Inter-County Championship 2014–15
Results and reports from the county’s matches will appear here throughout the season.
Minor
Nottinghamshire – Leicestershire
Report from Neil Graham
On paper the match between Notts and Leicestershire looked like a close affair – both teams had an average grade of just over 172. The match opened with a win for Tim Poole but unfortunately it was all downhill from then on for the county 1st team. After Tim’s win a most unusual occurrence was a loss for the normally dependable Brian Thompson and a whole series of draws which meant that after seven games the match was tied at 3½-3½.
With nine more boards to declare it might have been expected that Notts would mount a challenge but, in fact, the remaining boards went 7-2 in the visitor’s favour. The sole local win came from Robert Richmond but even in this game the Leicestershire stand-in captain Andy Morley assured me he was winning but a blunder in time trouble meant that he was unable to end a six game run of games where he has been unable to score any better than a draw against the Notts player. Drag Sudar and Alex Combie were able to add further draws but that was the sum total for the afternoon.
The final game to finish was the battle between Alan Byron and Pablo Padilla Cabero which was a repeat from last season’s Midland final. In that match Pablo’s last ditch win enabled us to take the Midlands title but in a frantic time scramble that mirrored the preceding game Alan scored the full point with just a few seconds remaining on both clocks.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Mercs, Peter | 193 | 0-1 | Burrows, Martin | 206 |
| 2 | B | Padilla Cabero, Pablo | 191 | 0-1 | Byron, Alan | 194 |
| 3 | W | Combie, Alexander | 189 | ½–½ | Sharpe, Graham | 186 |
| 4 | B | Richmond, Robert | 186 | 1-0 | Morley, Andy | 189 |
| 5 | W | Truman, Richard | 182 | 0-1 | Galligan, Brian | 179 |
| 6 | B | George, Andy | 180 | 0-1 | Okhai, Shabir | 172 |
| 7 | W | Walker, Andy | 173 | ½–½ | Robinson, John | 172 |
| 8 | B | Hunter, Steve | 172 | 0-1 | Colburn, Paul | 179 |
| 9 | W | Burke, Steve | 171 | ½–½ | Sheahan, Sean | 173 |
| 10 | B | Thompson, Brian | 171 | 0-1 | Mitchell, John | 166 |
| 11 | W | Poole, Tim | 166 | 1-0 | Potter, Karl | 160 |
| 12 | B | Hayward, Brian | 160 | ½–½ | Hanscombe, Richard | 165 |
| 13 | W | Gibson, Geoff | 158 | ½–½ | Miller, James | 161 |
| 14 | B | Flynn, Dave | 157 | 0-1 | Gramaticu, Constantin | 158 |
| 15 | W | Ali, Hamzah | 155 | ½–½ | Bingham, James | 155 |
| 16 | B | Sudar, Drag | 151 | ½–½ | Ward, Glyn | 152 |
| 5½-10½ |
Nottinghamshire – Derbyshire
Report from Neil Graham
Derbyshire had trouble raising a team for this match and I offered to meet them over a reduced 14 boards. Considering we outgraded the away team on 13 of those 14 boards, this result was a bit of a scramble. Our wins came fairly early on from Pablo, Brian and Alexander whilst Andy W lost to what he describes as a desperado piece. Adi, again making his debut at this level had a good win, but Tim Poole went down. Interspersed with a large number of draws the match score with 12 of the games declared was 7-5 to Notts. David was dreadfully behind on time and it was no surprise when his flag appeared which ended the game. The final game was on Board Four where there was a claim for a third repetition of position. The claim by the Derbyshire player was not in accordance with the Laws of Chess but bearing in mind a draw would give Notts the match, I was relieved that the players agreed a half. I had not looked forward to trying to explain the Laws to the away player or worse still adjusting the clock! So all-in-all a close call for Notts.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Mercs, Peter | 193 | ½–½ | Johnson, Mike | 182 |
| 2 | B | Padilla Cabero, Pablo | 191 | 1-0 | Bracey, Steve | 175 |
| 3 | W | Combie, Alexander | 189 | 1-0 | Forey, Ray | 177 |
| 4 | B | Richmond, Robert | 186 | ½–½ | Cobham, Martin | 163 |
| 5 | W | George, Andy | 180 | ½–½ | Peters, George | 163 |
| 6 | B | Walker, Andy | 173 | 0-1 | Natt, Tony | 159 |
| 7 | W | Thompson, Brian | 171 | 1-0 | Pickering, Dave | 161 |
| 8 | B | Willow, Jonah | 166 | ½–½ | Hill, Maurice | 145 |
| 9 | W | Poole, Tim | 166 | 0-1 | Dalley, Kevin | 159 |
| 10 | B | Hayward, Brian | 160 | ½–½ | Hoddy, John | 161 |
| 11 | W | Munshi, Aditya | 159 | 1-0 | Moore, Paul | 135 |
| 12 | B | Ali, Hamzah | 155 | ½–½ | Edmundson, Ian | 143 |
| 13 | W | Lane, Tim | 151 | ½–½ | Hoddy, Dave | 134 |
| 14 | B | Levens, David | 149 | 0-1 | Meyer, Dylan | 123 |
| 7½-6½ |
Lincolnshire – Nottinghamshire
Report from Simon Scott (with some additions from Neil Graham)
The first match for the Minor Counties team was away to Lincolnshire, held at the Atrium of Lindum Building near North Hykeham. The venue was spacious and quiet, with good views towards Lincoln although some of us were held up by traffic. Fortunately, so was one of the suppliers of digital clocks, which meant that we kicked off 15 minutes later than scheduled.
Due to a last minute player cancellation, Neil Graham took on Board 16, and so it was left to me to keep an eye on the early stages of the games. To be honest, I don’t know what I was supposed to be looking at, but everything looked fine for the first hour.
Then came a draw on Board 9 by Brian Thompson with Kevin McCarthy, who have played each other too often to stomach a fight. I had to wait another half hour for the next results, a draw by Harry Croasdale on Board 11, but then a loss on Board 6 for Andy George.
This was a pattern for the rest of the match, a couple of draws followed by a Lincs win, and they already had a commanding lead by the time we had our first victory from Mark Radford who was a solid exchange up for some time. To be fair, we were outgraded on almost every board, particularly at the top so were always going to be up against it. And luck didn’t go our way either. Board 15 missed a mate when an exchange to the good and went on to lose whilst Neil’s opponent lost a piece for two pawns but the resultant ending of R, N & 2 against R & 4 looked impossible to win and he had to settle for a draw.
A fine win by debutant Kieran Child on board 7 was too little, too late, and Lincolnshire, hovering on 8 for some time, eventually forced resignation by Richard Truman when his queen vs two rooks and a knight proved too much for the lone consort and this established a 9-5 winning margin for Lincs.
With two games left, the score was given some respectability by Jonah Willow playing a superb bishop endgame to win on Board 10. We left with Alex Combie still struggling to avert what looked like inevitable defeat. However in a time scramble turnaround, Alex checkmated Paul Cumbers with 52 seconds to spare; the Lincolnshire player having a mere 15 seconds left.
Overall, a valiant effort from a team missing its top players - and it showed! Let’s hope we can turn it around for the next match.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Dorrington, Chris | 228 | 1-0 | Mercs, Peter | 193 |
| 2 | W | Mangione, Claudio | 208 | ½–½ | Cabero, Pablo Padilla | 191 |
| 3 | B | Cumbers, Paul | 200 | 0-1 | Combie, Alexander | 189 |
| 4 | W | Prior, Stephen | 188 | 1-0 | Richmond, Robert | 186 |
| 5 | B | Kilshaw, Joe | 186 | 1-0 | Truman, Richard | 182 |
| 6 | W | Birtwistle, Nigel | 186 | 1-0 | George, Andy | 180 |
| 7 | B | Stead, Nick | 180 | 0-1 | Child, Kieran | 178 |
| 8 | W | Russell, Harry | 176 | ½–½ | Walker, Andy | 173 |
| 9 | B | McCarthy, Kevin | 174 | ½–½ | Thompson, Brian | 171 |
| 10 | W | Palmer, Keith | 167 | 0-1 | Willow, Jonah | 166 |
| 11 | B | Hebert, Andrew | 166 | ½–½ | Croasdale, Harry | 165 |
| 12 | W | McDonald, Ian | 159 | ½–½ | Hayward, Brian | 160 |
| 13 | B | Summers, Alastair | 156 | 1-0 | Sudar, Drag | 151 |
| 14 | W | David, Ivan | 154 | 0-1 | Radford, Mark | 153 |
| 15 | B | Ladds, Graham | 154 | 1-0 | Taylor, Bob | 149 |
| 16 | W | Allott, Steve | 150 | ½–½ | Graham, Neil | 144 |
| 9-7 |
Under 180
Devon U180 – Nottinghamshire U180
The list of players unavailable for the Under 180 & Under 160 matches was immense, not helped by the usual last-minute withdrawals. Both teams had to be supplemented by players from the Under 140 squad. Of course there was no chance of swapping or changing with the Under 180s facing Devon at Frampton-on-Severn whilst the Under 160s were pitted against Middlesex at the Open University, Milton Keynes.
The picturesque village of Frampton was the scene for Notts clash with Devon with a beautiful village green and with a pony & trap trotting down the main street. Venue was the Village Hall. We were able to field 10 players graded 160+ and enough make weights to ensure a closely contested match. There were good wins from Jonah Willow, Mike Naylor and Dave Flynn but with 14 of the results declared Notts trailed by 7½-6½.There is no-one I would rather have had to try and eke a win than Brian Thompson whose ingenuity at the end of games has always impressed me but this time he met his match in Devon’s captain Brian Hewson and we could do no more than draw. The final game involved Tim Lane but we were at a slight disadvantage here and certainly not in with a shout of a win; the agreed draw in the last couple of minutes of the match was enough to give Devon a win. 8-8 would have seen a Notts win on Board Count.
The games are available here:-
http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/HTML/News/wecu/devvnotts/base.html
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Underwood, Jonathan | 179 | 1-0 | Walker, Tim | 179 |
| 2 | B | Regis, David | 176 | ½-½ | Walker, Andy | 173 |
| 3 | W | Brusey, Alan W | 176 | ½-½ | Swain, John | 175 |
| 4 | B | Hewson, Brian WR | 174 | ½-½ | Thompson, Brian | 171 |
| 5 | W | Shaw, Meyrick | 170 | 0-1 | Willow, Jonah | 166 |
| 6 | B | Abbott, Mark V | 173 | 1-0 | Hunter, Steve | 172 |
| 7 | W | Thynne, Trefor F | 161 | ½-½ | Burke, Steve | 171 |
| 8 | B | Ingham, H William | 176 | ½-½ | Poole, Tim | 166 |
| 9 | W | Dean, Steve K | 167 | 0-1 | Naylor, Mike | 159 |
| 10 | B | Atkins, Keith P | 157 | ½-½ | Hayward, Brian | 160 |
| 11 | W | Toms, David A | 151 | 0-1 | Flynn, Dave | 157 |
| 12 | B | Butland, Nick J | 154 | ½-½ | Lane, Tim | 151 |
| 13 | W | Annetts, Ivor S | 162 | ½-½ | Graham, Neil | 144 |
| 14 | B | Wensley, Oliver E | 149 | 1-0 | Brace, Peter | 135 |
| 15 | W | Scott, Chris J | 157 | ½-½ | Gorecka-Marshall, Peter | 136 |
| 16 | B | Brooks, Paul | 154 | 1-0 | Scott, Simon | 120 |
| 8½-7½ |
Nottinghamshire U180 – Warwickshire U180
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Thompson, Brian | 171 | 1-0 | Smith, Simon | 175 |
| 2 | B | Poole, Tim | 166 | ½-½ | Bull, Philip | 177 |
| 3 | W | Hayward, Brian | 160 | 0-1 | Green, Anthony | 173 |
| 4 | B | Naylor, Mike | 159 | ½-½ | Cundy, Mark | 172 |
| 5 | W | Flynn, Dave | 157 | 1-0 | Smith, Richard | 169 |
| 6 | B | Sudar, Drag | 151 | ½-½ | Smyth, Martin | 165 |
| 7 | W | Garside, Andrew | 151 | 0-1 | Sadler, Anthony | 165 |
| 8 | B | Taylor, Bob | 149 | ½-½ | Mildenhall, John | 163 |
| 9 | W | Roper, Keith | 147 | 0-1 | Williams, Simon | 159 |
| 10 | B | Wagenbach, Janos | 147 | 0-1 | Hope, Gary | 158 |
| 11 | W | Pearson, Taylor | 145 | 0-1 | Reynolds, Richard | 159 |
| 12 | B | Graham, Neil | 144 | 0-1 | Reynolds, Robert | 158 |
| 13 | W | Taylor, Marcel | 143 | ½-½ | Lawrence, Roy | 155 |
| 14 | B | Morgan, Phil | 143 | 1-0 | Thomas, Keith | 154 |
| 15 | W | Atiomo, William | 141 | ½-½ | Byrne, Nigel | 149 |
| 16 | B | Cranmer, Stan | 139 | ½-½ | Fahy, John | 146 |
| 6½-9½ |
Under 160
Nottinghamshire U160 – Middlesex U160
Report from Phil Morgan
Notts lost their quarter- final tie to Middlesex played at Milton Keynes on 16th May 2015. The game like the General Election campaign seemed in balance throughout. Although we were outgraded by on average 8 points, a board default from Middlesex, and wins on the top 2 boards from John Collins and Hamzah Ali appeared to present a good platform for victory. Even with the last board in play the likeliest result appeared a Notts. win on board count. Taylor Pearson's opponent hadn't read this script and cleverly found a way to win in a deceptively drawn-looking position. Gambit players scored particularly well with 2 wins and 3 draws. Our Northern-based players performed like the Labour Party in Scotland. A half-point from our car (Bob, Stan, George or myself) would have given us the win. We failed to take our chances... The Home Counties prosper whilst the regions stubbornly refuse to climb out of recession.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Collins, John | 150 | 1-0 | Campbell, Russell | 153 |
| 2 | W | Ali, Hamzah | 155 | 1-0 | Boy Lazoni, Victor Hugo | 159E |
| 3 | B | Pearson, Taylor | 145 | 0-1 | Phillips, Bill | 155 |
| 4 | W | Edwards, Richard | 143 | ½-½ | Walsh, Steve | 158 |
| 5 | B | Radford, Mark | 153 | ½-½ | Morton, Peter | 153 |
| 6 | W | Sudar, Drag | 151 | ½-½ | Fountain, Mark | 150 |
| 7 | B | Foster, Steve | 145 | 0-1 | Kennelly, Paul | 156 |
| 8 | W | Taylor, Bob | 149 | 0-1 | McAleenan, Charles | 151 |
| 9 | B | Roper, Keith | 147 | ½-½ | Thursby, Richard | 155 |
| 10 | W | Wagenbach, Janos | 147 | 0-1 | Rubeck, Jonathan | 145 |
| 11 | B | Morgan, Phil | 143 | 0-1 | Dhemrait, Jagdeep | 152 |
| 12 | W | Tassi, John | 142 | 1-0 | Scowen, Roger | 152 |
| 13 | B | London, Nick | 146 | ½-½ | Breed, Greg | 151 |
| 14 | W | Taylor, Marcel | 143 | 1-0 | default | |
| 15 | B | Cranmer, Stan | 139 | 0-1 | Jones, Keith | 143 |
| 16 | W | Robinson, Alan | 128 | 1-0 | Zurstiege, Frank | 151 |
| 7½-8½ |
Greater Manchester U160 – Nottinghamshire U160
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Hilton, Tim | 158 | ½-½ | Munshi, Aditya | 159 |
| 2 | B | Beresford, Alan | 156 | 0-1 | Gibson, Geoff | 158 |
| 3 | W | Lonsdale, Jonathan | 152 | ½-½ | Naylor, Mike | 159 |
| 4 | B | Jardine, Chris | 150 | 1-0 | Herrington, Jerry | 151 |
| 5 | W | Livesey, Nigel | 152 | 0-1 | Levens, David | 149 |
| 6 | B | Whalley, Mark | 156 | 0-1 | Nabbs, Terry | 153 |
| 7 | W | Moan, Francis | 147 | 0-1 | Aiton, Keith | 155 |
| 8 | B | Lamb, Ian | 141 | 0-1 | Radford, Mark | 153 |
| 9 | W | Pardoe, Dave | 142 | 1-0 | Garside, Andrew | 151 |
| 10 | B | Phythian, Graham | 141 | ½-½ | Sudar, Drag | 151 |
| 11 | W | Hughes, Howard | 135 | 0-1 | Taylor, Bob | 149 |
| 12 | B | Byrne, Tony | 130 | 0-1 | Foster, Steve | 145 |
| 13 | W | Jerzynek, Neil | 127 | 0-1 | Lane, Tim | 151 |
| 14 | B | Underwood, Shaun | 119 | 0-1 | Myers, Richard | 150 |
| 15 | W | Wilkinson, Tony | UG | ½-½ | Tassi, John | 142 |
| 16 | B | Cooke, Edwin | UG | 0-1 | London, Nick | 146 |
| 4-12 |
Warwickshire U160 – Nottinghamshire U160
Report from Phil Morgan
Short of several regulars, and juniors, Notts. still proved too strong for their Midland rivals. We scored early wins from Darran Ince and Bob Taylor, and the points were then gradually reeled in with further wins from Geoff Gibson, Richard Myers, Marcel Taylor and John Tassi and three draws.
This placed us on the edge of victory on 7½ points with 4 games in play. There followed a nervy wait, and a bit of a fight-back, with Warwickshire winning on Boards 1 and 4. Dick Edwards clinched the team win, prevailing in a 2 Bishops against 2 Knights ending. Dave Flynn in the final game to finish, although very short of time, improved the margin of victory.
In graded team competitions the top boards are often closely contested, and the decisive games are on the lower boards. There was little between these teams in the top half. We had a wobble between Boards 8-11 but scored 4½/5 on the bottom boards, in line with our grading edge.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Williams, Simon | 159 | 1-0 | Naylor, Mike | 159 |
| 2 | B | Reynolds, Robert | 154 | 0-1 | Gibson, Geoff | 158 |
| 3 | W | Hope, Gary | 158 | 0-1 | Flynn, Dave | 157 |
| 4 | B | Thomas, Keith | 154 | 1-0 | Aiton, Keith | 155 |
| 5 | W | Wallman, Robert | 153 | ½-½ | Garside, Andrew | 151 |
| 6 | B | Lawrence, Roy | 155 | 0-1 | Myers, Richard | 150 |
| 7 | W | Byrne, Nigel | 149 | 0-1 | Taylor, Bob | 149 |
| 8 | B | Fahy, John | 146 | 1-0 | Mitchell, Rob | 147 |
| 9 | W | Evans, Chris | 143 | 1-0 | Roper, Keith | 147 |
| 10 | B | Burnet, Alan | 142 | ½-½ | London, Nick | 146 |
| 11 | W | Tallis, Mark | 142 | 1-0 | Wagenbach, Janos | 147 |
| 12 | B | Dickson, Fred | 136 | 0-1 | Taylor, Marcel | 143 |
| 13 | W | Maher, Mike | 127 | ½-½ | Morgan, Phil | 143 |
| 14 | B | Harrington, Mick | 130 | 0-1 | Edwards, Richard | 143 |
| 15 | W | Kent, Arthur | 128 | 0-1 | Tassi, John | 142 |
| 16 | B | Asbury, John | 127 | 0-1 | Ince, Darran | 139 |
| 6½-9½ |
Under 140
Nottinghamshire U140 – Kent U140
I lost the toss in both matches so Kent took White on odd in the Under 140 Championship. We made no progress early on and the games on Boards 6, 11, 14 & 16 were all drawn in completely equal positions. However a glance elsewhere showed that we had problems; on Board One we had lost the exchange; on Board Three we had sacrificed the exchange for no compensation and we were a piece adrift on Board 15. Nowhere did a full point look in prospect. More draws came in and we duly lost on 1 & 15 plus a further loss on Board 8 so with nine boards declared we were 6-3 down. Last year Hampshire managed to come back from this score and indeed a mini-revival for us saw a further 2½ points from the next three declarations. First Notts winner was Terry Lavelle closely followed by James Thomson’s endgame win. However although Peter Brace had counter-attacked bravely he was now a rook down and the loss on Board Three gave Kent a 7½-5½ lead. Now nothing less than three wins would do (8-8 would have given Kent a win) but it was clear that the Board 9 game was beyond hope with Stan Cranmer trying to repel a passed pawn on the seventh rank with a bishop; his opponent still having bishop & knight. Graham Neil was offered a draw which after consideration we accepted; the Kent Board Nine who obviously wasn’t confident of mating with B & N v King agreed a draw and the final game on Board 10 gave Notts their third win. The Under 140 match gave Kent their sole win of the day as they went down in the other three finals.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Huthwaite, John | 138 | 0-1 | Heard, Andrew | 136 |
| 2 | W | Willoughby, Robert | 133 | ½–½ | Everson, James | 137 |
| 3 | B | Ince, Darran | 139 | ½–½ | Davis, Derek | 134 |
| 4 | W | Brace, Peter | 135 | 0-1 | Thompson, Robert | 137 |
| 5 | B | Kenyon, Alan | 138 | 0-1 | Gilbert, David | 132 |
| 6 | W | Walters, Keith | 138 | ½–½ | Fowler, David | 125 |
| 7 | B | Gorecka-Marshall, Peter | 136 | ½–½ | Orr, David | 127 |
| 8 | W | Thomson, James | 134 | 1-0 | Martin, Joe | 131 |
| 9 | B | Cranmer, Stanley | 139 | ½–½ | Sherriff, Alan | 125 |
| 10 | W | Woodhouse, David | 137 | 1-0 | Mourant, Malcolm | 126 |
| 11 | B | Nailard, Mike | 123 | ½–½ | White, Graham | 128 |
| 12 | W | Lavelle, Terry | 131 | 1-0 | Arnold, Paul | 125 |
| 13 | B | Neil, Graham | 124 | ½–½ | Tassell, Hugh | 125 |
| 14 | W | Harper, Michael | 129 | ½–½ | Pol, Jerry | 122 |
| 15 | B | Bonnello, Chris | 134 | 0-1 | Jones, Michael | 120 |
| 16 | W | Gibson, Graham | 124 | ½–½ | Clark, Ian | 121 |
| 7½–8½ |
Nottinghamshire U140 – Hampshire U140
Notts took an early lead against Hampshire and at the half way point were 5-3 to the good. Last year we were leading by 6-3 against the champions and they came back to win six of the last seven games to take the title. There was little surprise therefore that a sudden rush of wins enabled them to reverse the scoreline and lead by 7-6 with three to play. It was at this point that their captain blundered horrifically against Keith Walters giving away a rook for nothing and Notts had levelled the scores. Alan Kenyon had meanwhile exchanged into a clearly won ending and although his opponent played on, his position was clearly hopeless and a resignation soon followed. We rushed off to tell Robert Willoughby that a draw would be enough to give us the win but a half had already been agreed before we arrived at his board. So at last the Hampshire Hoodoo had been broken and we were in our second successive final.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Huthwaite, John | 138 | 0-1 | Manning, Andy | 138 |
| 2 | B | Willoughby, Robert | 133 | ½–½ | Cleave, Bob | 136 |
| 3 | W | Ince, Darran | 139 | 0-1 | Steele, Kevin | 136 |
| 4 | B | Brace, Peter | 135 | 1-0 | Agostinelli, David | 128 |
| 5 | W | Walters, Keith | 138 | 1-0 | Syed, Ashraf | 139 |
| 6 | B | Gorecka-Marshall, Peter | 136 | ½–½ | Feltham, George | 139 |
| 7 | W | Thomson, James | 134 | 1-0 | Smeaton, Colin | 130 |
| 8 | B | Kenyon, Alan | 138 | 1-0 | Young, Jonathan | 129 |
| 9 | W | Cranmer, Stan | 139 | ½–½ | Bonsey, Frank | 128 |
| 10 | B | Woodhouse, David | 137 | 0-1 | Smith, Christopher | 127 |
| 11 | W | Nailard, Mike | 123 | 1-0 | Watts, John | 123 |
| 12 | B | Thompson, Andrew | 120 | 1-0 | Vanlint, Paul | 115 |
| 13 | W | Neil, Graham | 124 | ½–½ | Gething, Philip | 121 |
| 14 | B | Scott, Simon | 120 | 0-1 | Pearce, Francis | 126 |
| 15 | W | Bonnello, Chris | 134 | ½–½ | Wyld, Ken | 109 |
| 16 | B | Gibson, Graham | 124 | 0-1 | Eyles, Paul | 98 |
| 8½–7½ |
Staffordshire U140 – Nottinghamshire U140
Report from Mike Nailard
The match was played at Newcastle Bridge Club which is a very good venue for playing chess. Our Car arrived in good time and we were greeted with a welcoming cup of tea (or coffee if preferred) and biscuits. Both teams had arrived more or less on time and the after the announcements the play started at 13:35.
At 14:50 I felt as if I had a slight positional plus (my opponent had a fixed backward pawn that put his rooks in to a defensive role), so I had a look around. The only other person with a noticeable advantage was John Huthwaite with an extra pawn and a positional edge.
Back to my game where I tried to develop my pieces to attack the backward pawn, but of course this swapped down to the rooks and two minor pieces each. Then I won a central pawn. Time for a cup of tea and another look around. So at 15:20 roughly half way through the match Notts had nudged ahead 2-1 with Peter Brace and James Thompson drawing and Mike Harper winning. We had extra pawns on boards 3, 8, 15 & 16. Then Chris Bonello won a rook for two pawns and Rob Willoughby had a beautiful position on board 10. Back to my game.
About twenty minutes I was told Rob had won and John Huthwaite had gone a rook up. 3-1 to Notts at this stage. By 16:00 it was 6-2 thanks to wins by Andrew Thompson, John Huthwaite and Chris Bonnello. Barry Redburn was the only casualty. By 16:15 I had won my game and Darren Ince drew on board 1 so Notts moved on to a 7½- 2½ lead.
I did not have to wait long to secure the match for Notts with Dave Griffiths winning and Terry Lavelle checkmating his opponent in the middle of the board. Peter Gorecka-Marshall had a good win. Graham Neil agreed a draw to make 11-3. Dave Woodhouse came second in his game and Alan Keynon was the last to finish with a solid draw to make Nottinghamshire under 140 team this year’s Midland Champions.
Neil Graham tells me that the National Quarter Finals will be the next game on May 16th.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Wood, Frank | 137 | ½–½ | Ince, Darran | 139 |
| 2 | B | Day, John | 129 | ½–½ | Kenyon, Alan | 138 |
| 3 | W | Cartlidge, Jacob | 129 | 0-1 | Huthwaite, John | 138 |
| 4 | B | Ferry, Clive | 128 | 0-1 | Griffiths, Dave | 138 |
| 5 | W | Hoare, Michael | 126 | 1-0 | Woodhouse, David | 137 |
| 6 | B | Molineux, Dave | 126 | 0-1 | Gorecka-Marshall, Peter | 136 |
| 7 | W | Healings, Jack | 125 | ½–½ | Brace, Peter | 135 |
| 8 | B | Leadbetter, Andrew | 125 | 0-1 | Bonnello, Chris | 134 |
| 9 | W | Beardmore, Sam | 125 | ½–½ | Thomson, James | 134 |
| 10 | B | Baptiste, Bernard | 125 | 0-1 | Willoughby, Robert | 133 |
| 11 | W | Hawthorn, Julian | 121 | 0-1 | Lavelle, Terry | 131 |
| 12 | B | Jarocki, Mike | 118 | 1-0 | Redburn, Barry | 130 |
| 13 | W | Wright, Nic | 117 | 0-1 | Harper, Mike | 129 |
| 14 | B | Windows, Peter | 115 | ½–½ | Neil, Graham | 124 |
| 15 | W | Johnson, Dave | 115 | 0-1 | Nailard, Mike | 123 |
| 16 | B | Blackburn, Sandra | 114 | 0-1 | Thompson, Andrew | 120 |
| 4½–11½ |
Under 120
Staffordshire U120 – Nottinghamshire U120
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Clapham, Paul | 109 | ½–½ | Budd, Chris | 118 |
| 2 | W | Page, Michael | 111 | 1-0 | Garside, Graham | 113 |
| 3 | B | Johnson, David | 115 | 1-0 | Smith-McGloin, Sam | 109 |
| 4 | W | Jarocki, Mike | 118 | ½–½ | Allen, Patrick | 116 |
| 5 | B | Wright, Nicholas | 117 | 1-0 | Fraser, Chris | 113 |
| 6 | W | Guest, Paul | 109 | ½–½ | Morrell, Len | 107 |
| 7 | B | Blackburn, Sandra | 114 | ½–½ | Kacprzak, Lukasz | 112 |
| 8 | W | Barker, David | 109 | 1-0 | Gretton, Margaret | 104 |
| 9 | B | Evans, Peter | 109 | 0-1 | Luland, Steve | 103 |
| 10 | W | Cox, Chris | 93 | 1-0 | Kats, Marten | 103 |
| 11 | B | Jones, Simon | 104 | 1-0 | Abrahart, Bob | 99 |
| 12 | W | Buckley, David | 91 | 1-0 | Dawson, Ric | 98 |
| 9-3 |
Nottinghamshire U120 – Worcestershire U120
Report from Neil Graham
Notts opened up an early lead against Worcestershire with wins from Michael Tellier, Alberto Rodriguez and Rohan Tandon. However when I returned from buying extra milk, I found that Worcs had equalised to 3½-3½ all. A glance at Boards 4, 8 and 10 was enough to show me that our players with White all stood well and it was no surprise to see all these games quickly converted into wins. A further victory on Board One and a draw on Board Five was enough to wrap up the match after only three hours play. It is hoped that this win might ensure progress to the national stage of the competition.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Murfet, George | 119 | 1-0 | Smith, David | 119 |
| 2 | W | Dunne, Dave | 117 | 0-1 | Clark, Maureen | 118 |
| 3 | B | Swanwick, Mike | 114 | ½–½ | Collett, Richard | 117 |
| 4 | W | Fraser, Chris | 113 | 1-0 | Bott, Doug | 116 |
| 5 | B | Garside, Graham | 113 | ½–½ | Stanton, Giles | 107 |
| 6 | W | Kacprzak, Lukasz | 112 | 0-1 | Day, Kevin | 106 |
| 7 | B | Tellier, Michael | 108 | 1-0 | Clack, Michele | 105 |
| 8 | W | Morrell, Len | 107 | 1-0 | Thomas, Paul | 104 |
| 9 | B | Kats, Marten | 103 | 0-1 | Radford, Terry | 99 |
| 10 | W | Flint, Andy | 102 | 1-0 | Pountney, Terry | 96 |
| 11 | B | Rodriguez, Alberto | 97 | 1-0 | Taylor, Tony | 91 |
| 12 | W | Tandon, Rohan | 75 | 1-0 | Evans, Joyce | 62 |
| 8-4 |
Nottinghamshire U120 – Lincolnshire U120
Report from Neil Graham
After the early loss in October to Warwickshire, a much stronger Nottinghamshire side assembled to meet Lincolnshire at Bramcote. Progress was serene as a whole host of wins appeared on the scoresheet before Lincolnshire found a reply. Nottinghamshire were winning by 8-0 or possibly 9-0 before the visitors troubled the scorer. I can only say that all the boards where we won looked in our favour when I glanced at them during play and I was especially pleased to see a win from another debutant, Rohan. The only boards where Lincs were likely to reply in fact ended in away victories and the match drew to a close with a hard-fought draw on Board One.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Willow, Hambel | 118 | ½–½ | Orr, William | 117 |
| 2 | B | Ensor, Rob | 117 | 1-0 | Fischer, Paul | 117 |
| 3 | W | Dunne, Dave | 117 | 1-0 | Cumbers, Chris | 112 |
| 4 | B | Swanwick, Mike | 114 | 0-1 | Scott, Gary | 109 |
| 5 | W | Fraser, Chris | 113 | 0-1 | Ayton, Charles | 109 |
| 6 | B | Kacprzak, Lukasz | 112 | 1-0 | Gutcher, Philip | 105 |
| 7 | W | Garside, Graham | 113 | 1-0 | Robinson, Frank | 105 |
| 8 | B | Tellier, Michael | 108 | 1-0 | Scott, David | 99 |
| 9 | W | Morrell, Len | 107 | 1-0 | Newstead, Dr Mark | 86 |
| 10 | B | Gretton, Margaret | 104 | 1-0 | Taylor, Will | 81 |
| 11 | W | Luland, Steve | 103 | 1-0 | Marnoch, Cameron | 75 |
| 12 | B | Tandon, Rohan | 75 | 1-0 | Southern, Dan | 57 |
| 9½–2½ |
Warwickshire U120 – Nottinghamshire U120
Report from Neil Graham
Notts began their campaign to retain the national Under 120 title with a trip to Warwickshire and new venue Leamington Spa. The new home team captain Jason Madden had put on a marvellous spread which puts our tea & biscuits to shame. Unfortunately the Warwickshire supremacy also extended to over-the-board.
Notts were substantially short of Under 120 players and had to field a number of our Under 100 regulars; we had the same problem in our opening fixture last year. Once the match was in play I went off for a wander round the picturesque town and on my return found that we had established a 4-3 lead. There was also a dispute that I had to sort out as the home captain was in deep thought against Chris Budd. I’m still not quite certain of the facts but the original result, a win for Warwickshire, was quickly achieved after the players resumed the game.
Unfortunately the lead was the high point for Notts and whilst beating Warwicks on the upper boards, the lower boards were clearly drifting away from us and the home side duly picked up the full point on three of the remaining boards there plus another win in a hard fought game on Board Two. We must now concentrate on scoring points in our remaining matches.
Finally a welcome to Michael Tellier and Akmal Lathif who were making their debuts for Notts.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Pakenham, John | 119 | 0-1 | Dunne, Dave | 117 |
| 2 | B | Madden, Jason | 119 | 1-0 | Budd, Chris | 118 |
| 3 | W | Trailor, Adam | 119 | 1-0 | Garside, Graham | 113 |
| 4 | B | Gilbert, Kim | 112 | 0-1 | Tellier, Michael | 108 |
| 5 | W | Green, John | 113 | ½–½ | Morrell, Len | 107 |
| 6 | B | Horsley, Dennis | 110 | ½–½ | Gretton, Margaret | 104 |
| 7 | W | Wood, Penny | 108 | 0-1 | Abrahart, Bob | 99 |
| 8 | B | Hodges, John | 105 | 1-0 | Morley, Stephen | 94 |
| 9 | W | Stiff, Peter | 106 | 1-0 | Attwood, Charlotte | 93 |
| 10 | B | Weaver, Simon | 103 | ½–½ | Blampied, Dorothy | 89 |
| 11 | W | Rudge, Dez | 100 | 1-0 | Watts, James | 80 |
| 12 | B | Kelly, Paul | 89 | 1-0 | Lathik, Akmal | UG |
| 7½–4½ |
Under 100
Nottinghamshire U100 – Kent U100
Nottinghamshire took on Kent in both the Under 140 and Under 100 County Championship Finals at Trident College, Warwick. The day began inauspiciously with the 8.00 am phone call – a player taken ill overnight from the Under 100 team – fortunately I was able to find a substitute within 30 minutes and am indebted to Nathan Cragg who played at the last minute.
Kent are the holders of the U100 national title and beat us convincingly in 2014 so we anticipated a tough match. However they were contesting four finals so possibly their resources might be stretched. Things began poorly; their top board a very under-graded junior was soon on top and once he’d won a piece exchanged off and we were 1-0 down. On bottom board we were also a piece down. Nevertheless by the time six boards were declared we had evened things up with wins from Mike & Nathan plus two draws. Another Kent junior then won on Board Three but Akmal replied after holding an advantage for a considerable period then wins for us on Boards 7 & 8 and suddenly we were 6-4 up with two in play. A draw on Board Four would suffice but Alberto was in no mood to let his opponent off the hook and the Kent king was checkmated in the middle of the board. There was some consolation for Kent when they won the remaining board but by that time it was too late!
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Abrahart, Robert | 99 | 0-1 | Watson, Jacob | 89 |
| 2 | W | Gilpin, Ben | 93 | ½–½ | Scott, Mary | 98 |
| 3 | B | Dell, John | UG | 0-1 | Jamroz, Viktor | 97 |
| 4 | W | Rodriguez, Alberto | 97 | 1-0 | Cheeseman, Chris | 98 |
| 5 | B | Seagrave, Michael | 94 | 1-0 | Gaidai, Oleg | 97 |
| 6 | W | Cragg, Nathan | 94 | 1-0 | Horner, Mark | 93 |
| 7 | B | Attwood, Charlotte | 93 | 1-0 | Evans, Alan | 87 |
| 8 | W | Hargreaves, Malcolm | 91 | 1-0 | AubinParvu, Henr | 88 |
| 9 | B | Morley, Stephen | 94 | 0-1 | Gueriane, R Huseyini | 88 |
| 10 | W | Blampied, Dorothy | 89 | ½–½ | Cheeseman, Frank | 89 |
| 11 | B | Lathif, Akmal | 82 | 1-0 | Glenister, David | 74 |
| 12 | W | Garside, James | 65 | 0-1 | Houching, Peter | 84 |
| 7-5 |
Nottinghamshire U100 – Essex U100
The Under 100 match began inauspiciously when Notts defaulted a board. Malcolm Hargreaves had failed to arrive at his pick-up point. Malcolm had played at the OU in 2014 so we hoped he might be making his own way. Not so – we later learned he had driven into a pothole and had a serious puncture on route. That seemed to spur Notts on and Essex were comprehensively swept aside on the lower boards coupled with wins on Board One & Three and we had taken a 6-1 lead. That said the remaining games looked anything but safe. Ben Gilpin was winning on Board Two but allowed his opponent a damaging knight fork. However he recovered admirably and in the end had just a rook versus a lone knight. This proved impossible to win but the resultant draw saw Notts into the final. Ric Dawson was clearly ahead and agreed a further draw; the remaining games being lost.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Abrahart, Bob | 99 | 1-0 | Sealey, Frank | 99 |
| 2 | W | Gilpin, Ben | 93 | ½–½ | Fisher, Russell | 99 |
| 3 | B | Rodriguez, Alberto | 97 | 1-0 | Cane, Tony | 96 |
| 4 | W | Seagrave, Michael | 94 | 0-1 | Ellis, John | 92 |
| 5 | B | Dawson, Richard | 98 | ½–½ | Haynes, Chris | E90 |
| 6 | W | Watson, Ronnie | 97 | 0-1 | Shelley, Scott | 91 |
| 7 | B | Attwood, Charlotte | 93 | 0-1 | Tanton, Hugh | 92 |
| 8 | W | Default | 0-1 | Chapman, John | 75 | |
| 9 | B | Tandon, Rohan | 75 | 1-0 | Courtenay, James | 84 |
| 10 | W | Blampied, Dorothy | 89 | 1-0 | Cassar, Mario | 78 |
| 11 | B | Lathif, Akmal | 82 | 1-0 | Tyrrell, Colin | 68 |
| 12 | W | Garside, James | 65 | 1-0 | Hughes, Peter | 66 |
| 7-5 |
Lancashire U100 – Nottinghamshire U100
This competition is always affected by “ungraded” players and Lancashire produced six players who had to be cleared by the event Controller. As these were juniors their potential was impossible to gauge prior to the match. For once though luck was definitely on our side as we made the most of some dicey positions. Again it came down to the last game to finish; this time the Board One with Bob Abrahart the Notts player involved. The Lancashire player overstepped the time limit in a hopeless position so Notts won through by the narrowest of margins; 6½-5½.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Bathein, Louis | 96 | 0-1 | Abrahart, Bob | 99 |
| 2 | W | Tanner, Frank | 91 | 0-1 | Dell, John | UG |
| 3 | B | Baron, Lee | 91 | 1-0 | Seagrave, Mike | 94 |
| 4 | W | Cooper, Mark | 90 | 1-0 | Cragg, Nathan | 94 |
| 5 | B | Hurn, Peter | 87e | 0-1 | Dawson, Rick | 98 |
| 6 | W | Chapman, Jason | 86 | 0-1 | Attwood, Charlotte | 93 |
| 7 | B | Rowlandson, Eleanor | 75e | 1-0 | Hargreaves, Malcolm | 91 |
| 8 | W | Melvin, Louis | 73e | ½–½ | Morley, Stephen | 94 |
| 9 | B | Melvin, Charlotte | 60e | 0-1 | Blampied, Dorothy | 89 |
| 10 | W | Leong, Kim Wai | 60e | 0-1 | Lathif, Akmal | UG |
| 11 | B | Crook, Steven | 57 | 1-0 | Heath, Ken | 71 |
| 12 | W | Crook, Oliver | UG | 1-0 | Garside, James | 65 |
| 5½–6½ |
Staffordshire U100 – Nottinghamshire U100
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Taylor, Dominic | 98 | 0-1 | Abrahart, Bob | 99 |
| 2 | W | Horrocks, Oliver | 95 | 1-0 | Gilpin, Ben | 92 |
| 3 | B | Mustafa, Carl | 95 | ½–½ | Grenham, Sean | 76 |
| 4 | W | West, Robert | 91 | 1-0 | Attwood, Charlotte | 93 |
| 5 | B | Hull, Stuart | 86 | ½–½ | Hargreaves, Malcolm | 91 |
| 6 | W | Tideswell, Peter | 82 | 0-1 | Morley, Stephen | 94 |
| 7 | B | Snape, Oliver | 79 | 1-0 | Tandon, Rohan | 75 |
| 8 | W | Perry, Robert | 74 | 0-1 | Blampied, Dorothy | 89 |
| 9 | B | Green, Stuart | 74 | 0-1 | Latif, Akmal | 80e |
| 10 | W | Martin, Richard | 74 | 1-0 | Heath, Ken | 71 |
| 11 | B | Hall, Les | 71 | 0-1 | Garside, James | 65 |
| 12 | W | Snape, Jack | 53 | 1-0 | Meade, Alex | 50e |
| 6-6 |
Warwickshire U100 – Nottinghamshire U100
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | Calderbank, Stuart | 97 | 0-1 | Abrahart, Bob | 99 |
| 2 | B | Davies, Paul | 95 | 1-0 | Morley, Stephen | 94 |
| 3 | W | Evans, Tom | 94 | 0-1 | Attwood, Charlotte | 93 |
| 4 | B | Zawadzki, Marek | 94 | 1-0 | Hargreaves, Malcolm | 91 |
| 5 | W | Mantell, Rob | 91 | 1-0 | Blampied, Dorothy | 89 |
| 6 | B | Garner, Bramwell | 90 | ½–½ | Swanwick, Steve | 88 |
| 7 | W | Kelly, Paul | 89 | ½–½ | Latif, Akmal | 80e |
| 8 | B | Buxton, Richard | 85 | ½–½ | Heath, Ken | 71 |
| 9 | W | Shah, Darpit | 80 | 1-0 | Meade, Alex | 50e |
| 10 | B | Leggett, Peter | 79 | 1-0 | Default | |
| 11 | W | Clulee, John | 71 | 1-0 | Default | |
| 12 | B | Green, Des | 50 | 1-0 | Default | |
| 8½–3½ |
Nottinghamshire U100 – Leicestershire U100
Report from Neil Graham
Notts began their U100 campaign with a 7-5 win over Leicestershire. The home county established a strong lead and it was only towards the end that the visitors scored a number of points to close the scores. Leicestershire had a new young player on Board 12 and he quickly started losing material to James to give Notts an early lead. Neel lost a piece to a pawn fork and enabled Leics to equalise and the score was further tied after Luke found his extra pawn ineffective in a blocked ending. Thereafter the Notts wins started to roll in with the Radcliffe trio of Dorothy, Charlotte and Stephen all scoring the first point. When Malcolm broke through to queen and Ben, playing a very solid game on his debut, also won the match was over. The top board game was drawn with opposite coloured bishops and there was some respite for Leicestershire with a win on Board Two. The last two games to finish were also victories for youthful Leics players, Ken’s position was always going downhill but as is usual in these matches, the final game continued long after the other sets had been packed away. Mike had fought long and hard to maintain a draw on Board Five and eventually had a queen and pawn ending a couple of pawns down. However eventually there was a forced queen exchange which left the position as a Leicestershire win.
| Board | Colour | Grade | Grade | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Abrahart, Bob | 99 | ½–½ | Carter, Andy | 97 |
| 2 | W | Dawson, Ric | 98 | 0-1 | Poolan, Peter | 79 |
| 3 | B | Badhe, Neel | 96 | 0-1 | Harbidge, Drew | 78 |
| 4 | W | Morley, Stephen | 94 | 1-0 | Findley, Ed | 77 |
| 5 | B | Seagrave, Mike | 94 | 0-1 | Brown, Tom | 68 |
| 6 | W | Attwood, Charlotte | 93 | 1-0 | Raine, Ben | 68 |
| 7 | B | Hargreaves, Malcolm | 91 | 1-0 | Lo, Matthew | 75 |
| 8 | W | Gilpin, Ben | 93 | 1-0 | Kellock, Jim | 64 |
| 9 | B | Blampied, Dorothy | 89 | 1-0 | Mottram-Epson, Peter | E50 |
| 10 | W | Rees, Luke | 71 | ½–½ | Gamble, Matthew | E66 |
| 11 | B | Heath, Ken | 71 | 0-1 | Mottram-Epson, Alastair | E34 |
| 12 | W | Garside, James | 65 | 1-0 | Colburn, Phoenix | E7 |
| 7-5 |