Worcestershire Chess Association

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.

Longbridge sprint to a clear win in the Towers Cup Jamboree

i Nigel presents the cup tp Stepehen captain of Redditch Picture shows Nigel presenting the cup to Stephen, captain of the Longbridge team

29 Aug 2024. Longbridge netted 3½ points in round 2 to win the tournament with an overall score of 6 points from their eight games. See score card. The Jamboree was organised an controlled by Dan Lambourne (Redditch)

Longbridge team. 2024 winners of the Towers Cup Picture shows winning team Longbridge - Stephen, Gavin, Jonathan and Kevin - with the Towers Cup.

Kidderminster win u1650 Summer Cup

Joseph Friar receives the Bennett Cup from county president

22 Aug 2024. Kidderminster whitewashed Worcester in the final for the u1650 Summer Cup. See match card.

15 Aug 2024. Worcester and Longbridge share the lead after the first of two rounds in the jamboree for the Towers Cup held at Meadow Farm, Redditch. Both teams have 2½ points, while Malvern has 2, and Redditch and Kidderminster each have 1½ points. Any team can win so there is all to play for in round 2. See scores. Just before the start of play, county president Ray Collett presented Joe Friar with the Bennett Cup for his win this season.

8 Aug 2024. Worcester and Kidderminster through to finals. In the semi-finals for the u1650 summer cup played at Meadow Farm Redditch, Worcester beat Longbridge and Kidderminster beat Redditch. Lonogbridge and redditch have agreed to play for third place on 22 Aug. See scores.

Picture shows Association President at Meadow Farm presenting Joe with the Bennett Cup he won earlier in the season

New chess club at college

21 Aug 2024. Lecturer in Esports and Computing at Heart of Worcestershire College, Colin Vernon is setting up a club in the St Andrew's Building, Deansway Worcester and it will start next term. Colin recently gained the World Chess Federation Lead School Instructor qualification and will coach players under the age of 18 for entry in next season’s Delancey UK School Chess Challenge.

Kidderminster quickplay tournament

17 Jul 2024. Joe Friar was won all 10 games to finish first ahead of new player Jay Haycock on 9 and John Wrench on 8 points. Twenty members of the club took part

Joe Friar new county champion

14 Jul 2024. Joe Friar (Kidderminster) who narrowly missed out last year, made certain of gaining the Worcestershire individual achampionship by winning the first three round games and then drawing in the final round with Welsh international player Lee Davis (malvern). Julie Wilson (Stourbridge), a former Welsh international player retained the women`s title as did senior champions Darren Whitmore (Longbridge), Veteran champion Lee Davis (Malvern) and Minor Champion Chris Lee (Worcester). The new junior champion is James Allsopp (Malvern). The county chess association is most grateful to The King`s School Worcester for the use of the venue. The tournament was organised by Scott Oxtoby (Worcester) and the tournament controller was Aiden Griffiths. Full results.

Four county players qualify as arbiters

11 Jul 2024. Aiden Griffiths (Worcester), Scott Oxtoby (Worcester), David Smith (Redditch) and Colin Vernon (Worcester) qualified as ECF level 1 arbiters.

New rapidplay competition in county

25 Jun 2024. There will be two rapidplay tournaments in 2024-5: one for open teams and the other for players rated below 1650. Officials made this decision at the annual meeting held at Droitwich to provide more opportunities for Worcestershire players to engage in quick play league chess. Members also decided that all standard play matches should have the same time control, 45+30.