| Position | Teams | Pl | W | D | L | GPD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Staffordshire Terriers | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 33½ | 8 |
| 2 | Worcestershire | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 8 |
| 3 | Warwickshire | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 30½ | 5 |
| 4 | Nottinghamshire | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 37 | 4 |
| 5 | Staffordshire Bulldogs | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 3 |
| 6 | Lincolnshire | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 2 |
| Date | Match | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Oct | Lincolnshire vs Staffordshire Bulldogs | 5-7 |
| 12 Nov | Lincolnshire vs Worcestershire | 2½-9½ |
| 7 Jan | Lincolnshire vs Nottinghamshire | 2½-9½ |
| 11 Feb | Staffordshire Terriers vs Lincolnshire | 8-4 |
| 17 Mar | Warwickshire v Lincolnshire | 5-7 |
Lincolnshire v Staffordshire Bulldogs
Report from John Grasham
Lincolnshire played their first ever match at in the Under 120 Section at Thurmaston on Saturday.
The Staffordshire captain had informed me before the start of play that they would be defaulting two boards so we started 2-0 up. Quick draws for Ian Scott and Chris Cumbers as well as juniors Joe Scarborough and James Kelly left us in a good position at 4-2 up but then the wheels came off. Four defeats for Charles Moss, James Derlien, James Wilson and Haydn Godfrey left us trailing by 2 with only two matches remaining. In my match I lost a pawn early in the endgame but with a well developed king I was able to win this back and create a passed pawn on the a file. Using this as a decoy I moved my king to the other side of the board and took my opponents remaining pawns which left me two pawns up and no possibility of me not being able to promote them. This left Paul Chaplin to salvage the match but this was never likely as he was a piece and two pawns down in the endgame.
| Lincolnshire (Home team) | Staffordshire Bulldogs (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | W | Charles Moss | Lincoln | 116 | 0-1 | Robert Brodie | Bushbury | 116 |
| 2 | B | Ian Scott | 115E | ½-½ | Barry Lewis | Wolverhampton | 113 | |
| 3 | W | Paul Chaplin | Grimsby | 107 | 0-1 | Nigel Parker | Rushall | 112 |
| 4 | B | Christopher Cumbers | Grantham | 105 | ½-½ | Paul Guest | Brewood | 112 |
| 5 | W | John Grasham | Louth | 91 | 1-0 | Mike Savin | Walsall Kipping | 111 |
| 6 | B | James Derlien | Grimsby | 87 | 0-1 | Geoffrey Cox | Stafford | 111 |
| 7 | W | James Kelly | Lincolnshire Juniors | 45E | ½-½ | Simon Jones | Bushbury | 109 |
| 8 | B | Joe Scarborough | Lincolnshire Juniors | 45E | ½-½ | Andrew Davies | Brewood | 108 |
| 9 | W | James Wilson | Lincolnshire Juniors | 45E | 0-1 | Danny Torbica | Cannock St Marys | 101 |
| 10 | B | Haydn Godfrey | Lincolnshire Juniors | 45E | 0-1 | Sumit Raisinghaney | 100E | |
| 11 | W | Daniel Southern | Lincolnshire Juniors | 43 | 1-0 | Default | ||
| 12 | B | Karl Southern | Lincolnshire Juniors | 40E | 1-0 | Default | ||
| 5-7 | ||||||||
Lincolnshire v Worcestershire
Report from John Grasham
The 9½ to 2½ scoreline did not accurately reflect what was a tight match on almost all boards. The six students from King's in Grantham played well but mistakes towards the end of their matches cost them dearly and all they had to show was a solitary draw from Joe Scarborough. Mark Bradshaw, debuting on Board 1 was unable to take advantage of a better position, Ian Scott tried a queenside attack when on analysis a kingside attack would have been more fruitful and Chris Cumbers had to settle for draws. I was a pawn up in my game but lost due to my poor positioning of my knights on f6 and h6. Charles Moss lost from a good position when he accidentally touched the wrong piece and last to finish was Francis Birkbeck who had a certain win when from a pawn up he had a move in the endgame to fork his opponents knight and king with his rook but did not see it and had to settle for a draw.
The under 120 team is next in action on 7th January at the RAOB club in Lincoln against Nottinghamshire.
| Lincolnshire (Home team) | Worcestershire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | W | Mark Bradshaw | Grimsby | 119 | ½-½ | Jeremy Humphries | Stourbridge | 117 |
| 2 | B | Charles Moss | Lincoln | 116 | 0-1 | Doug Bott | Greenlands | 118 |
| 3 | W | Ian Scott | 115E | ½-½ | Maureen Clark | Halesowen | 119 | |
| 4 | B | Christopher Cumbers | Grantham | 105 | ½-½ | Giles Stanton | Redditch | 116 |
| 5 | W | Francis Birkbeck | 104E | ½-½ | Penny Wood | Redditch | 113 | |
| 6 | B | John Grasham | Louth | 91 | 0-1 | Michele Clack | Redditch | 111 |
| 7 | W | James Kelly | Lincolnshire Juniors | 89E | 0-1 | Peter Seeley | Redditch | 108 |
| 8 | B | Haydn Godfrey | Lincolnshire Juniors | 80E | 0-1 | Terrance Poutney | 106 | |
| 9 | W | Joe Scarborough | Lincolnshire Juniors | 57E | ½-½ | Ian Clack | Redditch | 104 |
| 10 | B | James Wilson | Lincolnshire Juniors | 55E | 0-1 | Richard Collett | Greenlands | 101 |
| 11 | W | Daniel Southern | Lincolnshire Juniors | 43 | 0-1 | Joyce Evans | Halesowen | 85 |
| 12 | B | Nathan McKiernon | 40E | 0-1 | Tony Taylor | Halesowen | 84 | |
| 2½-9½ | ||||||||
Lincolnshire v Nottinghamshire
Report from John Grasham
Lincolnshire had a home tie against Nottinghamshire in the third of their U120 games this season. It was played at the home of Lincoln Chess Club, the RAOB Club. Lincolnshire started with a very inexperienced side featuring 7 juniors and two players in their first year at university so they were up against it from the start. It didn't go well with Nathan McKiernon on Board 12 losing to a checkmate in 9 moves. Other defeats followed for Philip Gutcher, James Wilson, Karl Southern, Haydn Godfrey and Joe Scarborough who dispite having a slightly better position was checked while his king was on g2, he moved to f1 allowing the queen to mate on h1. If he had chosen g1 he would almost certainly have picked up at least a draw. We did get off the mark with a draw from Grimsby's Will Seed when after having his queen and both rooks bearing down on the kingside, his opponent decided to take the draw with a repetitive check rather than swapping off queens. A win followed for Tom Claxton on Board 4 after he successfully negotiated a rook v bishop endgame but Nottinghamshire won the tie after Chris Bonnello (who jointly won the foundation event at Scarborough last year) forced home a passed pawn when he was the exchange up against James Kelly. Will Grummitt lost after being a piece up after his kingside pawn structure was torn apart after a ferocious attack from his opponent and Chris Cumbers held out for a trademark draw. Charles Moss on Board 1 finished proceedings with an endgame draw after being 2 pawns up. This left the final score 9.5 - 2.5 to Nottinghamshire but it could have been closer. Lincolnshire are next in action against Staffordshire Terriers on 11th February.
| Lincolnshire (Home team) | Nottinghamshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | B | Charles Moss | Lincoln | 116 | ½-½ | James Kenyon | West Notts | 119 |
| 2 | W | Christopher Cumbers | Grantham | 105 | ½-½ | Andrew Flint | Ashfield | 117 |
| 3 | B | Will Grummitt | Lincolnshire Juniors | 104 | 0-1 | Malcolm Hargreaves | Newark | 112 |
| 4 | W | Tom Claxton | Lincolnshire Juniors | 90E | 1-0 | Sally McIntosh | Ashfield | 115 |
| 5 | B | Philip Gutcher | 89E | 0-1 | Richard Dawson | Ashfield | 111 | |
| 6 | W | Joe Scarborough | Lincolnshire Juniors | 77E | 0-1 | Charlotte Attwood | Radcliffe & Bingham | 110 |
| 7 | B | James Kelly | Lincolnshire Juniors | 78E | 0-1 | Chris Bonnello | Radcliffe & Bingham | 106 |
| 8 | W | Haydn Godfrey | Lincolnshire Juniors | 75E | 0-1 | Stephen Morley | Radcliffe & Bingham | 104 |
| 9 | B | Will Seed | Lincolnshire Juniors | ½-½ | Dorothy Blampied | Radcliffe & Bingham | 86 | |
| 10 | W | James Wilson | Lincolnshire Juniors | 53E | 0-1 | Steve Swanwick | Nomads | 95 |
| 11 | B | Karl Southern | Lincolnshire Juniors | 43E | 0-1 | Gregor McIntosh | Ashfield | 62 |
| 12 | W | Nathan McKiernon | Lincolnshire Juniors | 34E | 0-1 | Michael Swanwick | Nomads | 54 |
| 2½-9½ | ||||||||
Staffordshire Terriers v Lincolnshire
Report from John Grasham
I was quietly confident for this match because after two heavy defeats I decided to strengthen the team whilst still giving youth a chance. Our average grade was 10 points higher that for the other 3 matches this season. However we did not get off to a good start with Board 1, Mark Bradshaw forced to resign after only 11 moves after a blunder. James Wilson and Nathan McKiernon got us back on track with draws on the bottom two boards before the wheels came off. Charles Moss lost and endgame he could have won, I gave away a piece and could not recover, James Kelly tried a rook sacrifice that didn't work, Haydn Godfrey couldn't hold on to his pawns when a bishop down in the endgame and Max Vasey lost also. A trademark draw for Chris Cumbers and another draw for Frank Robinson on his first appearance for the county wasn't enough to salvage the match. This just left Paul Chaplin whose excellent attack with his queen and knight on his opponents exposed king forced a win and Francis Birkbeck who lost a knight for a pawn in the middle game but kept going and with two passed pawns on the kingside was able to mop up his opponents queenside pawns with his king and there was no stopping his a-pawn being queened. Although it was another heavy defeat, the team is not comprehensively outclassed. There is still hope for an upset in our final match against Warwickshire on 17th March.
| Staffordshire Terriers (Home team) | Lincolnshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | B | Denis Nesbitt | Stafford | 122 | 1-0 | Mark Bradshaw | Grimsby | 117 |
| 2 | W | Peter Shaw | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 114 | 1-0 | Charles Moss | Lincoln | 112 |
| 3 | B | John Montague | Cannock St Marys | 109 | ½-½ | Frank Robinson | Spalding | 108 |
| 4 | W | Nicholas Wright | Newcastle-under-Lyme | 110 | ½-½ | Christopher Cumbers | Grantham | 105 |
| 5 | B | Stuart Hull | Fenton | 102 | 0-1 | Paul Chaplin | Grimsby | 104 |
| 6 | W | David Barker | Stafford | 102 | 0-1 | Francis Birkbeck | Louth | 102E |
| 7 | B | Carl Mustafa | Fenton | 100 | 1-0 | John Grasham | Louth | 100 |
| 8 | W | David Johnson | Kidsgrove | 89 | 1-0 | Max Vasey | Grimsby | 100E |
| 9 | B | Stuart Green | Meir | 84 | 1-0 | James Kelly | Lincolnshire Juniors | 77E |
| 10 | W | Karthik Selvan | Staffordshire Juniors | 84 | 1-0 | Haydn Godfrey | Lincolnshire Juniors | 67E |
| 11 | B | Peter Tideswell | Fenton | 83 | ½-½ | James Wilson | Lincolnshire Juniors | 53E |
| 12 | W | Abby Sergeant | Meir | 24 | ½-½ | Nathan McKiernon | Lincolnshire Juniors | 19E |
| 8-4 | ||||||||
Warwickshire v Lincolnshire
Report from John Grasham
Lincolnshire went into their final match of the season having lost all their previous encounters and up against last year's national champions in Warwickshire. Things started badly for Lincolnshire with defeats for Nathan McKiernon, Dan Southern, Max Vasey and Joe Scarborough who lets slip an even position to have his rook and queen forked. However a win for James Kelly and a draw for Tom Claxton left us in contention. Francis Birkbeck picked up another win for Lincolnshire after his opponent inexplicably gave away his rook and Francis played solidly to grind out the win. Francis is the team's top performer this season with 2.5 out of 3. Two more wins for Charles Moss and Ian Scott left the match intriguingly balanced at 4.5 points each with 3 games remaining. Mark Bradshaw won on Board one and when Will Grummitt agreed a draw after coming back from a piece down it was down to the captain to bring home the victory. All I needed was a draw but as I was two pawns up from my opponent making a mistake by trying to swap off bishops, I kept going for the win. My opponent battled valiantly but he resigned on move 62 when I checked him meaning I would queen on my next move.
I would like to thank everyone who played for the team this year and hope you will play again next season (As long as your grading isn't too high!)
| Warwickshire (Home team) | Lincolnshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | Harvey Quail | Warwickshire CA | 123 | 0-1 | Mark Bradshaw | Grimsby | 117 | |
| 2 | Wilf Morgan | Kynoch | 113 | 0-1 | Ian Scott | Lincolnshire CA | 111E | |
| 3 | Pauline Woodward | Warley Quinborne | 114 | 0-1 | Charles Moss | Lincoln | 112 | |
| 4 | David Reeves | Westminster (Birmingham) | 113 | ½-½ | Will Grummitt | Lincolnshire Juniors | 107 | |
| 5 | John Donovan | Shirley | 111 | 0-1 | Francis Birkbeck | Louth | 99E | |
| 6 | Joe Rourke | Warley Quinborne | 111 | 0-1 | John Grasham | Louth | 100 | |
| 7 | Steve Byrne | Boldmere St Michael | 109 | ½-½ | Tom Claxton | Lincolnshire Juniors | 108E | |
| 8 | Graham Gee | Warwickshire CA | 109 | 1-0 | Joe Scarborough | Lincolnshire Juniors | 87 | |
| 9 | Peter Hughes | Warley Quinborne | 108 | 1-0 | Max Vasey | Grimsby | 93E | |
| 10 | Bill Dixon | Boldmere St Michael | 107 | 0-1 | James Kelly | Lincolnshire Juniors | 68E | |
| 11 | John Pakenham | Warley Quinborne | 102 | 1-0 | Daniel Southern | Lincolnshire Juniors | 53 | |
| 12 | Richard Buxton | Stratford | 94 | 1-0 | Nathan McKiernon | Lincolnshire Juniors | 24E | |
| 5-7 | ||||||||