Midland
Counties Chess
Union

2013-14 Minor Counties Team
Championship (Open)
MCCU Home News About MCCU Junior Chess Correspondence Chess County Matches Grand Prix Congresses Links Links Site Guide

 

 

News & Results
2013-14 Season

Match News County Fixtures List Open Championship Minor Championship u180 Competition u160 Competition u140 Competition u120 Competition u100 Competition National Stages

Previous Seasons'
Results

Previous years

 

Published 8 December 2013

Worcestershire - Staffordshire

Played on 7 December 2013 at St Stephen's Church Hall, Worcester. Staffordshire players on odd-numbered boards had white. Match reported by David Anderton and Ray Collett.

 

Board Grade ID Grade Worcestershire Score Score Staffordshire Grade Grade ID
1 287190H 196 Pavel Besedin 0 1 Darren Wheeler 201 121442B
2 110076C 187 John Edge 1 0 Alex Richardson 200 117886G
3 120670K 185 Brian Turner 0 1 Gerald Acey 192 105462E
4 129898H 179 Kevin Hurney ½ ½ Nicholas Walker 190 157248K
5 127645B 175 Peter Kitson 0 1 David Anderton 189 105731F
6 293111E 173 Nick Arkell ½ ½ Malcolm Armstrong 184 105843F
7 165392B 169 Nigel Towers 0 1 Colin Davidson 182 240175H
8 106812L 167 Maurice Bissell 0 1 David Cooper 181 108830A
9 127123E 166 John Wrench ½ ½ Alan Crombleholme 180 109109J
10 129306A 166 Charles Higgie ½ ½ Nick Roberts 178 118034E
11 106679B 164 Mark Bethel 0 1 Ian Jamieson 176 233570A
12 275649D 163 James Friar 0 1 Simon Edwards 172 110144E
13 275633L 161 Joseph Friar ½ ½ John Staniforth 168 119583K
14 137850J 158 David Roberts ½ ½ David Wightman 165 281857H
15 127661L 156 John Knee ½ ½ Robert Taylor 152 273508J
16 160573C 156 Mike Hadley ½ ½ Stephane Peddar 150 137099G
  Mean 170.1   5 11 Mean 178.8  

 

Match report by Ray Collett. Midlands champions, Staffordshire, still smarting from their early loss to the Mancunians, made sure they had a highly graded team to meet underdogs Worcestershire.

Captains Ray Collett (left) and David Anderton toss for clours   Board 1 to 8 at the start of play   Nick Arkell (left) - Malcolm Armstrong

Left: Captains Ray Collett and David Anderton toss for colours. Centre: Boards 1 to 8 at the start of play (Worcester players on the right). Right: Nick Arkell (left) in the endgame with Malcolm Armstrong.
Pictures: David Roberts (left) and Ray Collett.

Worcestershire, at home, fielded a team marginally higher graded than those that had given both Manchester and Warwickshire hard fought matches. The first result, a draw on board 15, came after two hours play and the first Staffordshire win came a few minutes later on board 8 after David Cooper forced the win of a pinned bishop. Staffordshire went further ahead with Darren Wheeler's win on board 1. Worcestershire stabilised their position with draws on boards 13, 9, 10, 14 until suffering a further defeat on board 12 at the hands of Simon Edwards. After three hours play Staffordshire were three up (2½ - 5½) and Worcestershire were also a piece down on board 2. There were two further draws on boards 4 and 16 before Staffordshire players Colin Davidson and Gerald Acey claimed their games to make certain of the match for Staffordshire. On board two, in a remarkable struggle, John Edge with achieved Worcestershire's only win with a queen and advanced pawn against rook and two minor pieces after nearly four and a half hours play. Worcester, however, went further behind with Ian Jamieson's win on time and David Anderton's superior endgame technique gave him victory in a rook and pawn ending. The last game to finish was the Nick Arkell - Malcolm Armstrong game where Worcester's player was a pawn up in a bishop and pawn ending. Nick Arkell eventually conceded the draw with seconds remaining on his clock after Malcolm Armstrong demonstrated the king versus king and h-pawn ending was drawn.