Cannock Chess League
The over the board 2022-2023 season has started within the Staffordshire area, and in the Cannock Chess League there have been several matches within the last week. To see what has also happened in the Wolverhampton Chess League please read this article: https://www.chess.com/announcements/view/wolverhampton-chess-league
Some of you who are members of this group on chess.com might even recognise your own name in the following list of matches that have happened. If you have a comment about your match, a match report, or even the notation of the match that would be great if you could post it in the comments.
Cannock & District Chess League Division 1
Lichfield 1A v Rushall
On Monday 19th September Lichfield 1A played against Rushall. In a very close match Alex Pready got the only win on any of the four boards, as Rushall took the early lead in the top division of the league.
The full match card is as follows:
Lichfield 1A 1½-2½ Rushall
Board 1: Anthony J Green (1935A) ½ - ½ Steve Whatmore (1820A)
Board 2: Yuriy Slobodyuk (1726K) ½ - ½ John Staniforth (1817K)
Board 3: Lukasz Marcin Walijewski (1718K) 0-1 Alex D Pready (1788K)
Board 4: Ray Sawyer (1603A) ½ - ½ Adrian J Dibble (1489K)
Cannock & District Chess League Division 3
In Cannock & District Chess League Division 3 there were two matches within the last week.
Norton Canes v Lichfield 3B
On Tuesday 20th September Norton Canes played against Lichfield 3B. This match was drawn 2-2 as Lichfield 3B went to the top of the league, remaining unbeaten so far this season.
The full match card is as follows:
Norton Canes 2-2 Lichfield 3B
Board 1: Michael WA Hoare (1658K) 0-1 Brian Homewood (1653K)
Board 2: Fred Biles (1399K) ½ - ½ Stephen Smithson (1331K)
Board 3: Tom Trevena (1308K) ½ - ½ Samuel Skinner (1188K)
Board 4: Brian Jones (1168K) 1-0 Maurizio Baravalle (1003K)
Bushbury v Rushall
On Wednesday 21st September Bushbury went joint top of Cannock & District Chess League Division 3, as they won against Rushall 3½-½. Bushbury now take a bit of a break from Cannock Chess League action as their next match is against Stafford away on Thursday 24th November.
The full match card for Bushbury v Rushall was as follows:
Bushbury 3½-½ Rushall
Board 1: Ken Jones (1608P) 1-0 Stephen R Wilcox (1711K)
Board 2: Jeremy Whitehead (1420K) ½ - ½ Joseph Wilcox (1535K)
Board 3: Mick J Lloyd (1400K) 1-0 Peter Turner (1309K)
Board 4: David I Buckley (1257K) 1-0 David Gaskell (1188P)
Individual competitions
Robert Ward Trophy
The Cannock Chess League allows players from the clubs competing in the league to take part in individual competitions. The first-round draw for the Robert Ward trophy has been made with one game already been completed. The draw was as follows:
Chris M Cox (1579A) v Peter J R Oliver (1619A)
John Moughtin-Leay (1475K) v Steve Whatmore (1820A)
Stephen Gaskell (1499P) v Neill Harvey-Smith (1699P)
Kenneth J McNulty (1697K) 1-0 Philip Sykes (1721P)
Tony Preece (1850A) v Rory Melough (1506K)
Full point bye: Mircea-Marius Mesesan (2058K)
Well done to Ken for winning in the first round, and also good luck to the remaining players in the rest of the competition. Anyone who has lost in the first round can also enter the Robert Ward Plate competition.
Ray Dolan Trophy
The group stage for the Dolan Trophy has been drawn. This is a competition for players rated under 1,450 which was under 100 using the old ECF grading system. Each of the seven players in the competition has two group stage opponents, one they play as white, the other as black. The group stage draw is as follows:
Maurizio Baravalle v Ian Boddington
Ian Boddington v James Ross
Peter F K Evans v Samuel Skinner
Liam O'Connor v Stephen Smithson
James Ross v Liam O'Connor
Samuel Skinner v Maurizio Baravalle
Stephen Smithson v Peter F K Evans
Good luck to the players taking part in the tournament.
