| Position | Teams | Pl | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leicestershire | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Nottinghamshire | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Derbyshire | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Lincolnshire | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Date | Match | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct | Nottinghamshire v Lincolnshire | 10-6 |
| 2 Nov | Lincolnshire v Derbyshire | 9-7 |
| 7 Dec | Leicestershire v Lincolnshire | 10-6 |
Nottinghamshire v Lincolnshire
Report from Nigel Birtwistle
Lincolnshire travelled to Bramcote in the city of Nottingham to face Nottinghamshire who have returned to play in the Open Section after several years’ absence. The match had previously been arranged for earlier in the month, but I sportingly agreed to rearrange the match even though I was within my rights to claim the fixture by default due to the fact that Nottinghamshire had been unable to find a suitable venue. Unfortunately this backfired a little when I found out that we would have several regular players missing for the rearranged date. When I arrived at the venue I saw that Nottinghamshire had fielded a strong side and that we would be out graded on all but two of the boards. Despite this the team, as usual, fought very hard, but in the end Nottinghamshire emerged victorious by a 10-6 margin. The only real highlights for Lincolnshire were a nice win by Paul Cumbers, a swindle by Keith Palmer to take the full point from a dead lost position and a solid performance from Grantham's Andy Hebert to score our only other win. In hindsight some people may say that we should have claimed the original fixture when Nottinghamshire failed to find a venue, but this has never been my policy as a team captain and it never will be. We all want to play chess at the end of the day and that is how it should be. This defeat leaves Lincolnshire needing to win their two remaining matches to have any chance of qualifying for the MCCU semi-finals. However we are not out of the competition yet and hopefully we can start the fight back with a victory in our next match, which is at home against Derbyshire at the Atrium in a fortnight's time.
| Nottinghamshire (Home team) | Lincolnshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | B | Michael Barnes | Gambit | 201 | ½-½ | Claudio Mangione | Lincoln | 203 |
| 2 | W | John Swain | Gambit | 169 | ½-½ | Nigel Birtwistle | Grantham | 196 |
| 3 | B | Alex Posazhennikov | Nottinghamshire | 199 | 1-0 | Nick Stead | Grimsby | 192 |
| 4 | W | Pablo Padilla Cabero | Ashfield | 196 | 1-0 | Samuel Milson | Louth | 190 |
| 5 | B | Robert Richmond | West Bridgford | 190 | 0-1 | Paul Cumbers | Lincolnshire | 189 |
| 6 | W | Alexander Combie | Newark | 187 | 1-0 | Kevin McCarthy | Grantham | 170 |
| 7 | B | Richard Truman | West Bridgford | 171 | 0-1 | Keith Palmer | Louth | 169 |
| 8 | W | Steve Hunter | Gambit | 170 | 0-1 | Andrew Hebert | Grantham | 160 |
| 9 | B | Daniel Broughton | West Bridgford | 170 | ½-½ | Ivan David | Grantham | 159 |
| 10 | W | Steve Burke | Ashfield | 169 | 1-0 | Steve Allott | Grimsby | 159 |
| 11 | B | Andrew Walker | Nottingham University | 166 | 1-0 | Graham Ladds | Newark | 158 |
| 12 | W | Mark Kenyon | West Notts | 167 | ½-½ | Ian McDonald | Lincoln | 157 |
| 13 | B | Brian Thompson | West Bridgford | 165 | 1-0 | Stuart MacDonald | Grimsby | 151 |
| 14 | W | Drag Sudar | Gambit | 164 | ½-½ | Denis Georgiou | Scunthorpe | 149 |
| 15 | B | Nick London | Radcliffe & Bingham | 160 | ½-½ | Chris Holt | Grantham | 148 |
| 16 | W | David Levens | West Notts | 158 | 1-0 | Ben Mason | Grantham | 140 |
| 10-6 | ||||||||
Lincolnshire v Derbyshire
Report from Nigel Birtwistle
After a defeat in our opening match of the season against Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire were looking to bounce back when they hosted Derbyshire in a must win encounter. The venue was once again the excellent Atrium building at the Lindum Group at North Hykeham which is proving to be something of a fortress for visiting teams. Lincolnshire has never lost a county match at the Atrium and the trend continued in this match. On paper it could be quite clearly seen that Lincolnshire started the match as clear favourites because Derbyshire had fielded a much weakened team to the one expected. Lincolnshire started the match with a one point advantage due to a late withdrawal by a Derbyshire player. Kevin McCarthy graciously sat out the match and seven players moved up a board, but it did enable Kevin to keep the match score updated on the team sheet via the VDU screen and also provide updates on the latest football scores as well as the England v Australia Rugby Union International. It became quickly apparent that Derbyshire were in no mood to roll over despite being out graded on all of the boards and equalised the match early on. The match was level with four games to play but a couple of wins saw Lincolnshire home by a 9-7 margin. So Lincolnshire got the win that they desperately needed to keep themselves in the hunt for a qualifying place but to be honest it was not one of the teams most sparkling performances and the team will have to significantly raise their game when they travel to face Leicestershire in their final group match on 7th December. Once again this is a match that Lincolnshire must win in order to progress further in the competition.
| Lincolnshire (Home team) | Derbyshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | B | Claudio Mangione | Lincoln | 203 | ½-½ | Ray Evans | Derby | 193 |
| 2 | W | Nigel Birtwistle | Grantham | 196 | 1-0 | Trevor Bould | Burton | 182 |
| 3 | B | Nick Stead | Grimsby | 192 | ½-½ | Simon Gilmore | Belper | 178 |
| 4 | W | David Coates | Lincoln | 191 | ½-½ | Ray Forey | Derby | 167 |
| 5 | B | Samuel Milson | Louth | 190 | ½-½ | Ralph Allen | Burton | 163 |
| 6 | W | Joe Kilshaw | Grimsby | 190 | 1-0 | Martin Cobham | Derby | 164 |
| 7 | B | Daniel Wells | Newark | 183 | 0-1 | Derek Jarvis | Breadsall | 162 |
| 8 | W | Harry Russell | Louth | 177 | ½-½ | John Hoddy | Burton | 162 |
| 9 | B | Keith Palmer | Louth | 169 | ½-½ | Luke Alldread | Belper | 151 |
| 10 | W | Andrew Hebert | Grantham | 160 | 0-1 | Maurice Hill | Rolls Royce Derby | 142 |
| 11 | B | Ivan David | Grantham | 159 | 1-0 | Dave Hoddy | Burton | 140 |
| 12 | W | Steve Allott | Grimsby | 159 | 0-1 | Paul Moore | Burton | 136 |
| 13 | B | Alastair Summers | Peterborough | 158 | 1-0 | Ian Edmundson | Chesterfield | 135 |
| 14 | W | Stuart MacDonald | Grimsby | 151 | 0-1 | Ronald Harrison | Belper | 122 |
| 15 | B | Denis Georgiou | Scunthorpe | 149 | 1-0 | Roger Walker | Belper | 121 |
| 16 | W | Kevin McCarthy | Grantham | 170 | 1-0 | Default | ||
| 9-7 | ||||||||
Leicestershire v Lincolnshire
Report from Nigel Birtwistle
This match was a winner take all encounter, with the victor progressing to the next stage of the competition, whilst for the loser there was the bleak prospect of being knocked out of the competition before Christmas and no more County chess to look forward to in the New Year. Lincolnshire fielded their strongest team of the season so far but on paper the teams were still pretty evenly matched. The match looked to be going right down to the wire, but in the last hour of play several promising positions turned against us and Lincolnshire tumbled to a 10 - 6 defeat. So it was a black day for Lincolnshire Chess in what has been a disappointing season by comparison to recent years. This season’s campaign has come to a premature end but hopefully the team will come back stronger next year and produce the results that I know we are capable of.
| Leicestershire (Home team) | Lincolnshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | W | Martin Burrows | Wigston | 193 | 0-1 | Chris Dorrington | Grantham | 223 |
| 2 | B | Sven Reimaa | Hinckley | E186 | 1-0 | Claudio Mangione | Lincoln | 203 |
| 3 | W | Alan Agnew | Leicestershire | 185 | 1-0 | Nigel Birtwistle | Grantham | 196 |
| 4 | B | Graham Sharpe | Blaby District | 178 | ½-½ | Nick Stead | Grimsby | 192 |
| 5 | W | John Denton | Melton Mowbray | 179 | ½-½ | David Coates | Lincoln | 191 |
| 6 | B | Andy Morley | Wigston | 177 | 1-0 | Samuel Milson | Louth | 190 |
| 7 | W | Brian Galligan | Syston | 183 | 1-0 | Joe Kilshaw | Grimsby | 190 |
| 8 | B | Ray Burgess | Willowbrook | 174 | 0-1 | Paul Cumbers | Lincolnshire | 189 |
| 9 | W | John Robinson | Braunstone | 178 | ½-½ | Nick Payne | Grantham | 180 |
| 10 | B | Tom Reynolds | Melton Mowbray | 169 | 1-0 | Keith Palmer | Louth | 169 |
| 11 | W | John Mitchell | Loughborough | 169 | 1-0 | Ivan David | Grantham | 159 |
| 12 | B | Paul Colburn | Braunstone | 170 | 1-0 | Graham Ladds | Newark | 158 |
| 13 | W | Sean Sheahan | Loughborough | 166 | ½-½ | Alastair Summers | Peterborough | 158 |
| 14 | B | Karl Potter | Latimer | 163 | 0-1 | Ian McDonald | Lincoln | 157 |
| 15 | W | Jim Miller | Loughborough | 166 | ½-½ | Stuart MacDonald | Grimsby | 151 |
| 16 | B | Richard Hanscombe | Braunstone | 154 | ½-½ | Denis Georgiou | Scunthorpe | 149 |
| 10-6 | ||||||||