Four-way split in Manchester Rapidplay Open
24 Mar. Held in the City of Manchester Stadium 21 March and organised by Sport4life for the Clayton Eagles Chess Club with the Manchester Chess Federation (MCF). Winners from the MCCU area were: Open - Mike Surtees (Bolton, GMC), Robert Shaw (High Peak, Derbys), Alex Longson (3Cs, GMC), and John Pitcher (S Birmingham) all on 4½ ; U-180 grading prize - Harry Lamb (Bolton, GMC); U-160 - First was Aaron Webber (Chorlton, GMC) with 5½; U-140 grading prize - Chris Hodgson (Worsley, GMC); U120 First was Mujo Prglukaj (Clayton Eagles, GMC) with 6 straight wins; and Kyle Reed (Worcester Junior Academy and Rushall, Worcs) won the under age 16 trophy. The tournament was opened by the Kosovo Mayor and Tony Lloyd MP. There were many visitors from Kosovo.

Hagley are Champions of Midlands Junior League
24 Mar. In spite being a player short, Hagley Juniors won the Team Championship in a sudden death play-off at Malvern College, Worcestershire on 21 Mar. The event was controlled by Ray Dolan and Andy Moore. Read more .....

Aston and Warwick University Teams At Oxford Team Championship
24 Mar. Two MCCU based universities competed in the British University Team Championships won by Bath University A team at Oxford. Warwick University were placed 9th and Warwick University 10th. Both teams ended with 4 match points but Warwick University had a better games score. Alex Holowczak (Worcs) was elected president of the British Universities' Chess Association.

17 MCCU Teams in National Stages of County Team Competition
23 Mar. The national draw for the ECF stages of the Counties Championships has been updated now that union nominations are known. See MCCU teams' next matches here.

Nottingham High School Triumph
8 Mar. The Under-14 Birmingham & District Junior Chess League team rapidplay was held 6 March at Windsor High School & Sixth Form (Halesowen, Worcs). Visitors Nottingham HS sent two teams. Their A team won the Championship and their B team were third winning the Visitor's shield. Best placed Birmingham team was King Edward's School A team, who took second place, just ahead of Nottingham HS B. King Edward IV Camp Hill School were 4th. Although not reaching the podium, home team side Windsor HS showed that it is ready to take on the national elite, a very notable achievement of school chess organiser and member of staff Andrew Payne.

Is Draw for ECF Stages of Inter-County Matches Unfair?
8 Mar. Jack Rudd has had to stand down because of ill health from his role as national controller for the inter-counties competition. Sean Hewitt (Leics) takes over.
24 Feb. Neil Graham (Notts) has raised with the national controller, the issue that nominated teams who have not had to compete within their union are treated preferentially by being given priority for a home venue, whereas teams that have had to compete within their union in order to qualify may already have played a few away matches. The controller has responded very quickly and whilst stating that the draw for 2010 must stand, has stated he has 'sympathy' with Neil's comments and is open to suggestions to alter the rules for the ECF stages. See also news item dated 6 February.

Warwickshire Open Results
Feb 22. Organised by John Pakenham at Arden School, Knowle on 13 and 14 February, the event attracted over 100 players. John Naylor (Rugby) and David Coates (Lincoln) tied with 4/5 for first place. Littlethorpe junior Brandon Clarke was pipped in the last round and finished 2nd on 3½. In the u-175, Simon Smith (Warley Quinborne) was first with 4½, followed by Golam Ali (Sutton Coldfield) and Henry Brockbank (Olton) on 4. The U150 saw Keith Jewsbury (Solihull) finish a clear point in front on 4½. John-Paul Taylor (Warwick University) scored a perfect 5/5 to take the u-125 prize. In the team tournament, Solihull were winners. Full results are on the new Warks website.

Bolton Team Jamboree Results
Feb 21, reported by Mick Norris. Six teams competed in this 5-round rapidplay event on Saturday 20 February at Little Lever Workingmen's Club. Bolton Club 1 (18 points, Surtees, Lamb, Jip, Lamb) were overall champions. The best Bolton League team was Great Lever 1 (13½ points); the best team with 3 players graded under 130 was Radcliffe (10½ points); and the best team with at least 3 players graded under 95 was Bolton 2 (5½ points). Star individual result was by Lee Baron of Bury graded 110 longplay who beat an opponent with a longplay grade of 187.

Stockport Rapidplay results
Feb 21, reported by Mick Norris. Over 130 players participated in this 6-round event held 5 February. The Open was won by Adam Ashton (3Cs) with 5 points, followed by Miroslav Gruca (Widnes) on 4½. Liam Rabbitte (Heywood) on 3½ won the under-185 grading prize. In the Major (under-170), Leo Keely (Huddersfield) and David Patrick were joint first with 5½. Angel Gonzales (Arden) was first in the Intermediate (under-140) and David Odunaiya (Atticus) first in the Minor (under-110) both with a clean 6 from 6. Lucy Towse (3Cs) and Angelica Dean (Shrewsbury) both with 3 points shared the Junior prize.

Draw for ECF stages of the Counties Competitions
6 Feb: Jack Rudd, National Controller, has published the draw and dates for completion of county matches in the ECF stages. A total of 17 MCCU county sides will be eligible to compete.

Over 100 Enter Nottingham Rapidplay
31 Jan, reported by Manchester Federation
In the Open first prize was shared by Alan Smith (Stockport) and Paul Kemp (Linton). In the Major there was a 6-way tie: Richard Edwards (Gambit), Shakir Okhai (Leicester), Tim Poole (University), Thomas Robinson (Redditch), and Robert Taylor (Ashfield). In the Minor, Solihull junior. Aloysius Lip was first with Richard Wood (Padgate). Full results are available form the Notts website.

MCCU players win at Bolton Rapidplay
7 Dec, reported by Mick Norris
Three MCCU players shared first prize: Daniel Broughton (West Bridgeford, Notts) and local Ken Derbyshire (Bolton, Gtr Manch) and John Reed (Gtr Manch). Bolton and Worsley players did well in lower sections. Over 70 players participated in this event organised by Rod Middleton and Harry Lamb. For full list of winners click here.

Four MCCU Clubs Seek National Honours
7 Dec, reported by Julie Johnson
Three MCCU clubs are participating in the National Club Championships. In the Major, Bushbury Club, based in Wolverhampton, play winner of the prliminary round between northern clubs Barnsley and Alwoodley (Leeds). In the Intermediate, three MCCU clubs participate. Bushbury and Rushall based in Walsall have a local Derby while Newark (Notts) meet London based Wanstead & Woodford. In the minor, Syston Club (Leics) play Bushbury in a Preliminary round.

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