Worcestershire Chess League

County news 2022-3

Peter Kitson wins 2023 championship

27 Aug 2023. Peter Kitson (Worcester) won on tie-break from Joseph Friar (Kidderminster) with both players on 3½ points. Julie Wilson (Stourbridge) retained her Women's title. Other champions were: Junior Joshua Clarke (King’s School Worcester and Malvern); Veteran Lee Davis (Malvern); Senior Darren Whitmore (Shirley & Wythall) Minor Chris Lee (Worcester). Read more and link to final cross-table.

Picture shows Nigel Towers with three of the winning Redditch Team. Picture credit: Steve Crees

Redditch win Towers Cup, Worcester u1650 the Summer Cup 24 Aug 2023. Redditch won the Towers Cup, the open team summer competition. The match was in doubt until the conclusion of the board 1 game in a very sharp position when Mellor overstepped the time limit. See score card. The under-1650 competition for the Summer Cup was won on board count by Worcester, but only after Seamus Flynn with little time and a dubious position trapped his opponent’s rook. See score cards for the finals.

Picture shows Winning Worcester u1650 team : Photo credit Steve Crees.

Listen to Stephen Woodhouse about new funds for chess

22 Aug 2023. The Government is restoring funding to the game having withdrawn all funding in 2011. The announcement is discussed by Stephen Woodhouse with Radio Hereford and Worcester’s Breakfast presenter Elliott Webb.

Bennett Cup winner 15 Aug 2023. The delayed replay in the final between Ian Clarke (Malvern) and Lee Davis (Malvern) was played at Hereford. Lee Davis won playing the black pieces. Picture from Lee Davis.

Summer cup competition

10 Aug 2023, Steve Crees reports. In the u1650 teams competition, Worcester and Longbridge were victorious and meet in the finals later in August. See results.

Summer cup competitions

3 Aug 2023 Steve Crees reports. Under a new and exciting initiative from the Worcestershire Chess Association; the semi-finals of the 2023 Towers Summer Cup "Open" were held at Longbridge Chess Club on Thursday. Redditch overwhelmed Longbridge 4-0 and Worcester, missing key players, beat Kidderminster 3-1. See details.

Chess at Acquired Brain Injury Games Worcester Arena

3 Aug 2023. Colin Vernon (Worcester) was Arbiter for chess at the ABI Games held in Worcester Arena.

Stewart Fishburne wins like lightning

31 Jul 2023. County champion Stewart Fishburne made a clean sweep winning all his games at the club’s lignning tournament.

Worcestershire player elected to ECF

27 Jul 2023 ECF website reports. Gavin Cartwright (Longbridge) was elected as a ECF silver members' representative.

Dale Jackson wins on handicap

7 Jul 2023. Halesowen held a five round rapidplay handicap Swiss tournament and Dale won all his games.

 

County annual meeting

15 Jun 2023. In this president’s report Ray Collett stated that the association had recovered from Covid and clubs are getting new members. Paul Sharratt said there had been no defaulted games in the leagues and it was clear players are keen to get back to over-the-board play. Scott Oxtoby (Worcester) reported that the junior club had a waiting list and players had done well in competitions. Officers and team captains were re-elected and Aiden Griffiths (Worcester) is the new captain for the u1450 county team. The treasurer reported that a substantial donation had enabled the county to offer a "fee holiday" last season, but the meeting agreed with the treasurer that entry and affiliation fees should be charged in 2023-4. The format of the leagues will continue from last year. The temporary restriction to players rated below 1650 was made permanent for the District league. The association asked Scott Oxtoby to take the lead in organising a closed congress in 2023.

Winning team captains and club secretaries show off their trophies after the presentations

 

John Varilone wins Ball Cup

15 Jun 2023. The first game between finalists Peter Hughes (Longbridge) and John Varilone (Kidderminster) played on 1 June was drawn. In the replay game, John had the black pieces and triumphed. This is the third time John has won the Ball Cup. He first won it in 1999 when he shared the trophy with Maurice Ginger (Malvern).

 

Worcester beat Hereford in summer friendly matches

13 Jun 2023. Worcester travelled to Hereford with seven players for the away fixture. Worcester won 5-2 having also won the home fixture held on 1 June 3½-2½. See score sheets.

Kidderminster stalwart Clive Billinge

13 Jun 2023, John Wrench reports. Clive, who has been a member of Kidderminster CC since the 1980s, passed away on 28 May at home. His life in chess will celebrated at Habberley Social Club, Kidderminster CC’s HQ, at 1:30pm, Wednesday 21 June.

Kidderminster Handicap tournament winners

7 Jun 2023. Eighteen players competed in the club’s annual handicap tournament where higher rated players get less time. Dave Spwart won the open tournament, scoring 10½ points from 11 games. Runner-up was John Wrench on 8½. Oliver Tinley won the minor tournament with 4½ from 5 games and Nathaniel Saleh was runner-up on 4 points.

Worcester plays Ukmerge, Lithuania online

4 Jun 2023. Helped by the City of Worcester Twinning Association, Ray Collett arranged an international rapidplay Team Battle with the Ukmerge team Juodasis Rikis (Black Bishop). Ukmerge had the higher rated players and won 42-28. Rob Sutton was the highest scoring of Worcester players. Nineteen players took part and 44 games were completed. See full results on Worcester City Chess Club website.

Worcestershire players in tournament successes

29 May 2023. WGM Katarzyna Toma, the county's board 1 player, was crowned English Women's Champion for her win in the 7 round tournament held at Kenilworth. Kata required a win playing black in the last round game against Zoe Varney who led the tournament by ½ point after the penultimate round. Kata lived dangerously to secure the win and finished sole first on 5½ points. Meanwhile five county players were at Gloucester for the Cotswold Congress. Ian Clarke (Malvern), much to his surprise was counted as a Gloucestershire player - he works in Cheltenham - and won the Gloucestershire individual prize with 4 points from 6 games. His son, Joshua, scored 3/6 points in the Major tournament. Aiden Griffiths and Colin Vernon, both Worcester, also competed. the Andrew Farthing (Worcester) helped in controlling the tournament and ran a very successful chess bookstall. See prize list.

Bennett Cup finalists

28 May 2023. Ian Clarke (Malvern) was first off the mark beating Aiden Griffiths (Worcester) in their semi-final. Lee Davis (Malvern) was eventually successful at a replay of his semi-final against John Varilone (Kidderminster) after the first game was drawn.

Worcestershire lose to Warwickshire 20 May 2023. Worcestershire u1650 team hosted Warwickshire for the second time this season to play for a place in the national u1650 semifinals. The home team were hoping to repeat their earlier performance and the teams were evenly rated, but Warwickshire set the pace and ran out winners 10½-5½. Ian Truscott (Longbridge), Chris Lee (Worcester), Peter Banks (Halesowen), Bob Carter (Redditch) and James Allsopp (Malvern) won their games. The teams were led by non-playing captains Paul Sharratt (Worcs) and Richard Buxton (Warks). See score card.

Confident non-playing captains at the start of the match

Worcester beat Redditch for the Wheatley Cup

18 May 2023. Redditch brought a higher rated team than Worcester to this match for the Wheatley Cup. Worcester's players were out-rated on every board and on board 2 by over 200 points. Worcester starting with a 2.1 advantage on handcap and Redditch required an over-the-board win of 3½-½ to win on handicap. The first game to finish saw Worcester winning on board 4, but Arnold Kirkland outdid that performance with a win against his much more highly rated opponent. The last game to finish was on board 3 where David Smith for Redditch won a K+P ending when both players were short of time. The final result was a Worcester win on handicap 4.1-2.0. Worcester therefore retain the Cup, the last Wheatley competition being held in 2019 before Covid interrupted play.

Worcestershire first team lose to Cambridgeshire

14 May 2023, Paul Sharratt reports. Worcester met Cambridgeshire at South Kilworth Village Hall, Lutterworth, Leicestershire fir the quarter finals of the Minor Counties championship. Led by IWM Kata Toma, he match was even at 6½-6½ with three games to finish minutes before the end of the session, but the tide turned infavour of our opponents with the final score 9½-6½. See score card.

Longbridge and Redditch to share venue for BDCL summer campaign

12 May, Steve Crees reports. Longbridge Chess Club have offered to share their venue with Redditch because Redditch play at Alvechurch & Hopton Cricket Club during the winter monthsand this venue is not available during the summuer

Longbridge win Challengers’ League

11 May 2023. Although Longbridge lost their last match at home against Malvern, Malvern could no catch the league leaders and Malvern finished runners-up, one point behind Longbridge. This match competed the fixtures in this league.

Ball Cup finalists named

3 May 2023. Peter Hughes (Longbridge) will face John Varilone (Kidderminster) after John beat Giles Stanton (Redditch) in a replay.

Bennett and Ball Cup players through to finals

30 Apr 2023. Ian Clarke (Malvern) is the first semi-finalist through to the final of the Bennett Cup awaiting the result of the replay game between Lee Davis (Malvern) and John Varinone (Kidderminster). In the Ball Cup, Peter Hughes (Longbridge) is a finalist and John Varilone (Kidderminster) has a replay against Giles Stanton (Redditch).

Kidderminster club Div 2 champions in Wolverhampton League

26 Apr 2023. Kidderminster wrapped up thier Wolverhampton League fixtures with a draw against Lichfield and are Division 2 champions. On the same evening the club completed its Dudley League fixtures defeating Kynoch. See score card.

District and County League seasons completed

20 Apr 2023. The final match in the District League produced the biggest surprise. Worcester Bishops were humbled by Redditch even though they already had sufficient points to top the league. Redditch were runners-up. In their other match, the final fixture of the County League Redditch were also victorious playing Longbridge. The County League final table sees Halesowen league champions with Malvern as runners-up and in the District league WorcesterBishops are league champions with Redditch runners-up.

Halesowen claim Worcestershire club team championship

19 Apr 2023. Halesowen beat Kidderminster in penutimate fixture of the Championship League and go ahead of Malvern to claim the title.

Redditch in Birmingham League

17 Apr 2023. Redditch concluded their Birmingham League campaign with a draw against West Bromwich win Division 2, finishing 5 points clear of runners-up West Bromwich.

Worcestershire teams in national county semi-finals

9 Apr 2023. Worcestershire first team in the Minor counties play Cambridgeshire at Lutterworth on Sunday 14 May. Worcestershire under-1650 team play Warwickshire at home on 20 May at Worcester

Online teams back to winning form in 4NCL

4 Apr 2023. Wins from all three teams in the penultimate round put Worcester Wolfpack 1 into second position in the table just behind Lenzie Basilisks in after defeating Lerryn Clowns 3½ - ½. Worcester Wolfpack 2 is fourth beating Telepost dark Knights D and team 3 is ninth with beating Barnet Knights D 4-0. See score cards and links to games.

Kidderminster in Wolverhampton League

3 Apr 2023, from John Wrench. With one fixture still to complete, Kidderminster are 4 match points clear of Stafford and are claiming the division 2 title. Kidderminster have not so far lost a match in this league this season . The Other Worcestershire team in this Division is Stourbridge currently lying in 7th place.

Ball Cup semi-finalists

31 Mar 2023. Peter Hughes (Longbridge) plays Colin Vernon (Worcester); and Giles Stanton (Redditch) plays John Varilone (Kidderminster).

Rob Sutton Worcester City 2023 Blitz champion

30 Mar 2023. Rob was first in the preliminary all-play-all stage with 24 points, but had to prove the point in a semi-final and final. Four players, Rob Sutton, Joe Rastall, Keith Sorrell, and Seamus Flynn were the semi-finalists. Rob beat Seamus and Joe beat Keith. The final was a tough game which resolved into a difficult ending with both players having chamces. In the end Joe misplayed his clock losing on time in a drawn position. See Worcester City Chess Club for details.

Longbridge make sure of Winning Challengers’ League

23 Mar 2023. Longbridge beat Redditch and can no longer be caugt by Redditch. See score card.

Online teams have a poor night

21 Mar 2023. Worcester Wolfpack was thrashed ½-3½ by Lenzie Basilisks, Worcester Wolfpack 2 beat Warwickshire Bears B 3-1, and Worcester Wolfpack lost 1-3 to Farnham C. See score card with links to games.

Semi-finalists in Bennett Cup competition

21 Mar 2023. In the Bennett Cup, Lee Davis (Malvern) won group A and Ian Clarke (Malvern) group B. The semi final pairings are: Lee Davis (Malvern) plays John Varilone (Kidderminster) and Ian Clarke (Malvern) plays Aiden Griffiths (Worcester).

Worcestershire beat Warwickshire

25 Feb 2023. In their last match in the Midland counties stage, Worcestershire won 10½-5½. The match began well for Worcestershire with Marcus Walsh's win in the first hour of play. Warwickshire’s scored heavily on the higher boards but this deficit was more than made up by Worcestershire’s lower boards. Dan Lambourne and Nigel Towers (both Redditch), Kevin Hurney and Gavin Cartwright (both Longbridge), Peter Kitson and Ray Collett (both Worcester), and Marcus Walsh (South Birmingham) won their games. This result puts Worcestershire into the national quarter finals scheduled to play on 13 May. See full score card.

Worcester Bishops claim silverware

16 Feb 2023. The Bishops beat Longbridge 3-1 in the District League to claim the trophy with one home fixture against Redditch in hand.

Dudley League Division 3 exciting finish in prospect

16 Feb 2023. Warley and Kidderminster drew, both edging closer to leaders Longbridge and setting up exciting matches for the league championship in the next few weeks.

Worcester Wolfpack teams dominate 4NCL Online Division 5

7 Feb. For the second week in succession, all three Wolfpack teams won. Wolfpack 1: beat Farnham C 3½-½; Wolpack 2 beat Barnet Knights C 2½-1½; and Wessex Some Stars G 4-0. Three of the top four position in the league table are now occupied by Wolfpack teams. The team’ two juniors in Wolfpack 3 both won their games as did debutant online player Alan Ruffle. The 4NCL Wolfpack squad currently comprises 19 members and there are places for a further five players. See score card. All matches are on Tuesday evenings at fortnightly intervals and games use a 45 min + 15 sec time control on lichess.

Worcestershire u1650 team are Midlands champions

28 Jan. Worcestershire u1650 team upped its game to produce a convincing victory over Warwickshire 10 points to 4. All three teams in the competition had scored one match win, but Worcestershire had a higher game score 15½ against runners-up Staffordshire on 14 points. Giles Stanton (Redditch), Alex Eaton and Tery Pountney (both Kidderminster), David Cleak and Aiden Griffiths (both Worcester), Greg Parkes (Stourbridge), Steve Alcock (Longbridge), and James Allsopp (Malvern) won their games. Click county team news for full score card. Worcestershire and Warwickshire will be nominated for the ECF national finals.

National appointment for county secretary

25 Jan. The ECF has announced that Paul will share the role of Safeguarding Officer with Jo Wildman (Kent CA). Speaking for the Board, Chair Stephen Woodhouse welcomed Jo and Paul, saying that "safeguarding our vulnerable members, particularly but not exclusively children, is central to the work of the ECF. It is essential that as our membership grows, with a focus on young players, chess coaching and playing happens within a safe and supportive environment"

Worcester Wolfpack teams win 4NCL online first round matches

24 Jan. Teams 1 and 2 scored 4-0 victories and team 3 won their match 2½-1½. The third team was accepted as a late entry after manager Ray Collett received more offers to play than could be accomodated in two teams. Unlike last season, the team is now county-wide with players from most of Worcestershire’s clubs and it is hoped that higher rated players in team 1 will secure promotion to Division 4 for next season. See results in 4NCL Online.

County fall to Lincolnshire

21 Jan 2023. On a foggy day players set off for Syston to play the 2021-2 Midlands champions. Although the games were close, Worcestershire came off worse 6-10. Lincolnshire players outranked Worcestershire players onthe top boards where our opponents scored 4½/5 and Worcestershire’s lower order were not able to make good that deficit. Kevin Hurney (Longbridge), Peter Kitson (Worcester), Harry Evans (Redditch), and Tony Shaw (Worcester) won their games. See County team news for full score card.

County players scoop prizes at Telford

8 Jan 2023. Joe Conway-Lees (Stourbridge) was 2nd in the Major tournament in the Shropshire new year congress. The county’s other winner was Joe Rastall (Worcester) who was placed 3rd in the Intermediate tournament.

Michelle Zhu and James Allsopp win Under-16 junior quickplay at Alvechurch

19 Dec 2022. James ended up on top on tie-break after a 5-way pile up in the Boys Under-16 section. James has been playing at Worcestershire Junior Chess Academy and now has a place in Malvern’s first team. Also on 4 points were: Ben Chandler and Noah O’Sullivan (both Alvechurch Library Chess Club and Alvechurch Middle School), Samuel Thomas (Worcs Jun Chess Acad), and Cameron Henry (Kidderminster and RGS Worcester). Michelle Zhu (Worc Jun Chess Acad and King’s Hawford, Worcester) won the Girls Under-16 also on tie-break from Edith Pleasant (Alvechurch Liberary and Alcester GS). Mortimer Dykes (King’s St Alban’s, Worcester) was first in the Boys Under-11 and Isabelle Bird (Pebworth Chess Club and Welford-on-Avon School) first in the Girls Under-11. The event was organised at The Ark, Alvechurch by Nigel Towers assisted by Simon Berry, Ray Collett, Matt Newman, David Smith and John Wrench. Full results and picture.

County matches

26 Nov. Worcestershire lost the first match of the u1650 competition going down to Staffordshire 5½-7½ at Worcester. New players in the county team were Scott Oxtoby and Aiden Griffiths (boith Worcester City); and juniors James Allsopp and Ned Guyatt (Nunnery Wood HS, Worcester). Scott and Ned won their games. See County Team News for full score-card.

2 Nov. The date of Worcester’s home match against Warwickshire has been re-arranged for Sat 25 Feb next year at Worcester.

Olton Board 1, Phil Holt dies

14 Nov 2022. Birmingham and District League have reported the death of Phil Holt who played board 1 for Olton in the Worcestershire County league and there is an obituary written by Richard Reynolds.

First matches of the new leagues

6 Oct. Worcester and Longbridge fought out a draw in the Championship league as did Longbridge and Redditch in the District League.

County match dates set

24 Sep. The First team plays Warwickshire at home on Sat 12 Nov, and plays away to Lincolnshire on Sat 21 January. The u1650 team plays Staffordhire at home on Sat 26 November and Warwickshire away on Sat 28 January.

Worcestershire League team competitions

18 Sep. The Championship League attracted six entries: Halesowen, Kidderminster, Longbridge, Malvern, Redditch and Worcester. The Challengers' league has also has six entries: Kidderminster, Longbridge, Malvern, Redditch, Stourbridge, Worcester. Three teams entered the Worcester & District League: Longbridge, Redditch and Worcester. The new Rapidplay league has four entries: Kidderminster, Redditch, Stourbridge, and Worcester. The Wheatley Cup competition had two entries: Redditch, and Worcester. Secretaries and captains have been asked to arrange dates for fixtures by 2nd October and captains of the three rapidplay teams are likely to agree a maximum rating of 1650 for this season.

First over-the-board fixture of season played

7 Sep. In Dudley Division 3, Longbridge beat Stourbridge 2½-1½. This is the first fixture in the Dudley League since February 2020.

Worcestershire team captain at ECF

12 Sep. First team captain Stephen Woodhouse (Longbridge) is currently an unpaid non-executive director of the English Chess Federation. This year he is standing for a different unpaid role, that of Chairman of the ECF Board. You can read his election address here. We will know whether Stephen has been successful after the ECF Annual General Meeting in October.

Classic Coleopteran and chess at Pebworth

11 Sep. The county’s newest club had a stall at the Pebworth Village Fête. Dan Lambourne helped Debbie Robinson while exhibiting his 1969 classic VW car.

Trophy re-united with champion 6 Sep. The county association trophy for the Worcestershire individual champion, missing for several years was recently discovered. It was presented to the 2021-2 winner Stewart Fishburne (left) by John Southcote, former Secretary of Halesowen club. Picture- John Edge.

County players Blitz at Kenilworth

4 Sep, Phil Austin reports. Three county players were at the Midlands Qualifier for the UK Blitz Championships. IM Lawrence Cooper was 4-5th on 11 points from 15 games. Phil Austin (Worcester) scored 8½ and WGM Kata Toma 8 points.

 

Junior news 2022-3

Worcestershire Squad 6th

7 Aug 2023. Worcestershire Squad improved and came ahead of Surrey, but could not overtake Nottinghamshire’s Robin Hoods. Eric Gregory (RGS Worcester) scored highest for the county with 22 points.

Worcestershire Squad again short of players

3 Jul 2023. Back in Division 2, Worcestershire could come only 6th and last in spite very good results from Eric Gregory (RGS Worcester) and Joshua Clarke (The King’s School Worcester).

Worcestershire Squad in Division 1, but too few players

5 Jun 2023. Only five players participated from Worcestershire, but still scored a very creditable 57 points insufficient to stop the team from going back down to Division 2. Eric Gregory (RGS Worcester) was highest scorer on 18 points followed by Joshua Clarke (The King’s School, Worcester & Malvern CC) on 17.

Joshua Clarke scores well in Major tournament.

30 May 2023. Joshua Clarke (King’s School Worcester and Malvern CC) scored a very creditable 3 points from his 6 games at the Cotswold Congress held at Gloucester over the bank holiday weekend.

Worcestershire Squad 2nd in Div 2 Inter-County team Battle

1 May 2023. Worcestershire juniors scored 73 points against winners Richmond 135points to claim second place above Suffolk, Surrey and Nottinghamshire juniors. Seven team members took part with Joshua Clarke (King’s School Worcester and Malvern CC) scoriing the highest total for the team. Samuel Thomas scored 14 points and was second highest Worcestershire scorer.

Worcestershire last in Division 1

3 Apr 2023. Joshua Clarke (King’s School Worcester and Malvern) was highest scoring in a depleted squad playing in the first Division with 24 points and 6th equal of individual players in the 40th intercounty team battle.

Worcester player grabs second place in Shropshire tournament

18 Mar 2023. James Allsopp (Worc Jun Chess Acad) won second prize at the Shropshire Under-14 tournament. Three Worcester players competed scoring 4½ for second place and 3 points in the under-14 tournament and 3 points in the Under-10 tournament. Click tounament for full results.

Worcester School third in She Plays to Win tournament

9 Mar 2023. King’s Hawford School, Worcester won bronze in the She Plays To Win online competition for girls. Top player for the school was Michelle Zhu scoring 11 points. The school team was coached by Simon Berry.

Worcestershire Squad 6th in Division 1

6 Mar 2023. Eric Gregory was the highest Worcestershire scorer on 23 points followed by Cameron Henry on 18. Seven players took part in this 39th Inter-Team Battle. Links to full results and games.

Worcestershire Squad 2nd

6 Feb 2023. Worcestershire Squad were second in the inter-county team battle. Winners were Nottinghamshire juniors 19 points ahead of Worcestershire. Eric Gregory (RGS Worcester) was highest scorer for Worcestershire and third highest scorer of all players.

2 Jan 2023. Worcestershire Squad out of form. The team were placed 7th out of eight teams in the inter-county Division 2 team battle.

Under-16 winners at Alvechurch 19 Dec 2022. James ended up on top on tie-break after a 5-way pile up in the Boys Under-16 section. James has been playing at Worcestershire Junior Chess Academy and now has a place in Malvern’s first team. Also on 4 points were: Ben Chandler and Noah O’Sullivan (both Alvechurch Library Chess Club and Alvechurch Middle School), Samuel Thomas (Worcs Jun Chess Acad), and Cameron Henry (Kidderminster and RGS Worcester). Michelle Zhu (Worc Jun Chess Acad and King’s Hawford, Worcester) won the Girls Under-16 also on tie-break from Edith Pleasant (Alvechurch Liberary and Alcester GS). The last game tio finish set up the five-way tie was a fierce battle between Michelle and Cameron. The advantage swung from one side to the other. After exchanges to a rook and minor piece ending, Michelle made an unchararcteristic mistake allowing Cameron to gain a piece, but she defended bravely. Soon Michelle had only a pawn against a knight and pawn. Cameron's pawn was blocked and his king was far away. Cameron showed great strength of character by finding the only way to win. He had to march his king to the action and sacrifice his knight for Michelle’s pawn and then demonstrate the win of K+P against K with seconds remaining on his clock. Mortimer Dykes (King’s St Alban’s, Worcester) was first in the Boys Under-11 and Isabelle Bird (Pebworth Chess Club and Welford-on-Avon School) first in the Girls Under-11. See full results.

Under-16 Winners

Worcestershire Squad find going tough in Division 1

5 Dec. The squad had fewer players than usual and ended the session 7th out of 8. Eric Gregory was again the highest scorer with 36 points. The battle was won by Sussex Online Juniors.

Worcestershire Squad step up to second in team battle

7 Nov. Worcestershire Squad scored 89 points to achieve second place in the Inter-County Div 2 team battle. Three Worcestershire players were in the top ten scorers led by Samuel Thomas (26 points) was the highest scorer for the squad followed by Joshua Clarke ( King’s School Worcester, 19 points) and Eric Gregory (RGS Worcester, 15 points). Nottingham Juniors were first on 99.

Worcestershire again third in team battle

3 Oct. Ned Guyatt (Worc Jun Chess Acad and Nunnery Wood HS, Worcester) was the team’s highest scorer.

Squad comfortably third in online team battle

5 Sep. With more players available Worcestershire finished 10 points ahead of Nottinghamshire’s juniors. Eric Gregory (RGS Worcester) was again the highest scorer for the team. Warwickshire won and Surrey were second, but both those teams had nearly twice as many players available.

 

General league news

Summer Cups competitions

15 June 2023. the original Towers Cup was contested between Redditch and Greenlands who won the trophy the first two summers 2018 and 2019. On the inititiative of Steve Crees (Longbridge) Worcestershire Chess Association agreed to incorporate these competitions and expand the format so that there are two 4-board Summer Cups: the Open "Towers" Cup and the Under 1650 Cup which Longbridge has donated. Four clubs each entered entered an open team and a under-1650 team: Longbridge, Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester and will play semi-final and finals. See rules for these competitions.

First fixture played

17 May 2023. The final fixture in the Rapidplay League played and final positions are: Kidderminster, champions and runners-up Worcester Knights.

6 Oct 2022. Worcester drew with Longbridge in the Championship League.

League team competitions

 

15 June 2023. The county association asked Steve Crees to control a new summer team competition. Open teams will compete for the Towers Cup and under-1650 teams will compete for for a new trophy.

18 Sep 2022. The Championship League attracted five entries: Halesowen, Kidderminster, Longbridge, Malvern and Worcester. The Challengers' league has also hase five entries: Kidderminster, Longbridge, Redditch, Stourbridge, Worcester. The new Rapidplay league has four entries: Kidderminster, Redditch, Stourbridge, and Worcester. The Wheatley Cup competition had two entries: Redditch, and Worcester, but an additional team may enter. Secretaries and captains have been asked to arrange dates for fixtures by 2nd October.

Worcester & District League merges with county association

23 Aug 2022. Club representatives of Worcester & District Chess League decided to merge with the county association. The meeting approved the establisment of five team competitions: Championship League for five-board teams; Challengers' League for four-board teams; Worcester & District League for four-board teams; Wheatley KO handicap competition for four-board teams; and a new team competition for Worcestershire, a Rapidplay League.

 

 

Halesowen 2022-3 League champions

Latest news at top

20 Apr. In the last match of the season Redditch beat Longbridge.

19 Apr. Halesowen claim the Worcestershire League Championship. By beating bottom markers Kidderminster, Halesowen go ahead of Malvern in the penultimate match of the season. One further fixture between Redditch and Longbridge will not affect the leaders, but Longbrigdge could end infront of Worcester in the final table.

13 Apr. Worcester held Halesowen to a draw, so Halesowen must at least draw their final match against Kidderminster to take the championship. Meanwhile Longbridge thrashed Kidderminster and are on course to finish the season above Worcester.

12 Apr. Malvern beat Redditch and are now one point ahead of Halesowen, but Halesowen have a match this week against Worcester to take back the lead.

6 Apr. Longbridge got their first scalp by beating Worcester at home.

5 Apr. Malvern beat Kidderminster edging near to Halesowen.

4 Apr. Halesowen chalk up another win, this time home to Longbridge. This result puts Halesowen 3 points clear of second-placed Malvern who have chance to make up lost ground in a match the next day against Kidderminster.

28 Mar. Halesowen in their home fixture beat Redditch to overtake Malvern and go top of the table. Halesowen have a match in hand against nearest rivals.

22 Mar. Redditch beat Kidderminster.

17 Mar. Malvern beat Kidderminsterto leap over Halesowen to the top spot.

9 Mar. With snow covering high ground and the forecast uncertain, the Longbridge-Redditch fixture was postponed.

6 Mar. Halesowen beat Worcester to re-take the lead.

3 Mar. Malvern beat Worcester 4 - 1 to leap over Halesowen and head the table, but Haleowen have two matches in hand so some exciting matches ahead!

22 Feb. Halesowen beat Malvern taking Halesowen to the top of the table. Halesowen are now in pole position, the only team not yet to have suffered defeat.

9 Feb. A busy night with two fixtures in the league. Longbridge were slaughtered by Halesowen. This puts Halesowen third in the table and clearly in contention having played fewer matches than other teams. Worcester drew their home fixture against Redditch. Ray Collett had a marathon game, 117 moves, for his win.

1 Feb. Kidderminster break their duck drawing with Longbridge.

28 Jan. Kidderminster have rescheduled their home match against Malvern to 5 April.

12 Jan. Worcester beat Kidderminster at home

5 Jan. Malvern beat Worcester away 4-1 to go second in the table.

4 Jan 2023. First league games of 2023 have been played. Redditch beat Longbridge 4-1.

7 Dec 2022. Redditch, at home, beat Kidderminster 4-1 and displace Halesowen from the top of the table.

30 Nov. Two matches this evening. Worcester had an unexpected away win against Kidderminster and Halesowen beat Redditch away. This takes Halesowen to the top of the table.

11 Nov. All games were drawn in the Malvern-Halesowen fixture and Molvern are now in sole lead with Redditch and Halesowen sharing second place.

1 Nov. Halesowen beat Kidderminster and Malvern remain top of the table on game points.

19 Oct. Redditch beat Worcester at home to overtake Malvern at the top of the table

13 Oct. Malvern beat Longbridge heavily to head the table.

6 Oct Worcester draw with Longbridge to kick the season off.

18 Sep. Six teams entered: Halesowen, Kidderminster, Longbridge, Malvern, Redditch and Worcester. Longbridge has notified that its home matches begin at 7:15pm and Worcesterhave stated that the playing session at home matches will be 2½ hours.

23 Aug 2022. The annual meeting decided that there should be five boards and teams would play home and away. The time control was set at 60 min + 30 sec (45min + 30 sec for the shorter playing session).

Championship League Table 2022-3

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Match Points
Halesowen	10	8	2	0	35½	14½	18
Malvern	10	7	2	1	33	17	16
Redditch	10	5	2	3	28	22	12
Worcester City	10	2	3	5	21	29	7
Longbridge	10	2	2	6	17	33	6
Kidderminster	10	0	1	9	15½	34½	1

Championship League Fixtures

Earliest fixtures at top. Click on score to see match card.

Dates	Home team	Score	Away team
Thu 6th Oct 2022	Worcester City	2½ - 2½	Longbridge
Fri 7 Oct 2022	Malvern	2½ - 2½	Redditch
Thu 13 Oct 2022	Longbridge	½ - 4½	Malvern
Wed 19th Oct 2022	Redditch	3 - 2	Worcester City
Tue 1st Nov 2022	Halesowen	4 - 1	Kidderminster
Fri 11th Nov 2022	Malvern	2½ - 2½	Halesowen
Wed 30th Nov 2022	Redditch	1½ - 3½	Halesowen
Wed 30th Nov 2022	Kidderminster	2 - 3	Worcester City
Wed 7th Dec 2022	Redditch	4 - 1	Kidderminster
Wed 4th Jan 2023	Redditch	4 - 1	Longbridge
Thu 5th Jan 2023	Worcester City	1 - 4	Malvern
Thu 12th Jan 2023	Worcester City	3 - 2	Kidderminster
Fri 20th Jan 2023	Malvern	4 - 1	Longbridge
Wed 1st Feb 2023	Kidderminster	2½ - 2½	Longbridge
Thu 9th Feb 2023	Longbridge	0 - 5	Halesowen
Thu 9th Feb 2023	Worcester City	2½ - 2½	Redditch
Tue 21st Feb 2023	Halesowen	3 - 2	Malvern
Fri 3rd Mar 2023	Malvern	4 - 1	Worcester City
Tue 7th Mar 2023	Halesowen	3 - 2	Worcester City
Fri 17th Mar 2023	Malvern	3½ - 1½	Kidderminster
Wed 22nd Mar 2023	Kidderminster	1½ - 3½	Redditch
Tue 28th Mar 2023	Halesowen	3½ - 1½	Redditch
Tue 4th Apr 2023	Halesowen	5 - 0	Longbridge
Wed 5th Apr 2023	Kidderminster	2 - 3	Malvern
Thu 6th Apr 2023	Longbridge	3½ - 1½	Worcester City
Wed 12th Apr 2023	Redditch	2 - 3	Malvern
Thu 13th Apr 2023	Worcester City	2½ - 2½	Halesowen
Thu 13th Apr 2023	Longbridge	4½ - ½	Kidderminster
Wed 19th Apr 2023	Kidderminster	1½ - 3½	Halesowen
Thu 20 Apr 2023	Longbridge	1½ - 3½	Redditch
Club secretaries and team captains. Halesowen, capt John Edge; Kidderminster, capt Joe Friar; Longbridge, capt Stephen Woodhouse; Malvern, capt Brian Turner; Redditch, capt Dan Lambourne; Worcester, capt Rob Sutton.

 

 

Challengers' League table 2022-3

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Match Points
Longbridge	10	7	1	2	28	12	15
Malvern	10	5	4	1	25	15	14
Redditch	10	5	3	2	23	17	13
Stourbridge	10	4	2	4	18½	21½	10
Worcester Rooks	10	1	4	5	17	23	6
Kidderminster	10	0	2	8	8½	31½	2
Notes:

Challengers' League fixtures 2022-3

Earliest fixtures at top

Dates	Home team	Score	Away team
Wed 26th Oct 2022	Redditch	2½ - 1½	Malvern
Thu 27th Oct 2022	Longbridge	2½ - 1½	Worcester Rooks
Thu 3rd Nov 2022	Longbridge	4 - 0	Stourbridge
Wed 9th Nov 2022	Kidderminster	2 - 2	Worcester Rooks
Wed 23rd Nov 2022	Stourbridge	3 - 1	Worcester Rooks
Wed 23rd Nov 2022	Kidderminster	2 - 2	Redditch
Thu 8th Dec 2022	Longbridge	3½ - ½	Kidderminster
Thu 15th Dec 2022	Worcester Rooks	1 - 3	Malvern
Wed 21st Dec 2022	Redditch	3 - 1	Worcester Rooks
Thu 12th Jan 2023	Worcester Rooks	1 - 3	Longbridge
Fri 13th Jan 2023	Malvern	2½ - 1½	Kidderminster
Wed 18th Jan 2023	Stourbridge	0 - 4	Longbridge
Wed 25th Jan 2023	Redditch	2½ - 1½	Kidderminster
Fri 27th Jan 2023	Malvern	2 - 2	Worcester Rooks
Wed 1st Feb 2023	Redditch	1 - 3	Stourbridge
Thu 2nd Feb 2023	Worcester Rooks	3½ - ½	Kidderminster
Fri 10th Feb 2023	Malvern	2 - 2	Redditch
Fri 17th Feb 2023	Malvern	2 - 2	Stourbridge
Fri 24th Feb 2023	Malvern	2 - 2	Longbridge
Thu 2nd Mar 2023	Worcester Rooks	2 - 2	Stourbridge
Mon 6 Mar 2023	Stourbridge	1 - 3	Malvern
Wed 8th Mar 2023	Stourbridge	3½ - ½	Kidderminster
Wed 15th Mar 2023	Kidderminster	0 - 4	Longbridge
Thu 16th Mar 2023	Worcester Rooks	2 - 2	Redditch
Thu 23rd Mar 2023	Longbridge	3 - 1	Redditch
Wed 29th Mar 2023	Kidderminster	0 - 4	Malvern
Wed 19th Apr 2023	Redditch	3 - 1	Longbridge
Wed 26th Apr 2023	Stourbridge	0 - 4	Redditch
Wed 10th May 2023	Kidderminster	0 - 4	Stourbridge
Thu 11th May 2023	Longbridge	1 - 3	Malvern
Secretaries and team captains. Kidderminster, secy David Waud, capt Terry Pountney; Longbridge, secy & capt Steve Crees; Malvern, secy Brian Turner, capt John Knee (tel 01684 565 378); Redditch, secy Dan Lambourne, capt David Smith; Worcester secy, Ray Collett (tel 01905 454 754), capt Chris Lee.

Worcester Bishops win the 2022-3 District League

Latest news at top

20 Feb 2023. League champions Worcester were humbled by Redditch in the final match of this league, but Redditch were unable to catch them.

16 Feb 2023. With a match in hand, Worcester Bishops made sure of the trophy by beating Longbridge 3-1.

4 Jan 2023. The first league match of the new year sees Redditch beat Longbridge 3½-½.

8 Dec. The Bishops had another away win, this time at Longbridge confiming the Worcester team’s top position

2 Nov. Worcester Bishops had a sparkling win away at Redditch to put them at the head of the table.

6 Oct. In the first match Longbridge drew with Redditch at home.

19 Sep. Team captains of participating clubs have received approval from Conroller Paul Sharratt to have a rating limit of u1650 for all boards in the District leagu for the 2022-3 season and the issue to be discussed again at the 2023 AGM.

18 Sep 2021. Three teams entered: Longbridge, Redditch and Worcester.

Worcester & District League table 2022-3

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Match Points
Worcester Bishops	4	3	0	1	9½	6½	6
Redditch	4	2	1	1	9½	6½	5
Longbridge	4	0	1	3	5	11	1
Team captains. Longbridge, Steve Crees; Redditch, Giles Stanton; Worcester, Scott Oxtoby.

Worcester & District League fixtures 2022-3

Earliest fixtures at top

Dates	Home team	Result	Away team
Thu 6th Oct 2022	Longbridge	2 - 2	Redditch
Wed 2nd Nov 2022	Redditch	0 - 4	Worcester Bishops
Thu 8th Dec 2022	Longbridge	1½ - 2½	Worcester Bishops
Wed 4th Jan 2023	Redditch	3½ - ½	Longbridge
Thu 16th Feb 2023	Worcester Bishops	3 - 1	Longbridge
Thu 20th Apr 2023	Worcester Bishops	0 - 4	Redditch

Worcestershire Rapidplay League

Latest news at top

26 Apr 2023. Redditch won the first leg 4-0 against Worcester, but suffered defeat in the second leg. Worcester go into second place , but Stourbridge are just behind and have a game inhand against leaders Kidderminster.

12 Apr 2023. In the Redditch-Stourbridge fixture Stourbridge won the first leg and the second was a draw. This makes Stourbridge second in the table. There are tw3o remaining fixtures and the final one will be the decider.

23 Mar. 2023. Worcester and Stourbridge ended with one match each and four game points each in the encounter at Worcester.

23 Feb 2023. In the battle for the top spot, Kidderminster had a double away victory over Worcester. Kidderminster are now top of the table.

15 Feb 2023. Kidderminster won the first leg and drew the second playing Redditch. This result stretches Kidderminster lead at the top to 3 points and Redditch remain third in the table.

8 Feb 2023. Stourbridge played at home to Worcester Knights drawing the first leg and then losing the second leg of the fixture. The Worcester win places them second in the table.

4 Jan 2023. Kidderminster and Stourbridge fought two draws in their first fixture of the new year. The extra match points put Kidderminster at the top of the table.

21 Dec 2022. In the last game for the league this year, Stourbridge and Redditch fought to a fixture draw with each winning one leg of the fixture. This result catepulted Redditch to lead the table by a nose in front of Kidderminster.

16 Nov 2022. Kidderminster drew both legs of their fixture against Worcester Knights and go top of the table. Five boards were played.

10 Nov 2022. Redditch, playing away, convincingly defeated Worcester in the first leg, but came a cropper in the second. In one gme, an illegal move was played and captains had to scramble to find how to adjust the DGT clock to add two minutes to the player making the claim.

26 Oct 2022. New competition begins with a bang. In the first ever Worcestershire rapidplay match, Redditch lost narrowly to Kidderminster, the home team. Captains agreed to play a six-board match and the extra boards would not have changed the results of either the first or the second legs of the fixture.

18 Sep 2022. Four teams entered this new team competition: Kidderminster, Redditch, Stourbridge and Worcester.

23 Aug 2022. Teams play home and away with four boards and in each fixture, players will play two games the second with colours reversed. The annual meeting decided that players on boards 2, 3 and 4 must be rated below 1850 and players on board 1 may have higher ratings. The time control will be 20 min + 10 sec. The two matches of a fixture will be scored separately.

Worcestershire Rapidplay League table 2022-3

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Match Points
Kidderminster	12	6	6	0	29½	18½	18
Worcester Knights	12	4	3	5	19½	28½	11
Stourbridge	12	3	4	5	23½	24½	10
Redditch	12	3	3	6	23½	24½	9
Secretaries and team captains. Kidderminster, capt John Wrench; Redditch, capt, Dan Lambourne; Stourbridge capt Paul Sharratt; Worcester, capt Andy Gilhooly/Rob Sutton.

Worcestershire Rapidplay League fixtures 2022-3

Earliest fixtures at top

2022 Dates	Home team	Score 1	Score 2	Away team
Wed 26th Oct 2022	Redditch	1 - 3*	2 - 2*	Kidderminster 3
Thu 10th Nov 2022	Worcester Knights	0 - 4	2½ - 1½	Redditch
Wed 16th Nov 2022	Kidderminster 3	2 - 2*	2 - 2*	Worcester Knights
Wed 21st Dec 2022	Stourbridge	2½- 1½	1½ - 2½	Redditch
Wed 4th Jan 2023	Kidderminster	2 - 2	2 - 2	Stourbridge
Wed 8th Feb 2023	Stourbridge	2 - 2	1½ - 2½	Worcester Knights
Wed 15th Feb 2023	Kidderminster 3	2½- 1½*	2 - 2*	Redditch
Thu 23rd Feb 2023	Worcester Knights	1½ - 2½	0 - 4	Kidderminster 3
Thu 23rd Mar 2023	Worcester Knights	2½ - 1½	1½ - 2½	Stourbridge
Wed 12th Apr 2023	Redditch	½ - 3½	2 - 2	Stourbridge 3
Wed 26th Apr 2023	Redditch	4 - 0	1 - 3	Worcester Knights
Wed 17th May 2023	Stourbridge	1½ - 2½	1 - 3	Kidderminster 3
Notes: * Extra boards not counting for the leage were played as rated friendly games.

 

Worcester win the 2023 Wheatley Cup

Latest news at top

18 May 2023. Redditch fielded a strong team, but Worcster players achieved a draw over-the-board with notable wins by Arnold Kirkland and John Hesketh

18 Sep 2022. Only two teams entered: Redditch and Worcester. The teams will play a final for the trophy in 2022-3.

23 Aug 2022. The annual meeting agreed that teams should have four players who must play in order of rating. There is no rating maximum for players in the Wheatley Cup. Teams play a knock-out format with a single fixture at each stage. A new handicap tariff using the current four digit ratings and making draws impossible was approved. Ray Collett was controller for this tournament.

Wheatley Cup 2022-3

Date	Stage	Home Team	Score	Away team
18 May	Final	Worcester	4.1 - 2.0	Redditch
Secretaries and team captains. Redditch, capt David Smith. Worcester capt Ray Collett

 

 

Worcester win the inaugural Summer Cup competition and Redditch the Towers Cup

Latest news at top

24 Aug 2023. The finals for both the open teams, competing for the Towers Cup, and the u1650 team were hosted by Longbridge. Both matches were nail-biting affairs for the participants. The match for the Towers Cup was only decided when Worcester’s board 1 overstepped the time limit in a very sharp position. The under-1650 competition for the Summer Cup was won on board count by Worcester, but only after Seamus Flynn with little time and a duboius position trapped his opponent’s rook.

10 Aug 2023. The u1650 team semi-finals were hosted by Longbridge club. Worcester and Longbridge were victorious.

3 Aug 2023. The semi-finals in the competition for open teams were hosted by Longbridge club. Worcester and Redditch were victorious.

1 Aug 2023. Four clubs have entered each with two teams, one in the open and one in the under-1650 competition: Kidderminster, Longbridge, Redditch and Worcester. The semi-final dates have been agreed as 3 and 10 August both to be played at Longbridge.

15 July 2023. Worcestershire chess association agreed to incorporate and expand the summer team competitions formerly held between Longbridge and Redditch. Steve Crees (Longbridge) was appointed controller.

Summer Cups Competitions 2023

Open teams for the Towers Cup
Date	Stage	Home Team	Score	Away team
3 Aug	Semi-final	Worcester	1 - 3	Kidderminster
3 Aug	Semi-final	Longbridge	0 - 4	Redditch
24 Aug	Final	Worcester	1 - 3	Redditch
Under-1650 teams for the Summer Cup
Date	Stage	Home Team	Score	Away team
10 Aug	Semi-final	Worcester	2½ - 1½	Kidderminster
10 Aug	Semi-final	Redditch	1½ - 2½	Longbridge
24 Aug	Final	Worcester	2 - 2	Longbridge
Secretaries and team captains. Kidderminster secy David Waud. Longbridge secy Steve Crees. Redditch, capt Dan Lambourne. Worcester secy Ray Collett

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