January Grading List

The ECF January Grading List was published last night and, by now, you will all have received an email from Martyn Harris notifying you which of your players, if any, are affected by the changes. The new grades for the affected players should be used with immediate effect and, in any case, not later than for matches played on Tuesday 2nd February. The Tied Players List has been updated to reflect the changes.

Monday Evening Result

Division 3

Meir 'A'  1.5  Cheddleton 'D'  2.5

British Championships

If anybody is contemplating playing in the British Championships this year then entry forms are now available here.

Friday Evening Results

Division 3

Cheddleton 'C'  3  Newcastle 'D'  1

Cheddleton leapfrogged Newcastle to the top of the table following last night's win. Newcastle drop to 2nd place but are only a point behind and still have a match in hand.

Division 4

Cheddleton 'F'  1  Cheddleton 'E'  3

After two successive defeats Cheddleton 'E' got their title bid back on track last night with a 3 - 1 win against against their 'F' team. They are now 4 points clear at the top of the table, although joint 2nd placed Crewe 'C' have 2 matches in hand.

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 1

Newcastle 'A'  3.5  Stafford 'A'  1.5

Division 4

Newcastle 'E'  2  Crewe 'C'  2

13th Newcastle Mini Congress

This year's Newcastle Mini Congress will be held over the weekend of 25th/26th March. Usual format - Open, U160, U130 and U100 sections, 5 round Swiss with 3 rounds on the Saturday and 2 rounds on the Sunday. January 2017 grades to be used. Please click here for full details.

Tuesday Evening Result

Division 3

Alsager 'A'  3  Kidsgrove  1

Alsager are up to 2nd in the table following last night's win, while Kidsgrove are still looking for their first win of the season.

Monday Evening Result

Division 4

Fenton 'B'  3  Meir 'B'  1

County U120's Beaten

The County U120 team were beaten 8.5 - 3.5 by Warwickshire yesterday afternoon, leaving them bottom of the Midland Counties Championship table with two defeats from their opening two matches. Click here for the match score card.

Congress Reminder

Just a reminder that the Frodsham Congress takes place over the weekend of 4th/6th February if anybody is interested in entering.

ECF Schools Girls Team Championship

Colin Abell has kindly sent me the following report :

The Northern Semi-Final of the ECF Schools Girls Chess Championships took place at Bridgewater School on the 14th January.  Nine junior members of Cheddleton and Leek Chess Club represented St Edward's Academy.  In the Under 11 Section St Edward's 'A' finished 2nd out of the 10 teams, only 2 points behind Nottingham High School 'A'. St Edward's 'B' team were 8th.  St Edward's team in the Under 19's was easily the youngest there, comprising two 11 year olds and one 12 year old.  Despite this they played magnificently and finished in equal 4th place out of the 8 teams in the section, with a total of 8/15 points.  St Edward's Under 11 'A' team will now proceed to the National Finals in April, along with Nottingham 'A' and 6 teams from the Southern Semi-Final.  Full details are available here.

Friday Evening Results

Tonight's fixtures at Cheddleton are the last ones to be played at their current venue. Please see earlier posting for details of their new venue.

Division 3

Cheddleton 'D'  2  Cheddleton 'C'  2

No change in the Division 3 table following last night's draw. Cheddleton 'C' and 'D' remain 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Division 4

Cheddleton 'E'  1.5  Crewe 'C'  2.5

Leaders Cheddleton 'E' suffered their 2nd successive defeat last night. They still lead the table by 3 points but Crewe have now moved up to joint second and have 2 matches in hand. What looked like a procession to the title a few weeks ago has now been turned on it's head as Crewe pile on the pressure.

Division 5

Cheddleton 'H'  3  Cheddleton 'G'  1

Cheddleton 'G' suffered their first defeat of the season last night but remain top of the table by virtue of game points.

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 2

Crewe 'A'  2.5  Macclesfield  2.5

Newcastle 'C'  2.5  Holmes Chapel Rooks  2.5

Division 3

Newcastle 'D'  1  Meir 'A'  3

Division 5

Crewe 'D'  3  Fenton 'C'  1

Cheddleton On The Move

Can you all please note that Cheddleton are moving from their current venue, effective Friday 27th January. The last matches at the existing venue will take place on Friday 20th January. Their new venue, for the remainder of the season, will be St Andrew's Methodist Church, Ostler's Lane, Cheddleton, ST13 7HS.

Tuesday Evening Result

Division 4 

Alsager 'B'  2.5  Stafford 'B'  1.5

Monday Evening Fixtures

Division 2

Macclesfield  3.5  Newcastle 'B'  1.5

The Division 2 leader board has changed hands again. Macclesfield now lead by a point following last night's win.

Division 3

Fenton 'A'  1.5  Alsager 'A'  2.5

Fenton missed the chance to go 2nd in the table and make up some ground on the leaders when they were beaten at home by Alsager 'A'.

Division 4

Fenton 'B'  2.5  Cheddleton 'E'  1.5

It was a first defeat of the season for Cheddleton 'E' last night. However, they continue to lead the table by 3 points and still have a match in hand of their closest rivals.

Division 5

Meir 'C'  2  Newcastle 'F'  2

A draw was enough to send Meir 'C' to joint top of Division 5 on match points, although just behind Cheddleton 'G' on game points.

4NCL Results

There were mixed fortunes for Cheddleton and Holmes Chapel in Rounds 3 and 4 of 4NCL Division 3 North this weekend.

Cheddleton won both of their matches, beating Manchester Manticores '4' by 3.5 - 2.5 on Saturday and then beating Manchester Manticores '3' by 4.5 - 1.5 on Sunday.

Holmes Chapel beat Manchester Manticores '3' by 3.5 - 2.5 on Saturday but then suffered a heavy 5.5 - 0.5 defeat against a very strong Manx Liberty team on Sunday.

Click here for Saturday's Round 3 match score cards and here for Sunday's Round 4 score cards. Click here for the Division 3 North league table.

County U100's Crushed

The County U100 team suffered a crushing 11.5 - 0.5 defeat at the hands of Leicestershire this afternoon, leaving them rooted at the bottom of the Midland Counties Championship table. Once again, we were unable to field a full team. A late withdrawal due to illness left us with only 11 players and insufficient time to find a replacement. This is the heaviest defeat that I can recall for a Staffordshire County team. Our single half point came from Joe Alcock of Cheddleton on board 2. Click here for the full match score card.

Mike Judd Obituary

Thanks to Stuart Green of Meir Chess Club for the following obituary :

Mike had been ill for over 5 years, but fortunately had been free of any significant pain even at the end of his life. The things that really saddened him about his condition were that it gradually robbed him of two of the pastimes which he had enjoyed enormously.

I accompanied him often on walks in the Peak District and in North Wales. The hill walking was an activity which he had discovered about 30 years ago and there was rarely a week when he failed to get out on a proper walk. Often it was limited to several miles in the hills of Derbyshire or Staffordshire, but he delighted in these as much as in the more challenging climbs up mountains like Scotland's Ben Nevis or ones like Snowdon, Tryfan and Knicht in Wales.

League chess he discovered even later in life. Mike's neighbour, Peter Woodward of Meir Chess Club (then known as the Creda club), had begun playing friendly games with Mike when they went to their local pub and Peter eventually suggested to him that he was playing well enough to enjoy competitive games. He joined the Meir club about ten years ago when it was still based at Creda and quite soon his game improved and he became one of the keenest players at the club. Even outside the regular league season it was unusual to find Mike missing a Monday evening at the club.

It was thanks to Mike that I joined Meir Chess Club about 8 years ago.

Milke's funeral will take place at 11:00 on Monday 30th January at Carmountside Crematorium.

Friday Evening Results

Division 5

Cheddleton 'H'  1.5  Cheddleton 'I'  2.5

Cheddleton 'I'  1  Cheddleton 'H'  3

It was a double header between Chedleton 'H' and 'I' last night, with both teams winning a match each.

Thursday Evening Result

Division 2

Holmes Chapel Rooks  2.5  Crewe 'A'  2.5

It will take a brave man to predict the outcome of the Division 2 title race. Last night's draw put the Rooks in the lead but the 4 teams in joint 2nd are only a point behind them and Cheddleton 'B', the team bringing up the rear, are only 2 points behind. Expect the lead to change hands on a regular basis !!

Shropshire Congress Amendment

I made an error in an earlier posting, which I've now corrected. Alex Richardson actually finished joint 4th, not joint 6th, in the Open. Also, we had two NSDCA prize winners, not one as reported. Mathew Carr won the Grading Prize in the Major Section. Apologies to all concerned.

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 2

Newcastle 'C'  2.5  Newcastle 'B'  2.5

Division 3

Cheddleton 'C'  2  Cheddleton 'D'  2

Division 5

Crewe 'D'  1.5  Crewe 'E'  2.5

RIP Mike Judd

It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of Mike Judd, a long time stalwart of Meir Chess Club. Mike passed away yesterday evening but I do not have any further details at this time. Our condolences go to his family and all of his friends  at Meir.

Monday Evening Results

Division 4

Fenton 'B'  1.5  Stafford 'B'  2.5

Meir 'B'  1  Alsager 'B'  3

Shropshire Congress Results

The NSDCA players acquitted themselves well at this weekend's Shropshire Congress with two prize winners (Julian Hawthorne and Matthew Carr) and some very good performances. Alex Richardson of Newcastle, playing in the Open, came joint 4th, behind an IM, GM and FM, out of a very strong field of 37, losing only one game and finishing just a point behind the winner. Danny Griffiths of Fenton finished joint 5th out of 39  in the Major, just half a point behind the 4 joint winners. Rich Wiltshire of Kidsgrove went into the final day of the Congress with a perfect 3/3 score in the Major but, unfortunately, lost his last 2 games to finish joint 10th, along with Jon Blackburn and Matthew Carr of Cheddleton. Matthew won the U140 Grading Prize for his performance. Julian Hawthorne of Kidsgrove finished joint 3rd out of 56 in the Minor, just half a point behind the joint winners.

Friday Evening Results

Division 2

Cheddleton 'B'  1  Macclesfield 4

Macclesfield's win takes them to the top of the table, just ahead of Holmes Chapel Rooks on game points, although the Rooks have a match in hand.

Division 5

Cheddleton 'I'  1  Cheddleton 'G'  3

Cheddleton 'G' have gone top of Division 5 following last night's win while Cheddleton 'I' remain winless and bottom of the table.

Shropshire Congress

The NSDCA are very well represented in this weekend's Shropshire Congress, with Alex Richardson and Jacob Boswell in the Open, Martyn Harris, Rich Witshir, Jon Blackburn, Sandra Blackburn, Matthew Carr, Danny Griffiths, Neville Layhe and Doug Barnett in the Major and Alberto Gissi, Julian Hawthorne, Nic Wright, Derek Whitehurst, Ernie Wilkinson, Stuart Hull, Les Hall, and Simon Layhe in the Minor. Good luck to all of them and my apologies if I've missed anybody off the list. The top games are being broadcast live over the internet - please click here to watch.

Postponed Matches

We seem to be making some progress with postponed matches, with only 6 waiting to be re-arranged - one each in Divisions 1 and 4, two each in Divisions 3 and 5 and none in Division 2. Can you please use the tab at the top of the page to review the outstanding matches and ensure that you let both myself and Martyn Harris know when you have agreed new dates.

Upcoming Congresses

Just a reminder that the Shropshire Congress takes place in Telford this weekend. It's not too late to enter if you are interested.

Details of the Frodsham Congress at the beginning of February are also now available. 

Wednesday Evening Results

Division 4

Stafford 'B'  2  Newcastle 'E'  2

Stafford are rapidly becoming the Division 4 draw specialists, with 4 of their 7 matches so far ending all square.

Division 5

Crewe 'D'  1  Meir 'C'  3

Meir's win takes them to the top of Division 5. 

Newcastle 'F'  1  Cheddleton 'H'  3

Cheddleton's first win of the season was enough to lift them off the bottom of the table.

2017 Up And Running

Division 3

Kidsgrove  1.5  Crewe 'B'  2.5

2017 kicked off with a match between the two bottom clubs in Division 3, both teams without a win in 2016. It was a Happy New Year for Crewe, who came out on top to register their first win of the season, leaving Kidsgrove still winless and bottom of the table.