Inter-County Championship 2009–10
Results and reports from the county’s matches will appear here throughout the season. This year all four teams reached the national quarter finals, with the U180 and U140 team progressing to the Semi Finals held on June 19th.
Update 21 June 2010: Both the U140 & U180 teams progressed to the Final to be held on July 10th
Update: Sadly neither
team managed to win their final matches.
Under 180
Warwickshire U180 – Nottinghamshire U180
Report by WP:
Apologies this has taken a while to write.
National Finals: Nottinghamshire lost a close battle 9-7. It's all a bit of a hazy memory now. Things got off to a worrying start when we won the toss and i was a piece up within 10 moves. Usually I'm a piece down inside 10 moves and the team feels more at home with the early set back, lull your opponents into a false sense of security. Kev also won in record time, and so we went to the pub...hence the hazy memory I suspect!
Richard was in a near identical game to myself, however when we both noticed his remark was 'Yes...but you're on the right side of it!' Richard brilliantly fought back in his game and towards the end, although drawn with good play, it was his opponent who had to be wary.
I remember Brian T had a strange game in the Dragon, giving up a pawn, but getting some good counterplay. Eventually the game ended in a draw.
To be honest I really don't know much else (Sorry) Try the Warwickshire page!! Our Congratulations to their team.
I would like to add Kev's and my immense gratitude to everyone who played, drove, helped out this season. Our thanks also to David for taking on the mantle of captain! Hurrah! :-) I'm sure under his captaincy the team can go one step further and be crowned champions of the world, or at the very least the UK!
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Smyth | 174 | 0-1 | John Swain | 178 |
| 2 | Alan Llyod | 173 | 1-0 | David Levens | 176 |
| 3 | Dave Ireland | 178 | ½–½ | Pete Mercs | 174 |
| 4 | Richard Smith | 177 | ½–½ | John Harrison | 174 |
| 5 | Joey Stewart | 168 | 1-0 | Geoff Gibson | 173 |
| 6 | Alan Agnew | 170 | ½–½ | Richard Truman | 173 |
| 7 | Rob Wallman | 172 | 1-0 | Alexander Combie | 171 |
| 8 | Richard C Reynolds | 171 | 0-1 | Kevin Harvey | 170 |
| 9 | Rob Hearne | 173 | ½–½ | Ian Kingston | 169 |
| 10 | Mike Doran | 167 | ½–½ | Brian Thompson | 164 |
| 11 | Simon Williams | 166 | ½–½ | Tim Lane | 163 |
| 12 | Simon Smith | 160 | 1-0 | Steve Burke | 163 |
| 13 | Amrik Singh | 159 | 0-1 | Will Place | 161 |
| 14 | Anthony Green | 160 | ½–½ | Jonathan Day | 161 |
| 15 | Gary Hope | 161 | ½–½ | Brain Thompson | 160 |
| 16 | Ed Goodwin | 156 | 1-0 |
Robert Taylor | 157 |
| 9–7 |
Essex U180 – Nottinghamshire U180
National Semi Finals:Nottinghamshire progressed winning 8-8 (on board count) against Essex to reach the national finals!!
Report by WP:
The team was largely unchanged from that of the team who won in the quarter finals. The very able Mr Abel Yap (copyright D.Sudar) and Bob Taylor were in for Kevin and Dave.
Kevin’s absence was of supreme concern. There would be no one to experiment with the truly unheralded b5 when faced with the English; and of greater worry still was the lack of media coverage the biscuits would receive. Nottinghamshire’s loss, however was to be Scotland’s gain. The good doctor was delivering a speech at the Universityof Edinburgh on the subject of ‘Biscuit writing – it’s a crumby business’ and learning of the latest Scottish trend in deep-fried Jaffa cakes.
If you choose to read on (!) you will see, dear readers, that I have tried to give this subject matter of the aforementioned edible morsels some few words. However the gravitas and je nais se quoi you will have come to expect from this article is sorely lacking. However fear not, the illustrious Mr Harvey will be back in action for the closing chapters of ‘Let’s all go cracker’s for biscuits!’
The evening before had been England’s second round World Cup match against the giants Algeria. Somehow England had managed to pull off an unlikely draw and the mood in the camp the next day was very positive!
I sat down and instantly discovered that my inevitable hangover had chosen a convenient time to appear (Richard and I had made a good dent on a 20 litre barrel of German beer during the England match).
Nottingham suffered early deficits when your author, who fell for a cheap fork, and Geoff lost. The two Brian’s and Steve drew, whilst Ian suffered an uncharacteristic loss. Nott’s were trailing by three boards!
Our boys suddenly remembered their Rich Tea biscuits and slowly the balance returned. Alex and John Harrison were in devastating form and David, who had the strangest of strange Max-Lange Attack’s, outfoxed his opponent to draw the scores level.
Abel played a beautiful middlegame, leaving a K + 3P vs K +3P but with the far superior king position and his opponent soon gave up. This win put Notts into the lead, but Essex got one back straight away, Tim Lane the victim, his opponent having a dangerous passed pawn, after both sides had castled on opposite flanks.
It was now clear this was going to go all the way…
Jonathan had clung on in his game but sadly it wasn’t quite enough and he too succumbed. It was around this time that Bob went a pawn down but was playing superbly and always looked like he would draw his game. Richard, who was having the better of the game against his opponent’s KID secured a vital win for Nottingham. Last night’s partying had clearly not had quite as large an effect :P
Pete Mercs also sadly lost. Pete half fought back in his game with great verve, but sadly it wasn’t quite enough, an admiral performance none the less! Bob Taylor dutifully drew to leave it 8-7 in Essex’s favour. However John Swain, on board 1, had played magnificently (especially in the closing stages) and secured the necessary win. Well played John!
So 8-8 and board count. Never a nice way to decide, a bit like penalties in a world cup. Thankfully where England have Lampard, Gerrard and co we had the two John’s, David, Richard, Abel and Alex!
And so to the final, no Abel sadly (Malaysian airlines was stretching the NCA budget) but Kevin will doubtless return. Well played everyone, and thanks to all those who drove and helped me set-up the room.
Hobnob anybody?
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Swain | 178 | 1-0 | Larry Marden | 178 |
| 2 | David Levens | 176 | 1-0 | John Moore | 173 |
| 3 | Pete Mercs | 174 | 0-1 | John White | 179 |
| 4 | John Harrison | 174 | 1-0 | Kanwal Bhatia | 173 |
| 5 | Geoff Gibson | 173 | 0-1 | Terry Whitton | 173 |
| 6 | Richard Truman | 173 | 1-0 | Jim Howson | 173 |
| 7 | Abel Yap | e172 | 1-0 | Chris Hapton | 173 |
| 8 | Alexander Combie | 171 | 1-0 | Ian Hunnable | 167 |
| 9 | Ian Kingston | 169 | 0-1 | Martin, McCall | 167 |
| 10 | Brian Thompson | 164 | ½–½ | David Millward | 172 |
| 11 | Tim Lane | 163 | 0-1 | Colin Ramage | 167 |
| 12 | Steve Burke | 163 | ½–½ | Ray Purse | 165 |
| 13 | William Place | 161 | 0-1 | Syd Kalinsky | 162 |
| 14 | Jonathan Day | 161 | 0-1 | Neville Twitchell | 167 |
| 15 | Brian Hayward | 160 | ½–½ | Tom Winter | 162 |
| 16 | Bob Taylor | 157 | ½–½ | Howard Grist | 160 |
| 8–8 |
Bedfordshire U180 – Nottinghamshire U180
National Quarter Finals:
Report by KH:
O the sun! The swingeing sun! It was too hot for chess. Other than lying on a lawn, in a cool green shade, expending no more effort than the act of lifting up a Pimms and Lemonade to one’s lips, it was too hot for anything. Absolutely, emphatically, unequivocally anything. Even breathing was taxing. Yet given the import, the world-altering significance of the event, there was no question of calling off the Bedfordshire versus Nottinghamshire chess match (even if it was taking place in Milton Keynes). Besides, Will had gone to considerable – nay, supererogatory - effort to assemble a team of the first water, as well as arranging the finer, practical aspects of the match with the Bedfordshire captain. Bless the Place. O bless him.
I travelled down with Brian, Alex and Jonathan. I hadn’t played chess for a while and the prospect of unforgivably intense indoor cognitive labour on such a halcyon one-must-be-insane-not-to-be-anywhere-but-outdoors day was not appealing. Soon, however, the animated talk in the car (touching, principally, on chess and football) titivated me, reinvigorated me, restored my zest for cerebral wood-pushing about64 squares, and I was aching, then and there, still with both hands on the wheel, to try out a savage riposte to the English that Brian had floated past us during our discussion on openings. To c5, one replies with b5. Yes you heard me right: b5 meets c4. Again: b5 meets c4.
All along the M1 I couldn’t get that vicious retort out of my head. I kept inwardly playing the gambit over and over. And over.So obsessed with it did I become that the sally broke the bounds of purely interior consideration and became externally apparent, taking on a concrete, physical actuality,manifesting itself in the landscape that was sliding past: I could see the move - that outrageous fulcrum – levering against bridges, service stations and advertising hoardings, all of which became, in my fervid, demented imagination, structural metaphors for the English pawn on c4.
Sadly, though, when we arrived, I discovered that I was to have the white pieces and, so in the actuality, never had the chance to play b5, having to make do with the comparatively tame King’s Gambit, an opening which I played listlessly, blandly, horribly, unlawfully,soon finding myself in a crashingly amorphous position (despite my acquiring the f file, a strategic hoard which I consider in itself to nothing less than a victorious achievement: even if I lose thegame itself, the aesthetic appeal of colonising this vital thoroughfare still massively outweighs the comparatively mild disappointment ofactual defeat.)
Bored with my own, I looked at the other games around me. Ian Kingston, immediately on my left, had a killing, to-die-for, 100 grand a yearposition. He was black (not sure what opening he played) and within the space of what seemed like no fewer than 20 minutes had already ripped his opponent’s king’s defences apart, fatally, yet irresistably,exposing the monarch through the resultant carious pawn carapace. The next I time I looked some ten or so moves later, Ian virtually had half his pieces left and his opponent was stripped down to the state of solus rex, and yet insisted on pointlessly shoving the lone monarch about the board (no doubt hoping Ian might blunder into stalemate, which he didn’t). A convincing, brutal, fanatically carnivorous game.
Fellow West Nottingham club member David Levens was also on fine form. I didn’t see much of his game but, from I what I recall, it was over pretty soon and David seemed to be in control throughout.
And then, next door, was our very own John Harrison. I’m not quite sure what opening he played (nor, I think, was John sure when I spoke to him afterwards) buthis king was on f2 in the early stages of the game. It looked to me like a deliberate, purposeful stratagem andlooked perfectlysublime - thesurrounding, symmetricalcoveringof pawns capping off the design to an almost unbearable level of exquisiteness. Docketing that abstruse (yet adorable)position for later appraisal, I moved on to John Swain’s game, which seemed solid enough (I recall one of John’s knights posted wonderfully, royally and seemingly untouchable in the centre of the board). When I next checked out the position, John was a piece down but his opponent had no shelter for his king, although it seemed difficult for John to get at the monarch. The game ended up in a draw.
So affronted was I with my own inutile performance and position that I preferred to carry on inspecting other people’s games. Whenever I went back to my bloodless King’s Gambit, I repeatedly offered my opponent a draw (along with £1005 and a first edition signed copy of Rudolff Spielmann’s Complete Games and several yet unstale Rich Tea biscuits). After consulting his captain severally, he eventually accepted. Relieved, I went outside into the ridiculous sun, started to read a collection of short stories I’d bought with me, fell asleep on the grass, and woke up with a glow-stinging face which I could already sense was beginning to peel and fall apart (like my chess). Back inside the chess arena, the fluorescent strip lighting felt comparatively kind, almost feckless, and when I looked at the games in its feeble glow, the pieces took on a weirdhue, making it difficult to distinguish which colour was which.
Fortunately, I recalled that John was white. His game had moved on significantly. Significantly. For a while it appeared that, given the recondite position that graced the board before me, both players had forgotten how the pieces moved (or wereartfully flouting the rules of chess) and were instead acting, living out some surreal conceptual art tableaux inspired by Marcel Duchamp. But then John produced a series of inspired and alembic and beautifulmoves that left him with the better position.
Alex Combie was doing well. A pawn up, with the safer monarch, he had the advantage. And yet, and yet, the position was tricky. Alex could force perpetual check, but the promise of so much more looked, at least for me, tempting indeed. Alex, however, sensibly took the draw. The half point being a much welcome addition tothe Nottinghamshirehoard.
I'm not quite sure what was happening in Brian's game. I'd seen it briefly through various earlierstages. I recall seeing a wedge of white pawns (Brian's) in the middle of the board. They looked spikey, chevron-like, menacing, but wereunder threat and undermined by his opponent's surrounding forces (in a curious and uncanny riot squad type formation). After the game Brian told me his opponent had rejected a draw. Just as well. Brian won.
At this stage of the match, everyone else had finished their games. Both the entire Nottinghamshire and Bedfordshire teams (and most of the other folks in the arena) were now crowdingaround and pressing intothe board, no doubt inwardly, silently yet violentlykibitzing, hectoring and directing. The pressure on both players was surely insufferably immense. I couldn’t take it. I had to keep stealing away to the biscuits, consoling myself with yetRich Tea after Rich Tea. A litany of Rich Teas.John, however, remained magnificently cool and irenic, extracting with aplomb a draw from an immeasurably tricky position. I suspect thatJohn had a technically won position, but with so little time to calculate his remaining moves, converting the game into a win was impossible.
No matter, though. No matter.A draw was all we needed to win the match 8.5 – 7.5. Although it was aclose thing, we fully deserved the result. It was a gorgeous, loving team effort which made Milton Keynes come alive and worth visiting (if only for the afternoon).
So next up in the World Championship the good ship Notts have drawn Essex. Maybe, if I’m selected, I’ll have chance to venture b5. In the meantime, folks, when confronted with the English, why not give the vicious fulcrum a whirl. And let me know how it goes.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Brown | 178 | ½–½ | John Swain | 178 |
| 2 | Graham Borrowdale | 178 | 0-1 | David Levens | 176 |
| 3 | Brian Valentine | 175 | ½–½ | Pete Mercs | 174 |
| 4 | Adrian Elwin | 172 | ½–½ | John Harrison | 174 |
| 5 | Vaughan Griffiths | e171 | 1-0 | Geoff Gibson | 173 |
| 6 | Branko Pribanich | 166 | 1-0 | Richard Truman | 173 |
| 7 | Adrian Matthews | 166 | ½–½ | Alexander Combie | 171 |
| 8 | Ravi Arulnandy | e165 | ½–½ | Kevin Harvey | 170 |
| 9 | Peter Hunt | 160 | 0-1 | Ian Kingston | 169 |
| 10 | Michael Joseph | 160 | 0-1 | Brian Thomson | 164 |
| 11 | John Shaw | 160 | ½–½ | Tim Lane | 163 |
| 12 | Mark McCready | e158 | 0-1 | Steve Burke | 163 |
| 13 | Peter Taylor | 157 | 1-0 | William Place | 161 |
| 14 | Benjamin Grainger | e153 | ½–½ | Jonathan Day | 161 |
| 15 | Marek Gladysl | 150 | 0-1 | Brian Hayward | 160 |
| 16 | Collin Solloway | 118 | 1-0 | Dave Flynn | 160 |
| 7.5–8.5 |
Warwickshire U180 – Nottinghamshire U180
W Place & K Harvey
Kev has written a delightful account of the events. A Juxtoposition between Genghis Khan like debauchery and Mr Kipling like baked goods. Enjoy!"We went to Birmingham. It was raining hard and it was cold, b&stard-cold.Not even the hot hissing urn which presided over the fetching array of biscuits provided any warming consolation. My feet were macerated and, despite munching my way through endless, neverendingcustard creams, they remained damply gelid throughout the duration of the chessfest.
We lost the chess, but did tremendously well on the biscuit front. You should’ve seen the way we tucked in, devouring more than our share of ginger nuts and other planetary pabulum. The urn leaked somehow and somewhat, and often hissed at the most inopportune moments, but that didn’t stop our gustatory brio, didn’t put us off the biscuits. An emphatic win.
And then there was the chess. Memory fades. Memory fades. And so my observations are tenuous at best,worthless (or worst) at worst. I recall the Place of William conducting one of his signature suicidal assaults with the white pieces. So aggressive was his onslaught, so temerarious his strategy, that his opponent at one point actually called the police (don't really: irony, dear reader, irony). I remember Will sacrificing a bishop, and then something else, and then something else, and then something else, until he was left with nothing but his king which he used as the central, and sole, source of his onslaught. Sadly he resigned before being able to deliver the final death blow. I was just glad to have witnessed it. You should have been there, dear reader, you should have been there.
Afterwards, I returned to the biscuits, securing solace in a second wave of custard creams. My game seemed to be going okay. Like the writing of my prose and everything else in I do inmy entire life, I took a lazy approach, not doing much but somehow, by dint of pure alembicgood fortune, or the benison of some kindly god or gods, found my Latvian defence taking off and morphing, by accident, into athumping position. I have no idea what I did wrong. I managed to win. In future I aim to adopt ever further arcane and risky gambit openings. Next time round, as black,I’m thinking of adopting the Fred Defence (1. e4 f5). Dig it, man.
I caught some of Mark Radford’s game. French defence. Mark was playing skilfully and had amassed a lovely position -the type of position thatwould grace anydisplay boards - but his opponent played with acute aplomb, and, after much intricate manoeuvring, the likes of which only a Karpov or a Smyslov could fully appreciate, a draw was agreed.
Sadly, despite the zinglingly tremendous efforts from all Notts men, the Notty team lost out – a close thing, a marvellous struggle, the likes of whichwill, most likely,neverbewitnessed again in the entire, absolutehistory of countychess."
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Llyod | 173 | 1-0 | John Harrison | 174 |
| 2 | Nick Roberts | 173 | 1-0 | Pete Mercs | 174 |
| 3 | Rob Wallman | 172 | 0-1 | Abel Yap | 172 |
| 4 | Richard C Reynolds | 171 | 0-1 | Kev Harvey | 170 |
| 5 | Alan Agnew | 170 | 1-0 | Brian Thompson | 164 |
| 6 | Tom Robinson | 168 | ½–½ | Tim Lane | 163 |
| 7 | Adam Draper | 167 | 1-0 | Will Place | 161 |
| 8 | Simon Williams | 166 | ½–½ | Brian Hayward | 160 |
| 9 | Simon Smith | 160 | 0-1 | Dave Flynn | 160 |
| 10 | Trevor Holt | 161 | 1-0 | Stephen Foster | 156 |
| 11 | Gary Hope | 161 | ½–½ | Graeme Jennings | 153 |
| 12 | Anthony Green | 160 | 1-0 | Drag Sudar | 151 |
| 13 | Robert Reynolds | 159 | ½–½ | Steve Hunter | 150 |
| 14 | Phil Bull | 150 | ½–½ | Mark Radford | 145 |
| 15 | John Fahy | 147 | 0-1 |
Keith Brameld | 143 |
| 16 | Adam Parkinson | 137 | 1-0 |
default | - |
| 9.5–6.5 |
Under 160
Suffolk U160 – Nottinghamshire U160
National Quarter Finals: Nottinghamshire suffered a narrow loss at the hands of Suffolk.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simons, Conrad | 155 | 1–0 | Taylor, Robert P | 157 |
| 2 | Hill, Luke | 154 | 1–0 | Foster, Stephen J | 156 |
| 3 | Taylor, Scott | 156 | 1–0 | Williamson, Eric | 156 |
| 4 | Thomas, Harold | 156 | 1–0 | Wagenbach, Janos | 152 |
| 5 | Lamont, Richard | 155 | 1–0 | Sudar, Drag | 151 |
| 6 | Tate, Stuart | 157 | ½–½ | Taylor. Marcel | 150 |
| 7 | Brown, David | 149 | ½–½ | Walters, Keith | 148 |
| 8 | York Anderson, Anna | 149 | 0–1 | Broughton, Daniel | 146 |
| 9 | Hadrych, Craig | 152 | ½–½ | Morgan, Philip | 145 |
| 10 | Pearce, Dave | 150 | 0–1 | Radford, Mark | 145 |
| 11 | Fogg, Martin | 143 | 1–0 | Cranmer, Stanley | 144 |
| 12 | Stephens, Robert | 146 | 0-1 | Ince, Darren | 144 |
| 13 | Roberts, Colin | 140 | 0-1 | Moon, Nick | 144 |
| 14 | Jones, Robert | 139 | ½–½ | Brameld, Keith | 143 |
| 15 | Kirkham, Ed | 138 | ½–½ | Ali, Hamzah | 140 |
| 16 | Tulic, Jakob | 138 | ½–½ | Murfet, George | 140 |
| 9–7 |
Shropshire U160 – Nottinghamshire U160
J Keith Walters
A 9-7 victory puts Nottinghamshire top of the table, ahead of Leics on game score:
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notts | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +8 | 5 |
| Leics | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +5 | 5 |
| Shrops | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 3 |
| Manchr | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2 |
| Staffs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
| Warks | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -11 | 0 |
Notts have yet to play Staffs and Gtr Manchester, while Leics have to play Shrops and Warks. If results go with current form the final positions will depend on game score difference.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilson, Iain R | 156 | 0–1 | Taylor, Robert P | 157 |
| 2 | Link, Gerald C | 156 | 0–1 | Foster, Stephen J | 156 |
| 3 | Edwards, Gareth | 156 | 0–1 | Myers, Richard | 153 |
| 4 | Tunks, Andrew | 152 | 0–1 | Wagenbach, Janos | 152 |
| 5 | Randle, Glyn | 149 | ½–½ | Taylor, Marcel | 150 |
| 6 | Westhead, John A | 147 | 0–1 | Roper, Keith W | 148 |
| 7 | Crean, Peter | 142 | 0–1 | Walters, Keith J | 148 |
| 8 | White, Gary M | 141 | 1–0 | Morgan, Philip D | 145 |
| 9 | Shepherd, Graham C | 139 | 0–1 | Radford, Mark S R | 145 |
| 10 | Thompson, Richard G | 138 | 1–0 | Cranmer, Stanley E E | 144 |
| 11 | Tunks, John A | 138 | 0–1 | Bramled, Keith D | 143 |
| 12 | Paul, Nathaneal | 131 | 1–0 | Murfet, George J | 140 |
| 13 | Tennant, Stefan H | 136 | 1–0 | Ali, Hamzah | 140 |
| 14 | Peck, Windsor W A | 134 | 1–0 | Thomson, James L | 139 |
| 15 | Whittaker, John | 133 | ½–½ | Willoughby, Robert | 138 |
| 16 | Gillespie, Richard | 129 | 1–0 | Garside, Andrew. | 133 |
| 7–9 |
Nottinghamshire U160 – Warwickshire U160
J Keith Walters
After the match got going each team found themselves one player short. Telephone calls failed to make contact so each team defaulted a board. My game was a long one - 82 moves - so I didn't get to see much of the other games. Nevertheless a number of draws came through quite quickly and then the wins came rolling in. A great result 11-5 which takes us to the top of the group on board count:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notts | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 13 | 3 |
| Shrops | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18½ | 13½ | 3 |
| Leics | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 15 | 3 |
| Manchr | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 2 |
| Staffs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 17 | 1 |
| Warks | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10½ | 21½ | 0 |
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor, Robert P | 157 | ½–½ | Reynolds, Robert | 159 |
| 2 | Foster, Stephen J | 156 | ½–½ | Smith, Chris | 159 |
| 3 | Williamson, Eric | 156 | 0–1 | Clarke, Neil | 158 |
| 4 | Taylor, Oliver | 154 | 0–1 | Lee, Darren | 155 |
| 5 | Myers, Richard | 153 | 1-0 | Ralph, Sean | 155 |
| 6 | Wagenbach, Janos | 152 | 1–0 | Bull, Phil | 150 |
| 7 | Edwards, H Richard | 151 | ½–½ | Sadler, Anthony | 150 |
| 8 | Walters, J Keith | 148 | 1–0 | Tallis, Mark | 150 |
| 9 | Tassi, John P | 146 | ½–½ | Maher, Mike | 149 |
| 10 | Morgan, D Philip | 145 | 1–0 | Fahy, John | 147 |
| 11 | Collins, John G | 144 | 1–0 | Rawson, Louis | 147 |
| 12 | Cranmer, Stanley E E | 144 | ½–½ | Asbury, John | 143 |
| 13 | Ince, Darren | 144 | 1–0 | Dickson, Fred (default) | 141 |
| 14 | Brameld, Keith D | 143 | 1–0 | Cottom, Andy | 141 |
| 15 | Murfet, George J | 140 | 1–0 | Burnet, Alan | 140 |
| 16 | Ali, Hamzah | 140 | ½–½ | Wilson, Alexander | 137 |
| 11–5 |
Leicestershire U160 – Nottinghamshire U160
J Keith Walters
Notts got off to a good start and were leading 5½–2½ at the halfway stage. Then Leics began to pull back on the higher boards and Notts were leading 7½–6½ with 2 boards to go. John Tassi held on to gain a draw but on Board 2 we had been the exchange down for some time and the Leics player made it tell in the end. So a tight match ended in an 8–8 draw.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farrall, Dave | 159 | 1–0 | Taylor, Robert P | 157 |
| 2 | Ganger, Rajan | 159 | 1–0 | Foster, Stephen J | 156 |
| 3 | Adcock, Greg | 156 | 1–0 | Williamson, Eric | 156 |
| 4 | Deacon, Paul | 154 | ½–½ | Taylor, Oliver | 154 |
| 5 | Potter, Karl | 154 | 1-0 | Lin, Daniel | 151 |
| 6 | Turvey, Steve | 150 | 0–1 | Sudar, Dragoljub | 151 |
| 7 | Cowley, Mike | 148 | 0–1 | Edwards, H Richard | 151 |
| 8 | Glover, John | 144 | 1–0 | Roper, Keith W | 148 |
| 9 | Collins, Bob | 143 | 0–1 | Walters, J Keith | 148 |
| 10 | Watkinson, Phil | 143 | ½–½ | Tassi, John P | 146 |
| 11 | Dove, Tom | 141 | 0–1 | Morgan, D Philip | 145 |
| 12 | Harrison, Peter | 140 | 0–1 | Collins, John G | 144 |
| 13 | Hickman, Peter | 137 | 1–0 | Cranmer, Stanley E E | 144 |
| 14 | Robinson, Tony | 137 | 0–1 | Brameld, Keith D | 143 |
| 15 | Thomas, Barney | 137 | 1–0 | Murfet, George J | 140 |
| 16 | Farquharson, Ian | 135 | 0–1 | Ali, Hamzah | 140 |
| 8–8 |
Under 140
Nottinghamshire U140 – Hampshire U140
There were three changes from the semi-final team – Ross Mackay, Alan Kenyon and Graham Neil were unavailable and so Barry Redburn, Ashton Alfred and Allan Brown were welcomed back to the team.
Unfortunately the result an 8-8 draw where we were for a second time substantially worse-off on Board Count meant we conceded the title to the West of England representatives – we outgraded them and so well done to them. The match might well be accounted “quick on the draw” or “back to the drawing board” as eight of the first eleven boards declared were halved. We might look back now and wonder whether we might have accrued some further half points from these games.
Hampshire struck the first two blows with Mike Nailard conceding to a strong king side offensive and then Michael Zhang making a match losing error that lost a rook. We made some progress when Greg Paxton scored our first win despite making an illegal move which fortunately only occurred a time penalty. So with 11 played the score was 6-5 to Hants. James Thomson by this time was the exchange and pawn down and soon had to concede so we were back to being two down (7-5) with only four boards left. The key game to hold was Barry Redburn's but he had an extremely difficult king and pawn ending. I can't say whether the position was tenable but his opponent found a line that won and the score moved to 8-5 and Hampshire had won on board count even when Notts won the last three games to finish.
Peter Gorecka-Marshall was clearly better after winning a pawn in the middlegame and ended up N+2 v B. Peter carefully avoided several stalemate traps that had been set and eventually the game was won. Meanwhile Graham Gibson who had been defending and penned in for ages broke out at the time control and won a piece. Finally Alan Robinson who had been pressing his opponent did exactly the opposite and lost a piece. However with his usual ingenuity he won the piece back and his opponent lost on time in a hopeless position.
The season's success had been fashioned round our young players who had before this match always scored above 50% plus the fine form of Alan Robinson & Norman Davies with the remaining team members weighing in to make up the total. Unfortunately in the Final for the first time we didn't get a win out of our juniors and Alan and Norman only finished with 1½/2!
Having said this – we won the Midlands zone being Champions and went through the National stages unbeaten. It was truly an excellent season and I thank everyone for their support. Some players will be off to the Under 160 team but I hope that next season the majority of this year's squad plus some newcomers will be able to mount a challenge for honours again! Thanks all!
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomson, James | 139 | 0-1 | Watts, John | 139 |
| 2 | Willoughby, Robert | 138 | ½–½ | Chapman, Matthew | 138 |
| 3 | Davies, Norman | 134 | ½–½ | Kocan, Barry | 137 |
| 4 | Redburn, Barry | 136 | 0-1 | Azman, Norhidayah | 135 |
| 5 | Gorecka-Marshall, Peter | 137 | 1-0 | LeFevre, Stephen | 134 |
| 6 | Graham, Neil | 135 | ½–½ | Cleave, Bob | 134 |
| 7 | Zhang, Michael | 134 | 0-1 | Payne, Louis | 133 |
| 8 | Paxton, Greg | 135 | 1-0 | Culliford, David | 133 |
| 9 | Garnett, Robert | 135 | ½–½ | Smith, Ewart | 132 |
| 10 | Nailard, Mike | 133 | 0-1 | Slater, Tom | 130 |
| 11 | Garside, Andrew | 133 | ½–½ | Gething, Philip | 128 |
| 12 | Robinson, Alan | 131 | 1-0 | Young, Jonathan | 126 |
| 13 | Alfred, Ashton | 130 | ½–½ | Diaper, Barry | 124 |
| 14 | Gibson, Graham | 132 | 1-0 | Smith, Rick | 123 |
| 15 | Brown, Allan | 131 | ½–½ | Barnett, James | 122 |
| 16 | Maini, Arun | 127 | ½–½ | Beaney, Alex | 115 |
| 8–8 |
Nottinghamshire U140 – Yorkshire U140
National Semi Finals: Nottinghamshire progressed 9-6 against Yorkshire to reach the national finals!!
(On the day the score was 8 - 8 with Yorkshire having the favourable board count. However Yorkshire had fielded a player, on board 3, who they hadn't registered, and as such were correctly penalised)
Report by: Neil Graham
Notts drew their Under 140 match against Yorkshire at Selston losing heavily on board count but as a result of a successful appeal have been awarded the match by 9 boards to 6.
Yorkshire had already conceded a board prior to the match and so we started with an early advantage. Quite how a county with three cities larger than Nottingham (Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford) plus Hull, Doncaster, York, Huddersfield, Halifax etc couldn't find a 16th player is beyond me but at least it gave us an early lead. I had arranged a full Nottinghamshire side so rather than have to drop someone, I took the default point myself.
Norman Davies had scored 5/5 before this match but his board three opponent quickly established a match winning advantage and Yorkshire soon equalised the match score; I'll return to this game later. The lower boards looked good for Notts but after two hours play, apart from the above result, only one draw on Board 8 had been added to the score.
Our junior players arrived rather late and this seemed to unsettle them and draws were agreed in all their games apart from Arun Maini's where we soon held a piece and pawns advantage. Arun took rather longer than I anticipated to score the win but this board was never in doubt. The results than started to roll in. Our overall mastery of the lower boards continued, Alan Robinson had torn into Heather Coupe's king side early on and had rook and several pawns for bishop and knight, he then contrived to get his queen stuck on a8. It was marooned there for some time with a opposing knight still on b8; bishop on c7, pawn on a7 and Black queen on b6. As usual immediately after the time control, the Notts player broke out of these shackles and scored his customary win. Further wins were added by Alan Kenyon and Greg Paxton. Alan's knight stood like a sentinel on d3 controlling the whole of his opponent's side of the board. White couldn't move the knight and his position soon collapsed. Greg Paxton won a pawn in a minor piece ending, forcing an advanced passed pawn and his opponent's resignation followed. There were a couple of draws on Boards 1 & 12 and the only local setback came on Board Six where Bob Garnett found himself restricted to his second rank whilst his opponent's major pieces marauded up and down the back rank. A weakness was soon found with a Yorkshire win the result. So after thirteen games declared the score was 8-5 to Notts.
After that it was downhill, Graham Neal's youthful opponent simplified excellently and played a king and pawn ending impeccably; 8-6. Robert Willoughby was a pawn down in an extremely complex minor piece ending of 2Bs v B+N; there may have been a correct plan to save the game but it was impossible to find over the board, 8-7. On Board Four, Peter Gorecka-Marshall had a rook and pawn ending. The key element here was the clock, Peter had just four minutes to his opponents 34 minutes. Under normal circumstances I'm sure Peter could have held the position but in this case the mistakes were there waiting to made and Yorkshire needed a win. The position was just too complex to play in the time available and duly the match was tied at 8-8.
Can I now return to Board Three. I can only give the position from the Notts view; I am not party to what I believe are some pretty acrimonious e-mails to which, thankfully, I haven't been copied. The away side had not cleared Quinton Lip as required under the Rules before the match; whilst this may be regarded as a technicality which in itself could have lost the match, a more serious problem emerged in that research I conducted post-match showed his grading over 21 games between Jan-April 2010 to be 163. This information was available on the Yorkshire Chess Association website. His play in the match clearly indicated that he was too strong for an Under 140 event. I raised an appeal on the basis he was not eligible to play based on his grading and this was upheld by the Event Controller. Yorkshire made a counter-appeal against this decision – they also raised an appeal themselves on Greg Paxton's eligibility (I believe) I had correctly cleared Greg prior to the match with Surrey and held an e-mail to the effect he was eligible to play so I have no idea on what basis this appeal could have been made. In due course I received an e-mail from the ECF and a copy of the rulings made by the ECF Chief Arbiter to whom the appeals had been sent. In respect of Quinton Lip he said ”The Controller's Decision is UPHELD” and commented “Quinton Lip is not eligible for the U-140 team, in fact he is not even eligible for the U-160 team”. In respect of Greg Paxton's eligibility he said “The formal complaint from Yorkshire is UNFOUNDED” - and commented “he had a grade estimated on the evidence available; the National Grader confirms he is still eligible”. What other points were raised I don't know.
It is unfortunate that the match ended this way; on the other hand the responsibility for ensuring eligibility remains fairly and squarely with the captain. I will be proposing a change in the competition rules to ensure that this shouldn't happen again. In the interim onward and upward to the national finals, July 10th at Leicester.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomson, James | 139 | ½–½ | Bailey, Paul | 124 |
| 2 | Willoughby, Robert | 138 | 0-1 | Hall, Richard | 130 |
| 3 | Davies, Norman | 134 | 0-1 | Lip, Quinton | u/g |
| 4 | Gorecka Marshall, P | 137 | 0-1 | Marshall, Kevin | 123 |
| 5 | Zhang, Michael | 134 | ½–½ | Sim, Chean Yean | 129 |
| 6 | Garnett, Robert | 135 | 0-1 | Zziwa, Habibu | 125e |
| 7 | Neil, Graham | 135e | 0-1 | Hackner, Oskar | 128e |
| 8 | Nailard, Mike | 133 | ½–½ | Li, Harry | 127 |
| 9 | Garside, Andrew | 133 | ½–½ | White, Richard | 121 |
| 10 | Kenyon, Alan | 132 | 1-0 | Cowan, Andrew | 124 |
| 11 | Robinson, Alan | 131 | 1-0 | Coupe, Heather | 124 |
| 12 | Gibson, Graham | 132 | ½–½ | Fozard, Francesca | 125 |
| 13 | Paxton, Greg | 129e | 1-0 | Hipshon, John | 126 |
| 14 | Mackay, Ross | 127 | ½–½ | Duckworth, Jack | 122 |
| 15 | Maini, Arun | 127 | 1-0 | Hughes, Raryl | 106 |
| 16 | Graham, Neil | 135 | 1-0 | default | |
| 8–8 |
Nottinghamshire U140 – Surrey U140
National Quarter Finals: Nottinghamshire won a close match against Surrey, beating them 8½-7½.
Report by: Neil Graham
I had some difficulty raising the last player for the national quarter-finals, all my reserves were on Under 120 duty, and am indebted to Derek Cronshaw for finding an extra player. Surrey, winners of the SCCU zone with 9/10, looked tough opposition but Notts got off to a flyer after Bob Willoughby won in just eight moves. Although Notts maintained this early lead, I can't really give more details as I was busy losing my own game but at the first time control Surrey had pulled back to 5-5 with six playing. Alan Robinson had control of some open files and Andrew Garside's opponent had what looked to be a lost ending with only a couple of minutes left on his clock against a hour for Andrew; soon both local players had scored the full point to give Notts a 7-5 lead. On the bottom boards though the positions were poor; both Graham Gibson and Derek Cronshaw with lost king and pawn endings. Their opponents made no mistakes and levelled the scores at 7-7. This left the two remaining games involving Alan Kenyon and Norman Davies to settle the match with Surrey knowing that a draw would leave them losers on Board Count. Alan had been the exchange up for some time but his king was exposed to attack from the Surrey captain's heavy pieces. In the end the southern player opted for a perpetual check so score 7½-7½. It then all went down to Norman's game where we held a time advantage in what can only be described as a complex position. Norman won a piece but his opponent with only a couple of minutes on the clock had a central pawn streamroller heading for the queening squares. With both players in acute time trouble, the Surrey player picked up his king and then put it down and executed a rook move. Norman rightly claimed an illegality, gained an extra two minutes and shortly afterwards the Surrey clock fell – and Notts had won by the narrowest possible margin.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sathiraju, Vijay | 137 | ½–½ | Thomson, James | 139 |
| 2 | Andrew, Ben | 132 | 0-1 | Willoughby, Robert | 138 |
| 3 | Harford, Alun | 137 | 1–0 | Gorecka-Marshall, Peter | 137 |
| 4 | Miller, Allen | 137 | 0-1 | Davies, Norman | 134 |
| 5 | Smith, Gary | 136 | 1-0 | Graham, Neil | 135 |
| 6 | Rhodes, Peter | 135e | 0–1 | Garnett, Robert | 135 |
| 7 | Driver, Nick | 134 | ½–½ | Neil, Graham | 135e |
| 8 | Horlock, Peter | 137 | 0-1 | Nailard, Mike | 133 |
| 9 | Pozzo, Domini | 136 | 0-1 | Garside, Andrew | 133 |
| 10 | Howes, David | 131 | ½–½ | Kenyon, Alan | 132 |
| 11 | Shepherd, Katherine | 131 | 0-1 | Robinson, Alan | 131 |
| 12 | Chamberlain, Ken | 127 | 1-0 | Gibson, Graham | 132 |
| 13 | Walker, Julian | 127 | 0-1 | Paxton, Greg | 129e |
| 14 | Gunn, Mike | 127 | 1-0 | Mackay, Ross | 127 |
| 15 | Yaimakis, Albert | 125 | 1-0 | Parker, Robert | 124 |
| 16 | Davis, Richard | 125 | 1-0 | Cronshaw, Derek | 123 |
| 7½–8½ |
Nottinghamshire U140 – Worcestershire U140
Neil Graham
As suggested, Worcestershire proved tougher opponents than Staffs and the match began inauspiciously as at pick-up we were a player short (long story) - however Graham Garside was collected to make up the numbers. The match was played at a neutral venue and unfortunately Graham lost, apparently to an opening trap, very soon after the match started so we effectively started with a point deficit. I had a particularly tough game so can't really give any highlights; suffice it to say that it was all very close; Michael Zhang and Arun Maini were the early Notts winners. With about fifteen minutes to go to the time control, I managed a quick look at the score and it was 5-5. Four of the top five boards were still playing with Norman Davies whose game was next to mine the only finisher with a queen for rook/bishop and this advantage together with outside passed pawns gave him a good win. The remaining two games in progress lower down were Alan Robinson and Derek Cronshaw. At the time control three games had been declared and the score was tied at 6½-6½. The remaining games left were James Thomson, Alan Robinson and myself. I have no idea how Alan and James finished their games but suddenly there were smiles all round and I was told we had won the match 8½-6½. I was two pawns up in my own game but the win, clearly there, was by no means easy to execute and rather than spend the remaining 35 minutes of the match in what looked to be a long grind, I offered my opponent a draw and the match was over 9-7 to Notts and we were the first Under 140 Midlands Champions.
Can I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has represented Notts over this campaign. Can I thank those players who have provided transport particularly Mike Nailard with a special mention to Penny Mackay who has transported our junior team members to most of the away matches.
The team has a backbone of seasoned county players who have played well however we have relied on our younger players Michael Zhang, Ross Mackay, Andrew Garside, Arun Maini and Ashton Alfred to make winning contributions in these last two vital matches.
In the quarter finals we have the toughest possible draw when we face Surrey, the SCCU champions on May 22nd. I would be pleased if everyone can mark up their calendars now!
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomson, James | 139 | 1–0 | Scriven, David | 139 |
| 2 | Willoughby, Robert | 138 | 0–1 | Davis, Ashley | 138 |
| 3 | Gorecka-Marshall, Peter | 137 | 1–0 | Curry, Don | 137 |
| 4 | Davies, Norman | 134 | 1–0 | Truscott, Ian | 136 |
| 5 | Graham, Neil | 135 | ½–½ | Shaw, Tony | 134 |
| 6 | Zhang, Michael | 134 | 1–0 | Bott, Doug | 131 |
| 7 | Neil, Graham | 135e | ½–½ | Watson, Bill | 129 |
| 8 | Nailard, Mike | 133 | ½–½ | Yates, Tim | 129 |
| 9 | Garside, Andrew | 133 | ½–½ | Gittus, John | 126 |
| 10 | Robinson, Alan | 131 | 1–0 | Krowicki, Krzysztof | 126 |
| 11 | Brown, Alan | 131 | 0–1 | Bricknell, Rob | 125 |
| 12 | Mackay, Ross | 127 | ½–½ | Stanton, Giles | 125 |
| 13 | Maini, Arun | 127 | 1–0 | Clack, Michele | 124 |
| 14 | Parker, Robert | 124 | 0–1 | O'Gorman, T Francis | 124 |
| 15 | Cronshaw, Derek | 123 | ½–½ | Clack, Ian | 122 |
| 16 | Garside, Graham (reserve) | 73 | 0–1 | Banks, Peter | 121 |
| 9–7 |
Staffordshire U140 – Nottinghamshire U140
| P | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcs | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Notts | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Staffs | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Warks | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Derbys | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Shrops | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Neil Graham
The first of two 'must win' matches was accomplashed, the second match is against Worcesteshire. Further report to follow.
Despite a dispute with a sat-nav eventually all 16 Nottinghamshire players sat down to play against Staffordshire at Bushbury. Notts started with an early win from Ross Mackay who won a piece and I am indebted to Ross for keeping a record of the scores as they came in.
A draw from Robert Parker followed by wins from Andrew Garside and Alan Kenyon gave Notts an early 3½-½ lead. Andrew's win was rather luckier than Alan who played out an excellent victory. Chris Lewis's game was always equal but after this draw Graham Neil had to concede after his king was caught out in the centre. Score 4-2 to Notts. Ashton Alfred increased the Notts lead and a couple of hard-fought draws from Barry Redburn and Derek Cronshaw maintained a healthy gap - score 6-3 to Notts. The two top boards then evened themselves out with a loss for James Thomson countered by Bob Willoughby's win (7-4). It looked as if Mike Nailard would ensure that Notts couldn't lose but his opponent managed to find an outrageous swindle just as Mike was about to force mate and it was left to the captain (me) to bring up the 8 points (8-5). Although Alan Brown had to concede at the time control as he had a lost ending, the result was never in doubt as Michael Zhang had been winning a rook and pawn ending for ages. Although his opponent wriggled about a lot eventually he had to concede. The final game to finish involved Alan Robinson and initially it looked as if it could go to the full distance. However Alan was able to engineer a piece exchange that left him with an unstoppable passed pawn so the final result was 10-6 to Notts.
We were always at least two points ahead of Staffordshire and at no time did it look as if we'd lose. Our final match against Worcestershire I anticipate will be a sterner test.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyza, Matthew | 137 | 1–0 | Thomson, James | 139 |
| 2 | Edwards, Roger | 136 | 0–1 | Willoughby, Robert | 138 |
| 3 | Button, John | 135 | ½–½ | Lewis, Chris | 136 |
| 4 | Green, Conrad | 125 | ½–½ | Redburn, Barry | 136 |
| 5 | Healey, Tom | 131 | 0–1 | Graham, Neil | 135 |
| 6 | Onions, Sam | 130 | 1–0 | Neil, Graham | 135e |
| 7 | Page, Michael | 129 | 0–1 | Zhang, Michael | 134 |
| 8 | Dolan, Ray | 127 | 1–0 | Nailard, Mike | 133 |
| 9 | Birchall, Brian | 125 | 0–1 | Garside, Andrew | 133 |
| 10 | Dobson, Alan | 125 | 0–1 | Kenyon, Alan | 132 |
| 11 | Montague, John | 124 | 0–1 | Robinson, Alan | 131 |
| 12 | Ferry, Clive | 124 | 1–0 | Brown, Alan | 131 |
| 13 | Nesbitt, Denis | 120 | 0–1 | Alfred, Ashton | 130 |
| 14 | Warklate, Karl | 111 | 0–1 | Mackay, Ross | 127 |
| 15 | Green, Eliott | 109 | ½–½ | Parker, Robert | 124 |
| 16 | Shaw, Peter | 107 | ½–½ | Cronshaw, Derek | 123 |
| 6–10 |
Nottinghamshire U140 – Shropshire U140
Neil Graham
The weakest county in the zone conceded three boards prior to the match and only on the top four boards looked anything like competitive. Consequently apart from one draw, Notts mopped up boards 5-13 where the Salopians dropped pieces and games with monotonous regularity. Special mention for Mark Kenyon whose win came in a king and pawn ending. Board Four played too quickly and lost to a simple tactical point but Shropshire held a pawn advantage on Board Three for ages but after turning down several draw offers, the Shropshire junior marched his king up the board and managed to get into a self-mate. Board one was halved and it was left to the last game to finish for the away side to score their only win of the match
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomson, James | 139 | ½–½ | Shepherd, Graham | 139 |
| 2 | Willoughby, Robert | 138 | 0–1 | Peck, Windsor | 134 |
| 3 | Davies, Norman | 134 | 1–0 | Mehmood, Athar | 133 |
| 4 | Graham, Neil | 135 | 1–0 | Paul, Nathanael | 131 |
| 5 | Nailard, Mike | 133 | 1–0 | Rooney, Francis | 110 |
| 6 | Garside, Andrew | 133 | 1–0 | Pugh, Maisy | 100E |
| 7 | Kenyon, Alan | 132 | 1–0 | Davenport, Huw | 99 |
| 8 | Robinson, Alan | 131 | 1–0 | Best, Matthew | 95 |
| 9 | Maini, Arun | 127 | ½–½ | Szwajkun, Richard | 94 |
| 10 | Cronshaw, Derek | 123 | 1–0 | Newey, Jonathan | 91 |
| 11 | Kenyon, Mark | 112 | 1–0 | Szwajkun, Steve | 81 |
| 12 | Sayer, Ray | 121 | 1–0 | Heath, Richard | 50E |
| 13 | Kenyon, James | 99 | 1–0 | Dixon, Alex | 50E |
| 14 | 1–0 | Default | |||
| 15 | 1–0 | Default | |||
| 16 | 1–0 | Default | |||
| 14–2 |
Warwickshire U140 – Nottinghamshire U140
Neil Graham
I have never had such a problem raising a county side as the pre-Christmas match against Warwickshire. All our juniors were on England-trial duties across the country and add to that the unavailability of most of the chess playing populace for any number of reasons. Eventually I managed to get seven squad members together plus a random assortment of other players who I would like to thank for stepping in and playing (plus providing transport in some cases). As it was we held Warwicks on the top but they trounced us on the lower boards. I travelled with fifteen players and the home side were able to provide a substitute for their absent board to take the early lead. Norman Davies quickly levelled things but after that it was all downhill. On the lower boards Charlotte Atwood held a winning position but went astray. Len Morrell and Ben Hobson did make excellent contributions but Warwicks ground out the wins to score a convincing victory.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brelsforth, Dave | 138 | ½–½ | Thomson, James | 139 |
| 2 | Wilson, Sandy | 137 | ½–½ | Willoughby, Robert | 138 |
| 3 | Biddle, Mick | 136 | ½–½ | Lewis, Chris | 136 |
| 4 | Harrington, Mike | 137 | 0–1 | Davies, Norman | 134 |
| 5 | Brodie, Ian | 134 | ½–½ | Graham, Neil | 135 |
| 6 | Jimenez, Frank | 132 | ½–½ | Nailard, Mike | 133 |
| 7 | Pitt, Chris | 131 | 1–0 | Cronshaw, Derek | 123 |
| 8 | Choudury, Shakeel | 135 | 1–0 | Clegg, Tracey | 119 |
| 9 | Hussain, Adrian | 128 | 1–0 | Dawson, Rick | 116 |
| 10 | Al-Samir, Medhi | 133 | ½–½ | Hobson, Ben | 115 |
| 11 | Gilbert, Kim | 129 | 0–1 | Morrell, Len | 115 |
| 12 | Walker, Mike | 131 | 1–0 | Kacprzak, Lukaks | 111 |
| 13 | Llewelyn, John | 128 | 1–0 | Flint, Andrew | UG |
| 14 | Green, John | 125 | 1–0 | Heath, Ken | 98 |
| 15 | Hodkinson, Peter | 120 | 1–0 | Attwood, Charlotte | 89 |
| 16 | Woodward, Pauline | UG | 1–0 | Default | |
| 11–5 |
Derbyshire U140 – Nottinghamshire U140
Neil Graham
Nottinghamshire began the 2009/10 with a relatively easy win over Derbyshire. My own dreadful form continued and I was just on my way to record the first result on the scoresheet when I saw Alan Brown's knight bounce into the middle of his opponent's position forking most of his major pieces so he quickly evened the score. Our junior players were in fine form most notably Andrew Garside who saw his way through a most complicated position against David Dunne. Quite what David was doing playing for Derbyshire is a mystery. As the points and draws rolled in Notts had soon established a winning advantage. The later games to finish saw Bert Loomes try to save an impossible king and pawn ending where a loss was inevitable; Vaughan Smith making a complete hash of his game against Mike Nailard and finally Ron Harrison restoring some pride for the home side after a tough battle against Graham Gibson.
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pickering, David | 139 | ½–½ | Thomson, James | 139 |
| 2 | Alldread, Luke | 138 | 0–1 | Willoughby, Robert | 138 |
| 3 | Castro, Jaime | 136 | 1–0 | Garnett, Robert | 136 |
| 4 | Atkins, Nathan | 135 | 1–0 | Graham, Neil | 136 |
| 5 | Webster, Alex | 134 | 0–1 | Zhang, Michael | 134 |
| 6 | Hoggarth, William | 133 | 0–1 | Davies, Norman | 134 |
| 7 | Smith, Vaughn | 132 | 0–1 | Nailard, Mike | 133 |
| 8 | Dunne, David | 128 | 0–1 | Garside, Andrew | 133 |
| 9 | Harrison, Ron | 128 | 1–0 | Gibson, Graham | 132 |
| 10 | Hickling, Richard | 127 | 0–1 | Brown, Alan | 131 |
| 11 | Bramley, Doug | 124 | 0–1 | Robinson, Alan | 130 |
| 12 | Loomes, Bert | 123 | 0–1 | Alfred, Ashton | 130 |
| 13 | Cockburn, Andre | 121 | 0–1 | Mackay, Ross | 127 |
| 14 | Pace, Graham | 118 | ½–½ | Lavelle, Terry | 124 |
| 15 | Cofts, Brian | 114e | ½–½ | Sayer, Ray | 121 |
| 16 | Marshall, Nigel | 112 | 0–1 | Dawson, Ric | 116 |
| 4½–11½ |
Under 120
National Quarter Finals: Sadly Nottinghamshire lost out to Yorkshire 7-5
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pells, R. | 117 | 1-0 | Clegg, T. | 119 |
| 2 | Cowan, A. | 118 | ½–½ | Hargreaves, M. | 117 |
| 3 | Heminghway, I | 104e | 1-0 | Callingham, H. | 117 |
| 4 | Wills, T | 118e | ½–½ | Dawson, R. | 116 |
| 5 | Redmond, N | 101 | 1-0 | Morrell, L. | 115 |
| 6 | Johnson, I | 117 | ½–½ | Jones, G. | 113 |
| 7 | Mahony, J | 98 | 0-1 | Edwards, J. | 107 |
| 8 | Coupe, D. | 105 | 1-0 | Todd, P. | 104 |
| 9 | Morton, J. | 106 | 0-1 | Kenyon, J. | 99 |
| 10 | Eagers, J. | 106 | ½–½ | Blampied, D. | 95 |
| 11 | Roberts, J | 100 | 0-1 | Flint, A. | u/g |
| 12 | Hughes, R. | 106 | 1-0 | Jones, H. | 75 |
| 7–5 |
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clegg, T. | 119 | 0–1 | Evans, P. | 119 |
| 2 | Hargreaves, M. | 117 | ½–½ | Jackson, P. | 118 |
| 3 | Callingham, H. | 117 | 1–0 | Molineux, D. | 117 |
| 4 | Dawson, R. | 116 | ½–½ | Greenwood, M. | 117 |
| 5 | Frings, M. | 116 | 1–0 | Brodie, R. | 115 |
| 6 | Hobson, B. | 115 | 0–1 | May, K. | 114 |
| 7 | Morrell, L. | 115 | 1–0 | Colabella, A. | 114 |
| 8 | Dhir, Sandeep | 113 | ½–½ | Buckley, D. | 114 |
| 9 | Croasdale, H. | 108 | 1–0 | Guest, P. | 107 |
| 10 | Kenyon, J. | 99 | 1–0 | Bateson, C | 104 |
| 11 | Heath, K. | 99 | 0–1 | Greengrass, P. | 95 |
| 12 | Blampied, D. | 95 | ½–½ | Jonks, S. | 94 |
| 7–5 |
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gryzbowski, K. | 112 | 0–1 | Clegg, T. | 119 |
| 2 | Walkate, K. | 111 | 1-0 | Hargreaves, M. | 117 |
| 3 | Shaw, P. | 107 | 0-1 | Dawson, R. | 116 |
| 4 | Emmerton, S. | 106 | ½–½ | Hobson, B. | 115 |
| 5 | Cooper, S. | 105 | ½–½ | Morrell, L. | 115 |
| 6 | Mansell, R. | 103 | 1-0 | Dhir, Sandeep | 113 |
| 7 | Hull, S. | 99 | 0-1 | Kenyon, M. | 112 |
| 8 | Mustafa, C. | 98 | 0-1 | Kacprzak, L. | 111 |
| 9 | Johnson, D. | 96 | ½–½ | Todd, P. | 104 |
| 10 | Jones, D. | 94 | 1-0 | Kenyon, J. | 99 |
| 11 | Torbica, D. | ug | 1-0 | Heath, K. | 99 |
| 12 | Crutchley, N. | ug | 0-1 | Blampied, D. | 95 |
| 5½–6½ |
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friar, James | 116 | ½–½ | Clegg, T. | 119 |
| 2 | Clark, M. | 119 | ½–½ | Dawson, R. | 116 |
| 3 | Pountney, T. | 115 | ½–½ | Hobson, B. | 115 |
| 4 | Day, K. | 106 | ½–½ | Morrell, L. | 115 |
| 5 | Collett, R. | 112 | 1-0 | Dhir, Sandeep | 113 |
| 6 | Turner, R. | 115 | 1-0 | Kacprzak, L. | 111 |
| 7 | Wood, P. | 106 | 1-0 | Todd, P. | 104 |
| 8 | Friar, Joseph | 100 | 1-0 | Flint, A. | ug |
| 9 | Taylor, T. | 102 | 0-1 | Heath, K. | 99 |
| 10 | Seeley, P. | ug | ½–½ | Swift, S. | 100 |
| 11 | Evans, J. | 86 | ½–½ | Blampied, D. | 95 |
| 12 | Holmberg, J. | 86 | 0-1 | Attwood, C. | 89 |
| 7–5 |
| Board | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Callingham, H. | 117 | ½–½ | Adams, M. | 119 |
| 2 | Dawson, R. | 116 | ½–½ | Stone, R. | 118 |
| 3 | Hobson, B. | 115 | 0-1 | Eastlake, C. | 118 |
| 4 | Hargreaves, M. | 117 | 1-0 | Bailey, B. | 116 |
| 5 | Morrell, L. | 115 | 1-0 | Hollingworth, S. | 112 |
| 6 | Kenyon, M. | 112 | 1-0 | Davis, R. | 108 |
| 7 | Dhir, Sandeep | 113 | 0-1 | King, R. | 106 |
| 8 | O'Brien R. | 100 | 1-0 | Creasey, J. | 100 |
| 9 | Flint, A. | ug | 0-1 | Clay, T. | 99 |
| 10 | Todd, P. | 104 | 0-1 | Mitton, J. | 90 |
| 11 | Kenyon, J. | 99 | 1-0 | Williams, T. | 93 |
| 12 | Blampied, D. | 95 | 1-0 | Roberts, N. | 85 |
| 7–5 |
Nottingham conceded their first match (against Warwickshire)