The Chester Chess Chronicle - The Chester Chess Club Website

3rd Edition - Sunday 7th October 2007

The Chester Chess Chronicle

Disappointing Week for Chester

It was a poor week for Chester as their teams suffered defeats in the Chester & District League.

First, defending champions Chester 1 travelled to Rhos-on-Sea to face fellow title challengers Colwyn/Bay/Llandudno 1. Unfortunately, the team was defeated 3½-1½.

On the same night, Chester 2 travelled to face Rhyl 1 in what seemed to be an early relegation battle, and with both teams looking fairly evenly matched it seemed there it would be a close match.

However, after an early draw on board one between the Chester captain Paul Watson and Les Simcock, disaster struck for Chester. First, Chester's Steve Lloyd faced Andrew Nicol on board five. Lloyd seemed to

get the better of the opening stages, however as the game progressed, It was Nicol who had a slight advantage as the game reached the endgame. The game seemed to be heading for a draw, however Lloyd made the mistake of trying to hold a pawn and got himself trapped, eventually falling for a pretty checkmate.

Then Gareth Edwards of Chester lost to Hugh Jones. Edwards had created a good game for himself, but later resigned after blundering a piece away. Next Chester's Joe Nemcek took on Chris Grier on three. Nemcek created winning chances for himself but could not make the most of them. Crier fought back and eventually forced a resignation.

Finally, Chester's Shaun McConochie got a late advantage in his game with Michael Williams but

was unable to see this and offered a draw. The draw was accepted, giving Rhyl a flattering 4-1 win. Rhyl are now surprise leaders with 2 wins out of 2, ahead of Caergwrle on 1½/2. Chester 1 and Colwyn Bay/Llandudno share 3rd and 4th place respectively while Wrexham on ½/2 sit just ahead of Chester 2 who have 0/2.

Defeat for Juniors

Following their shock 5-0 victory over Chester 5, the Chester YMCA Juniors were sent back down to earth in their first home game of the season, as Buckley/Mold 2 came away with a comfortable 4-1

Disaster struck early when Alister Tonge dropped his queen against Jim Hanson on five, however it was Bharat Sharma on four who was first to lose.

After a good start, Sharma's game fell apart after losing a piece, allowing Peter Wimbush to win in less than half an hour.

On board three YMCA's Arthur Fearnall faced fellow junior and Welsh junior international Lorna Allix. Fearnall had dropped a pawn after creating a good game for himself, but despite this the two players soon agreed a draw. On board two YMCA's Marvin Hayes faced Gerry Williams. Hayes had got the better of Williams for the first half of the game, but lost a rook and pawn ending to his more experienced opponent.

Meanwhile, Tonge on board 5 had played well despite the loss of queen, and was able to win it back later. However Hanson had extra pawns and Tonge resigned. Finally adult captain Chris Fozzard drew with Stephen Dunning.