Altrincham & Hale Chess Club

Date	Competition	Opponents	H/A	Result	Score
07/10/2025	Charnley Cup	Chorlton	A	Lost	2½-3½
17/11/2025	League Div 2	Wilmslow	A	Won	5½-½
01/12/2025	League Div 2	Northenden	H	Lost	1½-4½
09/12/2025	League Div 2	Eccles B	A	Lost	1½-4½
19/01/2026	League Div 2	Urmston	H	Won	4½-1½
09/02/2026	League Div 2	East Cheshire B	H	Won	4-2
23/02/2026	League Div 2	Eccles B	H	Lost	2-4
02/03/2026	League Div 2	Northenden	A	Won	3½-2½
09/04/2026	League Div 2	Urmston	A
20/04/2026	League Div 2	Wilmslow	H
06/05/2026	League Div 2	East Cheshire B	A

Full details of all matches and league tables can be found on the Stockport League website

02/03/2026 - Northenden 2½ Altrincham A 3½

The teams' ratings were very similar, so the close result was no surprise. First to finish was Tony Lane with a draw, closely followed by a win for Vijay Kakarparthi. My opponent blundered a pawn on move 11, after which the game became very interesting - he incorrectly gave up a piece, but I needed to avoid some nasty tactics to eventually win. A draw for James Lawrence made it 3-1, and a comfortable victory seemed to be on the cards. But Simon Calvert blundered into a Knight fork in an otherwise drawn ending to make it 3-2. Nick Lowe was the exchange up (Q+R v Q+B) but his opponent had good compensation with a pawn on the 7th rank supported by his Bishop. The position was possibly winnable for Nick with some hard work, but he wisely took a draw to ensure a win for the team.

23/02/2026 - Altrincham A 2 Eccles B 4

We welcomed back Danilo, who had previously been unavailable since the Charnley Cup match in October. But he was unable to improve our 0% record against Mike Surtees on board 1, and thereby became the second member of that exclusive club, the other being me! But he has some way to go if he is to surpass my 7 defeats against Mike!

On the other boards we had rating deficits averaging about 200 points per board, so we did well to get a win and two draws from those 5 games. The win was from Tom Tomkins, his 5th in succession - his last 8 games have been 7 wins and a draw, for a rating gain of 58 points. Simon reached a position out of the opening from which he had won with White in last week's B team match at Macclesfield - but his opponent in this match found a winning improvement for Black. I got crushed when my opponent's two Bishops were too strong for my two Knights in an open position. Tony Lane and John Roche had creditable draws - John's game has an interesting finish which you can see below.

[Event "Stockport League Division 2 - Altrincham A vs Eccles B"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.02.23"] [Round "?"] [White "John Roche"] [Black "Andy Roberts"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [BlackElo "1908"] [ECO "E05"] [EventDate "2026.02.23"] [WhiteElo "1784"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 c6 8.e4 ( 8.Qxc4 { is more usual. Black is now able to hold on to the extra pawn. } ) 8...b5 9.a4 Bb7 10.Nc3 a6 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Bd2 Nc6 14.b3 cxb3 15.Qxb3 b4 16.Rfc1 Qb6 17.Be3 Na5 18.Qd3 h6 19.Bf1 Rac8 20.Nd2 Rc6 21.Nb3 Nxb3 22.Qxb3 Rfc8 23.Rcb1 Rc3 24.Qd1 a5 25.Bd2 R3c7 26.Qg4 Kf8 27.Bd3 Bg5 28.Bxg5 hxg5 29.Qxg5 Qxd4 30.Rd1 Qb6 { ? This gives away a lot of Black's advantage. 30...b3 was very strong. The potential discovered attack on the Queen is harmless } 31.Qh4 Ba6 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qxg7 Bxd3 34.Rxd3 Rf8 { ? } 35.h4 { ? Qf6+ followed by Rxd5 was possible here. } 35...b3 { ? } 36.Qf6+ { John sees it this time! } 36...Kd7 37.Rxd5+ Kc8 38.Rb5 { It looks like White is winning now.... } 38...Qxb5 39.axb5 b2 { ....or maybe Black is winning?!? } 40.Rb1 Rc1+ 41.Kg2 Rxb1 42.Qe7 Rg1+ 43.Kh2 { ! It is essential not to allow Black to Queen with check. } 43...Rd8 44.Qc5+ Kb8 { If Black tries to avoid the perpetual by } ( 44...Kd7 45.Qd4+ { picks off the pawn on b2, and White is winning. } ) 45.Qb6+ Kc8 46.Qc6+ 1/2-1/2

09/02/2026 - Altrincham A 4 East Cheshire B 2

On board 1 Simon lost quickly after getting into trouble in the opening. Reg drew when his opponent was unable to take advantage of an extra pawn due to several of his own pawns being doubled and/or isolated. John Roche continued his winning form, and is now rated higher than Simon and Reg - we are gradually moving him up the board order. Tony had a big material advantage with Rook and two pieces for a Queen, though there was still some work to do so he was relieved when his opponent resigned when they were each down to their last 3 minutes. Nick drew against a solid opponent, and Tom Tomkins had a comfortable win.

19/01/2026 - Altrincham A 4½ Urmston 1½

We received a free point when Reg's opponent failed to turn up, and wins by Tony Lane, John Roche and Tom Tomkins ensured the victory, and Simon Calvert saved a draw from a pawn down endgame.

19/12/2025 - Eccles B 4½ Altrincham A 1½

No shame in this as our opponents Eccles B were rated over 200 points per board higher on average. Kudos to Vijay Kakarparthi who won, and Sheraz Khallil who had a winning position but his opponent managed to engineer a draw by perpetual. I did not improve my 0% record against Mike Surtees, with Tony Lane, James Lawrence and John Roche also losing.

[Event "Stockport League Division 2 - Eccles B v Altrincham A "] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.12.09"] [Round "?"] [White "Marcial Flores"] [Black "Sheraz Khalil"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [BlackElo "1739"] [ECO "A07"] [EventDate "2025.12.09"] [WhiteElo "2018"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.d4 O-O 6.b3 c6 7.Bb2 Bf5 8.Nbd2 Nbd7 9.Re1 Re8 10.c4 Ne4 11.Nh4 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Be6 13.e4 dxe4 14.d5 cxd5 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.cxd5 Nf6 17.Qb2 Bxd5 18.Rad1 Qa5 19.Qe5 e6 20.Bxe4 Qxa2 21.Ng2 Qxb3 22.Ne3 Bxe4 23.Ng4 Qf3 24.Rxe4 Qxd1+ 25.Kg2 Qd8 26.Rd4 Qe7 { The computer suggestion is } ( 26...Qxd4 27.Qxd4 e5 { after which the Rooks and two passed pawns should be enough to defeat the Queen. But it would take some courage to play this! } ) 27.Rf4 b6 28.Rxf6 Qb7+ 29.Rf3+ Kf8 30.Qh8+ Ke7 31.Qf6+ Kd6 32.Qe5+ Ke7 1/2-1/2

01/12/2025 - Altrincham A 1½ Northenden 4½

Nick Lowe was the only winner, and James Lawrence drew. Vijay Kakarparthi, Tony Lane, Simon Calvert and myself all lost. Tony had an advantageous position but let it slip. Simon also seemed to have the advantage in a Knight v Bishop ending, but missed a tactic from his opponent's tricky Knight. I made another awful blunder in time shortage - in the position below, Kg1 would lead to a draw by perpetual check. Instead I played Bg2??? allowing mate in 3 starting with ...Rd1+.

17/11/2025 - Wilmslow ½ Altrincham A 5½

Our first league match was a tremendous win at Wimslow, despite having a lower average rating than our opponents. Most of the rating discrepancy was on the top two boards. Simon Calvert has overtaken me by a few rating points, so I used team captain's prerogative to place him on board 1, where he had a great result, drawing with Mike Lamb who is rated over 300 points higher. I overcame a smaller rating gap (150 points) to win on board 2. Ratings were fairly even on the other four boards, but James Lawrence, Sheraz Khalil, Vijay Kakarparthi and John Roche (on his Stockport League debut) all won.

07/10/2025 - Chorlton 3½ Altrincham 2½ (Charnley Cup)

We came very close to causing a Cup upset. Danilo had a good win with the Black pieces on board 1, but on the other boards we had rating deficits averaging about 300 points, so kudos to Sheraz Khalil who also won, and to Tom Tomkins who drew. Tony Lane and James Lawrence lost leaving the score level, so the match depended on the last game to finish, which was me (Reg). A draw would have given us the match on tiebreak (lower board elimination) but I was unable to hold a difficult Knight & pawn ending.

Stockport League A team

Season 2025-26