Inter-County Championship 2017–18
Results and reports from the county’s matches will appear here
throughout the season.
Previous years
Minor
Worcestershire – Nottinghamshire
Report from Neil Graham
What turned out to be the last match of the season was the rescheduled fixture against Worcestershire – the original match having
been snowed off. A win for either team would see them into the national stages. When lists were exchanged it seemed that Notts
should make progress, the team were, on average, 10 grading points better than Worcestershire over 16 boards. Notts won the toss
which turned out to be the high point of the fixture. The lower boards collapsed with Worcestershire winning six of Boards 8-16 with
the other three halved. The upper boards did manage to hold on but it took until the twelfth and fifteenth declarations for Notts
to actually put a win on the board. Both Jonah Willow and Pete Mercs played into rook and pawn endgames and showed good technique to
rescue some credibility from the match.
Worcestershire - Nottinghamshire
25 March 2018
Tyseley WMC
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
B |
Koncki, Zbigniew |
188 |
0-1 |
Willow, Jonah |
209 |
| 2 |
W |
Osbourn, Ed |
187 |
½–½ |
Richmond, Robert |
184 |
| 3 |
B |
Davis, Lee |
178 |
0-1 |
Mercs, Peter |
179 |
| 4 |
W |
Kitson, Peter |
174 |
½–½ |
Combie, Alexander |
176 |
| 5 |
B |
Watson, Joseph |
172 |
½–½ |
Thompson, Brian |
176 |
| 6 |
W |
Clarke, Ian |
164 |
½–½ |
Tardi, Zoltan |
175 |
| 7 |
B |
Barker, Paul |
164 |
½–½ |
Burke, Steve |
175 |
| 8 |
W |
Woodhouse, Stephen |
160 |
1-0 |
George, Andy |
172 |
| 9 |
B |
Wrench, John |
160 |
1-0 |
Walker, Andy |
171 |
| 10 |
W |
Canham, Leigh |
154 |
½–½ |
Naylor, Mike |
171 |
| 11 |
B |
Bowcott-Terry, Finlay |
150 |
1-0 |
Broughton, Dan |
169 |
| 12 |
W |
Knee, John |
149 |
½–½ |
Graham, Oliver |
159 |
| 13 |
B |
Bowcott, Dustin |
147 |
1-0 |
Flynn, Dave |
158 |
| 14 |
W |
Jordan, Matthew |
147 |
1-0 |
Poole, Tim |
163 |
| 15 |
B |
Fuller, Ben |
143 |
1-0 |
Bentley, Alex |
156 |
| 16 |
W |
Collett, Ray |
143 |
½–½ |
Lane, Tim |
154 |
| |
|
|
|
10-6 |
|
|
Nottinghamshire – Lincolnshire
Report from Neil Graham
Notts needed at least a win in their two last Minor Counties matches to progress into the National Stages. The loss to
Lincolnshire, who were the current national champions, was not unexpected but even so the match was decided in the last two games to
finish. Notts took an early lead wining four of the first five games which with a draw gave a 4½–½ advantage to the
home side. After that Lincolnshire clawed their way back into the match winning most of the games and after 14 declarations the match
was tied at 7-7. However when one of the two remaining games shifted decisively in favour of away side, Nigel Birtwistle was able to
agree a draw to bring his team home by the narrowest of margins. Nevertheless not a bad result for Notts who were beaten 13-3 by the
same opponents last year.
Nottinghamshire - Lincolnshire
20 January 2018
Bramcote
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
B |
Whitfield, Craig |
188 |
1-0 |
Dorrington, Chris |
229 |
| 2 |
W |
Richmond, Robert |
188 |
½–½ |
Birtwistle, Nigel |
199 |
| 3 |
B |
Jires, Jiri |
180e |
0-1 |
Milson, Samuel A |
195 |
| 4 |
W |
Thompson, Brian |
180 |
0-1 |
Cumbers, Paul |
193 |
| 5 |
B |
Combie, Alex B |
180 |
0-1 |
Stead, Nick P |
192 |
| 6 |
W |
Mercs, Peter J |
178 |
1-0 |
Smith, Murray D |
185 |
| 7 |
B |
Swain, John |
177 |
0-1 |
Williams, J Stuart |
182 |
| 8 |
W |
Broughton, Daniel |
175 |
½–½ |
David, Ivan |
177 |
| 9 |
B |
Walker, Andrew N |
171 |
0-1 |
Kilshaw, Joe |
175 |
| 10 |
W |
Truman, Richard |
169 |
1-0 |
Palmer, Keith J |
168 |
| 11 |
B |
George, Andrew |
167 |
1-0 |
Bowers, Francis J |
161 |
| 12 |
W |
Flynn, David |
166 |
½–½ |
Hebert, R Andrew |
158 |
| 13 |
B |
Naylor, Mike |
165 |
1-0 |
Ladds, Graham I |
146 |
| 14 |
W |
Biermann, Florian |
147e |
0-1 |
McDonald, Ian |
142 |
| 15 |
B |
Cast, Julian |
163 |
0-1 |
MacDonald, Stuart |
142 |
| 16 |
W |
Graham, Oliver |
162 |
1-0 |
Parnian, Arya |
139 |
| |
|
|
|
7½–8½ |
|
|
Leicestershire – Nottinghamshire
Leicestershire - Nottinghamshire
16 December 2017
Thurmaston, Leicester
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
W |
Dong, Bao Nghia |
215 |
½–½ |
Law, Zhe |
214 |
| 2 |
B |
Burrows, Martin P |
196 |
0-1 |
Willow, Jonah |
200 |
| 3 |
W |
Okhai, Shabir |
202 |
½–½ |
Whitfield, Craig |
188 |
| 4 |
B |
Agnew, Alan |
199 |
½–½ |
Richmond, Robert |
188 |
| 5 |
W |
Morley, Andrew J |
184 |
½–½ |
Thompson, Brian |
180 |
| 6 |
B |
Denton, John R |
180 |
½–½ |
Combie, Alex B |
180 |
| 7 |
W |
Modi, Shyam Jagdish |
175 |
0-1 |
Mercs, Peter J |
178 |
| 8 |
B |
Sheahan, Sean D |
178 |
1-0 |
Broughton, Daniel |
175 |
| 9 |
W |
Modi, Kishan J |
173 |
1-0 |
Walker, Andrew N |
171 |
| 10 |
B |
Sharpe, Graham J |
177 |
½–½ |
Somton, Anita |
169 |
| 11 |
W |
Taylor, Robert K |
178 |
0-1 |
George, Andrew |
167 |
| 12 |
B |
Burgess, Ray J |
176 |
1-0 |
Flynn, Dave |
166 |
| 13 |
W |
Smith, Matt P |
171 |
1-0 |
Naylor, Mike |
165 |
| 14 |
B |
Brown, Tom |
168 |
½–½ |
Graham, Oliver |
162 |
| 15 |
W |
Robinson, John K |
167 |
1-0 |
Poole, Tim |
161e |
| 16 |
B |
Potter, Karl H |
163 |
1-0 |
Walters, Keith |
152 |
| |
|
|
|
9½–6½ |
|
|
Nottinghamshire – Warwickshire
Nottinghamshire - Warwickshire
21 October 2017
Bramcote
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
W |
Richmond, Robert |
188 |
½–½ |
Stepanyan, Henrik |
211 |
| 2 |
B |
Adams, Tom |
192 |
0-1 |
Hynes, Tony |
196 |
| 3 |
W |
Jires, Jiri |
180e |
½–½ |
Hazlehurst, Cory S |
182 |
| 4 |
B |
Mercs, Peter J |
178 |
½–½ |
Walsh, Marcus |
178 |
| 5 |
W |
Swain, John |
177 |
½–½ |
Hickey, Tony |
166 |
| 6 |
B |
Walker, Andrew N |
171 |
1-0 |
Ali, Golam S |
170 |
| 7 |
W |
Burke, Steven J |
167 |
1-0 |
Green, Anthony J |
171 |
| 8 |
B |
George, Andrew |
167 |
1-0 |
Escott, Keith |
170 |
| 9 |
W |
Flynn, David |
166 |
0-1 |
Smith, Simon C |
167 |
| 10 |
B |
Graham, Oliver |
162 |
1-0 |
Cundy, Mark A |
172 |
| 11 |
W |
Bentley, Alex |
159 |
1-0 |
Singh, Amrik J |
166 |
| 12 |
B |
Poole, Tim |
161e |
0-1 |
Hope, Gary |
165 |
| 13 |
W |
Walters, Keith |
152 |
1-0 |
Thomas, Keith |
157 |
| 14 |
B |
Biermann, Florian |
147e |
1-0 |
Wallman, Robert J |
163 |
| 15 |
W |
Hill, Maurice |
144 |
½–½ |
Lawrence, Roy A |
136 |
| 16 |
B |
Huthwaite, John |
144 |
½–½ |
Byrne, Nigel |
152 |
| |
|
|
|
10-6 |
|
|
Under 180
Under 160
Nottinghamshire U160 - Greater Manchester U160
4 November 2017
Newcastle Under Lyme Bridge Club
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
B |
Bentley, Alex |
159 |
½–½ |
Wright, Simon |
158 |
| 2 |
W |
Lane, Tim |
153 |
½–½ |
Lockett, Karl J |
157 |
| 3 |
B |
London, Nick J |
152 |
0-1 |
Jardine, Chris |
155 |
| 4 |
W |
Walters, Keith |
152 |
½–½ |
Lonsdale, Jon I |
151 |
| 5 |
B |
Taylor, Bob |
151 |
½–½ |
McElvenny, Damien |
151 |
| 6 |
W |
Sudar, Drag |
151 |
0-1 |
Kierman, David |
150 |
| 7 |
B |
Bhayat, Shane |
150 |
1-0 |
Connor, Michael I |
147 |
| 8 |
W |
Biermann, Florian |
147e |
1-0 |
Newell, David F |
147 |
| 9 |
B |
Aiton, Keith |
145 |
1-0 |
Pardoe, David |
145 |
| 10 |
W |
Hayward, Brian |
145 |
½–½ |
Moan, Francis E |
144 |
| 11 |
B |
Graham, Neil |
145 |
0-1 |
Whalley, Mark E |
142 |
| 12 |
W |
Murphy, Ross |
145 |
0-1 |
Green, Fiona |
142 |
| 13 |
B |
Hill, Maurice |
144 |
1-0 |
Beresford, Alan |
136 |
| 14 |
W |
Huthwaite, John R |
144 |
½–½ |
Tortosa, Paul-Arthur |
140e |
| 15 |
B |
Radford, Mark |
142 |
1-0 |
Harman, George |
128 |
| 16 |
W |
Willow, Hambel M |
136 |
1-0 |
Doherty, Paul D |
126 |
| |
|
|
|
9-7 |
|
|
Under 140
Nottinghamshire U140 - Derbyshire U140
11 November 2017
Bramcote, Nottingham
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
W |
Robinson, Alan S |
137 |
1-0 |
Sheldon, Philip |
139 |
| 2 |
B |
Thomson, James L |
137 |
½–½ |
Wootton, Stephen G |
138 |
| 3 |
W |
Griffiths, David |
137 |
0-1 |
Meyer, Dylan |
137 |
| 4 |
B |
Murfet, George J |
133 |
1-0 |
Smith, Vaughan WG |
128 |
| 5 |
W |
Wright, Nigel |
133 |
0-1 |
Hoare, Michael WA |
129 |
| 6 |
B |
Nailard, Michael J |
130 |
0-1 |
Bubis, Matthew |
127 |
| 7 |
W |
Pincheira, Bernardo |
130 |
0-1 |
Carter, Mark AK |
126 |
| 8 |
B |
Thompson, Andrew |
130 |
1-0 |
Gallagher, Kevin J |
126 |
| 9 |
W |
Sargeant, Chris |
128 |
½–½ |
O'Flanagan, Paul H |
124 |
| 10 |
B |
Roper, Keith W |
126 |
½–½ |
Livsey, Duncan J |
122 |
| 11 |
W |
Gorecka-Marshall, Peter |
125 |
1-0 |
Lever, Brian |
121 |
| 12 |
B |
Harper, Michael J |
124 |
1-0 |
Pace, Graham |
119 |
| 13 |
W |
Luland, Steve |
124 |
1-0 |
Harrison, Ronald S |
117 |
| 14 |
B |
Flint, Andrew |
123 |
0-1 |
Marshall, Nigel D |
111 |
| 15 |
W |
Fraser, Chris |
121 |
½–½ |
Holden, Alan |
107 |
| 16 |
B |
Neil, Graham |
121 |
½–½ |
Pearson, Frank |
105 |
| |
|
|
|
8½–7½ |
|
|
Under 120
Report from Neil Graham
Notts Under 120 campaign started disastrously with a loss to Warwickshire, this was followed by further losses to Derbyshire &
Worcestershire.
We defaulted a board in the former match when a player forgot to turn up and were trounced in the latter. With 0/6 the position
looked desperate.
However wins in the next two matches against Staffordshire by a substantial margin and then Leicestershire left us with a final
match against Lincolnshire. The result of that match and the subsequent appeal have been well documented. Lincolnshire
unfortunately forgot the chess boards and were unable to replace them. The Nottinghamshire captain after consultation with the team
decided that the hand drawn boards, produced at the venue, were not fit for purpose and claimed the match. A decision to give the
match as 6-6 resulted in a meeting of the MCCU Disputes Committee where the decision was overturned and the match awarded to
Nottinghamshire 12-0. This resulted in a unique situation in that Leicestershire won the competition with 8/12 and Worcestershire
finished last on 4/12 with the remaining five counties finished in a tie on 6/12. Tiebreaks were then initiated with the result that
Notts and Warwickshire progressed. Had Notts carried forward their 9-3 loss against Worcestershire into the tiebreak rather than
their 9-3 win against Staffordshire the result would have been entirely different.
Nottinghamshire U120 - Leicestershire U120
10 March 2018
Bramcote, Nottingham
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
W |
Lavelle, Terry |
126 |
1-0 |
Busby, Michael |
119 |
| 2 |
B |
Serrano, Jose |
123 |
1-0 |
Barrie, Cooper |
118 |
| 3 |
W |
Clayton, Sam |
116 |
0-1 |
Corlett, Les |
99 |
| 4 |
B |
Gilpin, Ben |
112 |
0-1 |
Wilson, Andrew |
97 |
| 5 |
W |
Brown, Allan |
111 |
0-1 |
Raine, Ben |
110 |
| 6 |
B |
Garnett, Robert |
111 |
½–½ |
Worrow-Goodin, George |
106 |
| 7 |
W |
Wright, Joe |
108 |
½–½ |
Gulab, Vijay |
105 |
| 8 |
B |
Ward, Alex |
107 |
1-0 |
Gamble, David |
107 |
| 9 |
W |
Rodriguez, Alberto |
105 |
½–½ |
Mottram, Paul |
105 |
| 10 |
B |
Owusu, Clement |
104 |
1-0 |
Thornton, Mike |
104 |
| 11 |
W |
Morley, Stephen |
104 |
½–½ |
Oliver, John |
98 |
| 12 |
B |
Abrahart, Bob |
102 |
1-0 |
Hill, Granville |
105 |
| |
|
|
|
7-5 |
|
|
Nottinghamshire U120 - Staffordshire U120
17 February 2018
Bramcote, Nottingham
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
W |
Lavelle, Terry |
126 |
1-0 |
Leadbetter, Andrew |
118 |
| 2 |
B |
Serrano, Jose |
123 |
1-0 |
Gissi, Alberto |
112 |
| 3 |
W |
Clayton, Sam |
116 |
1-0 |
Wright, Nicholas |
112 |
| 4 |
B |
Allen, Patrick |
114 |
½–½ |
Alcock, Joe |
108 |
| 5 |
W |
Redburn, Barry |
110 |
½–½ |
Barker, David |
107 |
| 6 |
B |
Gilpin, Ben |
112 |
1-0 |
Jones, Simon |
104 |
| 7 |
W |
Garnett, Bob |
111 |
1-0 |
Hall, Robert A |
109 |
| 8 |
B |
Wright, Joe |
108 |
1-0 |
Guest, Paul |
98 |
| 9 |
W |
Rodriguez, Alberto |
105 |
1-0 |
Hull, Stuart |
98 |
| 10 |
B |
Ward, Alex |
107 |
1-0 |
Torbica, Danny |
95 |
| 11 |
W |
Abrahart, Bob |
102 |
0-1 |
Evans, Peter |
86 |
| 12 |
B |
El Khoury, Alexander |
103 |
0-1 |
Buckley, David |
85 |
| |
|
|
|
9-3 |
|
|
Worcestershire U120 - Nottinghamshire U120
3 February 2018
St John the Evangelist Church, Redditch
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
W |
Humphries, Jeremy |
114 |
½–½ |
Serrano, Jose |
123 |
| 2 |
B |
Cleak, David |
106 |
½–½ |
Garnett, Bob |
111 |
| 3 |
W |
Kirkland, Arnold |
104 |
½–½ |
Wright, Joe |
108 |
| 4 |
B |
Reed, Toni |
95 |
1-0 |
Ward, Alex |
107 |
| 5 |
W |
Taylor, Tony |
94 |
0-1 |
Rodriguez, Alberto |
105 |
| 6 |
B |
Hodkinson, Peter |
95 |
1-0 |
Owusu, Clement |
104 |
| 7 |
W |
Woodhouse, Monty |
100 |
1-0 |
Morley, Stephen |
104 |
| 8 |
B |
Collett, Richard |
107 |
1-0 |
Abrahart, Bob |
102 |
| 9 |
W |
Radford, Terry |
98 |
1-0 |
Gretton, Margaret |
96 |
| 10 |
B |
Allsop, Brian |
93 |
1-0 |
Kacprzak, Lukasz |
85 |
| 11 |
W |
Ward, Kevan |
77 |
1-0 |
Blampied, Dorothy |
UG |
| 12 |
B |
Hesketh, John |
71 |
½–½ |
Diamond, Josh |
26 |
| |
|
|
|
9-3 |
|
|
Nottinghamshire U120 - Derbyshire U120
20 January 2018
Bramcote, Nottingham
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
W |
Serrano, Jose |
114 |
0-1 |
Walker, Roger |
117 |
| 2 |
B |
Redburn, Barry |
112 |
½–½ |
Harrison, Ronald |
117 |
| 3 |
W |
Brown, Allan |
110 |
1-0 |
Boreham, Michael |
116 |
| 4 |
B |
Ward, Alex |
110 |
0-1 |
Harrison, Craig |
112 |
| 5 |
W |
Garnett, Bob |
109 |
1-0 |
Marshall, Nigel |
111 |
| 6 |
B |
Wright, Joe |
105 |
1-0 |
Holden, Alan |
107 |
| 7 |
W |
Default |
|
0-1 |
Cockburn, Andre |
105 |
| 8 |
B |
Morley, Stephen |
101 |
0-1 |
Bramley, Douglas |
105 |
| 9 |
W |
El Khoury, Alexander |
101 |
0-1 |
Loomes, Bert |
101 |
| 10 |
B |
Abrahart, Bob |
100 |
0-1 |
Fancourt, Leslie |
98 |
| 11 |
W |
Swanwick, Steve |
100 |
½–½ |
Samra, Mohinderpal |
82 |
| 12 |
B |
Gretton, Margaret |
92 |
½–½ |
Gibson, Martin |
71 |
| |
|
|
|
4½–7½ |
|
|
Nottinghamshire U120 - Warwickshire U120
11 November 2017
Bramcote, Nottingham
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
B |
Serrano, Jose |
114 |
½–½ |
Archibald, Warren |
118 |
| 2 |
W |
Jackson, Malcolm |
116 |
0-1 |
Green, John |
119 |
| 3 |
B |
Redburn, Barry |
112 |
½–½ |
Anderton, Robin A |
117 |
| 4 |
W |
Gilpin, Ben |
112 |
½–½ |
Weaver, Simon |
115 |
| 5 |
B |
Brown, Allan |
110 |
½–½ |
Oliver, Peter JR |
112 |
| 6 |
W |
Ward, Alex |
110 |
½–½ |
Kelly, Paul |
111 |
| 7 |
B |
Garnett, Bob |
109 |
½–½ |
Horsley, Dennis M |
106 |
| 8 |
W |
Morley, Stephen |
101 |
0-1 |
Zawadzki, Marek |
104 |
| 9 |
B |
Owusu, Clement |
101 |
½–½ |
Silverman, Paul |
102 |
| 10 |
W |
El Khoury, Alexander |
101 |
0-1 |
Sandhu, Manvith |
97 |
| 11 |
B |
Abrahart, Bob |
100 |
1-0 |
Stiff, Peter |
96 |
| 12 |
W |
Gretton, Margaret |
92 |
1-0 |
Shearsby, Jude |
86e |
| |
|
|
|
5½–6½ |
|
|
Under 100
Leicestershire U100 - Nottinghamshire U100
9 December 2017
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
| Board |
Colour |
|
Grade |
|
|
Grade |
| 1 |
B |
Corlett, Les |
99 |
1-0 |
Attwood, Charlotte |
98 |
| 2 |
W |
Oliver, John A |
98 |
½–½ |
Gretton, Margaret |
92 |
| 3 |
B |
Wilson, Andrew B |
97 |
0-1 |
Robinson, Edward |
90e |
| 4 |
W |
Khare, Anika M |
93 |
1-0 |
Heath, George |
90 |
| 5 |
B |
Gulab, Pankaj |
90 |
1-0 |
Arlachova, Alexandra |
88 |
| 6 |
W |
Blay, Thomas |
87 |
1-0 |
Groves, Alan |
88 |
| 7 |
B |
Roberts, Neil J |
85 |
1-0 |
Kacprzak, Lukasz |
86 |
| 8 |
W |
Haywood, Rory |
69 |
0-1 |
Chan, Kian |
77 |
| 9 |
B |
Meynell, Austin |
69 |
1-0 |
Hargreaves, Malcolm |
74 |
| 10 |
W |
Gordon, Stewart MJ |
62 |
0-1 |
Litherland, Jack |
72 |
| 11 |
B |
Muthusamy, Rakshai |
62 |
0-1 |
Meade, Alex |
61 |
| 12 |
W |
Wood, Brian |
58 |
1-0 |
Lyons, Ellie |
57e |
| |
|
|
|
7½–4½ |
|
|