2023 Season Round up
Herefordshire Worcestershire Shropshire enjoyed our best season to date in 2023, finishing as runners up in Division 1 of the County Championship. We won 8 out of our 9 matches but unfortunately just missed out on being champions, losing a tight match 13-15 against the eventual champions Buckinghamshire. Whilst it's disappointing losing out by such a small margin, the 44 of us who played for our club this season can still be proud of what we have achieved.
| Division One Table | Points | H2H | SB | Win % |
| Team Buckinghamshire | 16 | 1-0 | 65 | 55.14% |
| Herefordshire Worcestershire Shropshire | 16 | 0-1 | 58 | 63.40% |
| Team Surrey | 10 | 38 | 54.13% | |
| Munster | 8 | 1-0 | 24 | 53.31% |
| Team Sussex | 8 | 0-1 | 23 | 49.13% |
| London | 6 | 2 | 37 | 46.54% |
| Kent Checkmates | 6 | 2 | 31 | 53.23% |
| Somerset Wyvern | 6 | -2 | 14 | 46.59% |
| Norfolk Knights | 4 | 11 | 41.99% | |
| Team Hampshire | 2 | 8 | 37.28% |
We were eliminated by Lanarkshire in Round 2 of the cup. Our opponents were runaway winners of Division 2 and are in the Cup Final in a 41 board match, so likely to present a serious challenge for the Championship in 2024.
| Division 4 U16 Table | Points | H2H | SB | Win % |
| Aberdeenshire | 8 | 1-0 | 22 | 57.20% |
| Kent Checkmates | 8 | 0-1 | 20 | 61.11% |
| Derbyshire County Chess | 6 | 1 | 22 | 50.64% |
| Warwickshire County Chess | 6 | 1 | 16 | 47.87% |
| Herefordshire Worcestershire Shropshire | 6 | 1 | 14 | 44.17% |
| Team Surrey | 4 | 14 | 47.92% | |
| Team Connacht | 2 | 6 | 36.42% |
Our U1300 team finished 4th in their Division, narrowly missing out on a promotion spot
| Division 4 U13 Table | Points | H2H | SB | Win % |
| Aberdeenshire | 10 | 29 | 62.93% | |
| Devon Chess | 9 | ½-½ | 31 | 64.81% |
| Province of Ulster | 9 | ½-½ | 27 | 48.81% |
| Herefordshire Worcestershire Shropshire | 8 | 22 | 58.16% | |
| Team Gloucestershire | 7 | 22.5 | 47.83% | |
| Northern Knights | 5 | 17 | 39.29% | |
| Highlands and Islands Team | 4 | 14.5 | 40.48% | |
| Royal County of Berkshire | 2 | 5 | 30.61% |
Finally, we took part in the European Inter Regional Competition for the first time in 2023. We won 2 of our 3 matches but lost out to the German club Schachfreunde Sachsen in the group stage.
So, a record number of matches played in the season - 27 in total with 17 wins and 10 defeats in all competitions.
I will look to recruit more players to strengthen at all levels for the 2024 season, but if anyone reading this knows of any fellow chess players on chess.com who would like to play for us, then please let me know and I will get them an invite ahead of our first match which will be in December.
