Inter-County Championship 2011–12

Results and reports from the county’s matches will appear here throughout the season.

Previous years

Open


Under 180

Yorkshire U180 – Nottinghamshire U180

Report by David Levens

I regret to say that I have just been deprived of further hard work! After a very hard fought contest Notts lost 7-9 to Yorkshire in a match played at Woodseats WMC, Sheffield.

We are now obliged to use grades that applied last July and by this means we were outgraded by an average of 5 points per board, but had we used the most recent grading list (the in form list), that was published in January, we would have been outgraded by a healthy 9.5 points per board!!

Officially Pete Mercs was only playing a 171 grade but the new list shows Oscar Hackner, a young fast improving player, as 190! Yorks board 2 was 171/180; board 3, 171/181; 4, 178/181; 5, 176/176; 6, 176/165; 7, 166/177; 8, 170/177; 9, 170/171; 10, 164/175; 11, 173/169; 12, 172/166; 13, 168/176; 14, 168/164; 15, 155/170; 16, 163/162.

Both teams suffered from the clash with U160 matches, but the last minute default of Middx U160s v Notts. U160 also deprived me of the services of one or two of our top U160 players. We were further inconvenienced as the match also clashed with the Nottingham Mega-final of the UK Chess Challenge that took place the same day; John Swain was assisting at this event and Mark Kenyon was competing – making two more very useful players unavailable to me!

My heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the trouble to travel to Sheffield and especially the bottom three boards who played at very short notice and did not lose a game between them. My thanks also to Neil Graham, without whose valuable assistance I would not have been able to field a full team.

Yorkshire U180 - Nottinghamshire U180
19 May 2012
Woodseats WMC, The Dale, Sheffield
Board Grade Grade
1 Hackner, Oscar 171 1-0 Mercs, Peter 175
2 Gower, Patrick 171 0-1 Harvey, Kevin 174
3 Bowler, James 171 0-1 Walker, Andy 177
4 Hamm, Jeremy 178 0-1 Naan, Vince 174
5 Sullivan, Daniel 176 1-0 Hearne, Robert 172
6 Gardiner, Eric 176 ½–½ Burke, Steven 172
7 Bak, Andrew 166 1-0 Kingston, Ian 163
8 Trafford, John 170 ½–½ Williamson, Eric 168
9 Capenter, John 170 1-0 Flynn, David 168
10 Ai, Farshad 164 ½–½ Levens, David 168
11 Hards, Andrew 173 1-0 Poole, Tim 166
12 Bramson, John 172 1-0 Sudar, Drag 162
13 Morgan, John 168 ½–½ Thompson, Brian 159
14 Batonyi, Gabor 168 0-1 Myers, Richard 158
15 Edwards-Wright, Miles 155 ½–½ Hutchwaite, John 141
16 Hurwitz, Edward 163 ½–½ Gardner James 135
9-7

Warwickshire U180 – Nottinghamshire U180

Report by David Levens

My thanks to Ian Kingston who acted as captain on the day as I was unavailable. Once more we faced Warwicks. Last season we were comfortable winners at this stage, but this time the gods favoured the home side and we went down 10.5 - 5.5. Never mind we can get our revenge in the final!!?

Warwickshire U180 - Nottinghamshire U180
21 January 2012
Tysley and District WMC, Greet, Birmingham
Board Grade Grade
1 Smyth, Martin 176 1-0 Harrison, John 177
2 Agnew, Alan 176 1-0 Mercs, Peter 175
3 Roberts, Nick 175 ½–½ Hearne, Robert 172
4 Escott, Keith 175 1-0 Flynn, Dave 170
5 Sadler, Anthony 172 ½–½ Poole, Tim 166
6 Cundy, Mark 168 1-0 Kingston, Ian 163
7 Goodwin, Ed 167 1-0 Williamson, Eric 168
8 Green, Anthony 165 ½–½ Messam-Sparks, Lateefah 164
9 Wallman, Rob 163 1-0 Sudar, Dragoljub 162
10 Ireland, Dave 162 1-0 Lane, Tim 159
11 Williams, Simon 162 0-1 Hayward, Brian 157
12 Lee, Darren 163 ½–½ Tassi, John 153
13 Fahy, John 162 ½–½ Roper, Keith 155
14 Reynolds, Richard C 160 ½–½ Foster, Stephen 153
15 Smith, Simon 158 0-1 Kenyon, Mark 151
16 Reynolds, Robert 157 ½–½ Kendall, Tim 143
10½-5½

Under 160

Nottinghamshire U160 – Greater Manchester U160

Report from Keith Walters

With three games to go the score stood at 7½-5½ to Greater Manchester, so the outlook was gloomy. Then Alan Kenyon’s opponent blundered. Phil Morgan fought back from two pawns down to get to an ending with N+3P against B+3P, but Phil’s N was very powerful and his opponent had a very bad B, so he had a clear win in one of those positions where the B is surprisingly helpless. So the score was level at 7½-7½ with just Board 1 to go. Brian Hayward had a strong attack and an excellent position but his young opponent defended well and eventually forced the exchange of queens. Brian was a P up by that stage but with bishops of opposite colours he agreed a draw to tie the match. That was enough to give Notts the MCCU Championship this year and allow us to qualify as Team M1 for the National QFs to be held on May 19th when we will be playing Team S3 from the SCCU. Greater Manchester as Team M2 also reach the Nationals but have to play a Preliminary match before the QFs. The final MCCU u160 League Table is:

    P W D L GP MP
1 Nottinghamshire 3 2* 1 0 35½ 5
2 Greater Manchester 3 2 1 0 30 5
3 Warwickshire 3 1 0 2* 16 2
4 Staffordshire 3 0 0 3 14½ 0
5 Leicestershire WITHDREW

• includes match conceded by Warwickshire

 

Nottinghamshire U160 - Greater Manchester U160
24 March 2012
Newcastle-under-Lyme Bridge and Chess Club
Board Grade Grade
1 Hayward, Brian M 157 ½–½ Abbas, Daniel 136
2 Kenyon, Mark 151 ½–½ Tyton, Adam 157
3 Lane, Tim A 159 ½–½ Norris, Mick 158
4 Tassi, John 153 ½–½ Trueman, Glenn 158
5 Taylor, Robert P 150 ½–½ Lonsdale, Jon 154
6 Foster, Stephen 153 ½–½ Beresford, Alan 150
7 Walters, J Keith 154 0-1 Connor, Mick 151
8 Kendall, Tim 143 0-1 Boyd, Phil UG
9 Ali, Hamzah 147 ½–½ Pollard, Matthew 146
10 London, Nick 145 ½–½ McNulty, Mark 145
11 Croasdale, Harry 145 ½–½ Kierman, Dave 143
12 Roper, Keith W 155 ½–½ Nicolson, Jim 142
13 Cranmer, Stanley 142 1-0 Phythian, Graham 136
14 Davies, Norman 143 0-1 Holt, Dave 139
15 Morgan, D Philip 145 1-0 King, Peter 137
16 Kenyon, Alan 132 1-0 Fox, Richard 126
8-8

Nottinghamshire U160 – Warwickshire U160

Warwickshire default their match against Nottinghamshire.

Nottinghamshire U160 – Staffordshire U160

Nottinghamshire U160 - Staffordshire U160
22 October 2011
Bramcote Memorial Hall, Nottingham
Board Grade Grade
1 Thompson, Brian 159 ½–½ Pready, Alex 157
2 Roper, Keith W 155 ½–½ Edwards, Roger 151
3 Walters, J Keith 154 0-1 Fraser, Nick 149
4 Foster, Stephen J 153 1-0 Dolan, Ray 147
5 Kenyon, Mark 151 1-0 Yee, John 146
6 Taylor, Robert J 150 1-0 Wilcox, Steve 146
7 Edwards, H Richard 149 1-0 Perks, Derek 144
8 Byrne, James UG 1-0 Groombridge, Mike 144
9 Ali, Hamzah 147 ½–½ Wyze, Matthew 143
10 Radford, Mark 146 1-0 Leary, Peter 142
11 London, Nick 145 0-1 Styles, Calvin 139
12 Morgan, D Philip 145 0-1 Walker, Roger 140
13 Croasdale, Harry 145 1-0 Carr, Matthew 137
14 Collins, John 140 1-0 Fraser, Alan 132
15 Ince, Darren 136 1-0 Torbica, D 101
16 Kenyon, Alan 132 1-0 Crutchley, Nick 98
11½-4½

Under 140

Nottinghamshire U140 – Staffordshire U140

Nottinghamshire U140 - Staffordshire U140
4 February 2012
Annesley Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire
Board Grade Grade
1 Graham, Neil 139 ½–½ McNulty, Ken 137
2 Taylor, Marcel 138 ½–½ Onions, Sam 136
3 Gardner, James 135 1-0 Carr, Matthew 135
4 Thomson, James 133 1-0 Healey, Tom 132
5 Ince, Darran 136 1-0 Wallace, Derrick 128
6 Willoughby, Bob 133 ½–½ Day, John 127
7 Allen, Patrick 131 0-1 Taylor, Rob 127
8 Redburn, Barry 126 1-0 Emmerton, Steve 126
9 Budd, Chris 133 1-0 Birchall, Brian 125
10 Gorecka Marshall, Peter 128 ½–½ Meakin, Tony 125
11 O'Brien, Russell 129 1-0 Jones, Neville 125
12 Neil, Graham 126 1-0 Evans, Peter 123
13 Nailard, Mike 128 1-0 Page, Mike 122
14 Edwards. John 125 1-0 Hall, Arthur 120
15 Harper, Mick 123 0-1 Shaw, Peter 116
16 Gibson, Graham 123 1-0 Montague, John 115
12-4

Nottinghamshire U140 – Shropshire U140

Report by Neil Graham

In time honoured tradition, Mick Harper opened the scoring with a win but after five boards were declared Shropshire had evened the score; thereafter Notts progressed with wins on the lower boards plus a win for Alan Kenyon to give a score, with ten boards played, 6½- 3½ in our favour. Unfortunately none of the six remaining games looked won and draws from Pat Allen, Darran Ince and Marcel Taylor eventually took us within sight of the finish line. Leading 8-5, two of the remaining games were clearly lost and thus the match hung on the result of the game between Chris Budd and Windsor Peck. Thankfully with virtually no time left, the players agreed a draw which seemed to be a fair result taking into account the complexity of the position. Fortunately for us, unfortunately for Shropshire this gave us the match by the narrowest of margins. Again only the fine form of our bottom five boards kept us in the match after more insipid play on Boards 1-11.

Nottinghamshire U140 - Shropshire U140
21 January 2012
Bromcote, Nottingham
Board Grade Grade
1 Graham, Neil 139 ½–½ Mehmood, Athar 137
2 Taylor, Marcel 138 ½–½ Shepherd, Graham 136
3 Ince, Darran 136 ½–½ White, Gary 135
4 Thomson, James 133 0-1 Tarr, Steve 134
5 Budd, Chris 133 ½–½ Peck, Windsor 130
6 Kenyon, Alan 132 1-0 Tennant, Stefan 129
7 Allen, Patrick 131 ½–½ Davies, Ian 129
8 O'Brien, Russell 129 ½–½ Viszokai, George 125
9 Nailard, Mike 128 0-1 Brown, Roger 123
10 Mehan, Saaras 129 0-1 Salter, Ivor 122
11 Neil, Graham 126 0-1 Ross, Stuart 120
12 Redburn, Barry 126 1-0 Westhead, John 120
13 Harper, Mick 123 1-0 Best, Matthew 117
14 Gibson, Graham 123 1-0 Szwajkun, Richard 116
15 Morrell, Len 121 ½–½ Paul, Christopher 115
16 Kenyon, James 119 1-0 Szwajkun, Steve 90
8½-7½

Derbyshire U140 – Nottinghamshire U140

Report by Neil Graham

Mick Harper again opened the match; this time with a draw. Derbyshire qualified for the national stages last year but this season seemed unrecognisable and although the teams weren’t too far apart on paper, over the board there was a steady flow of wins and draws into the Notts points coffer. Derbyshire won just one game out of 16 and even this was due to an oversight by the Notts player. It all seemed very plain sailing. The New Year saw Derbyshire concede to both Leicestershire and Worcestershire by default; not helpful if we are to mount a serious challenge.

Derbyshire U140 - Nottinghamshire U140
10 December 2011
Spondon
Board Grade Grade
1 Woods, Roy 137 ½–½ Graham, Neil 139
2 Bramley, Doug 135 0-1 Taylor, Marcel 138
3 Murphy, Ross 131 0-1 Ince, Darran 136
4 Harrison, Ron 131 ½–½ Gardner, James 135
5 Atiomo, William UG 1-0 Budd, Chris 133
6 Dunne, Dave 130 0-1 Thomson, James 133
7 Thacker, Steve 125 ½–½ Allen, Patrick 131
8 Meyer, Dylan 125 ½–½ Willoughby, Bob 131
9 Renshaw, Mike 126 ½–½ O'Brien, Russell 129
10 Cockburn, Andre 121 0-1 Nailard, Mike 128
11 Holden, Alan 121 0-1 Gorecka Marshall, Peter 128
12 Crofts, Brian 121 ½–½ Neil, Graham 126
13 Bryce, Wallace 121 0-1 Redburn, Barry 126
14 O'Flanagan, Paul 118 ½–½ Edwards, John 125
15 Marshall, Nigel 103 ½–½ Harper, Mick 123
16 Rees, Ivor 99 0-1 Gibson, Graham 123
5-11

Leicestershire U140 – Nottinghamshire U140

Report by Neil Graham

Nottinghamshire opened their Under 140 season with a visit to Thurmaston to play Leicestershire who are back in the competition after a few seasons absence. The match started well for Notts with a quick win for Mick Harper - however severe problems in my game kept me from a detailed analysis on how things were progressing except that both teams kept pace with each other without a real gap opening. My opponent played extremely quickly and as a result when the clocks were turned back I had ½ hour left against his one hour and forty minutes! Although I did obtain a clear advantage at the board there was simply insufficient time to find a win and I had to offer a draw with less than two minutes on the clock. At this time the match was tied at 5-5 and I was just in time to see the Leics captain Cyril Johnson rake through Alan Kenyon’s position with a pair of mighty bishops and Leicestershire to take the lead for the first time. After this our match score deteriorated despite a win from Graham Neil and a top board victory from Arun Maini who took full advantage of his opponent’s exposed king. With one game to go the home side lead by 8-7 and they secured the match after Darran Ince lost in time pressure in a complex position. Again our mid-team collapse (losses on boards 3-9) is a cause for concern.

Leicestershire U140 - Nottinghamshire U140
8 October 2011
Thurmaston
Board Grade Grade
1 Wallace, Robert 139 0-1 Maini, Arun 139
2 Pourmozafari, Ben 137 ½–½ Graham, Neil 139
3 Robinson, Anthony D 135 1-0 Ince, Darran 136
4 Farquharson, Ian 134 1-0 Gardner, James 135
5 Phillips, Howard W 134 1-0 Budd, Chris 133
6 Thomson, John 134 1-0 Thomson, James 133
7 Johnson, Cyril FW 133 1-0 Kenyon, Alan 132
8 Walker, John M 133 1-0 Willoughby, Bob 131
9 Coollins, RF (Bob) 130 1-0 Mehan, Saaras 129
10 Hickman, Peter J 130 0-1 O'Brien, Russell 129
11 Ensor, Rob 128 ½–½ Nailard, Mike 128
12 Busby, Michael J 128 0-1 Gorecka Marshall, Peter 128
13 Reynolds, David 125 0-1 Neil, Graham 126
14 Gist, Elizabeth 124 0-1 Edwards, John 125
15 Bailey, Barry 122 0-1 Harper, Mick 123
16 Manger, John D 119 1-0 Gibson, Graham 123
9-7

Under 120


Under 100

Nottinghamshire U100 – Warwickshire U100

Report by David Levens

In the U100 match our team was ably managed by Colin Smith McGloin and thanks to the inclusion of 7 juniors, who between them scored 5 points, Notts ran out comfortable winners, 7.5 - 4.5. Adam Bennett, aged 8, played on board 7 and outplayed an adult graded 90, while on board 9 we had a 9 year old, Jonah Willow, who easily beat an adult graded 85.

Nottinghamshire U100 - Warwickshire U100
14 Jan 2012
Bramcote Meorial Hall, Nottingham
Board Grade Grade
1 Fraser, Chris 97 ½–½ Wood, Stuart 99
2 Swanwick, Michael 54 ½–½ Garner, Bramwell 98
3 Teanby, Howard UG ½–½ Harman, Geoff 98
4 Teanby, Sam UG ½–½ Parekh, Rajan 94
5 Parham, Simon 87 0-1 Goddard, Geoffrey C 94
6 Heath, Ken 82 1-0 Leggett, Peter A W 91
7 Benett, Adam UG 1-0 Parekh, Manoj 90
8 Willow, Hambel UG 1-0 Yeomans, W (Bill) 88
9 Willow, Jonah UG 1-0 Buxton, Richard 85
10 Shipway, Matthew UG 1-0 Sturch, Alan 81
11 Petigrew, Noah UG ½–½ Hillman, Robert 79
12 Constantinou, Helena UG 0-1 Brown, Eddie 77

7½-4½