Published 31 August 2013

Worcestershire teams 2012-3

Summary

The county entered three teams in the Midland Counties tournaments to compete for entry to the national stages. The Open team competed in Division 2 for a place in the Minor Counties and there were two grade restricted teams: under-140 and under-120. The Open team fared badly losing heavily to Lincolnshire and Greater Manchester before drawing with Leicestershire and receiving a conceded match from Derbyshire, who had already qualified for the national stage. See below for all results a and links to details.

Minor Counties team

There were three matches this season for two places in the national stages of the County Team Minor Championship. Ray Collett was captain.

County Open Team - MCCU Stage
Dates Opponents Venue Result 2012-3
13 October Lincolnshire 1:30pm start. Sharnford Evergreen Hall, Leicester Road, Sharnford, Leics LE10 3PP lost 3½ - 12½
15 December Greater Manchester 1:00pm start. Neutral, Newcastle-u-Lyme Bridge Club, Staffs. ST5 1EL lost 11½ - 4½
2 February Leicestershire 1pm start, at St Stephen’s Church Hall, St Stephen's Street, Worcester WR3 7HS drew 8 - 8
16 March Derbyshire Home Won: Derbys conceded


10 Mar. The Derbys captain has conceded this match, but it is a shame we were not allowed to demonstrate our superiority over them at the board. No national stage match for us this year so all to play for next year where we should improve with two new highly graded players making themselves available for selection in the second half of this season.
2 Feb. At last we have points on the board. In truth, however, we were a little lucky, but this must be a good portent for the final match.
15 Dec. A second bad reverse. Almost a repeat performance of the first match with Besedin again being the only winner.
13 Oct. A crushing loss on the first outing of the season against a strong Lincolnshire team. Only Pavel Besedin, on board 2, secured a win.

 

Under-140 team

There were six fixtures. The opening fixtures were lost, but the team bounced back to defeat Nottinghamshire. Norrow losses against Warwickshire and Derbyshire meant the team could not retain the championship won By Giles' team last season. Giles Stanton was also captain for the championship side 2012-3 but had wished to step down, but no one came forward to take his place.

 

County Under-140 Team MCCU stage
Dates Opponents Venue Result 2012-3
20 October Shropshire Away at Scout and Guide Headquarters, Currier Lane, Shifnal TF11 8EQ near the junction with Greenfields Crescent starting at 2.00pm. Lost 7 - 9
10 November Staffordshire 1.30pm at Bushbury Community Centre, Northwood Park Road, Wolverhampton. WV10 8ER Lost 6 - 10
1 December Nottinghamshire 2.00pm at Wall Village Hall, Staffs. WS14 0WA Won 9 - 7
16 February Warwickshire 1:30 pm start agreed. Village Hall, 18 Heathfield Road, Webheath, Redditch B97 5SQ Lost 7½ - 8½
9 March Leicestershire 1.30pm start at The Methodist Centre, Birmingham Road, Water Orton. B46 1SP. Won, Leics conceded
30 March Derbyshire 1:30pm, Wall Village Hall, Lichfield, Staffs. WS14 0AW Lost 7½ - 8½

 

1 Dec. Giles Stanton reports. First win for Worcestershire at a neutral venue in Staffs against Nottinghamshire. This was a cracking match with a very tense finish. Notts were two players short and we had an early win to give us a 3 point lead. Notts then had to chase the points, which they did with a vengance. When there were two games to finish, Worcestershire were leading by one point. One of the games looked drawish and the otherlooked good for Worcestershire. But in both our players were getting into time trouble. John Varilone, having sacked a piece to get good activity and extra pawns, handled the pressure well and mated his opponent to take us over the winning line. In a same coloured bishop and pawn ending John Chester played well and a draw was agreed. So Kidderminster CC saved the day!

10 Nov. The team lost to Staffordshire away after a misunderstanding resulted in a selected player not meeting his transport. Michele Clack filled in at the last moment.

20 Oct Giles Stanton reports on the away match against Shropshire. The Teams looked to be well matched. Shropshire gained a 2 point early lead. Then the situation took a turn for the worse as Shropshire doubled the gap making the score 8-4. A trouncing looked on the cards, but Worcestershire's top eight boards showed plenty of fighting spirit gaining three points from the remaining four games. John Gittus on 4 used a Bird's Opening and gained a promising kingside attack but his opponents's stout defence led to an agreed draw. Andrew Wiggins crafted a superior position from a Queens Pawn Opening but was unable to capitalise owing to time trouble. Jeremy Humphries had a comfortable win from a Ruy Lopez with queen and knight infiltrating his opponent's position. Ian Truscott used a passed pawn on the rook file to win.

 

Under-120 team

Richard Collett took over the captaincy from Richard Turner. The team scored two wins out of its four games to gain a place to compete in the national stage. There Worcestershire were drawn against the formidable Kent team and lost heavily.

County Under-120 Team - MCCU Stages
Dates Opponents Venue Result 2012-3
27 October Lincolnshire Neutral at Thurmaston, Leics. won 9½ - 2½
15 December Nottinghamshire Neutral won 8 - 4
2 February Warwickshire Away lost 6½ - 5½
16 March Staffordshire Away lost 9½ - 2½
National stage
18 May Kent Milton Keynes, Bucks lost 8½ - 3½

 

18 May. Soundly beaten by Kent, well known for their hordes of junior players.
16 Mar. A poor result against Staffs, but the team goes through to the national stages.
2 Feb. A narrow loss against the old enemy.
15 Dec. Another comfortable win, this time away against Notts.
27 Oct. Under new captain Richard Collett, Worcestershire beat a young Lincolnshire decisively to take revenge for the drubbing in the Minor counties match a fortnight earlier. Peter Seely on board 2, played particularly well winning a dead level endgame.

See 2011-12 season results