We're off to Wem - bley...!

Yes, we're in the final! The Chapman Cup, that is, and we are actually off to Loughborough for the final against the Loughborough 2 team.

The score against the Hinckley team in the semi-final played last night at the new venue was closer than may be seen:

Phil Watkinson (126) 1-0 Simon Fisher (135)
Steve Smith    (124) 1-0 David Moore (107)
Andrew Pike    (115) 1-0 Terry Clay (89)
Barrie Cooper (111)  1-0 Douglas Opie (92)
Team Handicap        0-½
----------------------------------------------
Total                4-½

Steve Smith had to see through the complications of a hack attack against him before winning; Barrie had a confidient win on Board 4. Andrew's game looked very drawish until his opponent allowed a back rank mate (oops!) and I should have lost, or drawn at best, but my opponent threw away a king and pawn endgame in time pressure.

I would like to thank the team for a sterling effort - let's do it again in a fortnight's time.
Regards,
Phil.

Wylie Cup result

Played on the 13th August in the Wylie Cup (rapid play):

Littlethorpe 1 Wigston W-B B-W
1 Jones, Chris         Burrows, Martin   ½-½ ½-½
2 Cowley, Mike         Edwards, Alan     0-1 0-1
3 Hewitt, Sean         Morley, Andy      0-1 1-0
4 Karsisiotis, Ioannis Horspool, Phil    ½-½ ½-½
------------------------------------------------
Total:                                    3   5

It looks like we're playing our final Wylie Cup game (v Littlethorpe 2) at the Club on August 30th. (subject to venue availability). But after this win this is now academic according to my calculations, this means we have now secured the Wylie Cup with one game to spare!
In addition to losing to us the other teams,Braunstone, Littlethorpe and Birstall have all drawn with each other and Scraptoft Valley and Littlethorpe 2 have lost most/all of their games and Loughborough have pulled out.

Regards,
Andy.

Chapman Cup Semi-Final

The Chapman Cup semi-final between Wigston 2 and Hinckley will be held at the chess club's new venue on Thursday 30th August. The team will be:

Phil Watkinson, Stephen Smith, Andrew Pike and Barrie Cooper

Unlike the first two matches in this handicap tournament when we won because of winning or drawing one game against very strong opposition; this time the two teams will be equally matched so we will need to contest every board.

We are one match from the final - if we get through, Wigston would be in the final twice in the last three years.

Regards,
Phil.

New Venue for the chess club

I have updated the website home page with details of our new venue. A map is available; along with directions from J21 of the motorway. Any comments or improvements, please let me know.

Regards,
Phil.

Ivor Burton 1930 - 2007

It is with sadness that I report the death of Ivor Burton, a Vice-President and life member of the club, on the 26th July 2007. Ivor was involved in the club for over 50 years; joining in the late 1950s, he had two sessions as club secretary; 1963-65 and 1985-88; afterwards he was club President until 1998 when he resigned due to health. He ran tournaments for many years after Harry Tharp's death in 1982.

Husband of Doreen for over 50 years, he leaves three children and five grandchildren.

Neil.

Wylie Cup

The first match was played on July 19th at the new club premises, the Wigston Liberal Club. Everything went well, including the result - Wigston beating Braunstone 5 -3. We were made welcome and the playing conditions were very good. A lot of time has gone into sorting the equipment out, and the sets are much better to play with now. Thanks Barrie and Phil.
For the record, the match result was:

    Wigston      Result Braunstone Result
1 B Martin Burrows 0.5 John Robinson 0.5
1 W Martin Burrows 0.5 John Robinson 0.5
2 W Alan Byron      0  Mike Salisbury 1
2 B Alan Byron      1  Mike Salisbury 0
3 B Alan Edwards   0.5 Jim Bingham   0.5
3 W Alan Edwards    1  Jim Bingham    0
4 W Walter Dehnen   1  Paul Colburn   0
4 B Walter Dehnen  0.5 Paul Colburn  0.5
----------------------------------------
TOTAL               5                 3

This win gives us 4 wins from 4 matches, although we had a scare in the first leg, which we should undoubtedly have lost 1 - 3 - until Walter's opponent lost an ending in which he was Q + N v Q.

Chapman Cup - draw for the semi-finals

Dear Colleagues - The draw for the semi-finals of the Chapman Cup, made today, is as follows:

Loughborough 2 vs. Market Harborough
Wigston 2 vs. Hinckley

Home teams, listed first, must offer two dates as usual to the opposition. The CC final is, as you know, to be played on September 13th, so we have plenty of time to complete these two matches. However, in case of any disputes, slip-ups etc, I suggest that you arrange dates before the end of August.

Best wishes.

Jim Miller

Chapman Cup round 2 result

Played last night (Tuesday 10th July) at Birstall:

1    Norton, Craig 171 Drawn 124 Watkinson, Phil
2   Sharpe, Graham 159 1-0   139 Dodds, Iain
3       Bray, Dave 152 1-0   127 Marlow, Jack
4      **DEFAULT**     0-1   124 Smith, Stephen
BONUS                  0-2.5
                    ---------
TOTAL               2.5 - 4.0

Birstall fielded a tough team; luckily for us they defaulted their bottom board (although this meant a wasted journey for Steven); also the grading difference (129) just put our bonus into the 2.5 points category.

We all had good long games, Jack was unlucky to lose; Iain looked if he was going to hang onto the draw. But the Birstall board 1 allowed a perpetual check which gave a draw which was sufficient for a win.

Roll on the next round - the semi finalists are:

Hickley
Market Harborough
Wigston 2
Loughborough 2

Regards,
Phil.

Birstall Cup result: Wigston 3 v Littlethorpe 2

Here is result of Wigston 3 match against Littlethorpe 2 in the Birstall Cup, played on Monday 18th June 2007:

1. S. Wylie       0.5 I. Dodds   0.5
2. I. Karsisiotis   1 J. Daniel  0
3. D. Crane       0.5 D. Wilkins 0.5
4. P. Findley     0 F. Hulford   1
5. Bonus          0 Bonus        0
-------------------------------------
Total            2                2

Littlethorpe win on board count.
Neil.

Lightning Tournament Results

Result table now available at http://www.wigstonchess.org.uk/results/lightening07.htm.
Well done to Alan Edwards who won with a 6 out of 6.

Lightning Tournament

It's always great fun - the Lightning Tournament will be held at the club on Thursday 7th June - the games are controlled by a 10 second buzzer - when the buzzer sounds, you have to move. The evening will have a combination of league and knockout formats so everyone gets a few games irrespective of your success.

Chapman and Birstall Cups

The 2nd round of the Chapman Cup and the 1st round of the Birstall Cup have now been announced. The following matches are to be played before Friday 13th July:

Birstall vs. Wigston 2 (Chapman Cup)
Loughborough 1 vs. Wigston 1 (Birstall Cup)
Littlethorpe 2 vs. Wigston 3 (Birstall Cup)

Results of Round 1 of the Chapman Cup

We have three teams in this year's Chapman Cup, Wigston 1 captained by Andy Morley, Wigston 2 captained by Phil Watkinson, and Wigston 3 captained by Iain Dodds.

As you know, the Chapman Cup is a 4-board handicap tournament, where depending on the difference in total grading between the two teams, bonus points are added to the score. It can therefore be quite tricky for a strong team playing a weaker team - an upset on just one board can prove fatal!

The full results for round 1 are on the LRCA website, but briefly, the Wigston 1 lost against Birstall (2-2 but with a 1½ bonus to Birstall); Wigston 2 won against a very strong Loughborough team (a loss of 1-3 but a 3½ bonus turns that into a win), and finally Wigston 3 lost against Spinney Hill (1-3 no bonus).

The hero of the day is definitely Stephen Smith, who was losing (just like the rest of us in the Wigston 2 team), but managed to catch Jim Miller (grade 156) in a mid-board mate. This win provided the team victory, and means at least one team from the club appears in the next round.

The Wigston 1 and the Wigston 3 teams will now play in the Plate Tournament, the Birstall Cup.

Player Performance 06/07 published

A summary of player statistics for games played in 2006/07 in the leagues and the Birstall and Chapman cups. The Player of the Year trophy was won by Alan Edwards with 88.4%, with Martin Burrows second with 78.6%

Awards at the AGM

Just to let people know, at the AGM last week the following trophies were presented:

• Veterans Trophy - Peter Gibbs
• Player of the Year - Alan Edwards
• Clubmanship Trophy - Phil Watkinson
• President's Trophy - Dave White

Chapman Cup Round 1 fixture for Wigston 2 team

The 1st round match for the Wigston2 team against Loughborough will be played at home on Thursday 24th May 2007. The team is: Phil Watkinson (captain), Stephen Smith, Andrew Pike and Barrie Cooper.

Just a reminder

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