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Last update:
Friday July 22, 2005 14:26
County Championships 2004/5
Cyril Johnson reports:
The
County Championships returned to the first venue used by the retiring Controller,
to a large, well appointed Sports Hall, with room to walk between all the boards.
Lancashire and Manchester contested the Open Championship, with the Mancunians
retaining their trophy by 11-5, with Harry Lamb winning the Best Game Prize
for his win on board 16. The Minor Counties Championship saw Derbyshire make
a rare Finals appearance, but lose 9-7 to defending Champions Norfolk. The U175
were without their defending Championships, but Devon were worthy winners on
the day against another Lancashire team by 9½ to 6½.
The U150s saw the closest finish of the day, with the retiring controller
watching two adjacent boards on which a player had claimed a draw under Article
10.2 Both games were drawn, leaving a drawn match with Notts the winners over
Norfolk on board count.
Lancashire were successful in the U125s beating Middlesex 11-5. The U100s
saw Essex win against another county who do not often grace the finals, Staffordshire.
The Bursar of the College, Mr Andrew Nutter, presented the prizes, with the
assistance of Roy Heppinstall, the BCF CEO. The Director of Home Chess made
an impassioned plea for someone to take over the running of this event. Thanks
were expressed to the controlling team, Messrs Shaw, Elwin and Cresswell and
to the Browns of Sharnford who assisted with the compiling of results.
Photograhs from the Finals - by Gilbert Podor
Chess
players aged from 8 to 75 gathered at Syston Church Hall for no less than 3
county matches. Peter Cresswell's U100 B team, comprised mainly of youngsters
gaining experience faced the strongest team in the Midlands, Staffordshire,
and duly lost 11½ -½ . Peter was very philosophical about the
result, as all of his players were heavily out-rated. Many of the Staffordshire
team were congratulating themselves on getting out of close games with undeserved
wins. Next year, several of this team will be playing for higher teams using
the experience gained. Andrew Johnson, making his debut was the sole scorer.
Julie Johnson expected a hard match with her U100 A team against Warwickshire,
and went into a quick 2 -0 lead. Then things went wrong, with pieces being left
en prise, draws being missed and the final result of 3½ - 8½ surprised
everyone. Wins by Ron King, Rob Stone, Gary Compton and a draw by Stan Parsons
were just not enough.
Saturday
also saw the match for the Midlands Championship at U175 level with Northamptonshire,
who turned up full of expectation after a close match last year. A much stronger
home team tore into the visitors, going 2-0 up after an hour, losing just one
game and that was where a late substitute had to come in, with a major time
penalty. Wins by John Robinson, Graham Sharpe, Otto Hardy, John Simpson, Dave
Farrall, Jim Miller, Bruce Denton, John Pattinson, Steve Wylie, Cyril Johnson
and David Crane with draws by John Dawkins, Gerald Botteley, John Glover and
Iain Dodds saw the county achieve a record score in a full match of 13-3, and
gain a seeded place in the National County Finals.
®
The
County Championships returned to the first venue used by the retiring Controller,
to a large, well appointed Sports Hall, with room to walk between all the boards.
Chess
players aged from 8 to 75 gathered at Syston Church Hall for no less than 3
county matches. Peter Cresswell's U100 B team, comprised mainly of youngsters
gaining experience faced the strongest team in the Midlands, Staffordshire,
and duly lost 11½ -½ . Peter was very philosophical about the
result, as all of his players were heavily out-rated. Many of the Staffordshire
team were congratulating themselves on getting out of close games with undeserved
wins. Next year, several of this team will be playing for higher teams using
the experience gained. Andrew Johnson, making his debut was the sole scorer.
Saturday
also saw the match for the Midlands Championship at U175 level with Northamptonshire,
who turned up full of expectation after a close match last year. A much stronger
home team tore into the visitors, going 2-0 up after an hour, losing just one
game and that was where a late substitute had to come in, with a major time
penalty. Wins by John Robinson, Graham Sharpe, Otto Hardy, John Simpson, Dave
Farrall, Jim Miller, Bruce Denton, John Pattinson, Steve Wylie, Cyril Johnson
and David Crane with draws by John Dawkins, Gerald Botteley, John Glover and
Iain Dodds saw the county achieve a record score in a full match of 13-3, and
gain a seeded place in the National County Finals.