County Cup Finals

This year's County Cup Finals will be held on Wednesday 13th June @ Stafford Chess Club.

Doncaster Congress

Congratulations to Rich Wiltshir on finishing joint 1st in the Intermediate Section of last weekend's Doncaster Congress. I have not yet seen a full list of entries so I have no idea if any other NSDCA players took part.

MCCU Rapidplay Championships

Steve Hill finished joint 10th on 4.5/9 in the U2000 Section of the MCCU Rapidplay Championship last weekend.

Matthew Harborne finished joint 12th on 4/9 in the Open Section.

Rule Clarification

Following an incident in a league match last week, I have been asked to clarify the sequence of events following the promotion of a Pawn.

If a Pawn is moved to the 8th rank and there is no Queen (or other piece) at hand to replace it then the clocks should be paused whilst a Queen (or other piece) is found. The move is not complete until the promoted Pawn is replaced and the clocks re-started. Not replacing the promoted Pawn with another piece, but just vocally indicating what piece is to replace the Pawn, and pressing the clock without replacing the promoted Pawn, constitutes an illegal move. The standard penalty - 2 minutes added to the opponent's clock - is then applied. A second illegal move by the same player loses the game.

It may also  be worth noting that replacing the Pawn with an upside down Rook is also deemed to be an illegal move. In this instance the Rook should be placed the right way up and treated as being the promoted piece.

Fortunately, this sort of incident does not occur very often in NSDCA matches, but if something can happen then it invariably will. It would be worth, where possible, additional Queens being available on all boards. Taken to the extreme I suppose we should have additional Rooks, Bishops and Knights available as well !!

Compulsory Chess Lessons In Schools

An interesting article from the BBC News website :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43084816

County U120's Hammered

The County U120 team were hammered 9 - 3 by Nottinghamshire yesterday. They must now win their remaining match against Worcestershire on the 24th March to have any hope of progressing to the National Stage of the Competition. Click here for the match score card.

4NCL Rounds 5 & 6 Results

Better late than never, but the 5th & 6th Rounds of 4NCL Div 3 North were played last weekend.

Cheddleton won their match on Saturday by 5 - 1 against Shropshire '2', whilst Holmes Chapel played 2 x 3 board matches, beating Ashfield Breadsall '1' by 2.5 - 0.5 and drawing 1.5 - 1.5 with Manchester Manticores '3'. Click here for the match score cards.

Sunday was somewhat less successful, with Cheddleton losing 4 - 2 against Gonzaga and Holmes Chapel losing 3.5 - 2.5 against Manchester Manticores '3'. Click here for the match score cards.

Alsager Default Major Cup Semi-Final

Alsager have defaulted tonight's Major Cup Semi-Final against Cheddleton. Cheddleton will now play Newcastle in the Final on the 13th April.

Kidsgrove Find A New Home

Kidsgrove have found a new home at the Kidsgrove Cricket Club, Clough Hall Road, Kidsgrove, ST7 1AN. Club nights are still on Tuesday.

Cheddleton Into Final Of Gothard County Cup

A 2 - 2 draw was enough to send Cheddleton through to the Final of the Gothard County Cup on board count at the expense of Fenton. It was a close fought match with only 3 overall grading points separating the two teams. However, with boards 3 and 4 being drawn, Cheddleton's win on board 1 was enough to send them through.They will now play Sutton Coldfield, the current holders, in the Final. Click here for the match score card.

Frodsham Congress

There was the usual contingent of NSDCA players at this weekend's Frodsham Congress.

Jacob Boswell did very well to finish joint 2nd in the Open Section with 3.5/5, a point behind the winner.

Karl Lockett (3/5), Andrew Raeburn (2.5/5), Doug Barnett (2.5/5) and Sam Parry (2.5/5) all played in the U160 Section.

Chris Rhodes (3.5/5), Joe Hirst (3.5/5), Julian Hawthorne (3/5), Sanjay Sriram (2.5/5) and Les Hall (2.5/5) all played in the U120 Section.

County U120's Win Again

The County U120 team won their second successive match yesterday. A 6.5 - 5.5 win against Lincolnshire, aided by a Lincolnshire default on board 12, gave them the points and propelled them into joint 2nd in the table with 2 matches remaining. Click here for the match score card.

Keith Arkell Simultaneous

GM Keith Arkell is giving a simultaneous display at Newport Chess Club on Tuesday 6th February. If anybody is interested in playing you can click here for full details.