Worcestershire Chess Association: Team KO Cup 2015-6

KO Cup

Mercia win 2015 Wheatley Cup Competition

20 Aug. Mercia were presented with the Wheatley Cup at the County Executive and Fixtures meeting at Droitwich.

24 May. Mercia beat Worcester B on handicap in the final at Greenlands
28 Apr. In the second semi-final, Worcester B defeated Redditch.
11 Apr. In the first semi-final new team Mercia beat current trophy holders, Shirley & Wythall, on handicap. The second semi-final between Worcester & Redditch is to be played on 28 April.
15 Mar. Redditch, at home, beat a higher graded Worcester A team
25 Feb. Mercia decisively beat Greenlands overcoming the handicap.
18 Feb. Worcester B drew their match with Droitwich, but application of the board count rules for equally graded teams sees Worcester B go through.
12 Feb. Shirley & Wythall triumphed with a clear win over Malvern in the first match to kick off their campaign to retain the trophy

Final

Worcester B - Mercia				Final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	177 134 101 92 87 591	Stephen Mellor Rob Sutton Colin Vernon Roger Yates John Hesketh Handicap	1 - 0 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - ¾	Derek Perks Chris Cox David Hodkinson Kevan Ward Stuart Deeley .	148 117 112 97 84 556
	Mercia won on handicap		2½ - 3¼	Played 24 May
Match reported by Colin Vernon.

Semi-finals

Worcester B - Redditch				Semi-final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	134 130 111 101 92 568	Rob Sutton Alaric Stephen Phil Smith Colin Vernon Roger Yates Handicap	½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - ¾	Andrew Wiggins Giles Stanton David Smith Michele Clack Antonia Reed .	132 113 121 95 74 535
	Worcester B won		3½ - 2¼	Played 28 Apr
Match reported by Ray Collett. In spite of the overall score-line, this was an evenly contested match. After nearly 90 minutes' play only Redditch's board 3 had a winning advantage. Stephen also had a clear advantage but this was balanced Reed's advantage for Redditch on board 5. After a further half hour, Sutton found his minor piece trapped, but was able to gain pawns in exchange. On board 3, the position got more complicated and after the fireworks David Smith gained a rook. Yates was gifted an attack which netted at least a piece on board 5. The first two games to finish were the wins for Yates and Vernon got a sudden mate. Stephen steadily increased his advantage both in position and on the clock until his opponent lost on time. David Smith forced home his advantage skewering his opponent's queen leaving a complex knight and six pawns against knight, bishop and two pawns ending on board 1. In the end the pawns crashed through, but the result was indoubt until nearly the end.

Shirley & Wythall - Mercia				Semi-final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	149 142 126 123 121 661	Jonathan Dale Gordon Christie Frank Jiminez Kim Gilbert Roger Ball Handicap	1 - 0 1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 2	Derek Perks Chris Cox Dave Hodkinson Kevan Ward Stuart Deeley .	148 117 112 97 84 558
	Mercia won on handicap		3 - 4	Played 11 Apr
Match reported by Gordon Christie.

Quarter Final matches

Redditch - Worcester A				Quarter Final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	132 121 117 113 74 557	Andrew Wiggins Dave Smith Rob Bricknell Giles Stanton Antonia Reed Handicap	0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ ½ - ½ 1 - 0 2¼ - 0	Peter Kitson David L Roberts Ray Collett Rob Walkowiak Will Fry .	175 149 135 115e 100e 674
	Redditch won		4¼ - 3	Played 16 Mar
Match reported by Ray Collett.

Mercia - Greenlands				Quarter Final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	148 117 112 117 97 591	Derek Perks Barry Smith David Hodkinson Chris Cox Kevan Ward handicap	½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - ¾	David Pugh Laurence Wheatley Peter Hughes Richard Collett Frank Cassidy .	142 137 103 107 55 544
	Mercia won		4 - 1¾	Played 25 Feb
Match reported by Kevan Ward.

Worcester B - Droitwich				Quarter Final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	130 111 101 92 87 521	Alaric Stephen Phil Smith Colin Vernon Roger Yates John Hesketh handicap	1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 0	Arnold Kirkland WW (Bill) Watson Terry Radford David Cleak Tom Parkes .	118 119 105 90 85 517
	Worcester B won 10-5 under rule 4e(1)		2½ - 2½	Played 18 Feb
Match reported by Ray Collett.

Malvern - Shirley & Wythall				Quarter Final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	162 155 151 143 103 714	Geoffrey Herbert Leigh Canham John Knee Matthew Jordan Mike Butcher handicap	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1¼	Gordon Christie Jon Asbury Frank Jiminez Kim Gilbert Roger Ball .	142 135 126 123 121 647
	Shirley & Wythall won		1½ - 4¾	Played 12 Feb
Match reported by Brian Turner.

Draw and schedule

Match	Quarter final fixtures	QF match dates	Quarter Final winners	SF match dates	Semi-final winners	Date for final
QF1	Mercia (H) - Greenlands (A)	25 Feb	Mercia	11 Apr	Mercia	Tues 24 May @ Greenlands
QF2	Malvern (H) - Shirley & Wythall (A)	12Feb	Shirley & Wythall	11 Apr	Mercia
QF3	Worcester B (H) - Droitwich (A)	18 Feb	Worcester B	28 Apr	Worcester B
QF4	Redditch (H) - Worcester A (A)	15 Mar	Redditch	28 Apr	Worcester B