Worcestershire Chess Association

 

If you have corrections or know scores of other matches in this season, please contact Ray Collett

 

1 Apr. Redditch win the Final. As is traditional in this tournament, the final was played at Greenlands Social Club and the teams welcomed by Laurence Wheatley. Shirley, first-time finalists turned out a strong side and conceded 3 handicap points to Redditch. The form book was not a lot of use with excellent wins for Andrew Wiggins, and Giles Stanton against more highly graded opponents. David Smith also achieved a very creditable draw so that over-the-board results were equal giving Redditch the Cup by three points.
7 Mar. Redditch beat Malvern to set up Redditch-Shirley final.
23 Feb. Hagley concede match against Shirley.
7 Feb. Kidderminster concede the match against Hagley.
28 Jan. Shirley narrowly beat cup-holders Worcester on handicap and make it to semi finals for first time.
17 Jan. Malvern decisively beat Greenlands and go through to semi-finals.
13 Jan. In the first fixture to complete, Redditch come out top in a match between two evenly graded teams to go through to semi finals.
11 Dec. Redditch substitute for Mutual Circle in KO Cup
7 Dec. The draw for the 2013-4 Knock out cup has been made.

15 Nov. Worcestershire Chess Association invited team entries for the 2013-4 Wheatley Memorial Cup. Teams are for five boards and the handicap rules mean that low graded teams have a realistic chance of winning. Team are of five boards. The rules have been revised and clarified. They take account of issues relating to tournament communications, sides of greatly different aggregate grades, close match results, unregistered players, and defaults. Laurence Wheatley and Maurice Bissell remain as controller and deputy controller and Ray Collett will be the tournament secretary. View details of the competition.
30 Aug. The Wheatley Cup handicap team competition was reviewed and the association's Executive Committee meeting. Contoller Lawrence Wheatley and Ray Collett have arranged to meet mid-September to consider how best to formulate the rules to cope with defaults and ungraded players

 

 

Quarter final fixtures	QF match dates	Quarter Final winners	SF match dates	Semi-final winners	Date for final
Worcester (A)* - Shirley & Wythall (H)	27 Jan	Shirley & Wythall (H)	default#	Shirley	1 Mar
Kidderminster (H) - Hagley (A)	default#	Hagley (A)
Malvern (H) - Greenlands (A)	17 Jan	Malvern (H)	7 Mar	Redditch
Redditch* (A) - Droitwich (H)	13 Jan	Redditch (A)
* Redditch and Worcester elected to play away in the quarter finals even though they were home teams in the competition draw. # Kidderminster and Hagley conceded these matches.

Redditch - Droitwich				Quarter final KO Cup
Board	Grade	Home team	Result	Away team	Grade
1 2 3 4 5 sum	120 116 116 114 100 566	Ian Clack Peter Seeley Michele Clack Giles Stanton David Smith Handicap	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - ¼	Arnold Kirkland WW (Bill) Watson John Loynes Terry Radford David Cleak -	126 126 116 96 86 550
	Result		3 - 2¼	Played 13 Jan
Match reported by Arnold Kirkland and Michele Clack

Malvern - Greenlands				Quarter final KO Cup
Board	Grade	Home team	Result	Away team	Grade
1 2 3 4 5 sum	156 152 143 130 (79) 581	John Knee Matthew Jordan Geoff Herbert Tony Shaw Barry Stone Handicap	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1½	Ian Ellis Ian Truscott Raichard Collett Brian Allsop default -	137 130 115 109 - 491
	Result		4½ - 2	Played 17 Jan
Match reported by Richard Collett and Brian Turner. The final score flattered Malvern because the balance of the match was with Greenlands in the early stages on board 3. It was only later in the evening that three of the the games, which were all hard-fought, turned in Malvern's favour. Ian Ellis had an advantage throughout and was only kept at bay by tenacious defensive play from John Knee.

Worcester - Shirley & Wythall				Quarter final KO Cup
Board	Grade	Home team	Result	Away team	Grade
1 2 3 4 5 sum	158 142 116 114e 105 635	David L Roberts Ray Collett Rob Sutton Rob Walkowiak Roger Yates Handicap	½ -½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 0.08	Matthew Long John Freeman Frank Jimenez Roger Ball Dean Bash -	169 148 139 113 62e 631
	Result		2½ -2½	Played 27 Jan
Match reported by Ray Collett. The match was played at Wythall. With sudden turns of fortune, the match could hardly have been closer. Ray Collettt was first to strike when his opponent made a terrible move allowing a deadly mating attack in what should have been a defensible position a pawn down with bishops on opposite coloured squares. Board 1 finished amicably fifteeen minutes later. At this stage Worcester appeared to have slight pressure on boards 3 and 4 and were a piece down on board 5. A further half hour's play saw Worcester with a material advantage on board 4 and to have equalised on board 5. Towards the end of the match, Roger Ball took advantage of a massive blunder in a lost position. Worcester's board three was running into massive time trouble in an equal minor piece ending, but Roger Yates was a piece up and promoted a pawn to complete his win. Frank Jimenez, made sure of his win on board 3 and his opponent ran out of time in a hopeless position. So Wythall go through to the semi finals by 0.08!

Malvern - Redditch				Semi-final KO Cup
Board	Grade	Home team	Result	Away team	Grade
1 2 3 4 5 sum	156 152 143 130 79 660	John Knee Matthew Jordan Geoffrey Herbert Tony Shaw Barry Stone Handicap	½ -½ 1 - 0 ½ -½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1¼	Andrew Wiggins Ian Clack Peter Seeley Michelle Clack Giles Stanton -	132 120 116 116 114 598
	Result		3 - 3¼	Played 17 Mar
Match reported by Brian Turner.

Shirley & Wythall - Hagley	Semi-final KO Cup
Hagley conceded this match

Shirley & Wythall - Redditch				KO Cup Final
Board	Grade	Home team	Result	Away team	Grade
1 2 3 4 5 sum	176 162 133 130 127 728	Philip Purcell Jonathan Dale Gordon Christie Jon Asbury Kim Gilbert Handicap	0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 3 - 0	Andrew Wiggins Peter Seeley Derek Abraham Giles Stanton David Smith -	132 116 116 114 100 578
	Result		2½ - 5½	Played 1 Apr at Greenlands
Match reported by Giles Stanton and Gordon Christie. Andrew Wiggins played a Queen Pawn Opening with a Barry Attack. Giles Stanton played a Queens Indian Defence winning a pawn and gaining a strong passed b-pawn. David Smith played a Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation and exploit black's damaged pawn structure. There was a Polish Opening on board 3, which became quite cramped for black on the queen-side, but by playing aggressively Gordon Christie opened the king-side. His opponent lost a knight in the midst of some unsuccessful tactics, and resigned as black's amply-supported queen caught sight of his open king. Gordon Christie, Shirley & Wythall captain, writes: "Congratulations to a focused and determined Redditch team who played really well. In the end they could easily have won the match even without the handicap! Thank you to everyone for making the event possible, and the evening enjoyable."