Club News
Old News from 2020
Back to main news - Current News
18/11/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The final report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The final report 4NCL season 2
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
03/11/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The sixth report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The sixth report 4NCL season 2
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
20/10/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The fifth report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The fifth report 4NCL season 2
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
06/10/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The fourth report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The fourth report 4NCL season 2
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
22/09/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The third report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The third report 4NCL season 2
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
08/09/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The second report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The second report 4NCL season 2
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
25/08/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The First Report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The first report 4NCL season 2
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
07/07/20 Rugeley Chess Club, Covid-19
Updated Coronavirus and chess in Rugeley.
Lea Hall has now announced it is now open for drinks only in the lounge area and other rooms are currently not in use, including snooker area. In terms of over the board chess it means that we are unlikely to reconvene as a club until September which will have significant implications on closing our current season and starting a new one. We also need to probably start with an AGM. Prior to that there will be a process of sanitising all the equipment, ready for use.
The committee recommendation remains that all future chess games are played online, until the situation is resolved. There is a Rugeley Chess Club online on Lichess Play online chess
Rugeley Library Chess Club is suspended until further notice.
Anyone interested in reading the ECF guidelines for clubs please refer to ECF
Catherine Hiley, (Secretary)
11/06/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The Final Report 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
The final report 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
09/06/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 10 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 10 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
02/06/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 9 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 9 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
26/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 8 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 8 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
19/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 7 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 7 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
12/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 6 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 6 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
05/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 5 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 5 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
28/04/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 4 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 4 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
14/04/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 2 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 2 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
07/04/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 1 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Round 1 4NCL
Rugeley Chess Club will remain digital until further notice.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
19/03/20 Rugeley Chess Club, Covid-19
Coronavirus and chess in Rugeley - Committee meeting minutes.
Lea Hall currently remains open but with reduced hours from 7-11 on a Tuesday evening.
However, normal meetings of Rugeley Chess Club are suspended until further notice. All Wolverhampton and Cannock League chess matches have also been suspended.
We are in the process of setting up a free online chess club for members only and hope to run the summer rapidplay tournament using it (without ECF grading). Members may if, they wish to and are healthy, play outstanding club championship games either at home or at Lea Hall using the club’s equipment which will remain there. No member is under any obligation to play such games. If a clock or other equipment is needed to play at home please contact Matt Carr.
The club’s AGM is postponed at least until 23 June (provisional date) and the club championship will be decided by the result of matches played on or before 9 June.
Rugeley Library Chess Club is suspended until further notice.
Catherine Hiley, (On behalf of the Committee)
10/03/20 Rugeley v Kidderminster A, WDCL Div 2
Unbeaten Kidderminster A brought an excellent team, out grading us on every board.
However, we were pleased to come away with 3 draws from the 6 boards with Steve (1), Matt (3) & Rob (6) each achieving half a point. Steve's Caro-Kann defence gave a tight position but his opponent was marginally on top, Rob managed to get into a fixed position where neither player could really advance & Matt had a very complicated Rook ending that could have gone either way. Sadly Bob (2) miscalculated in the middle game, Cath (4) went for victory but came up just short & Tony (5) was the victim of a ferocious attack on his King side, with each sadly losing.
Overall Kidderminster A came out on top 4.5 - 1.5 meaning we stay 5th in the table with our 3 local rivals to play to end our season.
Steve Whatmore, (Wolverhampton League Div 2 Captain)
03/03/20 Rugeley v Norton Canes, Cannock League Div 3
After a very successful debut season and beating Norton in our first encounter, I was feeling confident about securing the div 3 title.
James started positively with a piece and pawn up and looked very secure in victory until his opponent queened a pawn however James managed to settle his nerves and managed a win, not for the faint-hearted.
Mike was playing with his usual confidence and sacked his bishop (a Mike speciality) for a certain draw, or so he thought. Mike struggled to gain play from then on and his opponent punished him.
Luke was prepared for battle on board 1 and gave Mike Hoare a very good game, full of threats and counter-threats it was an interesting game to watch. Luke did well to sustain such pressure but eventually lost.
It was all down to young unbeaten Ryan, and he was a pawn up from the middle game and managed to make it count in the latter stages of the game after declining multiple offers of a draw, Ryan managed to spare Rugeley's blushes by winning.
We're still at the top of division 3 but unfortunately our position is tenuous with 2 Lichfield B games left. Still proud of our achievement this year especially Ryan who has played with maturity beyond his years.
Catherine Hiley, (Cannock League Div 3 Captain)
27/02/20 Lichfield A v Rugeley, Cannock League Div 3
Rugeley's penultimate match of the season and with a good solid team line-up I was feeling positive.
Tony looked to be on top with a 2 pawn advantage, however things took a drastic and sudden turn for the worse as black conquered the battle of counter-play. Tony resigned in a very open match.
Following Tony's defeat Mike and James appeared to go on a simultaneous pawn-thrusting campaign, Mike won with his passed pawn, James felt a little less certain and accepted a draw. Dave's game was rather obscure, although he said he enjoyed it. However I felt that a draw was justified, and both players left happy.
Lichfield played well to draw, and we manage to stay top of the league. One happy captain.
Catherine Hiley, (Cannock League Div 3 Captain)
18/02/20 Rugeley v Mercia B, WDCL Div 2
Mercia sadly were only able to field 5 players so we started the evening 1-0 ahead. After looking at the line-ups we out-graded each of our opponents so felt confident that we could get a result despite Bill, Cath & Bob being unavailable.
After a strong attack Rob’s opponent on board 4 resigned before he was mated while Patrick on 5 unfortunately lost to an outside passed pawn which he could not prevent from Queening without significant loss of material. Steve on 1 took advantage of a strong opening exchange & went a Pawn ahead, but lost a bit of momentum & his opponent looked set to take back a Pawn & possibly more with his Queen on Steve’s 2nd rank looking menacing. When he offered a draw, Steve was more than happy to accept. Tony (despite suffering from a nose-bleed courtesy of achieving the dizzy heights of board 3) battled well & went into the end game with a Knight v Bishop & several Pawns each, but despite Tony’s Knight being very active a draw appeared a fair result with Pawns on both sides of the board normally giving a Bishop the slight advantage. With the score 3-2 to us Matt on 2 was last to finish. He had an excellent attack brewing & was set to go material ahead, but was persuaded by his opponent to accept a draw meaning that we were able to take both points – a very gracious gesture by Matt putting the team ahead of his own personal goals.
So, we won 3.5 - 2.5 & stand on 8 points after 6 games – 3rd in the table. However, we now have the difficult challenge of the 1st, 2nd, 4th & 6th placed teams to play to end our season, but are happy in the knowledge that our Division 2 status is secure for next year.
Steve Whatmore, (Wolverhampton League Div 2 Captain)
12/02/20 Bushbury v Rugeley, Cannock League Div 2
Through the bitter weather we travelled to Bushbury for our penultimate game in the Division 2 season.
Board 1 Steve had a huge grade advantage. Keeping his pawn advantage white navigated his attack into a knight v knight end game pushing the extra pawn to victory.
Board 2 Saw our newcomer to the division, Rob Fell, get off to a flying start. It seemed like he was doomed after going 3 pawns down in the opening. Yet managed to hold fire for one move and surprise his opponent with a sneaky checkmate.
Board 3 Luke with white opened with the English. A draw was offered after 20 moves yet Luke declined due to the current match result. 40 moves in, Black made a mistake that cost him a bishop and from there a mating pattern was inevitable.
Board 4 James with black took to board 4 playing an old foe. James gave up the knight for 2 pawns in the opening but shortly into the middle game succumbed to a skewer on his rook.
Final match score 3-1 Thanks to all players.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)
28/01/20 Rugeley v Stafford, Cannock League Div 2
A long awaited match between the Stafford and Rugeley chess clubs.
Board 1 Tony with black had a steady game on board 1 gaining a pawn in the middle game. The position was looking very drawn and neither colour wished to advance so a draw was agreed.
Board 2 Patrick on board 2 for his club played 1.f4 the birds opening to absolutely nobody's surprise. Gaining space, both sides were equal in their camps and defended each of the others attempt to infiltrate. A fairly drawish and level game.
Board 3 Luke had black and gained space with an aggressive attack early on. There were pins, pieces lost and forks threatened against white. White's last minute attempt to create checkmate fell short and didn't have the combinations needed to survive.
Board 4 Mike typically sacrificed pawns on board 4 in the middle game to create opportunities. Mike managed to gain an important piece for his panws. Black tried for perpetual check but handed over a hand shake when it didn't work.
Final match score 3-1 Thanks to all players.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)
16/01/20 Wolverhampton v Rugeley, Cannock League Div 2
Wolverhampton was the destination for our away game to play our rescheduled division 2 match. This was going to be a test for us knowing they can put out a strong team.
Board 1 Steve had a fantastic game against Michael Oake which ended rather early in the night. Steve out-graded his opponent and with white made sure the opening pressure was too much and black's un-castled king was too weak to defend.
Board 2 Tony faced a relatively new player at their club. Tony was holding his own as he does yet unfortunately Black miscalculated and lost a knight. Tony had to resign.
Board 3 Luke with white also faced a new player. Pieces were exchanged rather early on in the English opening, leaving white with a strong bishop and Black a weaker knight and pawn. The pressure was rising for the Wolverhampton player and sadly blundered, allowing checkmate in 2.
Board 4 We were quite surprised after the match to learn that our board 4 actually played the highest grade. James was a pawn down for the majority of the game and was close to resigning at one stage. Yet he held his nerve and pushed on to see his opponent forfeiting a rook after a clever exchange.
Final match score 3-1 Thanks to all players.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)
08/01/20 Bushbury A v Rugeley, WDCL Div 2
Our first Wolverhampton League game of 2020 saw us travel to play a very strong Bushbury A team. Our highest 6 graded players were available so we travelled with optimism, but on seeing our opponents team sheet this quickly evaporated – their board 4 was higher graded than Bill on our board 1!
Rob quickly won his game on board 6 & then I managed a draw against my flued-up opponent on 3. With Cath then agreeing a draw on 5 we were actually 2-1 ahead with the other 3 games looking fairly level. However, Matt misplaced a Rook & had it forked to his other Rook by his opponent’s Bishop on 2 & then Bill missed a discovered check resulting in him losing his Queen.Bill Hulley v Lee Grinsell. At 3-2 down it was then left to Bob on 4, but in his endgame he had a Knight to his opponent’s Bishop & with Pawns on both flanks & under time pressure Bob sadly got over-run & we ended up losing 4-2.
Overall, we can all feel pretty pleased that we competed well against a much stronger team who seem destined for promotion & can look forward to games against more evenly matched opponents going forward.
Steve Whatmore, (Wolverhampton League Div 2 Captain)
07/01/20 Rugeley v Lichfield, Cannock League Div 2
Kicking off the first match of the 2020 year, a local derby as Lichfield B team came to Rugeley. It was warming to see the friendly humour between players before we started our clocks, but this was after all… a battle.
Board 1 Mike Hoare v Tony. A fascinating last game of the evening with the entire club gathered around. No knights on the board and a full army of pawns late into the game, White offered the queen exchange to Tony's liking and with one clever rook manoeuvre saw whites potential crumble into a drawn position.
Board 2 Our resident chairman played in usual fashion on Board 2. Patrick gained open files for the rooks and eventually castled long. Unfortunately, he miscalculated a pawn grab that just ended any of his advantage and once a second pawn was taken in the queen end game, Black's passed pawn was unstoppable and White resigned.
Board 3 You guessed it, Luke as black on board 3 was given the chance to play the Black lion attack against a much higher graded opponent. White played some unusual moves and managed to hold on for dear life against the oncoming threat. David managed to get into some time trouble, yet the pressure of Blacks position and neither side wanting to make any moves. A draw was a fair result.
Board 4 Mike had one of his best games in recent times on board 4 against a slightly lower graded opponent. This really was an incredible game as Mike sacrificed a pawn for some dominant counter play against the black king, sadly for the Lichfield player he couldn’t calculate away out of the problems that lay before him and after seeing a mating pattern, resigned.
Final match score 2-2 thanks to all players and have a wonderful New chess year.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)
Old News from 2020
Back to main news - Current News
18/11/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The final report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
03/11/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The sixth report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
20/10/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The fifth report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
06/10/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The fourth report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
22/09/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The third report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
08/09/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The second report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
25/08/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The First Report of the 2nd season of 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
07/07/20 Rugeley Chess Club, Covid-19
Updated Coronavirus and chess in Rugeley.
Lea Hall has now announced it is now open for drinks only in the lounge area and other rooms are currently not in use, including snooker area. In terms of over the board chess it means that we are unlikely to reconvene as a club until September which will have significant implications on closing our current season and starting a new one. We also need to probably start with an AGM. Prior to that there will be a process of sanitising all the equipment, ready for use.
Anyone interested in reading the ECF guidelines for clubs please refer to ECF
Catherine Hiley, (Secretary)
11/06/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
The Final Report 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
09/06/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 10 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
02/06/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 9 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
26/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 8 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
19/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 7 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
12/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 6 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
05/05/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 5 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
28/04/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 4 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
14/04/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 2 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
07/04/20 Rugeley Chess Club, ONLINE
Round 1 4NCL Online via Lichess
Please click on the link below for details of this tournament.
Matt Carr, (Tournament Controller)
19/03/20 Rugeley Chess Club, Covid-19
Coronavirus and chess in Rugeley - Committee meeting minutes.
Lea Hall currently remains open but with reduced hours from 7-11 on a Tuesday evening.
We are in the process of setting up a free online chess club for members only and hope to run the summer rapidplay tournament using it (without ECF grading). Members may if, they wish to and are healthy, play outstanding club championship games either at home or at Lea Hall using the club’s equipment which will remain there. No member is under any obligation to play such games. If a clock or other equipment is needed to play at home please contact Matt Carr.
The club’s AGM is postponed at least until 23 June (provisional date) and the club championship will be decided by the result of matches played on or before 9 June.
Rugeley Library Chess Club is suspended until further notice.
Catherine Hiley, (On behalf of the Committee)
10/03/20 Rugeley v Kidderminster A, WDCL Div 2
Unbeaten Kidderminster A brought an excellent team, out grading us on every board.
However, we were pleased to come away with 3 draws from the 6 boards with Steve (1), Matt (3) & Rob (6) each achieving half a point. Steve's Caro-Kann defence gave a tight position but his opponent was marginally on top, Rob managed to get into a fixed position where neither player could really advance & Matt had a very complicated Rook ending that could have gone either way. Sadly Bob (2) miscalculated in the middle game, Cath (4) went for victory but came up just short & Tony (5) was the victim of a ferocious attack on his King side, with each sadly losing.
Steve Whatmore, (Wolverhampton League Div 2 Captain)
03/03/20 Rugeley v Norton Canes, Cannock League Div 3
After a very successful debut season and beating Norton in our first encounter, I was feeling confident about securing the div 3 title.
James started positively with a piece and pawn up and looked very secure in victory until his opponent queened a pawn however James managed to settle his nerves and managed a win, not for the faint-hearted.
Luke was prepared for battle on board 1 and gave Mike Hoare a very good game, full of threats and counter-threats it was an interesting game to watch. Luke did well to sustain such pressure but eventually lost.
It was all down to young unbeaten Ryan, and he was a pawn up from the middle game and managed to make it count in the latter stages of the game after declining multiple offers of a draw, Ryan managed to spare Rugeley's blushes by winning.
We're still at the top of division 3 but unfortunately our position is tenuous with 2 Lichfield B games left. Still proud of our achievement this year especially Ryan who has played with maturity beyond his years.
Catherine Hiley, (Cannock League Div 3 Captain)
27/02/20 Lichfield A v Rugeley, Cannock League Div 3
Rugeley's penultimate match of the season and with a good solid team line-up I was feeling positive.
Tony looked to be on top with a 2 pawn advantage, however things took a drastic and sudden turn for the worse as black conquered the battle of counter-play. Tony resigned in a very open match.
Lichfield played well to draw, and we manage to stay top of the league. One happy captain.
Catherine Hiley, (Cannock League Div 3 Captain)
18/02/20 Rugeley v Mercia B, WDCL Div 2
Mercia sadly were only able to field 5 players so we started the evening 1-0 ahead. After looking at the line-ups we out-graded each of our opponents so felt confident that we could get a result despite Bill, Cath & Bob being unavailable.
After a strong attack Rob’s opponent on board 4 resigned before he was mated while Patrick on 5 unfortunately lost to an outside passed pawn which he could not prevent from Queening without significant loss of material. Steve on 1 took advantage of a strong opening exchange & went a Pawn ahead, but lost a bit of momentum & his opponent looked set to take back a Pawn & possibly more with his Queen on Steve’s 2nd rank looking menacing. When he offered a draw, Steve was more than happy to accept. Tony (despite suffering from a nose-bleed courtesy of achieving the dizzy heights of board 3) battled well & went into the end game with a Knight v Bishop & several Pawns each, but despite Tony’s Knight being very active a draw appeared a fair result with Pawns on both sides of the board normally giving a Bishop the slight advantage. With the score 3-2 to us Matt on 2 was last to finish. He had an excellent attack brewing & was set to go material ahead, but was persuaded by his opponent to accept a draw meaning that we were able to take both points – a very gracious gesture by Matt putting the team ahead of his own personal goals.
Steve Whatmore, (Wolverhampton League Div 2 Captain)
12/02/20 Bushbury v Rugeley, Cannock League Div 2
Through the bitter weather we travelled to Bushbury for our penultimate game in the Division 2 season.
Board 1 Steve had a huge grade advantage. Keeping his pawn advantage white navigated his attack into a knight v knight end game pushing the extra pawn to victory.
Board 2 Saw our newcomer to the division, Rob Fell, get off to a flying start. It seemed like he was doomed after going 3 pawns down in the opening. Yet managed to hold fire for one move and surprise his opponent with a sneaky checkmate.
Board 3 Luke with white opened with the English. A draw was offered after 20 moves yet Luke declined due to the current match result. 40 moves in, Black made a mistake that cost him a bishop and from there a mating pattern was inevitable.
Board 4 James with black took to board 4 playing an old foe. James gave up the knight for 2 pawns in the opening but shortly into the middle game succumbed to a skewer on his rook.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)
28/01/20 Rugeley v Stafford, Cannock League Div 2
A long awaited match between the Stafford and Rugeley chess clubs.
Board 1 Tony with black had a steady game on board 1 gaining a pawn in the middle game. The position was looking very drawn and neither colour wished to advance so a draw was agreed.
Board 2 Patrick on board 2 for his club played 1.f4 the birds opening to absolutely nobody's surprise. Gaining space, both sides were equal in their camps and defended each of the others attempt to infiltrate. A fairly drawish and level game.
Board 3 Luke had black and gained space with an aggressive attack early on. There were pins, pieces lost and forks threatened against white. White's last minute attempt to create checkmate fell short and didn't have the combinations needed to survive.
Board 4 Mike typically sacrificed pawns on board 4 in the middle game to create opportunities. Mike managed to gain an important piece for his panws. Black tried for perpetual check but handed over a hand shake when it didn't work.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)
16/01/20 Wolverhampton v Rugeley, Cannock League Div 2
Wolverhampton was the destination for our away game to play our rescheduled division 2 match. This was going to be a test for us knowing they can put out a strong team.
Board 1 Steve had a fantastic game against Michael Oake which ended rather early in the night. Steve out-graded his opponent and with white made sure the opening pressure was too much and black's un-castled king was too weak to defend.
Board 2 Tony faced a relatively new player at their club. Tony was holding his own as he does yet unfortunately Black miscalculated and lost a knight. Tony had to resign.
Board 3 Luke with white also faced a new player. Pieces were exchanged rather early on in the English opening, leaving white with a strong bishop and Black a weaker knight and pawn. The pressure was rising for the Wolverhampton player and sadly blundered, allowing checkmate in 2.
Board 4 We were quite surprised after the match to learn that our board 4 actually played the highest grade. James was a pawn down for the majority of the game and was close to resigning at one stage. Yet he held his nerve and pushed on to see his opponent forfeiting a rook after a clever exchange.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)
08/01/20 Bushbury A v Rugeley, WDCL Div 2
Our first Wolverhampton League game of 2020 saw us travel to play a very strong Bushbury A team. Our highest 6 graded players were available so we travelled with optimism, but on seeing our opponents team sheet this quickly evaporated – their board 4 was higher graded than Bill on our board 1!
Rob quickly won his game on board 6 & then I managed a draw against my flued-up opponent on 3. With Cath then agreeing a draw on 5 we were actually 2-1 ahead with the other 3 games looking fairly level. However, Matt misplaced a Rook & had it forked to his other Rook by his opponent’s Bishop on 2 & then Bill missed a discovered check resulting in him losing his Queen.Bill Hulley v Lee Grinsell. At 3-2 down it was then left to Bob on 4, but in his endgame he had a Knight to his opponent’s Bishop & with Pawns on both flanks & under time pressure Bob sadly got over-run & we ended up losing 4-2.
Steve Whatmore, (Wolverhampton League Div 2 Captain)
07/01/20 Rugeley v Lichfield, Cannock League Div 2
Kicking off the first match of the 2020 year, a local derby as Lichfield B team came to Rugeley. It was warming to see the friendly humour between players before we started our clocks, but this was after all… a battle.
Board 1 Mike Hoare v Tony. A fascinating last game of the evening with the entire club gathered around. No knights on the board and a full army of pawns late into the game, White offered the queen exchange to Tony's liking and with one clever rook manoeuvre saw whites potential crumble into a drawn position.
Board 2 Our resident chairman played in usual fashion on Board 2. Patrick gained open files for the rooks and eventually castled long. Unfortunately, he miscalculated a pawn grab that just ended any of his advantage and once a second pawn was taken in the queen end game, Black's passed pawn was unstoppable and White resigned.
Board 3 You guessed it, Luke as black on board 3 was given the chance to play the Black lion attack against a much higher graded opponent. White played some unusual moves and managed to hold on for dear life against the oncoming threat. David managed to get into some time trouble, yet the pressure of Blacks position and neither side wanting to make any moves. A draw was a fair result.
Board 4 Mike had one of his best games in recent times on board 4 against a slightly lower graded opponent. This really was an incredible game as Mike sacrificed a pawn for some dominant counter play against the black king, sadly for the Lichfield player he couldn’t calculate away out of the problems that lay before him and after seeing a mating pattern, resigned.
Luke Sullivan, (Cannock League Div 2 Captain)