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Worcestershire Wolfpack A lose, but secure promotion online
10 Dec 2024, Round 8 Play-off in Div 3 for team A. The team achieved only half a point more than the B team achieved in the previous week against Wells Hartbreakers 1 who fielded the same team. The team lost 1-3. See full results and lnks to games.
Good online results by Wolfpack teams in 4NCL and junior squad
3 Dec 2024. The 4NCL online teams had a difficult night, but Worcestershire Wolfpack A won their match against players from Wessex and go forward into the play-off matches for promotion to Division 2. See full results and links to games.
2 Dec 2024. Worcestershire Squad came 7th out of 15 teams and were ahead of Surrey Juniors and Warwickshire Juniors. Read more.
Worcestershire u1650 draw away with Staffordshire
23 Nov 2024. The team started well and held a 2 point lead when the resuklts started coming in, but Staffordshire caught up to draw the match. John Varilone (Kidderminster), David Cleak and Aiden Griffiths (both Worcester) won their games for the county. John Varilone (Kidderminster), David Cleak and Aiden Griffiths (both Worcester) won their games. See full results.
Online teams have a good night in the sixth round
19 Nov 2024, Round 6. Plenty of players were available this round and the full strength A team had an easy victory over group leaders War & Piece Overlord in Division 3. Worcestershire Wolfpack B seemed to have the most difficult task and were heavly out-rated in their match with Atticus, but ended with a 3-1 win after Collett ground out a win in a hundred move game involving a complex middle game emerging from a Yugolslav Attack against the Dragon. In Division 5, Worcestershire Wolfpack C played Dartford Knightmares and won 2½ - 1½. The D team had an easy night because opponents Barnet Knights C defaulted three of the games and Samuel Thomas drew his on top board. At the end of the evening team a is second in their group and has a chance of entering the pay-offs and promotion. Team B are mid-table in group A of Division 3; the C team are ninth and team D are tenth out of 26 teams in Division 5. See full results.
5 Nov 2024, Round 5. Illness and work depleted the pool of players avalable for round 5 of the Four Nations Chess League and the squad defaulted team D’s match against Witney Houston. Team A beat Charlton Cobras, but team B lost to Streatham & Brixton B and team C were whitewashed by Collyers 1st. See full results and links to games. Team A are now challenging War & Piece Overlord for promotion and these two teams have not yet played. The B team is in the relegation zone and the two teams in Division 5 are mid-table.
22 Oct 2024, Round 4. In the Four nations Chess League matches, team A drew against Dundee City E; team B beat Hertford 2; team C beat Collyers 2nd; and team D beat Chess Challengers B. New player Sean Conway (Worcester) won his game in team D and Ray Collett (worcester) bluffed his way to a draw ofter dropping a piece in the early middle game. See full results and links to games.
Juniors play at Nottingham16 Nov 2024. Sebastian Vas, Stewart Brody, Taysia Eaton, Isaac Humphries, Alexander Stavrev-Colley, Charles Howden, Amelie Elmaradny and Aria Threwlis made history being the first Worcestershire under-11 team to compete in the Junior Midlands County team championships. Worcestershire Chess Academy chief coach Simon Berry organised the team who travelled up to Nottingham. Tayisia Eaton was the highest scoring girl for the county with 3 points from four games. Isaac Humphries and Alexander Stavrev-Colley were highest scoring Worcestershire boys with 2 points from three games. Chess coach Simon Berry said: “We had a very young and inexperienced team at the tournament but they did superbly and did themselves proud. Attending an in-person chess tournament is a big thing so it gives the team a platform to learn from and move forward with more experience". See full results. See also report in Worcester News. |
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Worcestershire beat Staffordshire
19 Oct 2024. In the first county match of the season, Worcestershire beat Staffordshire at Droitwich in the Midlands County Team Championship. Joe Friar, Peter Kitson, Joe Rastall, Nigel Towers, Dorin Luca and Ray Collett won their games. See Full results.
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 entries.
Death of Malvern club president
9 Oct 2024, Brian Turner reports the death of Maurice Ginger, president of Malvern CC. Maurice played for many years for Malvern and won the Ball Cup in 2000 and shared the cup in 1999.
Mixed fortunes for online teams
8 Oct 2024. Worcestershire Wolfpack A beat Barnet Knights, but the C team lost heavily against Chess Rising Stars. Teams B and D each drew. The A team stand third in their group in Division 3 and the B team stand seventh out of 8 in their group and will have to improve to avoid relegation. In Division 5 team C are tenth and team D are thirteenth out of 25 teams. See full results and links to games.
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 Kidderminster12 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. |
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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.