Worcestershire Chess Association

Bennett and Ball Cup draws announced

10 Oct 2024. Brian Turner has announced the pairings for these two competitions. In the Open competition for the Bennett Cup there are ten entries and there will be two all-play-all pools. Pool A has former winner Lee Davis (Malvern) and Worcester's rising star Ed Higgs, who won the Ball Cup last season. Pool B has the current holder of the trophy Joe Friar (Kidderminster). In the Ball Cup there are six entries with current holder John Varilone and former winners Peter Hughes (Longbridge) and Giles Stanton (Redditch). See full entry.

Death of Malvern club president

9 Oct 2024, Brian Turner reports. The death of Maurice Ginger, president of Malvern CC, has been announced. Maurice played for many years for Malvern and won the Ball Cup in 2000 and shared the cup in 1999.

County players’ tournament results

21, 26 and 29 Sep 2024. Joe friar (Kidderminster) entered the Stoke Gifford Open Rapidplay, and ended half way up the table. He was also finished mid-table at the UK Open Blitz Midland Qualifier held at Quinborne, Birmingham. Ed Higgs (Worcester) won Worcester City Chess Club’s September Fun Bliz competition.

Online teams in Round 2 4NCL

24 Sep 2024. Overall the teams had two victories, one draw and a loss. Worcestershire Wofpack A drew with Sheffield University Graduates and are near the top of their group in Division 3. The B team lost to Ashfield Anonymous in Division 3. The highlight in Division 5 was a 4-0 victory for team D against Wessex H. Worcestershire Wolfpack C beat Sussex Rookies and stand 8th out of 25 teams in Division 5. See full results and links to games.

Winners at Kidderminster

12 Sep 2024. Joseph Friar took home five club trophies from wins last season: club championship, the President’s Cup, The Lightning Tournament, the Quick-play Tournament and the handicap competition. Alex Eaton won the Shuttle Shield and Luke Barton the Graham Bunn trophy. Cameron Henry retained the Minor Club championship for the third year and Brandon Wilkes received the Clive Billinge award for his contribution to the club.

Online teams have mixed fortunes in 4NCL

10 Sep 2024. The A and B teams were promoted to Division 3 last season and faced their first test. Worcestershire Wolfpack A team scored a 4-0 victory against Guildford 2, but the B team lost 1½-2½ to Wessex D. The games in this match were very even and Ray Collett’s game went to over a hundred moves. New squad member Glenn Cox played on board 1 and achieved a draw. The B and C teams played in Division 5. C drew with War & Piece Nimrod; and the D team lost 3-0 to Dartford Knightmares in a match where both teams defaulted the bottom board. See full details and links to games.

First result in league fixtures for the new season

5 Sep 2024. Redditch narrowly beat Longbridge on aggregate in the Rapidplay League. See full result. On the same night, the same clubs played each other in the District League. Longbridge had a convincing win. See full results.

Congratulations! Academic successes for chess players

4 Sep. Long-serving county secretary Paul Sharratt (Stourbridge) gained his honours degree in Mathematics from the Open University. This was another demanding retirement project for Paul who originally took a degree in history as a school-leaver. Two junior players go to university: Joshua Clarke (Malvern) to Edge Hill University and Ed Higgs (Worcester) to Aston University.