Worcester & District Chess League

Match results in chronological order

Redditch A - Stourbridge A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Dan Lambourne Nigel Towers Scott Russell Michele Clack	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½	Nick Fallowfield Dave Scriven John Foxall Sam Bradley
	Result	3 - 1	Played 18 Sep
Reported by Dan Lambourne. Boards 1 and 4 cancelled each other out fairly quickly. On board 3, Redditch's new player Scott Russell came out on top, after what he thinks is a 40 year gap since his last competitive game. This left Towers needing only a draw, material up but down on the clock. After almost falling into a stalemate trap, Nigel marched his king around the board until he finally got out of the stalemate trap, and then managed to win several moves later but with only 15 seconds to spare.

Kidderminster Knights - Worcester Bishops			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	John Wrench James Friar Dave Close Mark Riley	0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0	Peter Kitson Jim Keene Ray Collett John Hesketh
	Result	2 - 2	Played 10 Oct
Reported by Dave Close and Jim Keene. Board 4 finished first after Riley engineered a deadly centre-file pin. Draws on boards 2 and 3 followed shortly after. Kitson won his opponent's h-pawn in the early middle game and was offered a draw in a complicated position where Wrench had counter chances. Kitson played on because of his team’s situation. He established a strong pair of rooks on an open e-file with Wrench having to shuffle pieces while waiting for the breakthrough. It did come and Wrench finally resigned in a lost position with 2 seconds remaining on his clock.

Malvern - Stourbridge A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Ian Clarke Leigh Canham John Knee Miroslaw Woron	0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1	Greg Dyett Paul Sharratt David Scriven Hossam Aboushady
	Result	1 - 3	Played 26 Oct
Reported by John Knee. Dyett capitalised on his opponent being unable to equalise in the opening, won pawns, and converted. Board 2 finished first with Canham unable to exploit doubled pawns. On board 3, players agreed a draw after Scriven's sacrifice of two knights for a rook and two pawns failed to yield an advantage. New player Woron lost material early in the game, but fought back bravely and it was not until a slip in the endgame that Aboushady could convert.

Kidderminster Knights - Redditch A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	John Wrench James Friar Maurice Bissell John Chester	0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0	Dan Lambourne Gary Jackson Nigel Towers David Smith
	Result	2 - 2	Played 31 Oct
Reported by Dan Lambourne. A nightmare start for Redditch on Halloween as their board 4 player blundered a piece early on, and Chester duly won. Friar managed to trap Jackson with his knight and queen attack, which left Redditch trying to win two very tight games. Towers won on time, which left Lambourne to grind out a win after winning a pawn at the first time control to level the match and complete wins for all players with the black pieces.

Kidderminster Knights - Malvern			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Maurice Bissell John Chester David Close David Spowart	0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½	Lee Davis Brian Turner Matthew Jordan John Knee
	Result	1½ - 2½	Played 7 Nov
Reported by John Knee. Board 1 featured some strangely erratic play. Lee Davis, soon to play in the World Senior Championship at Bled, established a strong position but then lost a piece, only to regain it later with considerable interest. On Board 2 Turner tried hard to create chances against his opponent's solid formation, but eventually had to be content with a draw after exchanges. Boards 3 and 4 soon resolved themselves into drawish positions.

Worcester Bishops - Malvern			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Peter Kitson Nick Harris Jim Keene Rob Sutton	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½	Geoff Marchant Ian Clarke Leigh Canham John Knee
	Result	2 - 2	Played 15 Nov
Reported by Jim Keene and John Knee.

Redditch A - Worcester Bishops			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Dan Lambourne Jon Vaughan Nigel Towers Mihai Zbircea	½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 ½ - ½	Peter Kitson Ed Osbourn Stephen Mellor Jim Keene
	Result	2 - 2	Played 20 Nov
Reported by Jim Keene and Dan Lambourne. Board 4 players shared the point after exchanges of major pieces. Other games saw time scrambles for the first time control. On board 2 Worcester's player fell into a trap and lost his queen for rook and knight and a poor position and Vaughan won. On board 1, Lambourne pseudo-sacrificed a rook and duly recovered material to force a draw with Kitson. Mellor gained pawns while his opponent scrambled to reach the time control and then converted.

Malvern - Redditch A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Geoff Marchant Brian Turner Matthew Jordan Miroslav Woron	1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1	Dan Lambourne Mihai Zbircea Peter Seeley Harry Evans
	Result	2 - 2	Played 4 Jan
Reported by John Knee and Dan Lambourne. After a an opening error in leaving Lambourne with weak pawn, Marchant secured the two bishops and then transposed into an advantageous ending. The top board game finished when Lambourne, short of time, sacrificed his knight to get passed pawns, but the pawn push was mishandled. Turner won pawns and overwhelmed his opponent on the queen side. Seeley deveoped pressure and won a pawn. In the rook and pawn ending, with both players moving quickly Seeley found the move to promote first and win just before the end of the session. Evans had to face a sacrifice from his opponent’s attacking position and exact defence saw him through to take the point. This draw keeps Redditch on course to take the league championship.

Worcester Bishops - Kidderminster Knights			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Peter Kitson Ed Osbourne Stephen Mellor Nick Harris	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½	Maurice Bissell John Chester David Spowart Jim O’Dell
	Result	3 - 1	Played 17 Jan
Reported by: Jim O’Dell & Stephen Mellor.

Kidderminster Knights -Stourbridge A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Joe Friar James Friar John Chester James O’Dell	½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0	David Scriven Paul Sharratt Eric Horwill Martin Berridge
	Result	2½ - 1½	Played 28 Jan
Reported by James O’Dell.

Stourbridge A - Kidderminster Knights			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Z Koncki Hossam Aboushady Paul Sharratt Eric Horwill	1 - 0 0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½	Maurice Bissell Jim O’Dell John Chester Mark Riley
	Result	2 - 2	Played 4 Feb
Reported by Jim O’Dell.

Worcester Bishops - Redditch A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Peter Kitson Stephen Mellor Nick Harris Ray Collett	½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0	Nigel Towers Mihail Zbircea Harry Evans Giles Stanton
	Result	1½ - 2½	Played 7 Mar
Reported by Jim Keene.

Malvern - Worcester Bishops			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Geoff Marchant Lee Davis Matthew Jordan John Knee	0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½	Ed Osbourn Ray Collett Jim Keene Phil Smith
	Result	1½ - 2½	Played 15 Mar
Reported by John Knee. Board 1 featured a theoretical line in the Steinitz Variation of the Ruy Lopez. Osbourn attacked on the queen-side, won a pawn and then forced a supported passed pawn. Players simplified to a king and pawn ending and Osbourn won with seconds to spare. Board 2 also followed a theoretical line. Collett tried a nevel and active 14th move, but Davis failed to punish it and after tactics and exchanges players were left a dead drawn position. On board 3, both players had isolated d-pawns and Jordan nullified Keene's pressure on the c-file. White also gained an advantage on board 4 and won a pawn, but Knee had to concede the ending with bishops on opposite coloured squares was drawn.

Malvern - Kidderminster Knights			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Geoff Marchant Lee Davis Brian Turner Matthew Jordan	0 - 1 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0	Mark Riley Dave Spowart Maurice Bissell John Varilone
	Result	2½ - 1½	Played 29 Mar
Reported by John Varilone and John Knee. Marchant gambitted a pawn in the opening and then sacrificed a piece to attack the castled king. Riley caught up on development whilst retaining a decisive material advantage to win. Davis won the Black a-pawn and further queen-side pressure enabled him to simplify into a won pawn ending. On board 3, after an unusual opening variation and various exchanges the players reached a drawn ending. Jordan weakened his opponent's pawns and established a strong knight on c5. Further king-side pressure forced a decisive advantage in material.

Stourbridge A - Malvern			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Zbigniew Koncki Nic Fallowfield Hossam Aboushady John Foxall	½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 1 1 - 0	Leigh Canham Ian Clarke John Knee Miroslav Woron
	Result	1½ - 2½	Played 3 Apr
Reported by John Knee

Redditch A - Malvern			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Dan Lambourne Jon Vaughan Nigel Towers Scott Russell	1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½	Lee Davis Geoff Marchant Mattew Jordan John Knee
	Result	2½ - 1½	Played 16 Apr
Reported by John Knee

Stourbridge A - Redditch A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Hossam Aboushady Paul Sharratt John Foxall Julie Wilson	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½	Dan Lambourne Nigel Towers Harry Evans Peter Seeley
	Result	1 - 3	Played 17 Apr
Reported by Dan Lambourne. On board 1, Lambourne isolated his opponent’s d-pawn and created pressure that led to a complication and material gain. The remaining games were level until Evans benefitted form a blunder. Seeley exchanged down to a draw with Wilson. Towers then attempted to win a level king and pawn ending and very nearly lost being saved by an inaccuracy from Sharratt.

Redditch A - Kidderminster Knights			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Dan Lambourne Nigel Towers Jon Vaughan Scott Russell	½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½	James O’Dell Mark Riley Maurice Bissell Dave Spowart
	Result	2½ - 1½	Played 23 Apr
Reported by Dan Lambourne and Jim O’Dell. Redditch’s win earns their team the League championship. Redditch were a point up after results on boards 2 and 4. Jim O’Dell was ahead on the board, but down on time so ffered a draw, to secure the league championship for his team. Vaughan agreed a draw on board 3 to win the match.

Worcester Bishops - Stourbridge A			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Ed Osbourn Nick Harris Ray Collett Jim Keene	1 - 0 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0	Zibby Koncki Hossam Aboushady John Foxall Trevor Tennant
	Result	2½ - 1½	Played 25 Apr
Reported by Jim Keene.

Stourbridge A - Worcester Bishops			Division 1
Board	Home team	Score	Away team
1 2 3 4	Hossam Aboushady Dave Scriven Paul Sharratt John Foxall	0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ ½ - ½	Ed Osbourn Phil Austin Ray Collett Jim Keene
	Result	1½ - 2½	Played 29 Apr
Reported by .