Lincolnshire Chess Association - U120 Counties Competition 2016-17

U120 Counties Competition Open Team (2016-17)

MCCU U120 Counties Championship Open
Position	Teams	Pl	W	L	Match Pts
1	Nottinghamshire	4	4	0	8
2	Warwickshire	4	2	2	4
3	Lincolnshire	4	1	3	2
4	Worcestershire	3	1	2	2
5	Staffordshire	3	1	2	2

MCCU U120 Counties Championship Match Results
Date	Match	Result
15 Oct	Nottinghamshire v Lincolnshire	9½-2½
29 Oct	Lincolnshire v Warwickshire	7½-4½
10 Dec	Worcestershire v Lincolnshire	7½-4½
18 Feb	Lincolnshire v Staffordshire	5-7

Nottinghamshire v Lincolnshire

Report from William Orr

With several of last year’s players now too strong for the U120 squad and a number of others having prior commitments, assembling a team for the away match against Nottinghamshire was reduced to simple task of naming the 12 players who were available. Special thanks to Kieran Burt from Horncastle, Terry Bennett from Spalding and Neil Roberts from Lincoln who all stepped forward to play in their first county match. Unfortunately Richard Coats contracted food poisoning and had to withdraw at the last minute, leaving us a player short and forced to default one board. As expected the Nottinghamshire team had a notable grading advantage, and I knew a tough afternoon was likely. So it proved, though as I concentrated on my own game and ignored the distractions of the match, I missed everything that happened on the other boards. By the time my game ended the match was already lost, with only Terry Bennett and Mark Newstead winning and Chris Cumbers securing a draw.

Date: 15/10/16
Venue: Bramcote, Nottingham
		Nottinghamshire (Home team)				Lincolnshire (Away team)
Board	Colour	Name	Club	Grade	Score	Name	Club	Grade
1	W	Amaan Gogia	West Nottingham	119	1-0	Behzad Parnian	Grimsby	119
2	B	Graham Gibson	Nottingham Central	119	1-0	William Orr	Horncastle	118
3	W	Bernardo Pincheira	Nottingham University	118	1-0	Graeme Rae	Horncastle	116
4	B	Alberto Rodriguez	Nomads	116	½-½	Chris Cumbers	Grantham	114
5	W	Michael Harper	Gambit	115	0-1	Terry Bennett	Spalding	112
6	B	Len Morrell	Radcliffe & Bingham	113	1-0	Neil Roberts	Lincolnshire	E110
7	W	Bob Garnett	West Bridgford	110	0-1	Mark Newstead	Horncastle	108
8	B	Joe Wright	Nottingham University	109	1-0	Will Taylor	Lincolnshire Juniors	103
9	W	Rikita Maladkar	West Nottingham	109	1-0	Paul Chaplin	Grimsby	98
10	B	Margaret Gretton	Gambit	108	1-0	Peter Metcalfe	Lincoln	84
11	W	Bob Abrahart	West Bridgford	102	1-0	Kieran Burt	Horncastle	63
12	B	Allan Brown	West Bridgford	104	1-0	Default
					9½-2½

Lincolnshire v Warwickshire

Report from William Orr

Two weeks after our first match the U120 side were back in action against Warwickshire, and once again I missed most of the action while I concentrated on my own game. By the time I had finished we were already in a comfortable position with wins for Paul Fischer, Neil Roberts, Terry Bennett and Will Taylor, and draws for Chris Cumbers and Mark Newstead. A few boards were still playing. Robert Stokes, in his first match for a county team, was an exchange down, but his pawn on the seventh rank was enough to earn another draw. Graeme Rae was clearly thinking hard and expecting a draw in a rook and pawns endgame, but when his opponent allowed an exchange of rooks he was able to find a winning pawn promotion.

Overall a good result for the team, with a win against the beaten finalists in last year’s national competition.

Date: 29/10/16
Venue: St Hilda's, East Goscote
		Lincolnshire (Home team)				Warwickshire (Away team)
Board	Colour	Name	Club	Grade	Score	Name	Club	Grade
1	W	Behzad Parnian	Grimsby	119	0-1	Jason Madden	Leamington	117
2	B	William Orr	Horncastle	118	1-0	Roy Watson	Kenilworth	117
3	W	Graeme Rae	Horncastle	116	1-0	Rob Mantell	Leamington	115
4	B	Chris Cumbers	Grantham	114	½-½	Paul Kelly	Nuneaton	117
5	W	Terry Bennett	Spalding	112	1-0	Marek Zawadzki	Stratford	110
6	B	Paul Fischer	Lincoln	111	1-0	Simon Weaver	Warwickshire	112
7	W	Neil Roberts	Lincolnshire	E110	1-0	Paul Davies	Stratford	106
8	B	Mark Newstead	Horncastle	108	½-½	John Pakenham	Warwickshire	108
9	W	Frank Robinson	Spalding	107	0-1	Penny Wood	Solihull	104
10	B	Robert Stokes	Scunthorpe	106	½-½	Peter Stiff	Strafford	93
11	W	Will Taylor	Lincolnshire	103	1-0	Peter Leggett	Leamington	96
12	B	Peter Metcalfe	Lincoln	84	0-1	Pauline Woodward	Warley Quinborne	100
					7½-4½

Worcestershire v Lincolnshire

Report from William Orr

Lincolnshire teams had a busy schedule recently with U120 and U140 matches in close succession, and it wasn't surprising when fewer players than usual declared themselves free to take on Worcestershire. At times like this a team captain might long for the great days of Soviet chess, when a phone call from Stalin would be enough to ensure the appearance of Botvinnik, Keres and the rest. Fortunately Terry, Richard and Kieran stepped forward to take the last few places, and Cameron Marnoch was back from university to make a welcome return to the team.

The match began with two of the Worcestershire players absent, leaving Robert Stokes and Mark Newstead without opponents, and their games eventually began around 25 minutes late. I concentrated on my game and missed most of the early action. By the time I resigned Robert and Andrew Watson had won their games and Paul Fischer had agreed a draw, but Worcestershire had done well elsewhere and were already on 5½ points, leaving them within reach of match victory. They soon secured the points they needed when Mark and Graeme Rae concluded their games with draws. A late win for Richard Coats boosted the Lincolnshire score, but Worcestershire ended winners by 7½ points to 4½.

The final match for the U120 team will be against Staffordshire in February when a good result will be needed if we are to progress to the ECF stage of the competition.

Date: 10/12/16
Venue: Sharnford Evergreen Hall, Leicester Road, Hinckley, LE10 3PP
		Worcestershire (Home team)				Lincolnshire (Away team)
Board	Colour	Name	Club	Grade	Score	Name	Club	Grade
1		David Smith	Redditch	116	1-0	William Orr	Horncastle	118
2		Jeremy Humphries	Stourbridge	116	½-½	Graeme Rae	Horncastle	116
3		Terry Radford	Droitwich	104	1-0	Chris Cumbers	Grantham	114
4		Michele Clack	Redditch	101	1-0	Terry Bennett	Spalding	112
5		Toni Reed	Redditch	99	½-½	Paul Fischer	Lincoln	111
6		Peter Hodkinson	St Georges	99	½-½	Dr Mark Newstead	Horncastle	108
7		Kevan Ward	Worcestershire	96	0-1	Robert Stokes	Scunthorpe	106
8		Richard Collett	Worcester	94	0-1	Richard Coats	Spalding	99
9		Terry Pountney	Kidderminster	87	0-1	Andrew Watson	Horncastle	85
10		Monty Woodhouse	Worcestershire	86	1-0	Peter Metcalfe	Lincoln	84
11		Daniel Arkell	Stourbridge	74	1-0	Cameron Marnoch	Louth	75
12		Joyce Evans	Halesowen	67	1-0	Kieran Burt	Horncastle	63
					7½-4½

Lincolnshire v Staffordshire

Report from William Orr

The date of the match against Staffordshire coincided with the half-term break, Doncaster Congress and Lincoln City playing in the FA Cup, so it wasn’t too surprising when a number of regular players were unavailable. Fortunately several junior players were available and I was very pleased to give them a chance to experience a county match. Thanks to all those who volunteered especially Charles Moss who responded to my late telephone request and found himself on board 4 the next day. Unfortunately we were well outgraded as a team and I knew that it would take exceptional performances to give us any chance of securing a win.

The match began without an opponent for Adam Cook, and Staffordshire eventually conceded that point. Once again I concentrated on my own game, and saw nothing of the rest of the match. There were wins for Chris Cumbers and myself and draws for Graeme Rae, Charles Moss, Frank Robinson and Peter Metcalfe, giving Lincolnshire 5 points but leaving Staffordshire the winners on 7.

That leaves Lincolnshire on 2 points, unfortunately not enough to secure a place in the ECF stage so there will be no further matches for the U120 side this season. Thanks to all those who played, arranged transport and otherwise helped out.

Date: 18/2/17
Venue: The Old School, Thurmaston
		Lincolnshire (Home team)				Staffordshire (Away team)
Board	Colour	Name	Club	Grade	Score	Name	Club	Grade
1	B	Graeme Rae	Horncastle	126	½-½	Andrew Lenz	Brewood	123
2	W	William Orr	Horncastle	122	1-0	Julian Hawthorne	Kidsgrove	118
3	B	Terry Bennett	Spalding	115	0-1	Nicholas Wright	Newcastle-under-Lyme	117
4	W	Charles Moss	Lincoln	112	½-½	David Barker	Stafford	115
5	B	Mark Newstead	Horncastle	111	0-1	Simon Jones	Bushbury	115
6	W	Chris Cumbers	Grantham	109	1-0	Anthony Meakin	Rugeley	110
7	B	Frank Robinson	Spalding	105	½-½	Michael Page	Lichfield	109
8	W	Peter Metcalfe	Lincoln	83	½-½	Paul Guest	Brewood	105
9	B	Adam Cook	Louth	77	1-0	Default
10	W	Paul Rutter	Horncastle	E70	0-1	Stuart Hull	Fenton	96
11	B	Kieran Burt	Horncastle	64	0-1	David Buckley	Bushbury	80
12	W	Amogh Pilani	Louth	62	0-1	Andrew Davies	Brewood	83
					5-7