2024-5 season, older news

Worcester lose Wheatley Cup final

23 Jul 2025. Worcester travelled to Broughton Hackett to play Redditch in the final. There was only a slight difference in the teams’ players’ ratings and there was no handicap. Redditch won 3-1 and only Aiden Grifiths came away with a win. See full results.
16 Jul 2025. Worcester beat Kidderminster 2½-1½. This win takes Worcester to the final to be played against Redditch on Wednesday 23 July at Redditch. Chris Lee’s team faced a similarly rated team against Kidderminster and there was no handicap. Scott Oxtoby and Aiden Griffiths won their games. See full details.

Joe Rastall wins Summer Fun Blitz tournament 13 Jun 2025. On the final night of chess at the church hall in the 2024-5 season, Joe Rastall recaptured his form to win. The time control was 1 min + 5 sec increment. Twenty three players took part and the tournament was run in three preliminary sections followed by a KO final stage. Joe achieved a clean sweep in Pool A and qualified for the final stage with Aiden Grfiffiths and Chris Lee. The current club blitz champion was out of form and finished below Scott Maclean and a former county junior champion Alaric Stephens. In Pool C, Dorin Luca and Rob Sutton shared first place and qualified for the finals with Sai Rentachintala. The quarter final saw Jo, Scott, Rob and Dorin progress. In the semi-finals Joe beat Scott Maclean and Rob beat Dorin. The showdown saw Rob with the white colours and led to a dramatic denoument. Rob’s rook swooped to take an undefended piece only to find that his master was back-rank mated! See full results.

Picture: Sean Conway

No increase in members’ subscription rates next season and half price for new members

5 Jun 2025. The club’s 189th annual meeting was well attended. President Rob Sutton reported there had been more rated games played at the club than at any time in the club’s history. Joe Rastall won the All-Play-All Rapidplay tournament, Ray Collett the Blitz Championship. Ed Osbourn plays Joe Rastall in the standardplay championship which has not yet completed. Four league teams and three friendly matches were played during the season and the club participated in last year’s Summer Cup. Team results were 'middling'. Joe Rastall, treasurer, said the club had made a surplus and members decided not to increase subscription rates and offer half-price introductory subscriptions for new members. The treasurer also said with reluctance that he had to step down from his post because of a change in circumstances. There was an election for Joe's replacement and Alex Nicholls will be the new treasurer. Aiden Griffiths also stepped down from the assistant secretary post which was filled by Paul Serafini. The club decided to enter an additional team into the standardplay District league next season and to again enter teams in the Summer Cup competitions this summer.

 

Paul Serafini wins Ball Cup at first attempt 29 May 2025. Paul beat Giles Stanton (Redditch) playing the final at the City club. This is Paul’s first season of play and is a fine win. Paul won the exchange for a pawn, but his opponent had a bishop in a commanding position in the R+B vs R+R ending. Paul constructed an attack on the white king, forced the exchanged of a pair of rooks and neatly concluded the game by using his passed rook pawn. Congratulations to Paul! 9 May 2025. Paul was runner-up in the all-play-all section of the county association's tournament for players rated below 1650. He plays Giles Stanton (Redditch) for the award in the final. First game of club championship drawn 29 May 2025. Joe Rastall (white) and Ed Osbourn (black) played a draw in their game for the club championship.

Ball Cup 2025 winner

Members at Cotswold Congress

26 May 2025 Three Worcester members travelled to Gloucester for the six round Cotwold Congress. Colin Vernon and Alex nicholls played in the Minor tournament scoring 2½ points and Alex Nicholls 1½ points. Andrew Farthing (Worcester) did not play. Instead he ran a chess bookstall raising over £800 for St Richard’s Hospice Worcester

Worcester draw with Cheltenham

15 May 2025. Worcester drew 2½-2½ in a friendly match with Cheltenham who normally play in the North Gloucestershire League. Doug Nicholls and new member Sean Conway won their games. The match was organised by Paul Serafini and the club hopes to play Cheltenham away during the summer. See match card.

Worcester draw with Hereford in friendly match

24 Apr 2025. Paul Serafini organised a seven board friendly match. The home fixture saw Hereford score on the top boards and Worcester were rescued by veteran Arnold and junior Samuel to force a 3½-3½ draw. Scott Maclean also won his game. See full result.

Knights and Pawns teams at Redditch

23 Apr 2025. The Pawns team in the Rapidplay League 2 match lost the first leg of the fixture and drew the second. The teams agreed to play two additional friendly boards and Redditch won all four of those games.Team captain paul Serafini won both his games. See full result.
16 Apr 2025. Sai stepped in to make up the team in this Rapidplay League 1 match at an hour’s notice because of a late withdrawal. The team lost both legs of the fixture heavily and only Dorin and Sai were able to salvage half a point from their two games. See full result.

City team complete 2024-5 campaign

10 Apr 2025. The City team travelled to Longbridge for their last Championship fixture this season, but came off worse. Only captain Rob Sutton could hold his own. See full result.

Club Championship finalists decided 20 Mar 2025. In the championship semi-finals 2024 champion Joe Rastall beat new member Keith Sorrell and Ed Osbourn beat Ed Higgs. Although Ed Osbourn was the losing finalist in 2011, he has not prviously held the title.

Busy time for club teams in March

21 Mar 2025. The Rooks won their away match with Malvern to go into second position in the Challengers table, but Redditch have matches in hand and the Rooks cannot catch Redditch even by defeating them in the final away fixture. Chris Lee and Scott Oxtoby won their games.
13 Mar 2025. Worcester hosted Longbridge for two fixtures in a busy night for the club. In the Challengers League, the Rooks drew and Dorin Luca won his game to propel the team into second place in the Challengers table.. see match card. In the Rapidplay League, Worcester lost the first leg of the fixture with and won the second. The Knights remains at the foot of the table with one fixture only against Redditch to complete their campaign and avoid the wooden spoon. See match card.
11 Mar 2025. The Bishops travelled to Stourbridge and drew. New member Sai Rentachintala and Arnold Kirkland won their games. This completes fixtures for the Bishops. Stourbridge have three fixtures in hand and Longbridge 2 and both opposing teams could overtake Worcester in the final table. See match card.
6 Mar 2025. There were two Worcester-Redditch fixtures in Worcestershire League: In the Championship League, the City team won 3-2 with all except board 2 ending in draws. Ed Osborne scored the crucial win.See match card. In the Rapidplay League 2 fixture, Worcester lost the first leg, but came back with a 4-0 win in the second. See match cards. There was also a friendly rapidplay two-board fixture with the recently formed Pebworth club where new members Brody McNamara and Viktor Gorbunov won their games. See details..
5 Mar 2025. The Pawns team lost to Kidderminster in the Rapidplay League 2 match. Only Scott Maclean and Sai Rentachintala were able to achieve equality. See match card.
27 Feb 2025. After two losses, the team returned to winning ways in their home Championshio League match. Scott Oxtoby, Rob Sutton and Chris Lee won their games. See match card.

Club players at Stroud

22 Feb 2025. Tony Shaw and Phil Austin travelled to the Stroud Rapidplay and finished with 3 points from their six games.

Worcester lose to Leominster and Bishops draw with Kidderminster

20 Feb 2025. In a return friendly match postponed from last summer, Leominster won. Dorin Luca, new members Sai Rentachintala and Sean Conway won their games. See full results.
19 Feb 2025. The bishops team drew their away District League match with Kidderminster. Alex Nicholls and Aiden Griffiths won their games. Alex Nicholls and Aiden Griffiths drew their games. See details.

New members surge in All-Play-All tournament and league teams draw

13 Feb 2025. Scott Maclean and junior Samuel Thomas lead the Rapidplay-All-Play-All Championship field with 6 points each. In the Challengers League, the Rooks team drew their home match with Longbridge. Dorin Luca won his game. See details.

New club Blitz champion 7 Feb 2025. Twenty four players competed. The tournament was run in three all-play-all sections to produce quarter-finalists. The successful players progressing to the knock-out stages were Simon Berry, Ray Collett, Aiden Griffiths, Dorin Luca, Joe Rastall, Tony Shaw, Keith Sorrell and 2024 champion Rob Sutton. To the surprise of the winner and confounding recent form, secretary Ray Collett emerged 2025 champion defeating Aiden, Joe and Dorin in the knock-out stages. See full results. Picture to the right shows play in the semi-finals. Picture credit Paul Serafini and Sean Conway.

Rooks complete fixtures and come second in Challengers League

26 Mar 2025. The Rooks travelled for their last match of the season to play Redditch. Excellent performances from Dorin Luca and Sai Rentachintala secured a draw and second place in the league. See full results.

Semi-final draw for Club Championship

6 Feb 2025. Defending champion Joe Rastall has white against Keith Sorrell and in the other semi-final Ed Osbourn has white against Ed Higgs in games to be played on 20 Mar.

All-Play-All Rapidplay championship results

23 Jan 2025. Members played eight games during the evening. Scott Maclean (6 pts) drew ahead of Ray Collett (5½ pts) and in third position is Joe Rastall (4½ pts). See current standings.In the after-games banter at the Alma Tavern we learned that Scott Oxtoby has been invited to the Winton British Chess Solving Championships having successfully mastered the compositions in the postal rounds. See positions for testing competitors.

Club members score online for Worcestershire Wolfpack

21 Jan 2025. Scott Oxtoby, Seamus Flynn, Chris Lee, Alex Nicholls, and Paul Serafini won their games for Worcestershire Wolfpack teams in the Four Nations Chess League. For Chris, Alex and Paul it was their first game for the online county teams.

Team results in January

23 Jan 2025. Worcester drew overall in their away fixture against leaders Kidderminster, but remain at the foot of the table. Dorin Luca and Rob Sutton finished with positive scores. See details.
20 Jan 2025. The City team lost to Halesowen playing away. Only Scott Oxtoby and Ray Collett were able to draw their games. See details.
16 Jan 2025. The Bishops team lost to Longbridge in a home fixture. David Cleak was the only player to win. See details.
9 Jan 2025. The City team beat Malvern 3-2 in the Championship League. Ed Osbourn and Scott Oxtoby won their games. See details.

Aiden wins rating prize at Telford

5 Jan 2025. Aiden Griffiths travelled to the Shropshire New Year congress to play in the Minor tournament. He scored 3½ points from his five games winning a rating prize. Tony Shaw also played, but snow on the Sunday precluded playing in the final rounds.

Club championship and All-Play-All Rapidplay tournament

13 Dec. At the end of the first half of the season, the 2024 club champion Joe Rastall has booked his place in the Championship semi-finals as have Ed Osbourn, and new member Scott Maclean. There is a play-off for Secretary Ray Collett and Keith sorrell and the game between Ed Higgs and Seamus Flynn was postponed. In the club rapidplay tournament, Scott Maclean and Ray Collett are in the mlead with 5 points each followed by Scott Oxtoby, Joe Rastall and new member Sean Conway all on 3 points.

Club teams fall short in matches

13 Dec 2024. The City team lost its away match against Malvern with only Ed Osbourn and Ed Higgs able to draw their games.
3 Dec 2024. Worcester Bishops faced Stourbridge in a home match. Stourbridge won in spite of Chris Lee's win on board 1. See full result.
28 Nov 2024. In spite of having a stronger line-up than previous Knight teams, Longbridge proved much superior in the Rapidplay League. Only Tony Shaw was able to hold his own scoring two draws. See full results.

Worcester members help county u1650 team

23 Nov. David Cleak and Aiden Griffiths travelled to Tressell Acton Stafford for the Midlands u1650 fixture on a stormy day and both players won their games to help Worcestershire to 6-6 draw. See full results.

Worcester lose to Longbridge in Challengers League

21 Nov 2024. Chris Lee stood in as captain, but Longbridge with ahigher rated team prevailed. New member Keith Sorrell was the only Worcester player to win. See full results.

Worcester players at Stoke Gifford

16 Nov 2024. Phil Austin and Colin Vernon travelled to Stoke Gifford to play in the Bristol Blitz Championship. Both players had to leave after playing eight of the eleven rounds and Phil scored 3½ points in the very strong Open while Colin scored 4 points in the Major tournament.

Rapidplay draws and win in the Challengers League

14 Nov 2024. Worcester beat Malvern in the Challengers League. Captain Scott Oxtoby and new member Keith Sorrell won their games. See full results.
7 Nov 2024. With an unchanged team, Worcester Pawns drew both legs of their away fixture in the u1650 league with Longbridge. New players Alex Nicholls and Scott Maclean won both their games. See full results.
31 and 24 Oct 2024. In spite of illness of the team’s board 1, The Knights team held Redditch and Kidderminster to draws in both rapidplay matches in the Rapidplay fixtures. Substitute Aiden won both his games on board 4 in the earlier match. See full results.

City team lose away to Redditch

30 Oct 2024. The City team was without leading players in its away match at Redditch and lost 3-2. Dorin Luca was the only Worcester player to win. See full results.

Worcester players help county win online matches

22 Oct 2024. Seven club members played in matches in round 4 of the Four Nations Chess League. Seamus, Tony, Phil, Arnold, and new members Samuel and Sean won their games. Ray bluffed a draw after blundering a piece in the early middle game. See full results and links to games.

Worcester players at Droitwich and Stroud

19 Oct 2024. Club members Joe Rastall, Dorin Luca and Ray Collett won their games in Worcestershire's first county match of the season against Staffordshire played at Droitwich. Worcestershire won 7-5. See full results. On the same day, two members travelled to Stroud to play in a rapidplay congress. Tony Shaw and Phil Austin scored 3 points from their six games in the event won by IM Andrew Horton and local player Indy Southcott-Moyers. See full results.

Longbridge teams outplay Worcester

17 Oct 2024. Longbridge beat Worcester City in the Championship League. Ed Higgs was the only worcester players to win. See full results.
16 Oct 2024. The Bishops team were outplayed by Longbrdige and went down to a 1-3 defeat. Aiden Griffiths was the only Worcester player to win. See full results.

First results in All-Play-All Rapidplay championship

10 Oct 2024. Scott Oxtoby got the better of President Rob Sutton and Joe Rastall beat Dorin Luca.

City team win second match

9 Oct 2024. Stephen Mellor, Dorin Luca and Ray Collett won their games in the away match against Kidderminster in the Championship league. See full results.

First round results in club championship 3 Oct 2024. Ray Collett, Ed Higgs, Seamus Flynn, Joe Rastall and Keith Sorrell won thier first round games and will progress to the quarter finals to be held on 12 December. Two of the games were drawn and these players will need to play a second game to progress. Aiden Griffiths held off Dorin Luca in a rook and pawn ending while Rob Sutton held Stephen Mellor to a drawn knight and pawn ending. See full results. Ed Higgs wins September Fun Blitz 26 Sep 2024. In the semi-finals Ed Higgs beat Rob Sutton and Joe Rastall beat Dorin Luca. The final saw Ed beat Joe. See full results of the competition.

September Blitz winner

Pawns team lose to Kidderminster in first u1650 Rapidplay League fixture

26 Sep 2024. The Pawns selected recent new players for their first home match against Kidderminster in the new league. Kidderminster turned out an experienced team led by Cameron who was delighted in a sweeping victory in his first match as captain. See full results.

Rooks team crash in first match

19 Sep 2024. Redditch were only able to bring three players because one of their team was taken ill on the day of the match. Although Worcester’s board 1 was out-rated and that baord gave Redditch their first victory, the remaining two games were between players of similar ratings. These games were evenly balanced until well into middle games, but Redditch players prevailed in both of them taking the match 3-1. See match card.

Good start to new season

12 Sep. Two Worcester teams were in action. Worcester Cty beat Halesowen 3½-1½ in the Championship league. Dorin Luca, Ray Collett, and Rob Sutton won their games. See full results. The Bishops team drew 2-2 with Kidderminster.

City players help county online teams

10 Sep. Worcestershire Wolfpack squad played the first round of the Four Nations Chess League. Ray Collett and Colin Vernon co-manage the squad and play in Divisions 3 and 5. Six club members were in the teams in round 1. Ed Higgs, and Phil Austin won their games. Click on their names to play though their games recorded on lichess. If you would like to play online, please contact Ray Collett.

Season gets off to a brisk start

5 Sep 2024. Rob Sutton launched the new season with a September Fun 5 minute Blitz tournament. Twenty players took part. Group A was won outright by President Rob Sutton with 9 points from 9 rounds. Dorin Luca was runner-up scoring 7½ points. Joe Rastall won Group B. He also had a 100% record and Ed Higgs was runner-up on 8 points. The finals between Rob, Joe, Dorin and Ed will be played at the club on 28 September. Full results of the group stages are here.