Worcester & District Chess League

2019-20 Season News

OTB games suspended for 2019-20 season: season void

Mar 2020. After consultation with other senior officers of the Association and the District Chess League, General Secretary Paul Sharrat has issued the following statement suspending league activities. "Dear Officers and Club Secretaries, In the light of the current Coronavirus pandemic and advice from the English Chess Federation, the officers of Worcestershire Chess Association and the Worcester and District League have decided to suspend all activities in relation to both leagues (including individual competitions) with immediate effect and until further notice. If clubs decide to proceed with fixtures already arranged, any results will not be included in the league structure; and any games played in such circumstances will only be submitted for grading on receipt of requests to that effect from the Secretaries of both participating clubs, as separate submissions on behalf of those clubs. I am sure that you will understand the rationale for this decision; the well-being of our members and their families, and the wider community, must be our prime concern at this time. We look forward to resuming normal activity in better times. Best wishes - Paul Sharratt (General Secretary).Mar 2020. Covid pandemic shuts league. With mandatory lockdown to slow the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic, the league abandoned further play until people are permitted to resume social, gatherings. This is the first occasion since 1946 and World War II that there has been no league chess.
15 Feb 2020. Mercia have had to withdraw from Division 2. League officers decided to declare the results of the two matches played by Mercia void. Games played in fixtures involving Mercia will be submitted for standard play grades.
4 Dec 2020. After completion of all Division 1 fixtures due before the New Year, Redditch 1A have a handsome lead.
21 Nov. Draw is published for the individual competitions for the Bennett and Ball Cups. The default time control has moved in line with that adopted for league play.
23 Oct. First Div 1 match results is in.
17 Oct. Lee Davis wins 2019 Bennett Cup. The much delayed finals games in the 2018-9 competition were played at Worcester on 10 and 17 October. Ray failed in his attempt to become the first player to win both the Ball and Bennett cups in the same season. The first finals game was drawn. Lee played the white pieces in the second and gained a pawn in the middle game, but Ray put up a stiff defence of a multipawn + queen ending before missing a continuation that nearly equalised. Lee Davis (Malvern) has now won the Bennett Cup five times.
7 Oct. First match result of the season is in.
17 Sep. Fixtures lists as far as currently arranged are published.
5 Sep. Annual Meeting approves incremental time control and changes to nominated team player lists. Revised league rules are here. Redditch made proposals designed to make team selection more flexible to allow clubs to enter more teams. Revised arrangements that allow some players to play for different teams in the same division were approved and the draft revised league rules - still subject to final approval from clubs - are here. The treasurer recommended affiliation fees and team entry fees should remain unchanged for 2019-20, but some increase will be likely for the 2020-1 season..

League structure. Kidderminster were unable to sustain two division 1 teams this season and Worcester could only sustain single round play if they entered division 1. The make up of the league for 2019-20 is

• Division 1: Greenlands, Kidderminster Knights, Malvern, Redditch A, Redditch B, Stourbridge, Worcester Bishops
• Division 2: Droitwich, Greenlands, Kidderminster Pawns, Kidderminster Rooks, Mercia, Redditch, Stourbridge, Worcester Pawns

Time Control. A proposal to move to incremental time control as the default position was adopted. The time default control is 80 minutes for the game plus an increment of 10 seconds from move 1.

Election of officers. There were no changes from last year and the list of officers is shown here.

Presentation of trophies. The final of the Bennett Cup between Lee Davis (Malvern) and Ray Collett (Worcester) is still to be played and presentations were made to Dan Lambourne (Capt Redditch A, League Champions), Ian Clack (Captain Redditch B, Div 2 Champions and Ray Collett (Worcester, Ball Cup).

Pictures: Michele Clack

9 Aug. Collett wins Ball Cup. Malvern hosted the showdown for this competition with Brian Turner acting as Arbiter. Brian in his controller's report wrote: "John had the advantage in the early part of the game, but Ray defended strongly and eventually won a well-played ending with bishops of opposite colours".
8 Jun. In the Bennett Cup individual competition, Lee Davis (Malvern) was first and plays a two-game match with Ray Collett (Woprcester) in the final for the cup.

For last season, click 2018-19 season menu button on the left.