead at the top of Division 4 to 4 points following last night's win.

Division 5

Cheddleton 'H'  2.5  Fenton 'C'  1.5

Fenton 'C' blew their chance to go back to the top of Division 5 when they could only raise 3 players for their match against Cheddleton 'H'.

Chess Boxing

If anybody is interested you can see International Chess Boxing every Wednesday evening at 11:00 on Freeview Channel 91. If you can't find Channel 91 you probably just need to re-tune the channels on your tv to pick it up.

Last Call For The Newcastle Congress

There are now only 3 days to go now until the Newcastle Mini Congress. If you are interested in playing, in what is always an excellent event, please contact Martyn Harris as soon as possible.

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 2

Newcastle 'B'  2.5  Macclesfield  2.5

Division 4

Crewe 'C'  1.5  Cheddleton 'F'  2.5

Stafford 'B'  2.5  Meir 'B'  1.5

Division 5

Newcastle 'F'  3.5  Cheddleton 'G'  0.5

Monday Evening Results

Division 4

Fenton 'B'  3  Alsager 'B'  1

Division 5

Meir 'C'  2.5  Cheddleton 'I'  1.5

NSDCA Double At The 4NCL

It was a good day for the NSDCA teams in Round 8 of 4NCL Division 3 North, with both Cheddleton and Holmes Chapel winning.

Cheddleton beat Bradford Knights 'B' by 4 - 2, while Holmes Chapel got their 2nd win of the weekend, beating Ashfied Breadsall '2' by 3.5 - 2.5.

Click here for the Round 8 match score cards and here for the Division 3 North league table.

Mixed Fortunes In 4NCL

There were mixed fortunes for the NSDCA clubs in Round 7 of 4NCL Division 3 North.

Cheddleton were narrowly beaten 3.5 - 2.5 by Jorvik, while Holmes Chapel had a thumping 5.5 - 0.5 win against Bradford DCA Knights 'C'.

Click here for the match score cards.

Friday Evening Results

Division 3

Cheddleton 'C'  2.5  Fenton 'A'  1.5

Cheddleton 'D'  1.5  Crewe 'B'  2.5

Division 4

Cheddleton 'E'  2.5  Stafford 'B'  1.5

Cheddleton 'F'  3  Alsager 'B'  1

Thursday Evening Results

Open Cup

Holmes Chapel  2  Cheddleton  4

Cheddleton are through to the Final of the Open Cup, where they will meet Stafford on the 28th April.

Division 1

Holmes Chapel 'A'  1.5  Cheddleton 'A'  3.5

Cheddleton 'A' now only need a draw from one of their last 2 matches to seal the Division 1 title, both of which, incidentally, are against Stafford.

The above matches were played as a 'Double Header' with all 6 boards counting towards the Open Cup and the top 5 boards counting towards the Division 1 match.

National Club Championships

Newcastle will be flying the flag for the NSDCA in the ECF National Club Championships in Solihull on 1st/2nd April, having entered the Intermediate Section (although the ECF website says the Major Section). The very best of luck to them.

ECF/FIDE Grade Conversion

You will notice a change lower down the left hand side of the page for converting your ECF grade to the FIDE equivalent (or vice versa). You now only need to enter your grade into the box and it will do the calculation automatically.

Wednesday Evening Resuts

Division 2

Newcastle 'B'  4  Holmes Chapel Rooks  1

Newcastle 'C'  2  Crewe 'A'  3

Last night's win sends Crewe 'A' joint top of Division 2, but just behind Cheddleton 'B' on Game Points.

Division 4

Crewe 'C'  2.5  Cheddleton 'E'  1.5

Last night's top of the table match resulted in a win for Crewe, moving them level on Match Points with Cheddleton 'E' but just behind on Game Points. However, they have 2 matches in hand.

Tuesday Evening Result

Division 3

Alsager 'A'  1  Newcastle 'D'  3

Last night's win sends Newcastle 'D' 3 points clear at the top of Division 3.

Monday Evening Results

Major Cup Semi-Final

Fenton  3.5  Newcastle  1.5

Fenton are through to the Final of the Major Cup, where they will meet Cheddleton.

Division 2

Macclesfield  1  Cheddleton 'B'  4

Cheddleton 'B' have supplanted Macclesfield at the top of Division 2 following last night's win.

Division 5

Meir 'C'  1.5  Fenton 'C'  2.5

Fenton 'C' leapfrogged Meir to the top of the Division 5 table with their win last night. Meir have dropped to second place but there is still only one point separating the top 3 teams.

Blackpool Congress

Rob Shaw was ranked 11th in the Open Section but finished a disappointing joint 17th with 2.5/5 in a field of 45.

Jacob Boswell and Thivyaa Rahulan performed extremely well in the Major (U181) Section of the Blackpool Congress. Jacob finished joint 3rd with 4/5 in a field of 63. Thivyaa finished joint 6th with 3.5/5. Jacob was ranked joint 28th at the start of the tournament and Thivyaa was ranked 60th, so this was a brilliant performance from both of them.

Our most successful NSDCA players in the Minor (U135) Section were Ken McNulty and Martin Gill, who finished joint 17th out of a field of 83 with a score of 3/5.

I have no details as yet on the Intermediate (U155) or Standard (U115) Sections, in which we had several NSDCA players competing.

County U120's Miss Out On National Stages

The County U120 team failed to qualify for the National Stages of the County Championship after losing 6.5 - 5.5 against Worcestershire on Saturday afternoon. However this is not the whole story. The pressures of the Blackpool Congress and domestic commitments meant that they had to default 2 boards. In actual games played Staffs ran out as 5.5 - 4.5 winners. Only 2 players from the previous match were available so it was great credit to the team that, with 6 of the team actually eligible for the U100 team, the result was so close. Please click here for the match score card.

Friday Evening Result

Division 1

Cheddleton 'A'  3.5  Newcastle 'A'  1.5

A rare Division 1 match last night saw Cheddleton 'A' cement their position at the top of a very small table.

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 3

Newcastle 'D'  3  Cheddleton 'D'  1

It was all change at the top of Division 3 again last night, with Newcastle's win leaprogging them to the top of the table. They are now a point clear of Cheddleton 'C', but with a match in hand.

Crewe 'B'  2.5  Alsager 'A'  1.5

Alsager missed the chance to join Newcastle 'D' at the top of Division 3 when they were beaten at Crewe 'B'.

Perry Trophy

Newcastle  1.5  Cheddleton  2.5

Keele University  0  Crewe  3

The original result of this match was a 2 - 2 draw, with Keele winning on board count. However, it subsequently transpired that the Keele board 2 was overgraded. His game has been awarded to his opponent and, as per league rules, a further penalty point has been deducted from the Keele score, making it a 3 - 0 win for Crewe.

Crewe will now host Cheddleton in the Final on the 26th April.

Tuesday Evening Result

Division 3

Kidsgrove 1.5  Fenton 'A'  2.5

Monday Evening Result

Division 3

Meir 'A'  2.5  Cheddleton 'C'  1.5

Meir 'A' have moved up to joint second in the table, along with 3 other teams, after beating leaders Cheddleton 'C' last night. As ever, Division 3 seems to be the most competitive of all the Divisions with only 1 point separating the top 5. Game Points will almost certainly prove crucial when the dust settles at the end of the season.

Crewe Website

I believe that the Crewe website is undergoing a re-write and currently appears to be unavailable.

Friday Evening Results

Division 2

Cheddleton 'B'  3  Newcastle 'B'  2

Division 5

Cheddleton 'G'  1.5  Meir 'C'  2.5

Cheddleton 'I'  4  Crewe 'D'  0

Off To The Seaside

A sizeable contingent of NSDCA players are packing their buckets and spades and making their way up to Blackpool for the 41st Blackpool Chess Conference over the weekend of 10th/12th March.

Rob Shaw (Cheddleton) is playing in the Open Section.

Jacob Boswell (Cheddleton) and Thivyaa Rahulan (Newcastle) are playing in the Major (U181) Section.

Neville Layhe (Crewe), Alan Thomason (Alsager), Jon & Sandra Blackburn (Cheddleton) are playing in the Intemediate (U155 Section).

Dave Price and Martin Gill,  (Both Crewe), Julian Hawthorne (Kidsgrove), Mick Renshaw (Macclesfield) and Ken McNulty (Stafford) are playing in Minor (U135) Section.

Simon Layhe, Chris Rhodes and Les Hall (All Crewe) and Sam Parry (Cheddleton) are playing in the Standard (U115) Section.

Rich Wiltshir (Kidsgrove) obviously doesn't fancy their company as he's playing in the Major (U155) Section of the East Devon Congress over the same weekend - Billy No Mates !!

Best of luck to all of them.

Fenton On The Move Again

Fenton are moving from their current venue to the Tollgate Hotel & Leisure Centre, Ripon Road, Blurton, ST3 3BS. This move is with immediate effect. The club night - Monday - remains unchanged.

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 3

Crewe 'B'  3  Newcastle 'D'  1

Newcastle missed the chance to go top of the table last night when they were beaten at Crewe 'B'.

Division 5

Crewe 'E'  2  Fenton 'C'  2

Fenton 'C' salvaged a point at Crewe 'E' last night, despite defaulting a board for the second match running. The point was enough to lift  them up to 2nd in the table.

Newcastle 'F'  3  Crewe 'D'  1

Newcastle's win moved them up a place but they still remain near the bottom of the table.