Sunningdale Congress

Also currently taking place is the Sunningdale Congress. This one has 7 rounds over 4 days (1 round Friday, 2 each of the other days). Representing the south west in the open are GM Keith Arkell and Angelo Castruccio from Clifton, who is looking to gain a full rating from this event, I believe. Robert Thompson (Newton Abbott) and Neil Dunlop (Bath) are representing the south west in the major section, with John Symons (Salisbury) in the minor.

After 3 rounds Keith Arkell is on a perfect score, having defeated Paul Dupre (2055), Thomas Brown (2087), and Svetoslav Mihajlov (2117). Round 4 will bring Keith's first big test, as he has white against the Russian FM Alexei Slavin.

Angelo Castruccio is currently on 1.5/3. In the first round he lost against Alan Merry (unrated, but 2074 converted from his grade). He then bounced back with a win against Gareth Harley- Yeo (2046), before drawing with David Coates (2084). Next up for Angelo is Adrian Ociepka (2178). Given that Angelo's only loss so far was against an unrated player, his performance so far stands at a very impressive 2258.

Robert Thompson is doing very well so far in the major, with 2.5/3. He took a half point bye in the first round, and has beaten Anna Wang (1706 converted) and Alireza Manuchehri (1793) in rounds 2 and 3. Next up is Paul Jackson (1863).

Neil Dunlop currently stands on 1/3, although he has had a very unfortunate draw. In the first round he lost against 2nd seed, Vincent Saques (1977), before beating Dominic Pozzo (1558). In the third round Neil had to face the 9th seed, Christopher Kreuzer (1907), and lost. Neil's 4th round opponent is Anna Wang (1706 converted).

John Symons is on 1.5/3 so far. John took a bye in round 1, and then drew with Charlie Nettleton (121 grade) and Ed Magee (108). John's next opponent will be John Torrance (138).

43rd Cotswolds Congress

Should really have mentioned this one earlier in the week to give people a chance to enter late (apologies). Anyhow, the Cotswolds Congress is currently taking place in Cheltenham, and uses the bank holiday tomorrow to make it a 6 round tournament (2 rounds each day.) It's taking place at St. Edwards School, Cirencester Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham. GL53 8EY.

Other county national results

Thanks to the SCCU website for this. I've decided to group the other results together as they only have the bare match score, so I can't provide any details.

Minor: Gloucs 5.5- 10.5 Leics, Middlesex w/o Hants
U140: Hants 8.5-7.5 Kent

National County U-180, Devon 8-8 Surrey

Thanks to Bob Jones for this. For a full match report click on the title to this post, which links to the Keveral Chess site.

National U-180 25/5/10

Surrey Devon
1. S. McCullough 177 0-1 S. Homer 178
2. N. Cooper 178 0.5-0.5 D. Cowley 176
3. P. Stimpson 179 0.5-0.5 A. Brucey 175
4. J. Shepley 178 0.5-0.5 I. Jamieson 175
5. A. Punnett 173 0.5-0.5 T. Thynne 173
6. A. French 173 0-1 R. Thompson 170
7. D. Sedgwick 174 0.5-0.5 D. Regis 165
8. P. Archer 169 0-1 W. Ingham 166
9. N. Grey 157 0.5-0.5 J. Underwood 165
10. P. Barasi 162 1-0 S. Schofield 162
11. G. Marchant 164 0.5-0.5 P. Brooks 162
12. T. Jones 156 0.5-0.5 B. Gosling 159
13. I. Deswarte 161 1-0 A. Kidner 158
14. A. MacLeod 156 1-0 J. Gorodi 155
15. S. Wrigley 158 0.5-0.5 J. Allen 143
16. A. Waldock 150 0.5-0.5 R. Jones 140

8-8 (Devon won on board count)

A fine result for Devon, who now go on to play the winner of Warwickshire v Lancs.

Jonathan Latham

Jonathan Latham passed away at home on Tuesday 18th May 2010.

Jonathan was a very active player in the west country playing for Clevedon in the Bristol League, Weston in the Somerset League and regularly playing for his County, Somerset. In fact he played earlier this month at the Frome Congress and scored a recent win for Somerset against Hampshire. Many players in the Bristol League and beyond would have got to know Jonathan over the years including myself. He always found the time to stop for a chat and was very considerate and helpful to others and will undoubtedly be a great loss to his family and friends.

Funeral to be held at Church of St John the Baptist, Axbridge, Somerset - Wednesday 2nd June 12 PM - ( Wake at Weston Golf Club )

www.stjohnthebaptistaxbridge.org.uk

The above was copied across from the chessit.co.uk site.

Entrants to other tournaments at the British Championships

There are plenty of other tournaments besides the Championships themselves, and here is a list of the people south-west based who have entered one or more of them. Again, if I've missed anyone let me know.

British Senior Championship:
Ivor Annetts
Gillian Moore

British U180 Championship:
Trefor Thynne

British U120 Championship:
Alfred Bullock

British U16 Championship:
Freddie Sugden

5 Day Open AM Week 2:
Trefor Thynne

Weekender Yates- U125:
Freddie Sugden

1st Rapidplay Sunday 25th July:
Trefor Thynne
Freddie Sugden

1nd Rapidplay Sunday 1st August:
Dominic Mackle

South-west British Championship qualifiers

I'm not sure if the list on the official site is entirely up- to- date, so let me know if I miss anyone. Here are the people south-west based or born who have qualified for the 2010 British Championships so far, along with how they got there:

Michael Adams (Rated over 2350)
Keith Arkell (Rated over 2350)
James Cobb (Rated over 2350)
Rhys Cumming (Major Open 2009)
Andrew Greet (Rated over 2350)
Gary Lane (Rated over 2350)
Dominic Mackle (Torbay Congress)
Peter Poobalasingam (Uxbridge International Rating over 2350)
Jack Rudd (British Championship 2009)
Matthew Turner (Rated over 2350)
Peter Wells (Rated over 2350)
Paul Helbig (WECU Congress)
Arturo Wong (Frome Congress)

Olympiad teams.

A quick note to congratulate Bristol University student Sarah Hegarty on being selected for the 2010 women's Olympiad team. The Olympiad takes place between 19th September and 4th October, in Khanty- Mansiysk, Russia. For anyone who, like me, thought "where the heck is Khanty- Mansiysk?", I've included a link to its Wikipedia page in the title to this post.

Sunday Chess in Bath

I've copied the following from an email I received from Christopher Lamming, who runs this event. The title to this post links to photos from last year's sessions.

This year, the sessions will run from 2-430ish, fortnightly starting last Sunday (9th May), and until the end of September. The idea is to give people the chance to play in a different environment to that which they may associate with chess. My thoughts are that there are a lot of players out there who are put off by the usual style of chess club (school room, quiet, serious etc) and that given the right opportunity, will really enjoy a game in the right surroundings. Last year, this proved fairly correct, as we had no shortage of locals and tourists, men and women, young and old, stopping to play or just to watch.

Maybe see you there sometime for a game!

Chipping Sodbury Rapidplay results

Thanks to Joey Stewart for posting the results up on the ECForum, which I've copied across to here.

Open:
1st= Jim Sherwin (Bath) 5/6
1st= Joey Stewart (Gloucester) 5/6

Grading Prize for best under 170:
John Jenkins (Stroud) 3/6
Dr Ian Bourne (No Club) 3/6

Under 150:
1st= B.Hunt (Cardiff) 5/6
1st= Duncan MacArthur (Keynsham) 5/6

Grading Prize:
Tom Thorpe (Downend) 4/6

Junior Prize:
A. KALAIYALAHAN 2/6

Bristol League, Cup, final standings

Continuing my round- up of league and cup final standings from around the south west, today I'm going to report on the Bristol Leagues.

There are 4 divisions in the Bristol Leagues. Div's 1, 2 have 9 teams each, Div. 3 has 10 teams, and Div. 4, 11. with each team playing each other twice over the course of the season. There are 2 teams promoted and 2 teams relegated from each league.

In Division 1 Clifton A continued their recent domination, with 31 match points meaning they dropped just one draw en route to winning the league. Trailing 5 points back in second place were Bath. In a close group from 4th- 6th were Horfield A (18 points), Downend A (17), Clifton B (15), and Clevedon A (14). Downend B were next, 11 points being enough to fairly comfortably see them clear of relegation. The 2 teams that were relegated were Horfield B (7), and University A (3).

In Division 2 it was a very close run race for first place, with Thornbury (26), edging out South Bristol by a single point. Nevertheless, both clubs will be playing in Division 1 next season. 3 points back were Clifton C, followed by Horfield C (16), Bath B (14), and Grendel (13). It was incredibly tight between the 3 teams battling to avoid the 2 relegation places, and in the end 1 point was the difference between the 3. Hanham A just avoided relegation with 10 points, ahead of Keynsham A (9), and Clevedon B (9).

Division 3 featured a runaway winner, with Bath University scoring the maximum 34 points from the 17 matches played so far. Certainly a team boasting Chris Dorrington (grade 217), Peter Poobalasingam (197), and James Jackson (194) is going to be a tough test for any team in the Bristol League. Taking the 2nd promotion spot were Yate A, who took 24 points from their 18 matches. In third place were Downend C (20 points), and then followed Clifton D, Hanham B, and Cabot (all on 17). At the bottom of the table South Bristol B (12) have definitely avoided relegation, whilst Harambee A (11 from 15 matches), just need a single match point from their remaining 3 matches to guarantee another season in Div. 3. Which leaves Patchway (10) confirmed as relegated, whilst Keynsham B (9 from 17 matches) need to win their final match and hope other results go their way to have any chance of avoiding relegation.

Division 4 is slightly different from the other 3 in that teams comprise of only 4 players rather then 6. This means that it's quite possible for teams to decline the offer of promotion, finding it easier/ preferable to have a team of 4 players rather then 6.

With most teams still having some games left to play, the exact final places are still to be determined. Definitely finishing first are Yate B, who with one match left to play are 6 points clear of 2nd place, on 34 points. Currently 2nd and 3rd respectively are Horfield D (28 points from 19 matches), and University B (24 points from 19 matches). They could both be caught, however, by the team currently in 4th place. Nailsea are currently on 23 points from 16 matches, and a good end of season run could see them in promotion contention. Downend D are definitely 5th, with 21 points from all of their matches. Below that the positions are still very much undecided. Downend E have 18 points from 20 matches, Downend F 17 from 19, Pete's Potential 14 from 17, Harambee 8 from 14. So potentially any of those teams could still finish 5th. Occuping the bottom 2 places at the moment are Hanham C with 3 points from 17 matches, and UWE with 1 point from 12 matches.

The Bristol League Knockout Cup, which is played over 8 boards, was won for the second year in a row by Bath. Playing as a combined Bath and Bath University team, they defeated Clifton in the final 4.5-3.5.

In the Minor Knockout Cup, which is played over 6 boards, South Bristol drew 3-3 with Grendel in the final, with the board count tie break being favourable to South Brisol.

Frome Congress, games from the open.

A quick note- the games from the open at the Frome Congress, along with some photographs, can be viewed on the Bristol Chess website. Clicking on the title to this post takes you straight there.

Frome Congress, results

Thanks to Gerry Jepps for sending me this. The title to this page links to the Frome Congress home page, which has full results from each section.

2010 Results

On May 7th to 9th the Twenty First Frome Chess Congress was held at Selwood Middle School. 155 players entered and winners were:

Open :-

First: (4/5) James Sherwin (Bath) Arturo Wong (Chard & Ilminster)
Third (3.5/5) Allan Pleasants (Weymouth)

British Championship Qualifying Place Arturo Wong (Reserve Allan Pleasants)


Major (U170):-

First (4.5/5) John Footner (Telford)
Second (4/5) Roger Greatorex (Llangollen)
Third (3.5/5) Thomas Anderson (Southampton) Steve Dean (Sidmouth)
Raymond Gamble (Spondon) Alan Papier (Bristol & Clifton)
Stephen Williams (Colchester)
U146 Grading Christopher Leeson (Weymouth)
Prize (3/5)


Intermediate (U140):-

First (4.5/5) David Woodruff (Keynsham)
Second (4/5) Paul Errington (Bournemouth) Stanislaw Guziewicz (Poland)
E. Barry Sandercock (Buckinghamshire)
U126 Grading Peter Bending (Cheltenham)
Prize (3.5/5)

Minor (U115):-

First (5/5) Alan Evans (Sportsman Club, Kent)
Second (4.5/5) Brian Aldwin (Exeter)
Third (4/5) John Leon (Bath) Norman Mackie (Wimborne)
U91 Grading Thomas Thorpe (Pete’s Potentials) Alec Shute (Bath)
Prize (3.5/5) Chris Cheeseman (Sportsman, Kent)

Somerset Trophies

Denys Bonner (Highest placed Somerset player in the Open): James Sherwin (Bath)
Leon York Memorial (Highest placed Somerset player in the Major): Stephen Williams (Colchester)
Roy Hossell (Highest placed Somerset player in the Intermediate): David Woodruff (Keynsham)
Cyril Chapman (Highest placed Somerset player in the Minor): John Leon (Bath)
Jean Mackereth (Highest placed ungraded Somerset player in the Minor) Peter Horne (Norton Radstock)
Cuprinol Trophy (Highest scoring West of England Junior in any section): Thomas Thorpe (Pete’s Potentials) 3.5/5 in the Minor (on tie break with Alec Shute of Bath)

Team Competition

Sportsman Club (Kent)

League/ County Association AGMs

In the near future most, if not all, leagues and county chess asociations will be having AGMs. Here are the ones I'm currently aware of. If I make inaccuracies, or miss any off of this list let me know and I'll update it.

WECU Council Meeting:
This is a private meeting, but I’m mentioning it here to encourage anyone who wishes an issue to be raised at said meeting to contact their WECU Delegates before the 5th June.

Both the North Gloucs. (League) AGM, and the Gloucs. AGM are not confirmed at this stage, but provisionally here are the details:

The North Gloucs. (League) AGM is scheduled for 10th Sept. and to be held at British Energy, Barnwood, Gloucester.

The Gloucs AGM is scheduled for July (specific date not fixed), and to be held at the Stagecoach Inn, Newport, Gloucs.

Wiltshire County Chess Association AGM:
Afraid I missed the boat on informing people about this one- it took place on May 11th.

Bristol League AGM:
Thursday 27th May, Filton Sports & Leisure Centre.
Note: All motions need to be with the League Secretary by May 13th. He can be reached on rwilliams@hanhamchess.co.uk

Somerset County Chess Association AGM:
Mon. 7th June, The Tor Leisure Centre, Glastonbury, starting at 7.30pm. I'm afraid if you're looking to submit a motion you've left it too late now, they needed to have been submitted by 30th April.

Devon County Chess Association AGM:
Friday 11th June. I couldn’t find any more information, but I’ve emailed several people within the DCCA, so hopefully I can come back to this with full details in the near future

Torbay League AGM:
Weds. 16th June, held at Torquay Boys' Grammar School, Torquay, starting at 7pm.

Dorset County Chess Association AGM:
Weds. 2nd June, held at Poole ex- Servicemen’s Club, Southbourne, starting at 7.30pm

Cornwall County Chess Association AGM:
I couldn’t find any information on this, but I’ve emailed several people within the CCCA, so hopefully I can come back to this with full details in the near future.

29th Cotswolds Chess Congress

The 29th Cotswold Chess Congress takes place on the bank holiday weekend of 29th- 31st of May. It's played over 6 rounds, and is held at St. Edward's School, in Cheltenham. For more information click on the title to this post, which links to an entry form.

Torbay Herald Express Chess Column, April

Thanks to John Doidge for writing this article, and both himself and the Torbay Herald Express for giving me permission to publish it here. The title to this post links to the Torbay Herald Express home page.

With the chess season drawing to a close, the Torbay final leagues are beginning to take shape.

In Division 1 Newton Abbot cannot be overtaken and have won the main trophy with a five-point margin over Teignmouth and Torquay. The Boys’ Grammar School, for the first time, entered a team in the top division and, whilst their season ended with only one draw to show for their labours, at times they played some excellent chess and if the team can be kept together should do well next year.

Plymouth are the new champions of Division 2 and a final emphatic win over the Grammar School ensured the cup would be travelling to the city. Newton Abbot also had a fine season and finished in a very creditable second place with Teignmouth, South Hams and Torquay not too far behind.

With one match to go it looks as if the Newton Abbot Pawns will get the Division 3 title. The Plymouth Tigers, having got a 2-2 draw at Newton Abbot, are equal with the Pawns on 10 points each but the Pawns still have a game to play against Torquay and just a draw will ensure they will finish as winners.

Torquay with Newton Abbot in second place has won the Rapidplay tournament after a late winning run.

The final of the Knockout Cup will between Teignmouth and Torquay and will take place on 4th May.

An extremely fine day was held at Teignmouth for their annual Rapidplay Tournament. Attracting competitors from many parts of the south of England, the event was superbly organised by Ray Chubb and his colleagues at the Teignmouth Club. The overall winner was one of the top players, Ben Edgell of Sedgemoor, but Peter Halmkin of the local club was successful with a grading prize.

Charles Keen of the Exeter Club won the Major tournament, but John James (Plymouth) and Freddie Sugden (Newton Abbot) were successful with grading prizes.

A junior tournament also took place at the same time that attracted many schools from as far away as Bude and the best local player to achieve a grading prize was John Fraser (Torquay Boys’ Grammar School) in the Under 11 tournament.

As reported last month, the Grammar School had played well to beat Millfield School in the Schools Championship. They were then drawn to play one of the top teams in the country, Wellington School, but were beaten by 4.5 to 1.5. To get this far in the competition was a feather in the Grammar School’s hat and they can be proud of their efforts.

One of the players missing from the Teignmouth event was one of their top players Alan Brusey. He was playing for HM Revenue and Customs in a very big tournament at Nottingham. The opposition was one of the best in the country but Alan did extremely well to finish with 8 points from his 11 games.

The final of the Devon County Chess Association major tournament, the Peter Rooke Trophy, was held at Tiverton and resulted in Newton Abbot retaining the cup they had won for the first time in 2009. The match finished in a 4-4 draw but a board count brought the cup to the visitors.

In other County events, Newton Abbot has won the prestigious Bremridge Cup with Teignmouth in second place. Exmouth has won the Mamhead Cup but Newton Abbot did well to finish in third place just behind Tiverton.

Newton Abbot has also won the Schofield Cup although Tiverton and Teignmouth finished with the same number of points. Again, numbers of games won throughout the season brought the cup to Newton Abbot.

Teignmouth have had another fine season both in the Torbay and County matches, and their win in the Moyle Cup brought a well-earned trophy to the club.

Newton Abbot won the Bloodworth Cup with the Grammar School Bishops just two points behind.

The individual championship has reached an interesting stage with Dominic Mackle (Newton Abbot) in top position with 7 points, with Alan Brusey (Teignmouth) just 2 points behind but having played a game more. There are a lot of games to be played and the winner will probably not be known until mid-summer.

In the Intermediate competition, the two Teignmouth players, Peter Halmkin and Bill Ingham, have dominated this. Halmkin, however, has a game in hand and a win over Ivor Annenetts of Tiverton will give him the trophy.

Freddie Sugden (Newton Abbot) has won the Minor competition with a better game score than Stephen Thorpe-Tracey (Tiverton). Remembering that Sugden is still playing in under 16 year old tournaments, his success in this tournament is to be applauded especially when one realises he was also playing against strong opposition from the Plymouth player, Tony Tatam and Teignmouth’s John Arriss.

The British Championships are being held in Canterbury this year and known competitors taking part in August are the Newton Abbot team of Dominic Mackle, Trefor Thynne, Alex Billings and Freddie Sugden. We wish them well.

The Diamond Jubilee Congress will be held at Paignton from 5th to 11th September. Further details will be given next month.

Somerset Leagues, Cup, final standings.

Continuing my round up of the final standings of the many leagues and cup competitions from around the south-west, today I'm focussing on the Somerset Leagues.

In the Somerset Cup, the winners were Glastonbury, who defeated Taunton 4.5-3.5 in the final. http://www.westcountrychess.blogspot.com/2010/03/somerset-cup.html contains the Taunton report on the final, and also a link to the Glastonbury report.

In Division 1, Taunton were the runaway winners with 13 points from 8 matches (6 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss). The last 2 matches to be played were both Frome- Taunton (with one being postponed from earlier in the season). At the time Frome were on 8 points, with Taunton 1 ahead on 9. Taunton convincingly won both matches 5-1 to win the league. Frome finished 2nd with 8 points, ahead of Yeovil on 7, Glastonbury 6, and Sedgemoor 4.

Division 2 has a rule that allows teams to only play 1 person graded over 165 in each match.

Division 2 East featured only 4 teams, and was won by Trowbridge. Their only points dropped all season was a default loss against Norton Radstock. Trowbridge finished on 10 points from 6 matches. Behind them were Frome and Norton Radstock, both of whom scored 6 points, and Bath on 2.

Division 2 West had 6 teams entering this year, and was won by Sedgemoor on 16 points (7 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss). They were closely followed by Yeovil on 13 points and Taunton on 12. Quite a way back were Wellington (7), Glastonbury (6), and Chard & Illminster (6).

Division 3 is split into 3 areas (East, Central, & West). There are only 4 players in each team in these leagues. The grading rules for this league are no-one graded over 145 may play, and the team must average no more then 125 per board.

In Division 3 East there were 4 teams, and the winning team here were Bath. They finished on 9 points (4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss.) Close behind were Norton Radstock with 7. Trowbridge finished on 5 points, and Frome 3.

In Division 3 Central there were 4 teams, and Glastonbury emerged as winners. They scored 9 points (3 wins, 3 draws) to leave them 2 points clear of Gillingham in 2nd,and 3 clear of Frome. Yeovil C brought up the rear with 2 points.

In Division 3 West there were 7 teams, and Glastonbury once again triumphed here. They finished with a very impressive record of 7 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss (18 points), to finish 2 points clear of Weston B in 2nd. Further down the table Wellington finished on 14, Weston A 13, Chard/Illminster 11, Taunton 6, Sedgemoor 6

Sunday Chess in Bath

This Sunday sees the start of Sunday Chess in Bath, which I believe (from the pictures) involves a giant chess set and several smaller chess sets set up just outside Bath Abbey, which are open to be used by the public. It all starts at 2pm, and for more information contact Chris Lamming, en2cpgl@bath.ac.uk

Chipping Sodbury Rapidplay

Sunday 15th May is the Chipping Sodbury Rapidplay, held at Stanshawe Court Hotel, Stanshawe Court Drive, Yate, Bristol. BS37 4EA. There are 3 sections: Open, u165, and u130. The first round begins at 11.00, the last at 17.00. The entry fee is £15, which includes a light buffet lunch, and the prizes are £40 for 1st, and £20 for 2nd in each section.

For an entry form just click on the title to this post, which links directly to it.

Bristol League Cup final

Bath eventually emerged victorious in last night's Bristol League Cup final, 4.5-3.5. This page links to the Bristol Chess website, where full results, the games from the match, photos, and a match report all feature.

Clifton Bath
1. w James Cobb 0.5-0.5 Chris Dorrington
2. Andy Pickering 0-1 James Sherwin
3. Gareth Morris 1-0 David Buckley
4. Dominic Bennett 0.5-0.5 James Jackson
5. David Collier 0.5-0.5 Ben Edgell
6. John Curtis 0.5-0.5 Oliver Schofield
7. Angelo Castruccio 0.5-0.5 Andrew Gregory
8. John Waterfield 0-1 Adam Stirling
3.5-4.5

Coaching in Devon

In a previous post I commented about the lack of coaches in the south-west. I'm pleased to mention that Grandmaster and former English Champion, Keith Arkell, is currently resident in Paignton, and happy to provide coaching for anyone interested.

keitharkell@gmail.com

is Keith's email ,and he's also on Facebook, for any enquiries.

Bristol League Cup final

This evening sees Clifton play host to Bath in the Bristol League Cup final, held at The Polish Club, St Paul's Rd, Clifton. Last year's final featured the same 2 teams and went right down to the wire, with Bath winning by a single point. I'll post the result of this match up either tommorow or Friday.

4ncl final standings, Div.3

The full Div.3 results for 4ncl are now up on the website (which the title to this post links to). Here's how the south-west teams fared:

Wessex 2:

Rd.9: Beat Sussex Smart Controls 4-2
Rd.10: Drew with e2e4.org.uk 2 3-3
Rd.11: Beat Warwickshire Select 2 3.5-2.5

A tremendous last weekend effort, which sadly wasn't quite rewarded. Wessex 2 finished on 15 match points, with 7 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses. This saw them finish 4th= (the final promotion spot.) with Cambridge University 2. Unfortunately the tie- break (number of game points), favoured Cambridge, and so Wessex finished 1 place outside of promotion.

Gloucestershire Gambits:

Rd.9: Drew with Iceni 3-3
Rd.10: Lost against The Full Ponty 2.5-3.5
Rd.11: Lost against Nottinghamshire 2 2-4

A poor last weekend for Gloucs. saw them slip quite a way down the table to finish 19th of 32 teams, with a record of 4 wins, 2 draws, 5 losses, 10 match points.

Bristol 2:

Rd.9: Beat Beauty and the Beasts 4.5-0.5 (B & B lost 1 game point for a default)
Rd.10: Beat Guersney Mates 4-2
Rd.11: Lost against Sussex Smart Controls 2.5-3.5

A decent last weekend for Bristol 2, which sees them finish 20th with a record of 4 wins, 2 draws, 5 losses, 10 match points.

Bristol 3:

Rd.9: Beat Oxford 3 4.5-1.5
Rd.10: Drew with Beauty and the Beasts 2.5-2.5 (B&B lost 1 game point for a default)
Rd.11: Lost against the Braille Chess Association 1-5

An impressive last weekend for Bristol 3 that caps an excellent season. Despite having the lowest average rating of any team in div.3 this weekend, they've come away with 50% for the 3 matches, and finish in 23rd place. Their record for the season is 3 wins, 2 draws, 6 losses.

Tiverton 3 Exeter 1 (Exeter & DL Div. 3)

Thanks to Ivor Annetts for sending me the following match report. The title to this post links to the Tiverton Club website, which, amongst other things, has photos to accompany this match report.

Although Tiverton beat Exeter 3-1 in the last match of the season on Wednesday 28 April, had the visitors been aware of the 'two minute rule' the match would have been drawn 2-2. Two Exeter players failed to claim draws when they were able to do so. (The two minute rule enables a player with less than two minutes on his clock to claim a draw if his opponent is either unable, or is making no effort, to win by normal means.)

On paper the visitors were the stronger team, outgrading the home team by 10 points on board one and by 16 points on board four.

On board four Youesef Ehtesham (Exeter, White) gained an overwhelming advantage over Tiverton's Richard Watkins but his flag fell before he was able to mate his opponent.

On board three, Alan Brinkley (Tiverton) reached a level rook and pawn endgame against Brian Aldwin. But Brian chased the enemy king round the board and eventually forced a mate.

John Knowles (Tiverton) played a very good game against Ray Shepherd. He won the exchange, converted it to a piece and the game culminated in a king-hunt with John nicely executing the final moves.

Derek Allen (Tiverton) on board two reached a middle game position a piece up but with his opponent, Richard Scholes, having three extra pawns. Derek looked to have things under control but with less than 10 minutes on his clock - 8 more than his opponent! - he dropped a piece and his opponent was then in a winning position. Fortunately for Derek, and Tiverton, Richard's flag fell before he was able to capitalise on his advantage.

4ncl final standings, Div.2

At the time of writing this the final Div.3 tables weren't up on the 4ncl website, so I can only inform you of how the south- west teams in Div.2 did at the final 4ncl weekend. The title to this post links to the 4ncl website, which has the full results for all of the teams in the top 2 divisions, and will shortly have the Div.3 results posted as well.

Bristol 1:

Rd. 9: lost against Anglian Avengers 4.5-3.5
Rd. 10: beat White Rose 2 5-3
Rd. 11: lost against Brown Jack 4.5-3.5

So Bristol finished on 9 points in the relegation pool. They finished equal third, but also equal on points with White Rose 2, who finished in the final relegation place. My understanding is that they've avoided relegation on tie- break, although that's still to be confirmed.

Wessex 1:

Rd. 9: beat Celtic Tigers 1 4.5-3.5
Rd. 10: beat FCA 1 5-3
Rd. 11: beat Guildford A&DC 3 6-2

An excellent final weekend performance from Wessex. 3 wins from the 3 final matches saw them finish on 10 points in the relegation pool, and they'll be playing chess in Div. 2 again next season.

Brown Jack:

Rd. 9: beat FCA 1 6-2
Rd. 10: lost against Celtic Tigers 1 5.5-2.5
Rd. 11: beat Bristol 1 4.5-3.5

Unfortunately for Brown Jack 2 wins from the final 3 matches wasn't enough to save them from relegation to Div.3. They finished on 7 points, one off bottom.