Results

This was the final match of the 2007-2008 season for us, its been a terrific year with promotion in WDCL division 3, 2nd place in the 400 league, only missing out on 1st by board count! and a very creditable performance in the manchester league.
We know how strong Altrincham are from our first game of the season when we were hammered by them, we were a fair way short of our strongest line up this time around so it was perhaps predictable that we would suffer defeat against them again. We suffered defeats on 5 boards in total with Chris, Charlie, Steven Joe and Steve all losing. George Fortune did very weel to achieve a draw on a higher board then normal, I was very pleased to win my game, taking me on an undefeated run of nine matches!

With most of our side having been in action against Widnes last night it was with a somewhat weaker team then normal that we faces stockport with. Two excellent wins for Robert and Steven who both beat strong opponents, I was a pawn up for most of my game but wasnt able to convert it, game ending in a draw. Richard, Peter and Joe lost in what will be the last away game of the season for us.

The A team's final game of the season was a somewhat more relaxed affair for us then it might have been due to the fact that we had already secured first place in the division no matter what the result of this match was to be.

Steven Jones one in fine fashion on board four to give us an early lead, then the top board agreed a draw leaving us 1.5-0.5 ahead after two games. However things took a turn for the worse when Chris Chadwick lost on board two despite having had a strong attack, then Joe Chambers lost on time even though he had managed to obtain a won position!
I was playing on bottom board and was against the returning Paul McSweeney who hadn't played for Widnes for a couple of seasons, despite this he put up a very strong fight, but I managed to obtain an extra pawn in the endgame and went on to win to level the match.
The man of the match performance however was from Charlie Sharp, he played a fantastic game against one of the leagues most in-form players Tom Dugdale. The game has adjourned due to the game dragging on late, but in the final position Charlie had managed to obtain a Queen Bishop and six pawns V Two Rooks and five pawns advantage, leaving the tie virtually won.

Thanks very much to everyone who has made this promotion possible this year, we set it out as our main target for the season before it began, it has been tough at times but we always pulled through. We badly needed a team playing at a higher standard of chess both to improve us as a club and individually as players, and due to this seasons hard work we have done it!
Well done Guys!

The 400 League team played their final match of the season away against St Helens A. We knew it would be a very tough match, but we had a strong team out ourselves as we knew that there was still a mathmatical chance of winning the 400 league if we won this one.
Steven lost on top board against Nathan Talbot who has obviously improved alot since i last saw him play, Damian leveled the match fairly comfortably, however Joe Chambers went down against Keith Lyon which left Chris Chadwick playing against Paul Talbot. this was an amazing finish with both players having only seconds left on their clocks Chris managed to achieve victory leaving the Match tied at 2-2.

Another Fantastic win for the A team, i can almost smell division 2!
The match got off to a totally unexpected start as our ultra reliable player of the season John Wordsworth blundered early on and had to resign, then Steve Wagstaff who was in the team due to Steven Jones being on holiday, showed a glimer of his old magic and levelled the match with a fine display on board 6.
Shortly after I put us one up with a win on board four see my game here http://damianschesspage.blogspot.com/ , then Chris Chadwick put us two points clear with a "dodgy" win on board five. Charlie had been a pawn up the entire game, but he agreed a draw to secure us the match on board three. Then Joe Chambers rounded things off with a draw on second board to make the final scoreline 4-2 in our favour.

according to my calculations one win from either of our last two matches will be enough to gain promotion!

The 400 league team achieved a good victory over our neighbouring club Warrington Central.
With the B-Team away to Skelmersdale on the same night, there were very few options for stand in vice captain Joe chambers to pick, however this was probebly a bad thing for Central as it meant that we were forced to play i stronger side then we would otherwise have played.
Norman Fortune stepped in foir his first ever match and won on bottom board, his son George maintained his excellent recent form with another win, Joe Chambers went down to robert Hughes who seem's to have become Joe's nemissis in recent seasons! Whilst the top board ended in a draw.

The B-team was heavily outgraded in our match V Skelmersdale, boards 2-5 all finished relatively quickly each ending in defeat leaving me on top board to stave off the threat of a whitewash. I managed to achieve a won position with a King Knight and two pawns V a King and a Knight, however i allowed my opponent to swap off the two pawns for his knight in time trouble leaving the game a draw.

The 400 League teams incredible run of victories came to an end against a very strong Widnes side. Again i was not there for the match but I know Tom Dugdale is a strong player as he narrowly beat me in 2005 in the only match i lost in division 4 that year. Joe did well to draw against the opposition captain on 2 who i also know is a strong player.

Tough to write a summery about this one as i was in america when the match was being played! However the result speaks for itself, another fantastic win!

Best win of the season! Leaving us clear at the top of Division 3 and red hot favorites to secure promotion to division 2!

The opposition board 3 didn't make it to the venue which left us a point up straight away, John was at his brilliant best winning in 19 moves on the top board. This was closly followed by a draw from Steven Jones which left us 2.5-0.5 up after the first three results. Thankfully unlike the last match we were not made to sweat as George Fortune secured the match for us with a fine win on board six. Chris Chadwick got a solid draw which meant that it didn't matter that Joe lost on the second board.
A terrific result everyone well done!

Another good win as Steven's 400 League side notched up another victory to keep them soaring up the table. Board 3 was an interesting match as Padgate Captains past and present faced each other. I'd never met Steve Carr before but I have been told he used to play board 1 for us many years ago. He gave me a very tough game despite it being his first game for 2 years. I was very pleased when he resigned after a tough endgame.

A very close hard fought match!

John lost his first game of the season but can hardly be blamed as his opponent was rated 171, and apparently used to have a rating of 212! I wouldn't be surprised if this was the toughest player we've ever come up against. We fought hard against a very strong team and can be quite proud we only lost by a single board.

A nice win for the B-Team, Steven playing top board for the second B team game in a row managed another win against opposition captain Steve Harrison. Damian also won on board two with a huge time advantage by the end, and Derek won on the bottom board.

This all importent A team game got off to a cracking start with wins on boards 1 and 6 from George and John. Steven Jones also seemed to be cruising to victory against Ken Horne, however a late blunder allowed Ken back in to draw. My own position against Mark Cook had been growing steadily worse, and in the end my opponent finished me off with a nice combination. Mark played extreamly well in that game, but i was so annoyed with myself, firstly because it was a game i had expected myself to win and secoundly because i knew i had landed the team bang in trouble being only a point ahead with two games left.
This was a match against the divisions bottom side and a draw simply would not be good enough. It was as Alex Ferguson would say "squeeky bum time" for me at least as i watched the final two games progress, Joe seemed to have the better position, but it was complicated and he only had five minutes left to win! Chris also seemed to have a rather dodgy position on board 2. However i needent have worried, Chris held on for a draw, and Joe once again showed nerves of steel to grab a win amidst a time scramble, winning us the match 4-2!!!

What a relief!

Another crushing win V Bury 3, everyone played well in this match. Thanks very much to Richard and Peter who both made a huge effort to play in this one, Peter had to come straight from work, and Richard had to go straight to the airport afterwards!

A nice win for the B team, Steve Wagstaff returned to winning ways with a win on board 4 whilst Ian Parkinson notched up his second victory of the season in a win on board five. I reluctantly had to take a draw on board two whilst Steven responded to being played on top board superbly with a good win.

We went out of the Kalmar shield with a bit of a whimper in the end, John agreed a quick draw on board one against the talanted Sam Cloake, and Derek Hankey also did very well on bottom board to achieve a draw. However the middle boards were all losses, i was very annoyed with myself for losing a totally won game against my young opponent Conrad Green, just a terrible blunder at the end. I could have got a draw anytime i'd wanted but having an having had a won position i played on and on... then blundered...

The opposition found themselves one down before the match had begun as their board 6 was stuck on the motorway. The rest of the match was very one sided, Peter Hunter making his Manchester League debut held the opposition board 3 to a draw. Apart from that we managed a win on every single board!
Great stuff guys!
Many thanks to Peter Hunter for playing in this one, giving the side greater strength in depth.

The B Team went down heavily against Culcheth-Lymm C, in a fairly one sided encounter. We were heavily outgraded on all but the top board, which Steven Jones won with a fine performance. The rest of the team gained useful match experience as we continued with our new policy of using the B Team in order to make sure everyone at the club plays some competative games.

This crucial Division 3 match got off to the worst possible start when our Board 2 didn't get to the game on time, meaning we were a board down before the match had even started! John's was the first game to end with a draw on the top board, at this stage we were looking bad on all four boards!
Luckily my tactic of playing a strong tail paid dividends as first Steven then Chris managed to turn their games around and achieve victories.
Both myself and Joe Chambers' opponents requested to play the "long" format of the game, and both matched had to be adjourned till a later date. Leaving us one up with 2 games still to play. Without giving to much away, Joe Chambers is a pawn up in his game but in a very level position (it's a doubled pawn) and i have a tough task on board 4 to save my game being a pawn down. Half a point from either game is enough to achieve a drawn result, a whole point will secure the win!

(Jan has agreed that the two adjourned games be called draw's)

We played a weakened B Team for this one, (this will be the case for all B Team games in future) Skelmersdale won a close match against our B team. Derek Hankey lost early on to Neil Folland giving Skelmersdale the lead. Ian Parkinson also went down on board 5 leaving us trailing by two. I managed to win on top board and George Fortune snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat to take the match result into the final game. However the opposition captain won giving Skelmersdale victory.

It will be interesting to see the next updated 400 league table's as with yet another win in this division we may well have moved into a position to stand a chance of challenging for first place. The match got off to a bad start when Ian Parkinson went down early to John Vernon, Steven Jones levelled the match with a fine tactical display. Chris Chadwick was a pawn down for much of his match but managed to create mega complications for his opponent which allowed Chris to win. Finally Damian won on the final board to secure victory in the match.

Another excellent result to start the New year. The match was again won for us by the top boards, John, Martin and Chris all managed good wins, Robert ground out a draw against a strong opponent.
I played down an opening line i barely know and paid the penalty, going two pawns down early, from which i didn't recover. Steve wagstaff also lost against an experienced opponent on board 7. Richard Hughes managed to turn a lost game into a win with a fine effort on board six!

A good result for the 400 league team moving them further towards the top of the table. If Joe Chambers continues playing like this he will have a formidable grade next season!