Six England teams comprising 26 players gathered for the European Senior Team Chess Championship in Dresden, Germany. The six teams are as follows –
England 50+ 1: 1. Mark Hebden 2. Keith Arkell 3. John Emms 4. Glenn Flear 5. Chris Baker
England 50+ 2: 1. Steve Dishman 2. Andy Lewis 3. Clive Frostick 4. Bob Noyce 5. Natasha Regan
England 50+ 3: 1. Phil Crocker 2. Peter Hassan 3. Brian Valentine 4. Ray Tarling
England 65+ 1: 1. Peter Large 2. Andrew Martin 3. Nigel Povah 4. Richard Britton
England 65+ 2: 1. Stephen Orton 2. Ian Reynolds 3. David Tucker 4. Roger Scowen
England 65+ 3: 1. Steve Williams 2. Colin Costello 3. Tim Spanton 4. Bob Kane
Official website — https://www.schachfestival.de/aktuelles/24th-european-senior-team-championship-2022.html
October 27th – Round 1
The England 50+ 1 and 2 teams both had convincing victories, with the former winning 4-0 against Graz and the latter winning 3.5-0.5 against SK Heidenau U50. England 50+ 3 lost 0.5-3.5 against a strong Austria team.
England 65+ 1 beat a useful Sweden 2 team 3-1, in which all of the games were hard-fought. England 65+ 2 lost 3.5-0.5 to Finland with Ian Reynolds getting a commendable draw on board two against someone rated over 150 points above him. England 3 went down 3-1 against Austria 65 with Tim Spanton scoring a good win against someone nearly 200 points above him.
October 28th – Round 2
A fantastic day for England as all six teams win! The England 50+ 1 team continued with their second 4-0 victory against Deutsche Bahn 1 and England 2 beat Belgium 2 by 2.5-1.5, whilst England 50+ 3 beat Lichtenstein by 3-1. So England 1 and 2 are both on maximum points after two rounds.
England 65+ 1 beat Kosovo by 2.5-1.5 and England 65+ 2 beat a Dutch team called Oranje by 3.5-0.5, whilst England 3 registered the same score against a higher-rated team called USV TU Dresden.
So today England players scored an impressive 19 points from 24 games!
October 29th – Round 3
Back down to earth, with a dose of reality. The England 50+ 1 team managed a well-earned 2.5-1.5 victory over a decent Germany team, who were seeded fourth, thanks to Mark Hebden securing his third victory in a row on top board. England 2 lost 0.5-3.5 to Slovakia, the third seeds, with Steve Dishman getting a creditable draw against GM Ftacnik and very nearly beating him. England 50+ 3 lost 1.5-2.5 to Germany Women 1, who were slightly higher rated .
England 65+ 1 had a 2-2 draw with Finland, with all four games being drawn in a very even match. England 65+ 2 lost to Iceland 65 by 2.5-1.5, whilst England 3 lost by the same score to SV Dresden-Striesen.
So, only England’s top teams in each section avoiding defeat and both remain in contention.
October 30th – Round 4
The England 50+ 1st team maintained their 100% record with another 2.5-1.5 victory over a strong Berlin 1 team, thanks to a win from John Emms. England 2 won by the same margin against Germany Women 1 and England 3 won by 3-1 against Schwarzwald 50, so a good day for the three England 50+ teams.
England 65+ 1 lost 1.5-2.5 against the third seeds Germany 3, in what was again a very close match. England 65+ 2 beat BSV Chemie Radebeul 65 by 3-1, whilst England 3 drew 2-2 with SK 2012 Danmark.
October 31st – Round 5
The England 50+ 1st team made it five consecutive victories with an impressive 3-1 victory over a strong Slovakia team, thanks to wins from Keith Arkell and John Emms. England 2 drew 2-2 with a German team called Graal-Muritz/Teterow and England 3 also drew 2-2 against an Austrian team from Graz.
England 65+ 1 beat Siebenlehner SV by 3-1, thanks to wins from Peter Large and Nigel Povah. England 65+ 2 lost to Kosovo by the score 3-1, whilst England 3 lost to Ireland by the same score.
November 1st – Round 6
The England 50+ 1st team had a convincing 3.5-0.5 win against Austria to further consolidate their position as sole leaders with 12 match points and 19.5 game points. England 2 lost by the same score to Germany, whilst England 3 beat a local team Grun-Weiss Dresden by 3-1, thanks to wins from Brian Valentine (his first in 50+ Seniors chess in 20 years!) and Ray Tarling, both of whom were well out-rated.
England 65+ 1 drew 2-2 with SC Eppingen, whilst England 65+ 2 lost to Koninklijke DD by 2.5-1.5, as did England 3 to Deutsche Bahn 2. England 65+ 1 are lying in joint 6th, three match points behind the leaders but with three rounds still to play, they still have a chance of getting into the medals if they can have a strong finish.
November 2nd – Round 7
The England 50+ 1st team had another convincing 3.5-0.5 win against Sweden North as did England 2 who beat ESV Eberswalde by the same score. England 3 drew 2-2 with Graal-Muritz Teterow. So England 1 remain 2 match points ahead of the field and they also have 3 extra game points so they are in a commanding position, with 23 game points out of a possible 28.
England 65+ 1 lost 2.5-1.5 to Sweden and England 65+ 2 drew 2-2 against Schwarzwald 65, whilst England 3 had a resounding 4-0 victory over Randbauern.
Sadly, England 65+ 1 have now dropped to 11th and are unlikely to be able to compete for a medal on this occasion.
November 3rd – Round 8
England 50+ 1st team are European Senior Champions! The England 50+ 1st team only managed a 2-2 draw with Bielefeld, with all four games drawn. It was a tough match and England were struggling for a period but eventually pulled through. However, thanks to Slovakia beating Germany 1, England secured the European title with a round to spare.
England 2 won a tough match against Berlin 2 by 2.5-1.5 and England 2 will now face England 1 in tomorrow’s final round! England 3 beat Ireland by 2.5-1.5, so the three England teams will be playing on the top three boards tomorrow!
England 65+ 1 bounced back from yesterday’s disappointment to register a comfortable 4-0 victory against Iceland. England 2 beat Germany Women by 2.5-1.5 and England 3 drew 2-2 with Schach(t)jungs Bannerwitz.