Stockport League A team - Previous seasons
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-23
Season 2023-24
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17/10/2023 | Charnley Cup | Chorlton | A | Lost | 1½-4½ |
| 23/10/2023 | League Div 2 | Ashton | H | Won | 4½-½ |
| 22/11/2023 | League Div 2 | East Cheshire B | A | Won | 3½-1½ |
| 06/12/2023 | League Div 2 | Urmston B | A | Won | 3-2 |
| 11/12/2023 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield B | A | Draw | 2½-2½ |
| 08/01/2024 | League Div 2 | Marple | H | Lost | 1½-3½ |
| 05/02/2024 | League Div 2 | Northenden | A | Lost | 1½-3½ |
| 26/02/2024 | League Div 2 | Wilmslow | H | Draw | 2½-2½ |
| 25/03/2024 | League Div 2 | Stockport B | H | Won | 3-2 |
Full details of all matches and league tables can be found on the Stockport League website
25/03/2024 - Altrincham 3 Stockport B 2
Our final match of the season resulted in a narrow win, though this didn't look likely at one point, with Steve and AJ both losing. I got us on the scoreboard with a 21 move win, and Tony continued his excellent run of results to square the match. Mark then scored the decisive point, with his attack prevailing with both players down to their last 5 minutes.This win takes us level on match points with Ashton and Wilmslow, but they would need to suffer big defeats in their final matches for us to win the division, which is most unlikely.
08/01/2024 - Altrincham 1½ Marple 3½
Our unbeaten record in the Stockport League has come to an end, with Marple winning 3½-1½ to avenge our 6-0 win over them in the Summer League. A good win for Steve Douglas and a draw for Reg. Tony Lane lost a won position in time trouble, and Richard White and Tom Tomkins also lost.
11/12/2023 - Macclesfield B 2½ Altrincham 2½
(Report by Tony Lane) Christmas came early for me playing in the absence of Reg as captain on top board. I prepared for a Sicilian dragon which my opponent duly played, and was delighted to slay it with a 20 move mate! The first 9 of these followed Nunn v Clucas from the 2017 British Championships, when Reg was able to last 4 moves longer before conceding to the grandmaster.One advantage of an early finish was that it provided an opportunity to view the other matches. Thomas was already at the endgame stage, a pawn down in a rook and pawn ending which didn't look promising. However, a quick scan of the other 3 boards had me predicting a comfortable victory.
Alan was also in a rook and pawn ending, but his opponent's rooks were passive on the back ranks and he had a weak isolated central pawn. Bill had all his pawns but his opponent had lost 3 of his on the kingside, and Bill's kingside pawns were rampaging forward. Richard was about to go a piece up.
As I started to watch Thomas lost another pawn and had to concede defeat. Unfortunately, Alan was unable to capitalise on his endgame advantage and had to agree a draw, but a win for the team was still favourite. Richard had won his piece, but his king was frustratingly stuck in a corner where his opponent's queen and rook provided plenty of menacing threats, while Richard was running short on time. Bill duly promoted one of his pawns, and just as Danilo had done earlier in the season, looked forward to recording the movement of his 2 queens on his scoresheet.
Although Bill predictably won shortly after obtaining his second queen, Richard offered a draw only to discover he had just lost on time. So a topsy turvy night came to an end with the honours shared .
06/12/2023 - Urmston B 2 Altrincham 3
Once again missing some key players, but we kept up our 100% league record. Urmston's usual room was unavailable, so we played in a room at the top of an open flight of stairs leading down to a very noisy room where both Manchester clubs' football games were being shown! Bill, Sheraz and Alan all won very quickly to wrap up the points before the football kicked off! Steve lost not long afterwards, but my game went on for quite a bit longer before losing. Still finished in time to see the last few minutes of the football!
22/11/2023 - East Cheshire B 1½ Altrincham 3½
Another win put us at the top of Division 2, despite having several players unavailable. Wins for Tony, Sheraz and Vijay, and a draw for Reg. Once again Tony won whilst playing on increments, and this takes him (maybe briefly!) to the top of the SDCL performance table.
23/10/2023 - Altrincham 4½ Ashton ½
A good start to our League matches, though the match was closer than the score suggests. Steve and Tony both continued their good form against higher rated players, with Steve first to finish with a win. He has annotated his game on Gameknot. Tony seemed to be hanging on for dear life, a pawn down and playing on increments for a long time. But it was his opponent who eventually blundered, despite having plenty of time, first dropping a piece and soon after allowing checkmate. I then put us 3-0 up after having an advantage for most of the game. Danilo seemed to have a drawish endgame, but his young opponent was short of time and Danilo was able to take advantage. It looked like Mark would complete the whitewash, the exchange up, but his opponent managed to blockade the position with his strong Bishop pair, so a draw was agreed.
17/10/2023 - Chorlton 4½ Altrincham 1½ (Charnley Cup)
We were missing some key players so this was a respectable result against 1st Division Chorlton. Danilo drew on board 1, and Tony and Steve Douglas had excellent draws against much higher rated players. Vijay and Bill were playing their first games since before the pandemic, and found the going tough, as did Sheraz.Seasons 2020-21 to 2022-23
No competition was held in 2020-21 & 2021-22. We did not enter a team in 2022-23.
2019-20
The 2019-20 season was curtailed due to Covid-19. The team captain's report is included in the 2020 AGM minutes on this site.
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14/10/2019 | League Div 1 | Macclesfield B | A | Lost | 2-4 |
| 12/11/2019 | League Div 1 | Macclesfield A | H | Lost | ½-5½ |
| 25/11/2019 | Charnley Cup | Wilmslow | A | Won | 3½-2½ |
| 03/12/2019 | League Div 1 | Chorlton | H | Draw | 3-3 |
| 07/01/2020 | Charnley Cup | Chorlton | A | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 21/01/2020 | League Div 1 | Macclesfield B | H | Lost | 1½-4½ |
| 28/01/2020 | League Div 1 | Stockport A | A | Lost | 1-5 |
| 03/03/2020 | League Div 1 | Stockport A | H | Lost | 2-4 |
| 10/03/2020 | League Div 1 | Holmes Chapel | H | Lost | 1½-4½ |
| 17/03/2020 | League Div 1 | Chorlton | A | XXXX | XXXX |
| 23/04/2020 | League Div 1 | Holmes Chapel | A | XXXX | XXXX |
| 04/05/2020 | League Div 1 | Macclesfield A | A | XXXX | XXXX |
Full details of all matches and league tables can be found on the Stockport League website.
10/03/2020 - Altrincham A 1½ Holmes Chapel 4½
We made a good start with draws by Peter & Sheraz. At this point my position was looking pretty good but I lost my way in the complications, missing a win, and ended up losing after blundering in time trouble. Dave was close to a draw, but also suffering from time shortage made an unwise pawn move and could not hold after that. Mark succumbed after struggling a pawn down for a long time against FM Jonathan Blackburn. Tony was still playing in what is becoming a customary exciting finish, playing on increments for a long time in an advantageous Queen & pawn ending, but was unable to escape perpetual check and had to settle for a draw - nevertheless a good result against a grade 177 opponent, following his excellent win last week.
03/03/2020 - Altrincham A 2 Stockport A 4
A respectable scoreline, given the grading difference. On board 1 I again faced Allan Beardsworth, after two defeats to him in the Manchester League, and this was no different, though I did manage equality for about 25 moves before gradually caving in. Tom and Sheraz also found the going tough. But there was a great win for Tony on board 2, overcoming a 43 point grading difference. Peter and Bill gained creditable draws.Here is Tony's report on his game.
I was quite pleased to see a Caro Kann played as Reg had recently had two quick wins against it when playing a higher rated 3Cs player, and I even won with a 6 move mate last year with an opening trap. However, my opponent opted for a different line, and so we played the first dozen moves of a typical classical Spassky line. I started to gain an initiative at move 16 when black recaptured the knight with his knight rather than queen. This allowed me to push my pawn to d5 when the capture exd is not possible due to the hanging bishop. Black probably needed to move his isolated pawn forward sooner than move 24 , by which time white's kingside attack was already gaining momentum.
At move 26 black should probably try Rf2 rather than Ra6, and his position deteriorates further still with e4 opening the long diagonal for white's bishop. So by move 27 I was happy with my position, but as usual not happy with my time as I had stopped recording my moves given that I had less than 5 minutes left. Fortunately, good attacking moves were now relatively easy to find, but I was nervous about pushing on with h6 until I felt it was necessary. My opponent also made the ending a little easier for me by playing 34. Kh7 instead of recapturing the h pawn with his rook. He could no longer do that after Qf4 as Qf7 mates. However, 35. Nf6 also loses by force to Qg5, allowing a nice mating finish.
Although having to move quickly for the last dozen moves, I was aware that Allan Beardsworth was taking a keen interest in my game from the neighbouring board 1. After the match, he asked to have a word with me and enquired whether I was aware of the recent winner of the ECF book of the year entitled Game Changer which studied the exciting new strategies developed by the computer program Alphazero. I told him that I had received it last Christmas and was currently working my way through it. He had obviously already read it and commented on the similarities of my game to the strategies adopted by Alphazero. In particular, common themes are pushing the h pawn to help create an open file and combining this with an open diagonal to attack the opponent's king. He also confirmed it would have been stronger for me to play h6 a couple of moves earlier!
I think it's true to say I was influenced by Alphazero, but have since become aware of an interesting game in the book. Alphazero was forced to play a caro kann against another computer, Stockfish 8, and played the classical Spassky line, replicating the first 20 moves of a famous US Championship game between Kamsky and Seirawan. As Alphazero plays with no opening book knowledge it was unaware that within a couple more moves Kamsky produced some brilliant tactics to win that game, and although it was able to improve on Seirawan's moves it went on to suffer a rare defeat!
Tony Lane (130) vs Raimund Klein (173)
28/01/2020 - Stockport A 5 Altrincham A 1
With a huge grading disadvantage we did well to avoid a whitewash. I scored our only point on board 1, taking advantage of 'only' a 25 point grade deficit. After my opponent twice declined the chance of a draw by repetition, I managed to transpose into a better endgame where my opponent's doubled pawns proved his undoing. The rest of the team faced deficits averaging 55(!) points per board, so there was no shame in their defeats. Tony was last to finish, hanging on a pawn down but eventually dropping his Queen as his opponent closed in for the kill. David had an excellent position with Black after the opening, but then dropped a piece. Sheraz, Bill and Thomas were the other lambs for the slaughter.
21/01/2020 - Altrincham A 1½ Macclesfield B 4½
I was grateful to Stuart and David for agreeing to play at short notice after a couple of people dropped out due to illness & bereavement. Stuart did particularly well, drawing with Macclesfield's Geoff Laurence, and was even up the exchange for a pawn, though a blocked position meant a draw was a logical outcome. The match was all but over by then though, with Bill and David losing fairly quickly, followed by myself - some unsound tactics resulted in big material loss, though in time shortage I missed a great chance to transpose to an opposite Bishop ending with good drawing potential. On board 1 Mark was playing his first SDCL match of the season, and with time running low coolly accepted his opponent's Rook sacrifice and successfully fended off the ensuing attack. Tony looked to have a level position for most of the game, but his opponent eventually broke through on the Kingside and won material.
07/01/2020 - Chorlton 3½ Altrincham 2½ (Charnley Cup)
Once again we ran Chorlton close, but not quite close enough. Danilo on board 1 was our only player to have a small grading advantage of 11 points, which was cancelled out by my 11 point deficit on board 2, with the rest of the team being outgraded by over 30 points per board. Danilo repeated his Manchester League victory over Hope Mkhumba, winning the exchange early on and making no mistake in converting. This levelled the scores after Mike's early defeat. I was lucky to get a draw when my opponent missed a winning move, after which I was able to reach a drawn opposite colour Bishop ending. About the same time Tony also finished with a highly respectable draw - a pawn down from the opening he nevertheless seemed to have good pressure throughout the game, a good fighting performance. Bill had won a piece in the opening, only to give it back four moves later, and maintained a level position for much of the game until his time ran out, with his opponent having a technical winning position which would not have been easy to convert. So we needed a win from Sheraz in a Bishop & pawn ending to tie the match and send us through on tie-break, but although having an extra pawn, the fact that the Bishops were of opposite colours and all the pawns were on the same side of the board meant that there was no prospect of any other result than a draw.
03/12/2019 - Altrincham A 3 Chorlton 3
Again we upset the grading formbook, this time drawing with the current League champions, despite being outgraded by over 40 points per board.For the second home match in succession I faced a titled player in Chorlton's FM Paul Macklin. I had a reasonable opening and looked like I might be able to hold on to a gambit pawn, but it needed precise play which was beyond me on the night, and soon had to give up a piece. However there were excellent draws for Nick and Dave, and even better wins for Sheraz and Mike, which made the score 3-2 with just Tony to finish.
Material was level but the position difficult to assess, especially for Tony and his opponent Chris Vassiliou, who each had less than two minutes left and suddenly realised that they had been playing for several moves with Tony's King in check! There followed a lengthy delay while the last valid position was established. This was not easy, as Tony had stopped scoring, and Chris's writing was practically illegible, even to himself! However they eventually agreed on the correct position, and after adding an extra 2 minutes to Chris's clock the game restarted. Unfortunately Tony was not able to hold, which meant the match was tied 3-3.
Our next SDCL match is also against Chorlton in the Charnley Cup semi-final and hopefully we will go one better!
Ron Doney (167) vs Sheraz Khalil (130)
25/11/2019 - Wilmslow 2½ Altrincham 3½ (Charnley Cup)
The day before the match I had only four players, and it seemed we would have to default two boards. But then David Ashby and Stuart Sumner gallantly answered my desperate plea for more players. David had initially declined due to him helping out at the children's coaching sessions at the Hub, but realised he could get to Wilmslow by 8pm and thus avoid a default. And Stuart, who is now a member at Chorlton, agreed to switch back to us for the Stockport League, as he is unlikely to get a game in Chorlton's Stockport League team. So we now had a full team, albeit with a significant grading deficit, and I was not optimistic about the likely result.Wilmslow sportingly offered not to start David's clock until 7:45, and he made light of the time deficit with a draw, one of the first to finish. And the good results kept coming, with wins for Mike and Steve Ward, the latter having the largest grade deficit of 29 points. So although Stuart and Tony lost, the match was level with just my game to finish.
Unfortunately I had been outplayed, and after hanging on for a while a pawn down hoping that opposite colour Bishops would save me, I blundered away the rest of my Q side pawns to leave a totally lost position. But by now we were both playing on increments, and in such circumstances there is no such thing as a totally lost position, as can be seen by the closing moves below, in which it would be more accurate to say that Richard swindled himself, rather than I swindled him!
So we now advance to the semi-final where we will play Chorlton.
Reg Clucas (156) vs Richard Evans (168) (PGN viewer by http://chesstempo.com)
12/11/2019 - Altrincham A ½ Macclesfield A 5½
We had Nick to thank for avoiding a whitewash, as he alone managed a draw. We were outgraded on average by about 35 points per board so the result was no surprise. Macclesfield had Kieran Smallbone, graded 212, on board 1, and he got the better of Dan, eventually doubling Rooks on the 7th rank to win. I managed to last a long time against FM Robert Shaw, but my position gradually went downhill and I lost a pawn which proved decisive, although I did miss a chance to make the ending more difficult for my opponent just before I resigned. Tony, Peter and Mike all had similar grading deficits and were unable to avoid defeat.
14/10/2019 - Macclesfield B 4 Altrincham A 2
Unfortunately we were missing a few regulars for this match against the team who are likely to be our main rivals to avoid relegation, but we still came close to getting a result. Mike and Vijay lost fairly quickly. I lasted a bit longer but was never really in the game, and at 3-0 down things did not look good. However Dan had a good win on board 1, and Dave had another nailbiting finish, playing on increments for a long time but eventually converting. At 3-2 there was a glimmer of hope, as Bill was a pawn up in a promising position, but short of time, and it was the clock that ultimately led to his downfall.
2018-19 Team Captain's Report
Once again we finished in second place in Division 2. As I predicted last year, our main rivals for promotion were the newly relegated Stockport B team. However, we got the season off to a great start by beating them away from home, with 5 drawn games and a crucial deciding win by Mark Hann.Stockport then won their next 8 matches, racking up a big game points tally in the process. Meanwhile we lost a couple of matches - at Wilmslow, when an unnoticed illegal move won the deciding game for the hosts, and at Marple when we had some of our regulars missing. So by the time we came to play our final match against Stockport B, we could not catch them even if we beat them again, due to their superior game point tally. In the event we lost that match anyway.
Stockport's A team also ended our Charnley Cup hopes at the first hurdle, although we came very close to causing an upset, with both Mark Hann and I having the better of our drawn games - had we both won it would have been enough to win the match, but it was not to be.
So we were preparing for another season in Division 2 - until the end of August, when we were advised that Stockport had decided not to promote their B team, as they want to use a lower graded pool of players for that team this season - they felt there had been too much crossover between their A & B teams. This ought to have meant a reprieve from relegation for East Cheshire, but they too decided that they would rather play in Division 2, so we agreed to be promoted to replace them and even out the numbers. East Cheshire's decision was presumably influenced by the fact that they received a regular mauling against the stronger teams in Division 1 - hopefully we can avoid the same fate!
We used just 10 players in the season compared to 14 the previous season. The majority of the games were played by Mark Whalley (11, the only ever-present), Tony Lane and myself (10 each), Mark Hann and Dave Newell (9) and Sheraz Khalil (8). Also stepping up when needed were Nick Lowe and Vijay Kakarparthi (3), Kieran Newell (2) and Stuart Sumner (1). Thanks to everyone for making themselves available so often, it is appreciated and makes the captain's job much easier.
Reg Clucas 10th September 2019
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/10/2018 | League Div 2 | Stockport B | A | Won | 3½-2½ | 20/11/2018 | Charnley Cup | Stockport | H | Lost | 2-4 |
| 19/12/2018 | League Div 2 | Denton | A | Won | 4-2 |
| 22/01/2019 | League Div 2 | Wilmslow | H | Won | 5-1 |
| 11/02/2019 | League Div 2 | Wilmslow | A | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 26/02/2019 | League Div 2 | Marple A | H | Won | 3½-2½ |
| 07/03/2019 | League Div 2 | Marple A | A | Lost | 2-4 |
| 12/03/2019 | League Div 2 | Stockport C | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 26/03/2019 | League Div 2 | Stockport C | A | Won | 4-2 |
| 02/04/2019 | League Div 2 | Denton | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 14/05/2019 | League Div 2 | Stockport B | H | Lost | 1½-4½ |
Full details of all matches and league tables can be found on the Stockport League website.
14/05/2019 - Altrincham A 1½ Stockport B 4½
Out final match had nothing riding on it as Stockport had racked up a huge game point score in their previous matches, so although a win for us would have brought us level on match points, even a 6-0 win would not have been sufficient to overcome their game point advantage. They still put out a strong team though, and we were unable to repeat our victory over them in the first match of the season. There were draws for Nick, Dave and Mark H, with defeats for Tony, Mark W and myself. So like last year we finish second in Division 2.
02/04/2019 - Altrincham A 4½ Denton 1½
Unusually I was first to finish, happy to accept a draw in a Queen & Knight ending in which I was worse. We then scored a couple of wins, with Mark W converting his pawn advantage in the endgame, and Mark H exposing his opponent's King with a temporary piece sacrifice. Dave then lost his unbeaten record - a couple of pawns down but seeming to have counter chances with an advanced passed pawn, but time shortage decided against him. Kieran then scored the decisive win, with his Rooks playing havoc with his opponent's position. Tony added another win for good measure - he had the better of a heavy piece ending but had to work to find a breakthrough in a very blocked position - when he finally did so his opponent immediately blundered a Rook.
26/03/2019 - Stockport C 2 Altrincham A 4
Tony rejected a chance to win the Queen for Rook and Knight, preferring to keep menacing the King with his pieces in the hope of an error which came half a dozen moves later. Another win by Dave and draw by Sheraz had us well in front, but Mark W then lost to pull one back for Stockport. Mark H got us past the finish line in another Nimzo-Larsen in which Black opened Nf6, g6. In true Karpovian style, Mark exchanged Bishop for the Knight on f6, leaving White a lasting positional plus. An opposite-coloured Bishop middle-game did not precipitate a draw and Mark's Bishop on d5 and more active Rooks netted the point. I had a slightly worse Queen and minor piece ending which I felt I could probably have held, but with only 4 minutes each left and the match already decided we agreed a draw.
12/03/2019 - Altrincham A 4½ Stockport C 1½
We were able to put out a stronger team than for the last two matches, and had an average grading advantage of over 30 points per board. But it was not plain sailing, and 3 of the first 4 games to finish were drawn (Mark H, Tony & Sheraz) with Mark W winning to give us a slender lead. At this point I had a very dodgy position with my Queen trapped in the corner after some unsound tactics, but fortunately Dave continued his good form with another win to take us past the winning post. My opponent then allowed my Queen to escape, after which I was also able to win, to complete a rather flattering scoreline.
07/03/2019 - Marple A 4 Altrincham A 2
Despite a significant grading advantage we failed to repeat last week's victory over Marple. Nick finished first, accepting a draw offer when a pawn down. Then Mark W lost after appearing to have an advantage at one stage. Tony levelled the score, winning a piece which had been threatening mate, after which Tony's unusual final move (29...O-O!) forced resignation. I then lost to Alan Hall, who was also the last person to beat me in a SDCL league match almost two years ago! Vijay was playing the same opponent as last week, and once again reached a Bishop ending, but this time was a pawn down and unable to hold. Dave's position also looked bad, the exchange down, but he managed to create enough counterplay to draw.
26/02/2019 - Altrincham A 3½ Marple A 2½
Tony Lane stood in as captain and reports - We were weakened by the absence of some key players, but fortunately the same applied to Marple. Although we were the stronger graded side the match was closely contested. We got off to a bad start with Sheraz losing a piece early on and succumbing to multi mating threats. Mark Whalley found playing black on top board didn't help him to regain form and soon we found ourselves two down. Dave halted the slide as he retained his 100% Stockport league record for the current season. I was then offered a draw. While I was assessing the match position Stuart won his game. Although a pawn up, I judged Vijay's position the more likely to be a certain victory, so with less than 10 minutes on my clock I accepted the offer. I'm pleased to say that my faith in Vijay was rewarded as he exchanged pieces to reach a bishop and pawns ending with his opponent kindly letting him advance his king to marshal home his pawns to unstoppable promotion to secure victory for the team by the narrowest of margins.
11/02/2019 - Wilmslow 3½ Altrincham A 2½
Both teams were more or less full strength and this was a much closer affair than the first match last month. Wilmslow jiggled their board order on the top 3, and this seems to have turned out well for them as they scored 2-1 on these boards. My game on board 2 was first to finish - a typical Dragon with the players castling on opposite sides and going for the opponent's King. I managed to defuse my opponent's dangerous looking Kingside attack, paving the way for my own attack to succeed. But the scores were level soon after when Sheraz's opponent sacrificed a Rook for a mating attack. Mark W looked to have a decent position, but his opponent managed to break out, winning pawns and then the game. Dave levelled things once again, easily converting a piece advantage in the endgame. Tony then drew, making it a good night for the Black pieces with 5½ out of 6.So all depended on Mark H's game on board 1. He appeared to be getting the upper hand, but had only just over 1 minute left, with his opponent having about 2 minutes (no increments). At this point Mark's opponent (quite unintentionally) made an illegal move. I was scoring for Mark, and had a double take - had the Queen really moved from b7 to d8? - with moves coming thick and fast I had to check the score sheet to ascertain that the Queen had previously been on b7. Then there was doubt as to whether I could actually intervene, or whether this would be classed as assistance from a third party. The game continued and just a few moves later Mark blundered, and resigned.
After consulting the FIDE rules we decided that the resignation had to stand, as you can only restore the position prior to the illegal move if it is discovered during the game - after someone has resigned is no longer 'during' the game. Furthermore, the Stockport League (unlike the MCF) does not have a rule that states that a team captain can assume the role of arbiter - so it appears I was correct in not drawing attention to the illegality at the time.
22/01/2019 - Altrincham A 5 Wilmslow 1
A surprisingly big victory margin as we were outgraded on the top 4 boards. We had a grading advantage on boards 5 & 6, and Vijay soon made it count when his opponent missed a Knight fork winning his Queen. I then drew on board 3, and Sheraz had a good win, so we needed just one more point from the remaining three boards. However, Mark W seemed totally lost, two pawns down in a Knight ending, and Mark H, although a pawn up, was very short of time. Tony was also a pawn up, and converted to get us past the winning line, and Mark H also managed to convert his advantage. We received a bonus half point when Mark W somehow managed to save his game.
19/12/2018 - Denton 2 Altrincham A 4
Unusually for an away match, we had our first choice 6 players available, and outgraded Denton by about 20 points per board on average. Kieran was first to finish with a draw against Stan Bradley, who is a solid player and much better than his grade suggests. I finished next with a draw against David Boulden, whom I had beaten twice in this year's Summer League; with material balance of my B+N v his R+P, neither of us could see a way to press for a win. Sheraz then put us ahead, winning Queenside pawns after which his passed pawns decided the game. Dave then made it 3-1 with the most exciting game of the night - Dave's account follows - The oddest of games exciting, terrifying and ultimately simply odd! My opponent Phil Boyd misplayed the opening allowing me to advance my pawns on the queenside gaining a big space advantage. My major pieces had moved to the queenside, confident in the knowledge that my opponent's only central break (e4) was impossible since it lost material. Out of the blue he then proceeded to play like it was a 5min game, firstly with e4 and then with a rook sac which left my king horribly exposed facing a knight and queen with little protection. Objectively of course it was unsound but only if your name is Fritz and for move after move I was faced with the threats of either mate, knight forking my king and queen or simply perpetual check. (At one point Fritz's best move which left me +6 was to deliberately walk my king into a double discovered check which lost a whole rook). At the same time I swear he was using Dr Who's sonic screwdriver to make my clock go faster!!! Finally with 40s left on my clock (he had 6 mins) he allowed me to give back material and force major exchanges leaving me with rook and bishop versus rook. I also had 2 passed pawns on the queenside but only 24s to queen one of them and then somehow force mate (no increments were being used). It was clearly hopeless. Phil very sportingly then resigned. It was then left to the two Marks to seal the match - both had material advantage in Rook and Pawn endings, and both proved the theory that all Rook & Pawn endings are drawn.
20/11/2018 - Altrincham 2 Stockport 4 (Charnley Cup)
Although heavily outgraded, we came close to causing an upset against a very strong Stockport side. Dave had a good win against Mike Crowther, and on board 1 Mark H had the better of his draw against former British Women's champion Sarah Longson, but was unable to convert a difficult Rook & pawn ending with two pawns against one. I had a winning endgame two pawns up, but living on 10 second increments it did not appear so easy and I chickened out with a repetition. Probably a fair result as my opponent and I both missed winning chances, but had we won these two games we would have won the match on the bottom board elimination tie break. On the other boards Mark W lost a piece early in the game, and Tony seemed to have a strong position but let it slip, whilst Sheraz also struggled against a much higher graded opponent.
09/10/2018 - Stockport B 2½ Altrincham A 3½
A good start to the season against a Stockport team who are probably favourites to win the division. We were lucky in that their A team was also in action, meaning that a couple of players who might have filled the top two boards against us were otherwise engaged. So the two teams were very closely matched, and this was reflected in the result. Mark W, Sheraz and Nick all drew, after which Mark H won on board 1. I was a pawn up but short of time when my opponent offered a draw. Before deciding I went to have a look at Tony's game, and was informed that he too had just been offered a draw in an equal(ish) position. So this was a no-brainer - we accepted both draw offers to ensure we won the match.
2017-18 Team Captain's Report
In last year's report I wrote that the team most likely to prevent us from winning the second division was East Cheshire. This was proved to be correct, as they pipped us to the title by a single match point. Still, the second place finish represented a continued improvement after having almost been relegated two seasons earlier.In the Charnley Cup we beat first division Holmes Chapel en route to the semi final, where we lost to the League champions Chorlton.
Next season it may be tougher for us as East Cheshire have been replaced by Stockport's B team, who are on paper a lot stronger than East Cheshire and will be looking for a quick return to the first division. But we relish the challenge!
In all, 14 players turned out for the team during the season. Mark Hann was once again our top player, missing only one match and scoring 9½ from his 12 games for a 189 grading performance. I also played 12 scoring 8½, and Mark Whalley missed only two matches, scoring 7½. Others who represented the team were Tom, Sheraz, Dave, Tony, Vijay, Mike, Thomas, Nick, Bill, Steve Douglas and Steve Ward. Thanks to you all.
Reg Clucas
11th September 2018
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/10/2017 | League Div 2 | East Cheshire B | A | Draw | 3-3 |
| 10/10/2017 | League Div 2 | Marple B | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 06/11/2017 | Charnley Cup | Wilmslow | A | Won | 5-1 |
| 20/11/2017 | League Div 2 | Wilmslow | A | Won | 5-1 |
| 05/12/2017 | Charnley Cup | Holmes Chapel | H | Won | 3½-2½ |
| 19/12/2017 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield C | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 23/01/2018 | Charnley Cup | Chorlton | A | Lost | 2-4 |
| 13/02/2018 | League Div 2 | East Cheshire B | H | Lost | 1-5 |
| 20/02/2018 | League Div 2 | Wilmslow | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 05/04/2018 | League Div 2 | Marple B | A | Draw | 3-3 |
| 10/04/2018 | League Div 2 | Chorlton B | H | Won | 5½-½ |
| 23/04/2018 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield C | A | Won | 3½-2½ |
| 24/04/2018 | League Div 2 | Chorlton B | A | Won | 3½-2½ |
24/04/2018 - Chorlton B 2½ Altrincham A 3½
The second half of this week's 'double-header', and the same close result. We started with a mini disaster when after making his 14th move, Mark W immediately resigned in what appeared to be an equal position. It later transpired that he had hallucinated, seeing a winning tactic for his opponent which didn't exist. It was more than 2 hours before the next game finished, with Mike agreeing a draw on board 6. Soon after I levelled the scores after an erratic game in which I failed to take advantage of my opponent's dodgy opening, and ended up worse, sacrificing a piece for little compensation. It did give me some pressure and I managed to restore the balance with some pawn grabbing, and my opponent then blundered back the piece after which my extra pawns were decisive. But a defeat for Bill put us one down again, so all depended on Mark H and Tony. Mark played well to win his Bishop ending with level material - the first defeat of the season for his opponent Dennis Owen, most of whose games have been in the 1st division. Tony was winning on the board, a piece ahead, and for once was also a couple of minutes up on the clock (no increments were being used) so it was his opponent's flag which fell first. So we have drawn level on match points with East Cheshire at the top of the table - however they have a match in hand and only need to avoid a defeat of greater than 5-1 to claim the title. I am not holding my breath!
23/04/2018 - Macclesfield C 2½ Altrincham A 3½
In the first of two matches in consecutive days, we just shaded the match to keep alive our mathematical chance of winning the division. Macclesfield needed a win to avoid bottom place and put out a strong side which was marginally higher graded than us, but wins on the top three boards saw us home, despite Mark H being unavailable. First to finish was Mark W on board 1, with an impressive win as his opponent Phil Cattermole has been in good form this season. Dave also won, and when Vijay drew I knew the match was in the bag, as I was two pawns up with an advanced passed pawn. Bill and Steve W were unable to hold higher rated opponents, and with the scores level I gave up one of the extra pawns to reach a winning pawn ending, though which needed some care on 10 second increments!
10/04/2018 - Altrincham A 5½ Chorlton B ½
We had a similar grading advantage to last week's match at Marple, and this time made it count. Mark W had a quick draw with the solid Alan Beresford, but that was as good as it got for the visitors. I was next to finish - after giving away a pawn in the opening for dubious compensation I managed to win it back, and with the Queen & minor piece ending looking drawish my opponent overlooked a mate threat which forced him to give up a piece. Mark H then won after gaining a big advantage early in the game. Sheraz won a piece and just had to avoid his opponent's potential perpetual to score the full point. Dave won after his Queen and Bishop combined in a winning King-side attack. Tony also had strong King-side pressure, which he liquidated into a winning pawn ending.
05/04/2018 - Marple B 3 Altrincham A 3
We failed to take advantage of a grading advantage of about 20 points per board as Marple put up a good fight. There were no quick finishes and all games were hard fought. Bill was first to finish, with a draw after most of the pieces were exchanged off to a level endgame. Next to finish was the game between the two club secretaries (myself and Terry Cowling). I found Terry's Philidor defence difficult to crack and after about 20 moves had an uncomfortable position and was short of time. However I found an unlikely looking pawn break which eased my game considerably and soon after I won material and then the game. Mark H then drew on board 1, unable to convert an advantageous position. Mark W was up the exchange for a pawn, but missed an opportunity to eliminate his opponent's dangerous passed pawn and lost. At 2-2 it looked as though we would shade the match, as Nick was winning and Dave (in his first Stockport League match for the club) seemed to have a draw, with most of the pieces on the board and the position blocked. But with both players living on increments, the position opened up and after mass exchanges Dave lost a vital pawn leaving a lost ending. Nick duly converted his opposite colour bishop ending to tie the match.
20/02/2018 - Altrincham A 2½ Wilmslow 3½
After losing their last two matches, Wilmslow put themselves right back in contention for the Division 2 title with this narrow win, and seriously damaged our chances. Things seemed to be going fine early on, with Vijay winning on board 6, making it 3 out of 3 in his A team games this season. This was followed by a win for myself - in a dominating position but with only two minutes left didn't have time to find the forced mate which was there, and with danger to my own King took the safe option of simplifying into a winning endgame. Mark H then drew on board 1 in a game which he felt he maybe could have won. Then things started to go wrong, with Bill unable to stop his opponent's passed pawn, then a defeat for Sheraz meant the scores were level with just Tony to finish. In a complex game with both players short of time they traded blunders, after which Tony lost on time in what appeared to be a winning position.
13/02/2018 - Altrincham A 1 East Cheshire B 5
For the first time this season East Cheshire had their top three players available, which makes them a force to be reckoned with, and we suffered our first home defeat in the Stockport League since April 2016. Mike Davies gamely agreed to play at the last minute, and had a good game but dropped a piece in a level position late in the game. Sheraz lost very quickly, Tony then had a fairly quick draw with most of the pieces chopped off, Mark H draw saved him from the time pressures of his last 5 minutes, Bill was always struggling and finally gave up, and Mark W had a typical crazy game with pieces all over the place but where his king ended up exposed to a full attack in the centre of the board, and thereby lost his 100% record this season.
23/01/2018 - Chorlton 4 Altrincham 2 (Charnley Cup)
Our long unbeaten run in Cup competitions finally came to an end, though it was no disgrace to go out to the reigning League champions, who outgraded us by around 25 points per board on average. Tom and Bill on boards 5 & 6 had to face the largest grading deficit, and both lost fairly quickly. Then Mark W raised our hopes with a fine defensive performance, see below, to make the score 1-2. I then lost when I blundered a piece in a difficult position, though one which I had chances of holding. At 1-3, we could still have won the match on tie-break with wins from Mark H and Tony, and Mark duly obliged with an excellent win on board 1. But Tony never had any winning chances, and reached a Queen ending a pawn down at which point his opponent could have taken a draw by perpetual to clinch the match, but had the confidence to play on for a win to make the final score 4-2.
Austin Elliott (168) vs Mark Whalley (158)
This win took Mark to the top of the Stockport League percentage score table. In case this never happens again, the moment is preserved below for posterity!
19/12/2017 - Altrincham A 4½ Macclesfield C 1½
Macclesfield C were a bogey team for us last season, and I was worried that might continue as we only had two of our usual A team regulars available (myself and Mark Hann), the rest being missing due to foreign holidays, work commitments (in one case, a retiring from work commitment!) and a late drop out. And we got off to a bad start - Steve Douglas was unable to repeat his heroics against Holmes Chapel and went down to the experienced Pete Caulkett. Things improved thereafter, with a draw from Steve Ward on board 6. Steve had agreed to play with less than an hour's notice, and a draw was a great result for him - his opponent John Astley had given me a very hard game at the last Manchester Summer congress. Thomas then beat Macclesfield captain Mick 'the Hat' Renshaw to level the scores. I was next to finish - having come under some pressure on the Kingside with Denzil's tripled major pieces on the f file, I managed to create a diversion with a pawn break on the Queenside which led to me winning a piece, and soon after the game. However my 'winning tactic' was seriously flawed, and I was lucky my opponent missed a winning opportunity. At 2½-1½ the win was not yet certain - Mark Hann was a pawn up in a Knight v Bishop endgame, but which looked impossible to win, and Vijay was a piece & pawn up but under a strong attack, and short of time, exactly the kind of scenario where blunders are made. Fortunately for us the only blunder came on the other board, where Mark's opponent lost his Bishop to a Knight fork. This took the pressure off Vijay who coolly sacrificed back his extra piece in return for another pawn and an end to his opponent's attack, after which he was able to exchange pieces into an easily won Bishop ending.
05/12/2017 - Altrincham 3½ Holmes Chapel 2½ (Charnley Cup)
2017 has been a remarkable year for us in Cup competitions, winning the Wahltuch Trophy and the Summer League Cup, and now reaching the Charnley Cup semifinal with this unexpected win over 1st division Holmes Chapel. The visitors were missing their two strongest players, but still outgraded us on every board. We got off to a great start with a win by Steve Douglas on board 6, choosing the right time to put a stop to his losing streak. Steve was on the Black side of an Italian game in which his opponent had the advantage with a strong pawn centre, but then made a tactical error which lost the exchange, and capitulated quickly after that. The visitors levelled when Nick lost, but then we got a large slice of the luck which is usually necessary to defeat a higher graded team -
Mark Whalley (142) vs Ian Bates (159)
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The luck was not just confined to Mark - I drew a Queen ending by perpetual check in a game which I imagined had been level throughout, but my computer points out the following -
Michael Hancock (169) vs Reg Clucas (154)
A defeat for Tony after he tried too hard for counterplay in a difficult position left the scores level with just Mark Hann to finish. Mark needed to win, as a tied match would mean that Holmes Chapel would win on the lower board elimination tie-break, which would eliminate Steve's win. In a knight and pawn endgame with equal material, one might at first sight have thought that a draw was likely, but Mark's opponent realised that in fact Mark was winning and overstepped the time limit looking for a way out.
20/11/2017 - Wilmslow 1 Altrincham A 5
Another visit to Wilmslow, this time for a league match, and we did not expect a repeat scoreline of the Cup match in which Wilmslow had their top two players missing. This time they were at full strength, with the team that had won its first four league matches, scoring 18½ game points out of 24 in the process. The top four boards were evenly matched, so I was hoping that we could hold our own on these boards and maybe win the match on boards 5 & 6 where we had a grading advantage. That was certainly the way things seemed to be panning out, as Bill won quickly on board 6 when his opponent made a gift of his Queen, and Sheraz won on board 5, again with the help of a blunder, though he did have a significant advantage before this. In between these was a draw for Tony on board 4, closely followed by a draw by myself - I was a pawn up, but in an awkward endgame, and I felt sure the two Marks could muster at least another half point between them to take us past the winning post. But they had loftier ambitions - Mark Whalley had won a Rook in the opening at the cost of having his Queen trapped in the corner behind enemy lines, and the rest of the game was mainly a battle to extricate it safely. Once he succeeded in this he won quickly. Meanwhile Mark Hann played a well controlled game, eventually forcing an error which allowed him to trap his opponent's Rook in the middle of the board and thus winning the exchange and shortly after the game.
06/11/2017 - Wilmslow 1 Altrincham 5 (Charnley Cup)
Wilmslow have won their first three league games and we were expecting a difficult match. However they were missing their two highest graded players, so we won easily despite having a few players unavailable ourselves. The main difference was strength in depth, as we were able to bring in stronger replacements for our missing players than Wilmslow were able to muster. One of these was Vijay, who won well on board 6, overcoming his opponent's Owen's defence, no doubt due to it being one of his own favourite openings. With wins by Bill and Mark W we were soon 3-0 up, upon which Tony agreed a draw in a blocked endgame to clinch the match. Mark H employed the Stonewall Dutch against his opponent's Colle system, and with his opponent's dark squared bishop blocked in by its own pawns embarked on a kingside attack which quickly netted the exchange followed by the full point. I should also have won, having a dominating position which won me the exchange, but not for the first time this year lost my way a bit, frittering away the advantage and eventually happy to accept a draw.
10/10/2017 - Altrincham A 4½ Marple B 1½
As with East Cheshire last week, we faced a B team that is now Marple's first team, since they too have withdrawn their A team due to losing too many of their top players. We won fairly comfortably with wins by Tony and the two Marks, and draws by Sheraz, Nick and Reg.
04/10/2017 - East Cheshire B 3 Altrincham A 3
This was effectively East Cheshire's 1st team, as they have withdrawn their A team due to loss of some of their leading players - the only one of their usual top players in this match was Steve Tranter on board 1. We went one down when Bill lost but this was quickly levelled when Mark W forced mate. I was next to finish, happy to accept a draw offer as I was a pawn down with no compensation. At this point Mark H was a pawn down in a double knight endgame, but despite this we seemed to be favourites to win the match as Sheraz was winning easily, a whole piece up, and Nick was a solid pawn up. Sheraz duly won, and Nick won a second pawn but his opponent David Taylor can be very difficult to put away, and managed to create enough counterplay to force a draw. So we needed a draw from Mark H to win the match, but he was unable to hold the endgame and thus suffered his first defeat in the Stockport League after his 19 game unbeaten run last season.
2016-17 Team Captain's Report
At last year's AGM we were uncertain as to which division of the Stockport League we would be playing in, since we had finished bottom of Division 2 in 2015-16, and could therefore have been relegated. Fortunately we were reprieved, and 2016-17 was a much better season for us, with a 3rd place finish.The mainstay of our good form was our home record, where we were undefeated - even the mighty Marple were unable to beat us when they visited in the Charnley Cup, having to rely on the lower board elimination tie-break to put us out.
Unfortunately we were let down by our away record, mainly due to the difficulty of putting out a strong team for some away matches. If we convert the two narrow defeats at East Cheshire B and Macclesfield C into wins, we would be tied on match points with the division winners, Macclesfield B - this would be quite appropriate as we drew both our matches against them.
So it is not inconceivable that we could win this division in 2017-18. The main opposition are likely be East Cheshire A, if we assume they will be relegated from Division 1 with Macclesfield B going up to take their place. Apart from them, there is no team in Division 2 that we need fear if we can put out a consistently strong team.
Thanks to all who turned out for the team. A special mention must be made of Mark Hann, in his first season with us, who was the only ever present in the team, and was undefeated in his 15 League & Cup games (or 19 if we include the 4 he played for the B team before we realised he was too good for that team!). Mark Whalley and myself only missed one game each, and both had plus scores. There were also contributions from the usual A team suspects Karl, Nick, Richard, Bill, Tony and Tom. Due to work commitments Yaroslav was only available for one match, in which he was unlucky not to get a draw against Marple's FM Michael Fernandez. I am also grateful to several players who are not first choice A team players, but who answered the call when I was short of players for away matches - Thomas, Steve Douglas, Steve Ward and Vijay all scored useful points.
Reg Clucas
31st August 2017
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/10/2016 | League Div 2 | East Cheshire B | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 01/11/2016 | League Div 2 | Chorlton B | A | Lost | 2-4 |
| 06/12/2016 | Charnley Cup | Marple | H | Lost* | 3-3 |
| 20/12/2016 | President's Cup | Sale | H | Won | 4-1 |
| 17/01/2017 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield B | H | Draw | 3-3 |
| 31/01/2017 | League Div 2 | Marple B | H | Draw | 3-3 |
| 06/02/2017 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield C | A | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 14/02/2017 | President's Cup | Stockport | A | Lost | 1-4 |
| 07/03/2017 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield C | H | Draw | 3-3 |
| 14/03/2017 | League Div 2 | Denton | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 30/03/2017 | League Div 2 | Marple B | A | Won | 3½-2½ |
| 05/04/2017 | League Div 2 | East Cheshire B | A | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 18/04/2017 | League Div 2 | Chorlton B | H | Won | 5-1 |
| 24/04/2017 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield B | A | Draw | 3-3 |
| 10/05/2017 | League Div 2 | Denton | A | Won | 5½-½ |
* on bottom board elimination
Full details of all matches and league tables can be found on the Stockport League website.
10/05/2017 - Denton ½ Altrincham A 5½
We finished the season in fine style with this resounding win. We were guaranteed 3rd place in the league whatever the result, but with some first choice players unavailable we were expecting a difficult match, as Denton required 2 game points to avoid bottom place. But we only conceded one draw, on Mark W's board, with Mark H, Bill, Nick, Steve D and Vijay all winning. Mark H therefore finishes the season unbeaten (10 wins, 9 draws), a most impressive record. Denton find themselves in the same position as us last year, having to wait till September's Fixtures Meeting to find out whether the composition of divisions next season will grant them a reprieve from relegation.
24/04/2017 - Macclesfield B 3 Altrincham A 3
A draw with the division champions is a good result, although Macclesfield have relaxed somewhat after clinching first place and did not have their strongest team out, so we actually outgraded them on the lower four boards. Nevertheless we lost on boards 4, 5 & 6. Mark W was first to go, with his King caught in the middle of the board, and this was followed by Bill whose double piece sacrifice did not work out, leaving him with a losing endgame. Steve D seemed to have some good counterplay, but his opponent managed to exploit Steve's light square weaknesses and we were 3-0 down. I got us on the scoresheet when an opening advantage led to the win of an isolated pawn, after which my opponent blundered a piece. Mark H had another impressive win with 1.b3, outplaying John-Paul Taylor who until this defeat had been top of the Stockport League % points per game table. So the match depended on Karl, who had a nominal material advantage of R + 2P vs 2N. This can often be difficult to win, but Karl eventually got a couple of connected passed pawns advancing decisively, upon which his opponent hastened the end by hanging one of the knights.
18/04/2017 - Altrincham A 5 Chorlton B 1
We had a convincing win in our final home match, and are thus unbeaten at home in the SDCL this season (if we count the tied Charnley Cup match with Marple as a draw, though we lost on tiebreak). We were given an early present when Tony's opponent touched the wrong piece on move 5, and resigned, as to have moved that piece would have caused the loss of a Bishop. Richard's game was also over quickly with a draw agreed, and I had a fairly quick win when I managed to fend off my opponent's marauding knights and set up an unstoppable mate of my own. Mark W was the next to score a full point, with rooks on the 7th rank deciding the game for him, and Bill also used the heavy pieces to good effect, winning his opponent's queen for a rook following pressure down the e file. Mark H drew on board one in a very even position with both players having used a lot of time for not many moves.
05/04/2017 - East Cheshire B 3½ Altrincham A 2½
A win would have kept alive our mathematical chance of catching Macclesfield at the top of the division, but realistically it was just a battle with East Cheshire for second place. With several people unavailable due to illness, holidays etc. it was good to be able to call on Vijay and Steve W, both of whom scored in their last A team appearance. On this occasion however they were up against much stronger opponents and though putting up a prolonged resistance were eventually beaten. Mark W quickly reached a fairly dead endgame with draw specialist David Taylor, with a draw agreed, but defeat for Nick meant the match was already lost. On board 1 Mark H continued his strong run with a win against Dave Newell, and I won on time for the second time this season against East Cheshire(!) - although at least this time I did not have a losing position, but had an extra pawn in an ending which would have required a lot of hard work to convert into a win.
30/03/2017 - Marple B 2½ Altrincham A 3½
With the teams evenly matched in terms of grades, the match was predictably close, but we just shaded it. The London system was much in vogue, and Mark W used it to good effect to score a quick win on board 3. Vijay's opponent also employed it, hoping to repeat his victory in the earlier Marple C v Altrincham B match, but Vijay also uses this opening and his knowledge helped him to a draw on this occasion. My opponent Alan Hall also played the London system, and gained his revenge for my win over him in January, with a strong Kingside attack which I could only defuse by exchanging into a bad rook & pawn ending which I was unable to hold. So honours even in the three London system games. Mark H scored a good win on board one with his trusty Nimzo-Larsen opening, and solid draws from Nick and Thomas saw us over the line.
14/03/2017 - Altrincham A 4½ Denton 1½
We ended a sequence of three consecutive drawn home matches with this emphatic win. Denton have lost a lot of their star players over the last 12 months, so whilst last season we struggled against their B team, in this match we outgraded their A team by about 20 points per board. Mark W was first to score a full point, closely followed by myself after my opponent missed a tactic allowing me to win material with a pin down an open file. Richard then drew, reaching a text book drawn rook and pawn ending with 4 pawns versus 3 all on the same side. Tony also drew when his opponent engineered a perpetual with doubled rooks on the 7th rank, and Mark H drew in another rook endgame where it was very difficult to make his extra pawn count. Karl finished last, with a crushing King side attack deciding the game in his favour.
07/03/2017 - Altrincham A 3 Macclesfield C 3
Once again we struggled against Macclesfield's C team, who are really punching above their weight this season. Our average 30 point per board grading advantage counted for nothing, but at least we didn't lose the fixture this time! Bill got us off to a good start with a quick win on board 6, but this was soon cancelled out by Richard's loss on board 3. Tony then took a draw, hoping to clinch the match having seen that both Marks had winning advantages - unfortunately Mark W then blundered his win into a loss, so at 1½-2½ we now needed wins on the two remaining boards to win the match. I had to accept a draw in a blocked position, but Mark H easily converted his extra exchange to tie the match.
14/02/2017 - Stockport 4 Altrincham 1 (President's Cup)
On paper the two teams were of similar strength, but Stockport triumphed by virtue of wins on the three lower boards. Unusually, my game was first to finish, with a draw agreed in an equal Queen & pawn ending where both players had a perpetual check available if the other tried to unbalance things. Mark W finished next; in an interesting looking position where he had a rook for two pieces, he blundered the exchange to a knight fork. Tony lost soon after, unable to recover from a large material deficit incurred through eliminating a dangerous passed pawn. Bill looked set for a draw, but his opponent found a way to win a bishop & pawn ending with equal material. Mark H agreed a draw in an equal position with the match already lost.
06/02/2017 - Macclesfield C 3½ Altrincham A 2½
Having recently drawn with Macclesfield's B team, one might have expected us to beat their C team, but things are rarely that simple. For a start we had a weaker team for this match, though that is not really a good explanation as we still outgraded the opposition on four of the six boards. Richard had an early loss, and judging by his comments afterwards did not have the best of games. Neither did I, overlooking my opponent's simple mate in 3 combination soon afterwards (see below). Bill got us going with a draw, but a loss for Vijay, our only player to face a higher graded opponent, put the match beyond our reach. Steve Ward (whose comment prior to the match was "you must be desperate to pick me!") showed his higher graded team mates the way with a win on board 6, and Mark H continued his good form with a comfortable win on board 1.
Tony R Lane vs Reg Clucas
31/01/2017 - Altrincham A 3 Marple B 3
Although we had a slight grading advantage, we had to struggle to draw the match after a disastrous start to the evening, with Steve D losing within half an hour having been flummoxed by his opponent's Budapest Gambit, and Bill following shortly afterwards, unable to recover after making a mess of the opening. Richard, in his first League match of the season, got us on the scoresheet with a draw, then Mark W won to begin the fightback. Mark H was promoted to board 1 in view of the recently published ECF grades, and he drew after deciding not to try to take advantage of his opponent's time shortage in a level position. It was left to the captain to save the ship, which I duly did after my pressure caused my opponent to blunder a piece.
17/01/2017 - Altrincham A 3 Macclesfield B 3
We did well to draw with the Division 2 leaders, as we had a few regulars unavailable. Macclesfield were also under strength, but still outgraded us on average by about 15 points per board. Initially it looked like we might even be on course to winning the match, as we were 2-0 up by 9p.m. courtesy of Steve Douglas and Mark Whalley, with Mark's game featuring an underpromotion as the winning tactic - see below. But Macclesfield then fought back, and defeats for Tom, Bill and Reg left us 3-2 down. Mark Hann saved the day, forcing home a passed pawn in a heavy piece endgame.
Mark Whalley vs Nick Evans
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20/12/2016 - Altrincham 4 Sale 1 (President's Cup)
We had an early setback on board 5 when Mark Whalley's phone sounded. The Stockport League rule is that the game is only forfeited on the second such occurrence, but Mark believed it was an immediate forfeit (as in the Manchester League), so resigned, after which the loss had to stand. However, the rest of the team converted our grading advantage to win the four remaining boards. Bill quickly levelled the scores on board 4, though the top three boards took a while longer. Mark Hann played an impressive positional game following his Nimzo-Larsen opening, pressurising weak pawns until his opponent's position collapsed. Mark thus finishes the year undefeated in both Stockport & Manchester Leagues. I came under some pressure on the black side of a closed Sicilian, but eventually managed to untangle my pieces after which I took control. Karl won comfortably on board 1 in his first Stockport League outing of the season.
06/12/2016 - Altrincham 3 Marple 3 (Charnley Cup)
We came agonisingly close to a 'giant killing' against the current Cup holders and League champions, although it must be conceded that Marple did not put out many of their top players. They did include one of their titled players, however, in Michael Fernandez who is a FM. The grades of the rest of their team tapered rapidly though, so that we actually outgraded them on the bottom two boards. The two Marks took full advantage to win on these boards, with Mark W winning quickly. Mark H was up against a tough defender, but eventually broke through to put an end to his 100% drawing record in the Stockport League! Boards 3 & 4 were evenly matched - Bill lost in a 4 Knights game, whilst my opponent Chris Baker & I both seemed to be making up the opening as we went along, each taking about half an hour for the first 12 moves. Chris eventually started to apply some pressure, but after some exchanges he dropped a pawn as time ran short, which was enough for me to win the endgame. Richard's defeat on board 2 left us 3-2 up, with just Fernandez v Kolodiy to finish. Both were practically down to playing on increments in a rook & pawn ending, with Michael's 3 pawns against Yaroslav's 2 - unfortunately Yaroslav missed a drawing continuation, so the match finished 3-3. The tiebreak in the Stockport League is to eliminate the bottom board, which unfortunately for us was Mark Whalley's win, so we go out of the competition. At least it will relieve fixture congestion in January & February, when we already have a MCF cup tie and possibly a President's cup tie to fit in!
01/11/2016 - Chorlton B 4 Altrincham A 2
With several regulars unavailable we still came close to a good result but were edged out in the end. Vijay, making his A team debut, found it a tough baptism and was the first to lose, but Tony soon levelled things up. Mark Hann and I on the top two boards were next to finish, both with uneventful draws. At 2-2 things were looking promising, as Steve D and Mark Whalley both had quite good positions. Steve was down the exchange for a pawn, but had good compensation in the form of a powerfully posted bishop and a mobile 3 to 1 Q-side pawn majority. However he allowed his opponent's rook to penetrate his position to set up an unstoppable mate. Mark seemed to be coasting with an extra piece for a pawn, but the position became complicated and Mark's material advantage was gradually eroded until he too was mated as time ran out.
11/10/2016 - Altrincham A 4½ East Cheshire B 1½
Mark W got us off to a good start with a win, closely followed by draws from Mark H and Bill. Nick won to put us 3-1 up, then Steve D was offered a draw in a level position where he had two rooks for a queen. Steve accepted a draw to ensure we won the match - a good decision, since my game against Dave Newell on board 1 was looking totally lost. However, Dave is even more of a time trouble addict than I am, and was down to 10 second increments, so I played on despite being down a piece and two pawns. I managed to create some illusory threats, which were enough to cause Dave to lose on time in a position where he could have given mate in 2. So I was lucky, but gained revenge for my rather unlucky defeat when we last played in January. After my swindle against Paul Bamford at the recent MCF congress, East Cheshire are probably sick of the sight of me!
2015-16 Team Captain's Report
2015-16 was our poorest season in the Stockport League for some time. We had just two wins, against Marple B and East Cheshire B, and a draw against the division champions Stockport B. This meant that we finished bottom of Division 2.
However the League table does not tell the whole story. We had only one heavy defeat (at Macclesfield when we had several players unavailable). We lost both matches against Denton B by 4-2; the remaining four defeats were by the narrowest possible margin of 2½-3½. One of these, the return match against East Cheshire B, was particularly painful. This match was balanced at 2½-2½ with just my game to finish. In time trouble I missed a simple winning move, then two moves later blundered again to turn a drawn position into a defeat. This caused a four point swing in the League table between ourselves and East Cheshire - had this result been reversed they would have shared bottom place with us. So it could be said that our season was defined by a few seconds of one game.
In the Charnley Cup we were drawn against Division 1 Holmes Chapel for the third time in four seasons, and suffered the predictable heavy defeat.
Having finished bottom of the division, it is quite possible that we will be relegated to Division 3 for the 2016-17 season, but this is by no means a certainty, as it will depend upon the number of teams who enter the League for the new season. So we can live in hope of a reprieve, but we won't know for certain until the Fixtures Meeting on September 22nd.
Reg Clucas
29th August 2016
Full details of all matches and league tables can be found on the Stockport League website.
10/05/2017 - Denton ½ Altrincham A 5½
We finished the season in fine style with this resounding win. We were guaranteed 3rd place in the league whatever the result, but with some first choice players unavailable we were expecting a difficult match, as Denton required 2 game points to avoid bottom place. But we only conceded one draw, on Mark W's board, with Mark H, Bill, Nick, Steve D and Vijay all winning. Mark H therefore finishes the season unbeaten (10 wins, 9 draws), a most impressive record. Denton find themselves in the same position as us last year, having to wait till September's Fixtures Meeting to find out whether the composition of divisions next season will grant them a reprieve from relegation.
24/04/2017 - Macclesfield B 3 Altrincham A 3
A draw with the division champions is a good result, although Macclesfield have relaxed somewhat after clinching first place and did not have their strongest team out, so we actually outgraded them on the lower four boards. Nevertheless we lost on boards 4, 5 & 6. Mark W was first to go, with his King caught in the middle of the board, and this was followed by Bill whose double piece sacrifice did not work out, leaving him with a losing endgame. Steve D seemed to have some good counterplay, but his opponent managed to exploit Steve's light square weaknesses and we were 3-0 down. I got us on the scoresheet when an opening advantage led to the win of an isolated pawn, after which my opponent blundered a piece. Mark H had another impressive win with 1.b3, outplaying John-Paul Taylor who until this defeat had been top of the Stockport League % points per game table. So the match depended on Karl, who had a nominal material advantage of R + 2P vs 2N. This can often be difficult to win, but Karl eventually got a couple of connected passed pawns advancing decisively, upon which his opponent hastened the end by hanging one of the knights.
18/04/2017 - Altrincham A 5 Chorlton B 1
We had a convincing win in our final home match, and are thus unbeaten at home in the SDCL this season (if we count the tied Charnley Cup match with Marple as a draw, though we lost on tiebreak). We were given an early present when Tony's opponent touched the wrong piece on move 5, and resigned, as to have moved that piece would have caused the loss of a Bishop. Richard's game was also over quickly with a draw agreed, and I had a fairly quick win when I managed to fend off my opponent's marauding knights and set up an unstoppable mate of my own. Mark W was the next to score a full point, with rooks on the 7th rank deciding the game for him, and Bill also used the heavy pieces to good effect, winning his opponent's queen for a rook following pressure down the e file. Mark H drew on board one in a very even position with both players having used a lot of time for not many moves.
05/04/2017 - East Cheshire B 3½ Altrincham A 2½
A win would have kept alive our mathematical chance of catching Macclesfield at the top of the division, but realistically it was just a battle with East Cheshire for second place. With several people unavailable due to illness, holidays etc. it was good to be able to call on Vijay and Steve W, both of whom scored in their last A team appearance. On this occasion however they were up against much stronger opponents and though putting up a prolonged resistance were eventually beaten. Mark W quickly reached a fairly dead endgame with draw specialist David Taylor, with a draw agreed, but defeat for Nick meant the match was already lost. On board 1 Mark H continued his strong run with a win against Dave Newell, and I won on time for the second time this season against East Cheshire(!) - although at least this time I did not have a losing position, but had an extra pawn in an ending which would have required a lot of hard work to convert into a win.
30/03/2017 - Marple B 2½ Altrincham A 3½
With the teams evenly matched in terms of grades, the match was predictably close, but we just shaded it. The London system was much in vogue, and Mark W used it to good effect to score a quick win on board 3. Vijay's opponent also employed it, hoping to repeat his victory in the earlier Marple C v Altrincham B match, but Vijay also uses this opening and his knowledge helped him to a draw on this occasion. My opponent Alan Hall also played the London system, and gained his revenge for my win over him in January, with a strong Kingside attack which I could only defuse by exchanging into a bad rook & pawn ending which I was unable to hold. So honours even in the three London system games. Mark H scored a good win on board one with his trusty Nimzo-Larsen opening, and solid draws from Nick and Thomas saw us over the line.
14/03/2017 - Altrincham A 4½ Denton 1½
We ended a sequence of three consecutive drawn home matches with this emphatic win. Denton have lost a lot of their star players over the last 12 months, so whilst last season we struggled against their B team, in this match we outgraded their A team by about 20 points per board. Mark W was first to score a full point, closely followed by myself after my opponent missed a tactic allowing me to win material with a pin down an open file. Richard then drew, reaching a text book drawn rook and pawn ending with 4 pawns versus 3 all on the same side. Tony also drew when his opponent engineered a perpetual with doubled rooks on the 7th rank, and Mark H drew in another rook endgame where it was very difficult to make his extra pawn count. Karl finished last, with a crushing King side attack deciding the game in his favour.
07/03/2017 - Altrincham A 3 Macclesfield C 3
Once again we struggled against Macclesfield's C team, who are really punching above their weight this season. Our average 30 point per board grading advantage counted for nothing, but at least we didn't lose the fixture this time! Bill got us off to a good start with a quick win on board 6, but this was soon cancelled out by Richard's loss on board 3. Tony then took a draw, hoping to clinch the match having seen that both Marks had winning advantages - unfortunately Mark W then blundered his win into a loss, so at 1½-2½ we now needed wins on the two remaining boards to win the match. I had to accept a draw in a blocked position, but Mark H easily converted his extra exchange to tie the match.
14/02/2017 - Stockport 4 Altrincham 1 (President's Cup)
On paper the two teams were of similar strength, but Stockport triumphed by virtue of wins on the three lower boards. Unusually, my game was first to finish, with a draw agreed in an equal Queen & pawn ending where both players had a perpetual check available if the other tried to unbalance things. Mark W finished next; in an interesting looking position where he had a rook for two pieces, he blundered the exchange to a knight fork. Tony lost soon after, unable to recover from a large material deficit incurred through eliminating a dangerous passed pawn. Bill looked set for a draw, but his opponent found a way to win a bishop & pawn ending with equal material. Mark H agreed a draw in an equal position with the match already lost.
06/02/2017 - Macclesfield C 3½ Altrincham A 2½
Having recently drawn with Macclesfield's B team, one might have expected us to beat their C team, but things are rarely that simple. For a start we had a weaker team for this match, though that is not really a good explanation as we still outgraded the opposition on four of the six boards. Richard had an early loss, and judging by his comments afterwards did not have the best of games. Neither did I, overlooking my opponent's simple mate in 3 combination soon afterwards (see below). Bill got us going with a draw, but a loss for Vijay, our only player to face a higher graded opponent, put the match beyond our reach. Steve Ward (whose comment prior to the match was "you must be desperate to pick me!") showed his higher graded team mates the way with a win on board 6, and Mark H continued his good form with a comfortable win on board 1.Tony R Lane vs Reg Clucas
31/01/2017 - Altrincham A 3 Marple B 3
Although we had a slight grading advantage, we had to struggle to draw the match after a disastrous start to the evening, with Steve D losing within half an hour having been flummoxed by his opponent's Budapest Gambit, and Bill following shortly afterwards, unable to recover after making a mess of the opening. Richard, in his first League match of the season, got us on the scoresheet with a draw, then Mark W won to begin the fightback. Mark H was promoted to board 1 in view of the recently published ECF grades, and he drew after deciding not to try to take advantage of his opponent's time shortage in a level position. It was left to the captain to save the ship, which I duly did after my pressure caused my opponent to blunder a piece.
17/01/2017 - Altrincham A 3 Macclesfield B 3
We did well to draw with the Division 2 leaders, as we had a few regulars unavailable. Macclesfield were also under strength, but still outgraded us on average by about 15 points per board. Initially it looked like we might even be on course to winning the match, as we were 2-0 up by 9p.m. courtesy of Steve Douglas and Mark Whalley, with Mark's game featuring an underpromotion as the winning tactic - see below. But Macclesfield then fought back, and defeats for Tom, Bill and Reg left us 3-2 down. Mark Hann saved the day, forcing home a passed pawn in a heavy piece endgame.Mark Whalley vs Nick Evans
(PGN viewer by http://chesstempo.com)
20/12/2016 - Altrincham 4 Sale 1 (President's Cup)
We had an early setback on board 5 when Mark Whalley's phone sounded. The Stockport League rule is that the game is only forfeited on the second such occurrence, but Mark believed it was an immediate forfeit (as in the Manchester League), so resigned, after which the loss had to stand. However, the rest of the team converted our grading advantage to win the four remaining boards. Bill quickly levelled the scores on board 4, though the top three boards took a while longer. Mark Hann played an impressive positional game following his Nimzo-Larsen opening, pressurising weak pawns until his opponent's position collapsed. Mark thus finishes the year undefeated in both Stockport & Manchester Leagues. I came under some pressure on the black side of a closed Sicilian, but eventually managed to untangle my pieces after which I took control. Karl won comfortably on board 1 in his first Stockport League outing of the season.
06/12/2016 - Altrincham 3 Marple 3 (Charnley Cup)
We came agonisingly close to a 'giant killing' against the current Cup holders and League champions, although it must be conceded that Marple did not put out many of their top players. They did include one of their titled players, however, in Michael Fernandez who is a FM. The grades of the rest of their team tapered rapidly though, so that we actually outgraded them on the bottom two boards. The two Marks took full advantage to win on these boards, with Mark W winning quickly. Mark H was up against a tough defender, but eventually broke through to put an end to his 100% drawing record in the Stockport League! Boards 3 & 4 were evenly matched - Bill lost in a 4 Knights game, whilst my opponent Chris Baker & I both seemed to be making up the opening as we went along, each taking about half an hour for the first 12 moves. Chris eventually started to apply some pressure, but after some exchanges he dropped a pawn as time ran short, which was enough for me to win the endgame. Richard's defeat on board 2 left us 3-2 up, with just Fernandez v Kolodiy to finish. Both were practically down to playing on increments in a rook & pawn ending, with Michael's 3 pawns against Yaroslav's 2 - unfortunately Yaroslav missed a drawing continuation, so the match finished 3-3. The tiebreak in the Stockport League is to eliminate the bottom board, which unfortunately for us was Mark Whalley's win, so we go out of the competition. At least it will relieve fixture congestion in January & February, when we already have a MCF cup tie and possibly a President's cup tie to fit in!
01/11/2016 - Chorlton B 4 Altrincham A 2
With several regulars unavailable we still came close to a good result but were edged out in the end. Vijay, making his A team debut, found it a tough baptism and was the first to lose, but Tony soon levelled things up. Mark Hann and I on the top two boards were next to finish, both with uneventful draws. At 2-2 things were looking promising, as Steve D and Mark Whalley both had quite good positions. Steve was down the exchange for a pawn, but had good compensation in the form of a powerfully posted bishop and a mobile 3 to 1 Q-side pawn majority. However he allowed his opponent's rook to penetrate his position to set up an unstoppable mate. Mark seemed to be coasting with an extra piece for a pawn, but the position became complicated and Mark's material advantage was gradually eroded until he too was mated as time ran out.
11/10/2016 - Altrincham A 4½ East Cheshire B 1½
Mark W got us off to a good start with a win, closely followed by draws from Mark H and Bill. Nick won to put us 3-1 up, then Steve D was offered a draw in a level position where he had two rooks for a queen. Steve accepted a draw to ensure we won the match - a good decision, since my game against Dave Newell on board 1 was looking totally lost. However, Dave is even more of a time trouble addict than I am, and was down to 10 second increments, so I played on despite being down a piece and two pawns. I managed to create some illusory threats, which were enough to cause Dave to lose on time in a position where he could have given mate in 2. So I was lucky, but gained revenge for my rather unlucky defeat when we last played in January. After my swindle against Paul Bamford at the recent MCF congress, East Cheshire are probably sick of the sight of me!
2015-16 Team Captain's Report
2015-16 was our poorest season in the Stockport League for some time. We had just two wins, against Marple B and East Cheshire B, and a draw against the division champions Stockport B. This meant that we finished bottom of Division 2.However the League table does not tell the whole story. We had only one heavy defeat (at Macclesfield when we had several players unavailable). We lost both matches against Denton B by 4-2; the remaining four defeats were by the narrowest possible margin of 2½-3½. One of these, the return match against East Cheshire B, was particularly painful. This match was balanced at 2½-2½ with just my game to finish. In time trouble I missed a simple winning move, then two moves later blundered again to turn a drawn position into a defeat. This caused a four point swing in the League table between ourselves and East Cheshire - had this result been reversed they would have shared bottom place with us. So it could be said that our season was defined by a few seconds of one game.
In the Charnley Cup we were drawn against Division 1 Holmes Chapel for the third time in four seasons, and suffered the predictable heavy defeat.
Having finished bottom of the division, it is quite possible that we will be relegated to Division 3 for the 2016-17 season, but this is by no means a certainty, as it will depend upon the number of teams who enter the League for the new season. So we can live in hope of a reprieve, but we won't know for certain until the Fixtures Meeting on September 22nd.
Reg Clucas
29th August 2016
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/10/2015 | Charnley Cup | Holmes Chapel | A | Lost | ½-5½ |
| 03/11/2015 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield B | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 08/12/2015 | League Div 2 | East Cheshire B | H | Won | 4-2 |
| 15/12/2015 | League Div 2 | Marple B | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 21/12/2015 | League Div 2 | Macclesfield B | A | Lost | ½-5½ |
| 13/01/2016 | League Div 2 | East Cheshire B | A | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 23/02/2016 | League Div 2 | Stockport B | A | Draw | 3-3 |
| 15/03/2016 | League Div 2 | Denton B | H | Lost | 2-4 |
| 23/03/2016 | League Div 2 | Denton B | A | Lost | 2-4 |
| 07/04/2016 | League Div 2 | Marple B | A | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 26/04/2016# | League Div 2 | Stockport B | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
# Rearranged fixture
26/04/2016 - Altrincham A 2½ Stockport B 3½
After last week's heavy defeat in the Manchester League to Stockport's second team, we
had a much closer match with their Stockport League team, and came close to repeating
February's drawn match despite having a weaker team than on that occasion. All our
points were scored on the lower boards, with a draw from Steve D and wins from Tony and Mark,
who seems to be making a welcome return to form. Unfortunately the top 3 boards, consisting of
myself, Richard and Nick all lost. With this result Stockport finish the season as
Division 2 champions, so we can be happy to have given them two close matches.
08/04/2016 - Marple B 1½ Altrincham A 4½
We gained our first win of 2016, which was very much needed. We made an inauspicious
start when David lost on board 6, but we then made our grading advantage tell on boards
3-5 with wins by Mark and Bill, plus a draw from Nick which, if it had been a boxing
match, would probably have been adjudged a win on points. So it was left to Yaroslav and myself
to clinch the match. My opponent, Terry Cowling, gifted me the exchange after
10 moves, but it gave him some good chances and I had to play precisely for the
next 30 odd moves in order to avoid a multitude of traps, before scoring the point.
Yaroslav's opponent, Chris Baker, is graded only 136, but has performed well above that
in the Stockport League this season, being unbeaten before this match with a grading
performance of over 170. Yaroslav gradually increased the pressure following the
opening, and had an overwhelming advantage when Chris resigned.
23/03/2016 - Denton B 4 Altrincham A 2
We had four players missing from last week's match, but Denton were also somewhat weaker.
Steve Douglas and David Hughes both stepped in to fill the breach, and both won to score
our only points. Bill also seemed likely to win, being the exchange up, but blundered in
the endgame. As last week, I had another close game in the French Tarrasch against Tim
Hilton, but again failed to find the drawing line when under pressure. We now need to
win our final two matches to have any chance of avoiding bottom place in the division.
15/03/2016 - Altrincham A 2 Denton B 4
Despite having our 6 highest graded players available, we were unable to make our
grading advantage tell after failing to cash in on some promising positions. Bill got us
off to a good start with a quick win, and draws followed from Richard and John.
Unfortunately that was as good as it got, as Nick and Yaroslav both lost after having
winning positions - for Yaroslav it was his first defeat of the season in either Stockport
or Manchester Leagues. I lost on time in a basic rook and pawn ending. Note to self:
when relying on 10 second increments, be sure to move before the 10 seconds elapse!
23/02/2016 - Stockport B 3 Altrincham A 3
Remarkably all 6 games were drawn, although all were keenly contested. John was first to
finish, having his draw offer accepted after his opponent had sacrificed a piece for a
strong attack. Yaroslav continued his record of always drawing against Michael Crowther, and
Richard gave Mike Tunstall no chance to demonstrate the grading difference between them. My
game also featured a sacrifice, with Andy Coe giving up the exchange, but by giving it back
immediately I was able to enter a queen & rook ending with an extra pawn but was unable to
convert. Tony reached a theoretical drawn position (single pawn against knight). Bill
was last to finish; in a very unclear position with about a minute each left on the
clock they too agreed a draw. A good result as Stockport had a slight grading advantage
overall.
13/01/2016 - East Cheshire B 3½ Altrincham A 2½
Once again we had several first choice players unavailable, but came very close to
winning the match. East Cheshire were also understrength, but still outgraded us on
boards 2-6, so I was delighted with a haul of 2½ points from these boards. Bill
continued his recent good form with a solid draw on board 2. David was unable to hold
an opposite colour bishop ending two pawns down, but Steve restored parity when he
'swindled a win' (his words!). Callum and Wayne also contributed useful draws, so the
match depended on my game on board 1 against Dave Newell, who is our team-mate in the
Manchester League but plays for East Cheshire in the Stockport League. In a very interesting
game I eventually missed an easy win, then two moves later threw away a certain draw
when I went to make a queen check, but inexplicably placed my queen on a square where
it was not giving check! This allowed Dave an easy 5 move checkmate which he was never going to miss
even on 10 second increments.
21/12/2015 - Macclesfield B 5½ Altrincham A ½
Our team was somewhat depleted, due no doubt to the proximity to Christmas, but Macclesfield had no
such problem and had a very strong team. Steve, David and Wayne on the bottom three boards were
outgraded by over 40 points per board on average, and unsurprisingly all lost. Our top three boards were outgraded by 'only' 15
points per board. Richard was ground down in the endgame after losing a pawn, and Reg was punished
for a risky pawn grab in the opening. Nick saved a whitewash with a draw using his trusty French defence,
playing the 3...c5 line against the Tarrasch and reaching a typical IQP position which he held
comfortably.
15/12/2015 - Altrincham A 2½ Marple B 3½
A narrow defeat, despite the fact that we had a stronger team on paper. Yaroslav was first to finish
with a draw by repetition in an equal position. This was followed by further draws by Richard and
Steve. The remaining three games went right to the wire, with all the players glad of the ten second
increments. Reg won his opponent's queen for rook and knight early in the game, but it took a long
time to finally convert this advantage. Tony and Nick both had material deficits, with Tony having to
accept defeat, but Nick seemed at one point to have created a fortress in a B + 2P vs R + 2P endgame.
However his opponent was eventually able to sacrifice the rook for the bishop, creating a winning
pawn ending.
Reg Clucas vs Alan Hall (PGN viewer by http://chesstempo.com)
08/12/2015 - Altrincham A 4 East Cheshire B 2
A keenly contested match, with both teams having five of their top six players available. Nick was
first to finish, with a draw, but East Cheshire took first blood when Richard lost. Yaroslav then
levelled things up, then Bill put us ahead with a win with the Black pieces (when he should have had White!)
We were now in a strong position as both John and Reg were a pawn up. Reg was unable to convert and had to settle for a draw, but
John had no such problems to make the final score 4-2.
Geoff Brindle vs Yaroslav Kolodiy (PGN viewer by http://chesstempo.com)
03/11/2015 - Altrincham A 2½ Macclesfield B 3½
The top two boards were fairly evenly matched in terms of grades. Yaroslav continued his
recent good form, winning with the Black pieces on board 1, whilst Reg drew on board 2.
However, Macclesfield enjoyed a significant grading advantage on the other boards, so
Richard and David both did well to draw.
15/10/2015 - Holmes Chapel 5½ Altrincham ½ (Charnley Cup)
For the third time in four seasons we were drawn against Holmes Chapel from Division 1 in
the Charnley Cup. The task was made even harder as we were missing Nick and Richard,
though this was partially offset by the debut of our new member John Reyes. Only Yaroslav
on board 1 managed a draw. As they say in football, we can now concentrate on the League!
2014-15 Team captain's report
26/04/2016 - Altrincham A 2½ Stockport B 3½
After last week's heavy defeat in the Manchester League to Stockport's second team, we
had a much closer match with their Stockport League team, and came close to repeating
February's drawn match despite having a weaker team than on that occasion. All our
points were scored on the lower boards, with a draw from Steve D and wins from Tony and Mark,
who seems to be making a welcome return to form. Unfortunately the top 3 boards, consisting of
myself, Richard and Nick all lost. With this result Stockport finish the season as
Division 2 champions, so we can be happy to have given them two close matches.
08/04/2016 - Marple B 1½ Altrincham A 4½
We gained our first win of 2016, which was very much needed. We made an inauspicious
start when David lost on board 6, but we then made our grading advantage tell on boards
3-5 with wins by Mark and Bill, plus a draw from Nick which, if it had been a boxing
match, would probably have been adjudged a win on points. So it was left to Yaroslav and myself
to clinch the match. My opponent, Terry Cowling, gifted me the exchange after
10 moves, but it gave him some good chances and I had to play precisely for the
next 30 odd moves in order to avoid a multitude of traps, before scoring the point.
Yaroslav's opponent, Chris Baker, is graded only 136, but has performed well above that
in the Stockport League this season, being unbeaten before this match with a grading
performance of over 170. Yaroslav gradually increased the pressure following the
opening, and had an overwhelming advantage when Chris resigned.
23/03/2016 - Denton B 4 Altrincham A 2
We had four players missing from last week's match, but Denton were also somewhat weaker.
Steve Douglas and David Hughes both stepped in to fill the breach, and both won to score
our only points. Bill also seemed likely to win, being the exchange up, but blundered in
the endgame. As last week, I had another close game in the French Tarrasch against Tim
Hilton, but again failed to find the drawing line when under pressure. We now need to
win our final two matches to have any chance of avoiding bottom place in the division.
15/03/2016 - Altrincham A 2 Denton B 4
Despite having our 6 highest graded players available, we were unable to make our
grading advantage tell after failing to cash in on some promising positions. Bill got us
off to a good start with a quick win, and draws followed from Richard and John.
Unfortunately that was as good as it got, as Nick and Yaroslav both lost after having
winning positions - for Yaroslav it was his first defeat of the season in either Stockport
or Manchester Leagues. I lost on time in a basic rook and pawn ending. Note to self:
when relying on 10 second increments, be sure to move before the 10 seconds elapse!
23/02/2016 - Stockport B 3 Altrincham A 3
Remarkably all 6 games were drawn, although all were keenly contested. John was first to
finish, having his draw offer accepted after his opponent had sacrificed a piece for a
strong attack. Yaroslav continued his record of always drawing against Michael Crowther, and
Richard gave Mike Tunstall no chance to demonstrate the grading difference between them. My
game also featured a sacrifice, with Andy Coe giving up the exchange, but by giving it back
immediately I was able to enter a queen & rook ending with an extra pawn but was unable to
convert. Tony reached a theoretical drawn position (single pawn against knight). Bill
was last to finish; in a very unclear position with about a minute each left on the
clock they too agreed a draw. A good result as Stockport had a slight grading advantage
overall.
13/01/2016 - East Cheshire B 3½ Altrincham A 2½
Once again we had several first choice players unavailable, but came very close to
winning the match. East Cheshire were also understrength, but still outgraded us on
boards 2-6, so I was delighted with a haul of 2½ points from these boards. Bill
continued his recent good form with a solid draw on board 2. David was unable to hold
an opposite colour bishop ending two pawns down, but Steve restored parity when he
'swindled a win' (his words!). Callum and Wayne also contributed useful draws, so the
match depended on my game on board 1 against Dave Newell, who is our team-mate in the
Manchester League but plays for East Cheshire in the Stockport League. In a very interesting
game I eventually missed an easy win, then two moves later threw away a certain draw
when I went to make a queen check, but inexplicably placed my queen on a square where
it was not giving check! This allowed Dave an easy 5 move checkmate which he was never going to miss
even on 10 second increments.21/12/2015 - Macclesfield B 5½ Altrincham A ½
Our team was somewhat depleted, due no doubt to the proximity to Christmas, but Macclesfield had no
such problem and had a very strong team. Steve, David and Wayne on the bottom three boards were
outgraded by over 40 points per board on average, and unsurprisingly all lost. Our top three boards were outgraded by 'only' 15
points per board. Richard was ground down in the endgame after losing a pawn, and Reg was punished
for a risky pawn grab in the opening. Nick saved a whitewash with a draw using his trusty French defence,
playing the 3...c5 line against the Tarrasch and reaching a typical IQP position which he held
comfortably.15/12/2015 - Altrincham A 2½ Marple B 3½
A narrow defeat, despite the fact that we had a stronger team on paper. Yaroslav was first to finish
with a draw by repetition in an equal position. This was followed by further draws by Richard and
Steve. The remaining three games went right to the wire, with all the players glad of the ten second
increments. Reg won his opponent's queen for rook and knight early in the game, but it took a long
time to finally convert this advantage. Tony and Nick both had material deficits, with Tony having to
accept defeat, but Nick seemed at one point to have created a fortress in a B + 2P vs R + 2P endgame.
However his opponent was eventually able to sacrifice the rook for the bishop, creating a winning
pawn ending.Reg Clucas vs Alan Hall (PGN viewer by http://chesstempo.com)
08/12/2015 - Altrincham A 4 East Cheshire B 2
A keenly contested match, with both teams having five of their top six players available. Nick was
first to finish, with a draw, but East Cheshire took first blood when Richard lost. Yaroslav then
levelled things up, then Bill put us ahead with a win with the Black pieces (when he should have had White!)
We were now in a strong position as both John and Reg were a pawn up. Reg was unable to convert and had to settle for a draw, but
John had no such problems to make the final score 4-2.Geoff Brindle vs Yaroslav Kolodiy (PGN viewer by http://chesstempo.com)
03/11/2015 - Altrincham A 2½ Macclesfield B 3½
The top two boards were fairly evenly matched in terms of grades. Yaroslav continued his
recent good form, winning with the Black pieces on board 1, whilst Reg drew on board 2.
However, Macclesfield enjoyed a significant grading advantage on the other boards, so
Richard and David both did well to draw.15/10/2015 - Holmes Chapel 5½ Altrincham ½ (Charnley Cup)
For the third time in four seasons we were drawn against Holmes Chapel from Division 1 in
the Charnley Cup. The task was made even harder as we were missing Nick and Richard,
though this was partially offset by the debut of our new member John Reyes. Only Yaroslav
on board 1 managed a draw. As they say in football, we can now concentrate on the League!
2014-15 Team captain's report
The 2014-15 season was in marked contrast to 2013-14. In 2013-14 we would have been promoted to the first division if our two 2½-3½ defeats against East Cheshire A had been 3½-2½ wins. But in 2014-15 we were just as close to being relegated to the third division, only saving ourselves by virtue of our two wins over Marple B.
The season started well enough with a drawn match away to Denton B. But this was followed by a run of six defeats, which included going out of both Cup competitions at the first hurdle, and a disappointing defeat against East Cheshire B when we had a much stronger team on paper. We stopped the rot with a win at Marple B, but another defeat to East Cheshire B meant that the second match against Marple B was a 'must win'. Fortunately we did! So we finished the season with five points, which was enough for fourth place, with Marple B bottom of the table, and East Cheshire B also below us on game points difference, despite the fact that they had beaten us twice.
The loss of form was partly due to several regular A team players performing below their grade. Two notable exceptions were Nick and Tony, who both recorded good grading performances, but unfortunately they didn't play in enough matches to make a significant difference to the season's results. The other factor was the necessity of rearranging fixtures due to the Navigation closure, meaning we had several fixtures close together which probably contributed to players being unavailable for some matches.
Thanks to everyone who played for the A team, both the regulars and those who stood in when we were short (and in this regard a special mention must be made of Steve Douglas and his vital win at Marple - if you haven't seen this game on our website then it is worth having a look). Hopefully we will meet with more success in 2015-16.
Reg Clucas 8th September 2015
The season started well enough with a drawn match away to Denton B. But this was followed by a run of six defeats, which included going out of both Cup competitions at the first hurdle, and a disappointing defeat against East Cheshire B when we had a much stronger team on paper. We stopped the rot with a win at Marple B, but another defeat to East Cheshire B meant that the second match against Marple B was a 'must win'. Fortunately we did! So we finished the season with five points, which was enough for fourth place, with Marple B bottom of the table, and East Cheshire B also below us on game points difference, despite the fact that they had beaten us twice.
The loss of form was partly due to several regular A team players performing below their grade. Two notable exceptions were Nick and Tony, who both recorded good grading performances, but unfortunately they didn't play in enough matches to make a significant difference to the season's results. The other factor was the necessity of rearranging fixtures due to the Navigation closure, meaning we had several fixtures close together which probably contributed to players being unavailable for some matches.
Thanks to everyone who played for the A team, both the regulars and those who stood in when we were short (and in this regard a special mention must be made of Steve Douglas and his vital win at Marple - if you haven't seen this game on our website then it is worth having a look). Hopefully we will meet with more success in 2015-16.
Reg Clucas 8th September 2015
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/10/2014 | League | Denton B | A | Draw | 3-3 |
| 06/10/2014 | President's Cup | Macclesfield | A | Lost | 2-3 |
| 21/10/2014 | League | East Cheshire B | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 04/11/2014 | Charnley Cup | Holmes Chapel | H | Lost | 1½-4½ |
| 09/12/2014 | League | Macclesfield A | H | Lost | 2-4 |
| 03/02/2015 | League | Stockport B | A | Lost | ½-5½ |
| 10/02/2015# | League | Stockport B | H | Lost | 2-4 |
| 12/02/2015 | League | Marple B | A | Won | 4-2 |
| 17/02/2015 | League | Denton B | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 18/03/2015 | League | East Cheshire B | A | Lost | 2-4 |
| 14/04/2015 | League | Marple B | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 20/04/2015 | League | Macclesfield A | A | Lost | 1½-4½ |
# Rearranged fixture
Full details of all matches and league tables can be found on the Stockport League website
20/04/2015 - Macclesfield A 4½ Altrincham A 1½
This result was as good as we could have hoped for given the grading difference between the two teams,
and the fact that Macclesfield have won every match this season. Nick, Karl and I had creditable
draws against strong opponents, though my satisfaction at my second draw this year with a 200+ graded
player was tempered when I later realised I had twice missed a win -
White: Reg Clucas Black: Robert Shaw
The final position is below, where a draw was agreed with both players having less than a minute left. But White, to play, can win by 46. Qe2 after which Black must give up a lot of material to avoid mate.14/04/2015 - Altrincham A 4½ Marple B 1½
Defeat in this match would have meant finishing bottom of the table and probable relegation, but this
result means we are safe in Division 2 for another season. Wins from Reg, Karl, Mark and Bill plus a
draw from Nick ensured we will finish above Marple, who now need to beat East Cheshire B by at least 5-1 in their
final match to avoid bottom place.
18/03/2015 - East Cheshire B 4 Altrincham A 2
We had several A team regulars unavailable for this important foot of the table clash, so were
heavily outgraded on the bottom three boards. The games on these boards finished before the top three -
Wayne was unable to recover from the loss of a piece in the opening, but draws from Steve Douglas
and Callum gave us an excellent chance of getting a result if the top three boards could deliver.
But although we had a slight grading advantage on the top boards, we only managed two further
draws. Nick suffered his first defeat of the season, possibly being a bit short of match practice.
Mark and Reg both had winning
chances - Mark won several pawns, but his opponent managed to steer the game into an unwinnable
opposite colour bishop ending. Reg had a dominating position throughout the game, which was
eventually rewarded with the win of the exchange, but with time running short in a very blocked
position it was not easy to make further progress, so with the match result already decided a draw
was agreed.
17/02/2015 - Altrincham A 2½ Denton B 3½
A closely fought match, with Denton just edging it. Once again the grades of the players involved were quite
evenly matched. Yaroslav and Reg drew on the top two boards. Reg had an endgame advantage but time shortage
influenced the decision to agree a draw. David Hughes also drew. The only winner was Callum, in his first A team
game this season, showing good technique in converting a bishop v knight ending with an extra pawn.
12/02/2015 - Marple B 2 Altrincham A 4
A much needed first win of the season. Steve Douglas made his first A team appearance of the season, and was
first to finish, with a nice king side attack culminating with his opponent's king surrounded by black pieces.
David then lost to level the scores, but Mark broke his duck this season with a well controlled win, closely
followed by Yaroslav to put us 3-1 up. Reg was defending a hopeless position after blundering his queen for two
bishops, so we needed a draw from Tony to be sure of winning the match. But Tony went one better, and won to make
the final score 4-2. The total grades of the two teams were just one point different, so this was a good result.
10/02/2015 - Altrincham A 2 Stockport B 4
We put up a much better performance than last week, but it was not quite enough to avoid defeat. All six games
were very close and hard fought, with Reg, Karl, Richard and Tom all eventually drawing their games.
03/02/2015 - Stockport B 5½ Altrincham A ½
A heavy defeat with only David Hughes managing a draw to prevent a whitewash. Yaroslav was delayed, and the 20
minutes' time loss proved crucial when he was unable to calculate what should have been an advantageous position.
Reg had a bad position, but a desperate piece sacrifice gave him chances which he was then unable to take advantage of.
Bill, Mark and Graham were all playing higher graded opponents and were unable to overcome the deficit.
09/12/2014 - Altrincham A 2 Macclesfield A 4
Wins by Nick and Reg were not enough to end Macclesfield's 100% record this season.
04/11/2014 - Altrincham 1½ Holmes Chapel 4½ (Charnley Cup)
A heavy defeat to a team from the division above, but we actually did better than
predicted by the difference in grades, with Reg, Bill and David all drawing. Thanks to
Wayne for stepping in at the last minute when Yaroslav was unable to make it.
21/10/2014 - Altrincham A 2½ East Cheshire B 3½
A disappointing result as we outgraded our opponents by almost 20 points per board on average.
Mark lost in the opening and Richard also suffered a quick defeat. Reg's game also was
over quickly, with a draw being agreed in a level position. Yaroslav had a good position,
and his opponent hastened his own demise by picking up the wrong bishop, and being
compelled to move it under the 'touch move' rule which led to a totally lost position,
bringing the score to 1½-2½. However Karl had a lost ending after
underestimating his opponent's attack and having to give up the exchange to avoid mate.
This meant that Nick's win due to a powerful queen & double rook battery was not
enough to save the match.
06/10/2014 - Macclesfield 3 Altrincham 2 (President's Cup)
We failed to defend the trophy which we won last season, though the match could have gone in our favour had
Reg and Yaroslav not lost after having winning positions. Karl and Nick both won their games.
01/10/2014 - Denton B 3 Altrincham A 3
A good result, since on paper Denton have a stronger squad than us, though the grades of the players in
this match were very evenly balanced. Yaroslav and Reg both drew, the latter after blundering a piece which
luckily his opponent failed to notice. Tony won, and the final game to finish saw a cool finish from David
Hughes to level the scores.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2013-14
16/04/2014 - East Cheshire 2 Altrincham 3 (Subsidiary Cup Final)
We took a 2-0 lead with wins by Nick and David Hughes. Mark then drew against the same opponent he drew with in last
week's League match, and Yaroslav lost to make the score 2½-1½. Reg was also playing the same opponent
as last week, and was twice in a position where his opponent missed an easy win, before the game ended in a perpetual
with both players' time down to 2 minutes. So a rather fortunate win - had Reg's game been lost we would have lost the
match under the tiebreak rule where the result of the bottom board is eliminated.
08/04/2014 - Altrincham 3 East Cheshire B 3
Our final League match of the season ended in a draw. We outgraded our opponents on average by about 15 points per board,
but they put up a stiff resistance to halve the match. An early defeat for Richard was cancelled out by a winning
kingside attack by David Hughes, and Reg's opponent resigned after losing a couple of queenside pawns to put us 2-1
up. Bill won a piece early on, but the extra bishop was entombed in the corner and was of little use, and Bill
finally succumbed in the endgame to a mating attack by his opponent's bishop, rook and passed pawn. Both Nick's and
Mark's games were hard fought but seemed to be level throughout, and both finally reached a peaceful conclusion to
leave the match tied.
02/04/2014 - Denton B ½ Altrincham 5½
For the second successive evening we dropped just half a point. Denton were under strength and in fact defaulted on
one board. Steve Douglas and Nick had quick wins. Tony, in his first Stockport League outing of the season, had to
battle a lot longer for the win, as did Reg, eventually overcoming his opponent's stubborn Philidor defence. David
Hughes also faced the Philidor and after misplaying the opening was on the verge of defeat until he spotted a
perpetual check to save a draw.
01/04/2014 - Altrincham 5½ Wilmslow ½
A comfortable win despite Karl, Mark, Nick and Bill all being unavailable. Wilmslow were only able to field four
players so the two defaults gave the score a one-sided look. Yaroslav neutralised his opponent's Colle system for a
draw on board one. Reg recovered from a dubious opening to catch his opponent's king in a mating net. Richard and
David Johnson are both undefeated in the Stockport League this season, and both won to continue this sequence.
24/03/2014 - Marple C 3 Altrincham 3
A good result against one of the top teams in the division, though it could have been even better. Reg had a
dominating position for much of the game and eventually gained a material advantage of queen and bishop vs two rooks,
but it wasn't easy to convert and a draw was agreed. Karl probably overpressed in an equal looking bishop ending,
and lost after declining a draw offer. Mark won quickly, and Nick had a solid draw. Bill seemed to have a good
position and missed several winning chances and a draw by repetition, then lost a piece and the game, his first Stockport League defeat of the season. David generously agreed
to play his game at a faster time limit in order to not keep his young opponent out too late - a brave decision as
youngsters tend to be much better at fast time controls - but David was able to win regardless, so the match was tied.
18/03/2014 - Altrincham 2½ East Cheshire A 3½
Both teams were pretty much at full strength, and this was a very closely contested match. Wins from Mark and Bill,
plus a draw from Yaroslav put us 2½-1½ up after Nick lost. Karl seemed to have an endgame advantage, but
missed the winning line and subsequently lost. This left the match result dependent on Reg's game, which seemed
pretty level, but with both players down to their last few seconds it was Reg's flag which fell first.
26/02/2014 - East Cheshire A 3½ Altrincham 2½
Prior to this match we had an outside chance of winning the League by winning all our remaining matches, but that would
have been a tall order against the likes of East Cheshire and Marple C. It didn't help that we were only able to raise
five players for this match. Yaroslav had a space advantage for much of his game, but was unable to break through and
eventually reached a queen and knight ending with all the pawns on the same side with no winning prospects for either
player. Reg's opponent blundered a pawn in the opening, but obtained some decent play for it, and with time running out
Reg returned the pawn in order to simplify into a drawn ending. Karl gradually increased his advantage, and declined
several draw offers to score the full point. Mark was suffering from a virus, and lost for the first time in the Stockport
League this season. David emulated Yaroslav and Reg by gaining a creditable draw against a higher rated opponent. So
honours were even in the five games played, but unfortunately the board 6 default cost us the match.
18/02/2014 - Altrincham 4½ Marple ½ (Subsidiary Cup)
This competition is for players eligible to play for teams below the first division. Only seven clubs
entered, and we were the lucky one who received a bye to the semi final. We won convincingly, although
Marple did not send their strongest team. Karl, Mark, Nick and Richard all won, with Reg drawing. We
will meet either East Cheshire or Wilmslow in the final.
04/02/2014 - Stockport B 2 Altrincham 4
Revenge for our heavy home defeat back in November. We were outgraded on average by about 10 points per
board, so this was an excellent result. For the first time this season in the League, none of the
individual games ended in draws, with wins coming from Yaroslav, Reg, Mark and Nick.
20/01/2014 - Wilmslow 1½ Altrincham 3½
Yaroslav had to drop out at the last minute due to work commitments, but Wilmslow also had a late
withdrawal, so the match was played on five boards with a double default on board 6. Karl was
suffering from a cold, so moved down the order to board 3 where he quickly won. Reg and Mark made
fairly short draws on the top two boards, whilst David Hughes battled a lot longer before agreeing a
draw on board 5. The most interesting game was Bill's, where he emerged from some complex tactics with
an extra piece and an easily won ending.
08/01/2014 - East Cheshire B ½ Altrincham 5½
This match very nearly didn't take place, as the team captain had forgotten to put the fixture in his
diary! We still managed to win convincingly, despite not being at full strength - our opponents were also
missing some of their stronger players. 24 hours after making his
debut for the Limit League team, David Johnson made his first team debut and had a good win with the
black pieces on board 6. With Karl, Mark, Bill and David Hughes all winning, it was left to Reg to spare
the opponents' blushes with a draw on board 1.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2012-13 Team captain's report
This season the Altrincham A team played in Division 2 of the Stockport League for the third successive season. The season started with two defeats against East Cheshire A and Wilmslow. Our first success was a drawn away match against East Cheshire B. We lost the next match away against Denton B but then bounced back with a 5-1 win away at Macclesfield B. This was followed by two defeats against Stockport B and Denton B, but the next match was a close 3.5-2.5 away win at East Cheshire A. The next three matches were very close: we lost 3.5-2.5 at home to Wilmslow, won against Macclesfield B 3.5-2.5 and then drew against Marple B away. The match against Marple B had an exciting finish. Yaroslav Kolodiy lost on board 1 against the talented young Michael Fernandez (graded over 200 ECF) and boards 2-5 were all drawn. Bill McCartney was a piece down on board 6 and it looked like we would narrowly lose the match, but Bill had two advanced pawns that he used to great effect eventually forcing a win and ensuring the match was drawn. Our next two matches were home defeats against Marple B and Stockport B but we finished the season with an emphatic 5.5-0.5 home win over East Cheshire B. We finished 6/8 teams in Division 2 so we should remain in Division 2 next season.
In the Charnley Cup we had a bye in round one and then won comfortably away at Urmston in Round 2. This gave us a semi-final match away at Holmes Chapel, a Division 1 team. We lost the match 4.5-1.5 but the final score does not reflect how close the games were. In the second tier cup we lost to Wilmslow in the first round.
I'd like to thank all those who played in the team this year, sometimes at short notice, and several members for help with transport to away matches.
David Hughes
September 2013
2011-12 Team captain's report
2010-11 Team captain's report
20/04/2015 - Macclesfield A 4½ Altrincham A 1½
This result was as good as we could have hoped for given the grading difference between the two teams,
and the fact that Macclesfield have won every match this season. Nick, Karl and I had creditable
draws against strong opponents, though my satisfaction at my second draw this year with a 200+ graded
player was tempered when I later realised I had twice missed a win -White: Reg Clucas Black: Robert Shaw
The final position is below, where a draw was agreed with both players having less than a minute left. But White, to play, can win by 46. Qe2 after which Black must give up a lot of material to avoid mate.
14/04/2015 - Altrincham A 4½ Marple B 1½
Defeat in this match would have meant finishing bottom of the table and probable relegation, but this
result means we are safe in Division 2 for another season. Wins from Reg, Karl, Mark and Bill plus a
draw from Nick ensured we will finish above Marple, who now need to beat East Cheshire B by at least 5-1 in their
final match to avoid bottom place.
18/03/2015 - East Cheshire B 4 Altrincham A 2
We had several A team regulars unavailable for this important foot of the table clash, so were
heavily outgraded on the bottom three boards. The games on these boards finished before the top three -
Wayne was unable to recover from the loss of a piece in the opening, but draws from Steve Douglas
and Callum gave us an excellent chance of getting a result if the top three boards could deliver.
But although we had a slight grading advantage on the top boards, we only managed two further
draws. Nick suffered his first defeat of the season, possibly being a bit short of match practice.
Mark and Reg both had winning
chances - Mark won several pawns, but his opponent managed to steer the game into an unwinnable
opposite colour bishop ending. Reg had a dominating position throughout the game, which was
eventually rewarded with the win of the exchange, but with time running short in a very blocked
position it was not easy to make further progress, so with the match result already decided a draw
was agreed.
17/02/2015 - Altrincham A 2½ Denton B 3½
A closely fought match, with Denton just edging it. Once again the grades of the players involved were quite
evenly matched. Yaroslav and Reg drew on the top two boards. Reg had an endgame advantage but time shortage
influenced the decision to agree a draw. David Hughes also drew. The only winner was Callum, in his first A team
game this season, showing good technique in converting a bishop v knight ending with an extra pawn.
12/02/2015 - Marple B 2 Altrincham A 4
A much needed first win of the season. Steve Douglas made his first A team appearance of the season, and was
first to finish, with a nice king side attack culminating with his opponent's king surrounded by black pieces.
David then lost to level the scores, but Mark broke his duck this season with a well controlled win, closely
followed by Yaroslav to put us 3-1 up. Reg was defending a hopeless position after blundering his queen for two
bishops, so we needed a draw from Tony to be sure of winning the match. But Tony went one better, and won to make
the final score 4-2. The total grades of the two teams were just one point different, so this was a good result.
Play chess online
10/02/2015 - Altrincham A 2 Stockport B 4
We put up a much better performance than last week, but it was not quite enough to avoid defeat. All six games
were very close and hard fought, with Reg, Karl, Richard and Tom all eventually drawing their games.
03/02/2015 - Stockport B 5½ Altrincham A ½
A heavy defeat with only David Hughes managing a draw to prevent a whitewash. Yaroslav was delayed, and the 20
minutes' time loss proved crucial when he was unable to calculate what should have been an advantageous position.
Reg had a bad position, but a desperate piece sacrifice gave him chances which he was then unable to take advantage of.
Bill, Mark and Graham were all playing higher graded opponents and were unable to overcome the deficit.
09/12/2014 - Altrincham A 2 Macclesfield A 4
Wins by Nick and Reg were not enough to end Macclesfield's 100% record this season.
04/11/2014 - Altrincham 1½ Holmes Chapel 4½ (Charnley Cup)
A heavy defeat to a team from the division above, but we actually did better than
predicted by the difference in grades, with Reg, Bill and David all drawing. Thanks to
Wayne for stepping in at the last minute when Yaroslav was unable to make it.
21/10/2014 - Altrincham A 2½ East Cheshire B 3½
A disappointing result as we outgraded our opponents by almost 20 points per board on average.
Mark lost in the opening and Richard also suffered a quick defeat. Reg's game also was
over quickly, with a draw being agreed in a level position. Yaroslav had a good position,
and his opponent hastened his own demise by picking up the wrong bishop, and being
compelled to move it under the 'touch move' rule which led to a totally lost position,
bringing the score to 1½-2½. However Karl had a lost ending after
underestimating his opponent's attack and having to give up the exchange to avoid mate.
This meant that Nick's win due to a powerful queen & double rook battery was not
enough to save the match.
06/10/2014 - Macclesfield 3 Altrincham 2 (President's Cup)
We failed to defend the trophy which we won last season, though the match could have gone in our favour had
Reg and Yaroslav not lost after having winning positions. Karl and Nick both won their games.
01/10/2014 - Denton B 3 Altrincham A 3
A good result, since on paper Denton have a stronger squad than us, though the grades of the players in
this match were very evenly balanced. Yaroslav and Reg both drew, the latter after blundering a piece which
luckily his opponent failed to notice. Tony won, and the final game to finish saw a cool finish from David
Hughes to level the scores.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2013-14
| Date | Competition | Opponents | H/A | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29/10/2013 | League | Denton B | H | Won | 4½-1½ |
| 05/11/2013 | League | Marple C | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 19/11/2013 | League | Stockport B | H | Lost | 1½-4½ |
| 04/12/2013 | Charnley Cup | East Cheshire | A | Lost | 1-5 |
| 08/01/2014 | League | East Cheshire B | A | Won | 5½-½ |
| 20/01/2014 | League | Wilmslow | A | Won | 3½-1½ |
| 04/02/2014 | League | Stockport B | A | Won | 4-2 |
| 18/02/2014 | Subsidiary Cup | Marple | H | Won | 4½-½ |
| 26/02/2014 | League | East Cheshire A | A | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 18/03/2014 | League | East Cheshire A | H | Lost | 2½-3½ |
| 24/03/2014 | League | Marple C | A | Draw | 3-3 |
| 01/04/2014 | League | Wilmslow | H | Won | 5½-½ |
| 02/04/2014 | League | Denton B | A | Won | 5½-½ |
| 08/04/2014 | League | East Cheshire B | H | Draw | 3-3 |
| 16/04/2014 | Subsidiary Cup FINAL | East Cheshire | A | Won | 3-2 |
16/04/2014 - East Cheshire 2 Altrincham 3 (Subsidiary Cup Final)
We took a 2-0 lead with wins by Nick and David Hughes. Mark then drew against the same opponent he drew with in last
week's League match, and Yaroslav lost to make the score 2½-1½. Reg was also playing the same opponent
as last week, and was twice in a position where his opponent missed an easy win, before the game ended in a perpetual
with both players' time down to 2 minutes. So a rather fortunate win - had Reg's game been lost we would have lost the
match under the tiebreak rule where the result of the bottom board is eliminated.
08/04/2014 - Altrincham 3 East Cheshire B 3
Our final League match of the season ended in a draw. We outgraded our opponents on average by about 15 points per board,
but they put up a stiff resistance to halve the match. An early defeat for Richard was cancelled out by a winning
kingside attack by David Hughes, and Reg's opponent resigned after losing a couple of queenside pawns to put us 2-1
up. Bill won a piece early on, but the extra bishop was entombed in the corner and was of little use, and Bill
finally succumbed in the endgame to a mating attack by his opponent's bishop, rook and passed pawn. Both Nick's and
Mark's games were hard fought but seemed to be level throughout, and both finally reached a peaceful conclusion to
leave the match tied.
02/04/2014 - Denton B ½ Altrincham 5½
For the second successive evening we dropped just half a point. Denton were under strength and in fact defaulted on
one board. Steve Douglas and Nick had quick wins. Tony, in his first Stockport League outing of the season, had to
battle a lot longer for the win, as did Reg, eventually overcoming his opponent's stubborn Philidor defence. David
Hughes also faced the Philidor and after misplaying the opening was on the verge of defeat until he spotted a
perpetual check to save a draw.
01/04/2014 - Altrincham 5½ Wilmslow ½
A comfortable win despite Karl, Mark, Nick and Bill all being unavailable. Wilmslow were only able to field four
players so the two defaults gave the score a one-sided look. Yaroslav neutralised his opponent's Colle system for a
draw on board one. Reg recovered from a dubious opening to catch his opponent's king in a mating net. Richard and
David Johnson are both undefeated in the Stockport League this season, and both won to continue this sequence.
24/03/2014 - Marple C 3 Altrincham 3
A good result against one of the top teams in the division, though it could have been even better. Reg had a
dominating position for much of the game and eventually gained a material advantage of queen and bishop vs two rooks,
but it wasn't easy to convert and a draw was agreed. Karl probably overpressed in an equal looking bishop ending,
and lost after declining a draw offer. Mark won quickly, and Nick had a solid draw. Bill seemed to have a good
position and missed several winning chances and a draw by repetition, then lost a piece and the game, his first Stockport League defeat of the season. David generously agreed
to play his game at a faster time limit in order to not keep his young opponent out too late - a brave decision as
youngsters tend to be much better at fast time controls - but David was able to win regardless, so the match was tied.
18/03/2014 - Altrincham 2½ East Cheshire A 3½
Both teams were pretty much at full strength, and this was a very closely contested match. Wins from Mark and Bill,
plus a draw from Yaroslav put us 2½-1½ up after Nick lost. Karl seemed to have an endgame advantage, but
missed the winning line and subsequently lost. This left the match result dependent on Reg's game, which seemed
pretty level, but with both players down to their last few seconds it was Reg's flag which fell first.
26/02/2014 - East Cheshire A 3½ Altrincham 2½
Prior to this match we had an outside chance of winning the League by winning all our remaining matches, but that would
have been a tall order against the likes of East Cheshire and Marple C. It didn't help that we were only able to raise
five players for this match. Yaroslav had a space advantage for much of his game, but was unable to break through and
eventually reached a queen and knight ending with all the pawns on the same side with no winning prospects for either
player. Reg's opponent blundered a pawn in the opening, but obtained some decent play for it, and with time running out
Reg returned the pawn in order to simplify into a drawn ending. Karl gradually increased his advantage, and declined
several draw offers to score the full point. Mark was suffering from a virus, and lost for the first time in the Stockport
League this season. David emulated Yaroslav and Reg by gaining a creditable draw against a higher rated opponent. So
honours were even in the five games played, but unfortunately the board 6 default cost us the match.
18/02/2014 - Altrincham 4½ Marple ½ (Subsidiary Cup)
This competition is for players eligible to play for teams below the first division. Only seven clubs
entered, and we were the lucky one who received a bye to the semi final. We won convincingly, although
Marple did not send their strongest team. Karl, Mark, Nick and Richard all won, with Reg drawing. We
will meet either East Cheshire or Wilmslow in the final.
04/02/2014 - Stockport B 2 Altrincham 4
Revenge for our heavy home defeat back in November. We were outgraded on average by about 10 points per
board, so this was an excellent result. For the first time this season in the League, none of the
individual games ended in draws, with wins coming from Yaroslav, Reg, Mark and Nick.
20/01/2014 - Wilmslow 1½ Altrincham 3½
Yaroslav had to drop out at the last minute due to work commitments, but Wilmslow also had a late
withdrawal, so the match was played on five boards with a double default on board 6. Karl was
suffering from a cold, so moved down the order to board 3 where he quickly won. Reg and Mark made
fairly short draws on the top two boards, whilst David Hughes battled a lot longer before agreeing a
draw on board 5. The most interesting game was Bill's, where he emerged from some complex tactics with
an extra piece and an easily won ending.
08/01/2014 - East Cheshire B ½ Altrincham 5½
This match very nearly didn't take place, as the team captain had forgotten to put the fixture in his
diary! We still managed to win convincingly, despite not being at full strength - our opponents were also
missing some of their stronger players. 24 hours after making his
debut for the Limit League team, David Johnson made his first team debut and had a good win with the
black pieces on board 6. With Karl, Mark, Bill and David Hughes all winning, it was left to Reg to spare
the opponents' blushes with a draw on board 1.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2012-13 Team captain's report
This season the Altrincham A team played in Division 2 of the Stockport League for the third successive season. The season started with two defeats against East Cheshire A and Wilmslow. Our first success was a drawn away match against East Cheshire B. We lost the next match away against Denton B but then bounced back with a 5-1 win away at Macclesfield B. This was followed by two defeats against Stockport B and Denton B, but the next match was a close 3.5-2.5 away win at East Cheshire A. The next three matches were very close: we lost 3.5-2.5 at home to Wilmslow, won against Macclesfield B 3.5-2.5 and then drew against Marple B away. The match against Marple B had an exciting finish. Yaroslav Kolodiy lost on board 1 against the talented young Michael Fernandez (graded over 200 ECF) and boards 2-5 were all drawn. Bill McCartney was a piece down on board 6 and it looked like we would narrowly lose the match, but Bill had two advanced pawns that he used to great effect eventually forcing a win and ensuring the match was drawn. Our next two matches were home defeats against Marple B and Stockport B but we finished the season with an emphatic 5.5-0.5 home win over East Cheshire B. We finished 6/8 teams in Division 2 so we should remain in Division 2 next season. In the Charnley Cup we had a bye in round one and then won comfortably away at Urmston in Round 2. This gave us a semi-final match away at Holmes Chapel, a Division 1 team. We lost the match 4.5-1.5 but the final score does not reflect how close the games were. In the second tier cup we lost to Wilmslow in the first round.
I'd like to thank all those who played in the team this year, sometimes at short notice, and several members for help with transport to away matches.
David Hughes
September 2013
2011-12 Team captain's report
This season the Altrincham ‘A’ team played in Division 2 of the Stockport League for the second successive season. The season started with a home match against Wilmslow in the Charnley Cup. The match score was 3-3 but Wilmslow progressed to the next round on the tiebreak rule. Out first league match was away at Stockport C, which we lost 4.5-1.5, with Tony Lane scoring our only win and Steve Ward securing a draw. The next match was a loss at home by 0.5-5.5 to a very strong Macclesfield A team, with Richard White preventing a whitewash with a draw on board 4. Our first win was at home against Chorlton by 3.5-2.5, helped by defaults on two boards by Chorlton, followed by a second win by 3.5-2.5 points at home against Denton B. The next match was a narrow loss by 2.5-3.5 at home to East Cheshire A with Tom Tomkins winning his game, and Yaroslav Kolodiy, David Hughes and Reg Clucas securing draws in their games. The next two matches were against the two strongest teams in the Division, Macclesfield A and Chorlton. In the match against Macclesfield A team we lost by 4.5-1.5, an improvement on the earlier defeat. In the match against Chorlton we suffered a narrow defeat by 3.5-2.5, with Karl Lockett and Bill McCartney both winning their games against much higher rated opponents. Our final win of the season was at home against Stockport C by 4-2, with Yaroslav Kolodiy, Karl Lockett, and Reg Clucas all winning their games, and Richard White and David Hughes drawing theirs. The last two matches of the season were away narrow defeats at Denton B by 4-2 and at East Cheshire A by 3.5-2.5. We ended the season in last place in the division on 6 points from 10 matches, just one point behind both Denton B and Stockport C on 7 points. This illustrates how competitive the division was this season. Next season it is likely we will be relegated to Division 3.
This season 13 members played for the ‘A’ team: Pete Arland, Reg Clucas, David Hughes, Yarolsav Kolodiy, Tony Lane, Karl Lockett, Nick Lowe, Bill McCartney, Callum McNulty, David Merrifield, Tom Tomkins, Steve Ward, and Richard White. I thank everyone who played this season, sometimes at short notice, and those players who were able to help with transport to away matches.
David Hughes
September 2012
This season 13 members played for the ‘A’ team: Pete Arland, Reg Clucas, David Hughes, Yarolsav Kolodiy, Tony Lane, Karl Lockett, Nick Lowe, Bill McCartney, Callum McNulty, David Merrifield, Tom Tomkins, Steve Ward, and Richard White. I thank everyone who played this season, sometimes at short notice, and those players who were able to help with transport to away matches.
David Hughes
September 2012
2010-11 Team captain's report
This season we had a single team in Division 2 of the Stockport League after gaining promotion from Division 3 in 2009-10. My aim for the season was to secure our place in Division 2. We started the season with two loses, 4-2 away against Stockport C and 6-0 away at East Cheshire. Our first points came with a 4.5-1.5 win at home to Wilmslow A, followed by a draw at home to Denton B. The next match was a 6-0 defeat away to Macclesfield A. At the end of 2010 we had 3 points from a possible 10 and were close to the bottom of the division. In the Charnley Cup we lost to a strong Marple team in round one.
The second half of the season in 2011 was more successful for the team. We started with a loss by 3.5-2.5 in a closely fought match against East Cheshire B but followed this with consecutive away wins against Wilmslow A by 3.5-2.5 and Bramhall by 5-1. The next two matches were losses against East Cheshire A by 3.5-2.5 and Macclesfield A by 4-2. At this stage of the season we had 7 points from a possible 20. However, we won our last four matches of the season, at home against Bramhall 4.5-1.5, away against East Cheshire B 4.5-1.5, against Denton B 4.5-1.5 and at home against Stockport C 4-2. We finished the season with 15 points out of 28, in fifth place in the league. Our overall performance in the league was 7 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses.
In total 13 members played for the team this season. The players were Reg Clucas, David Hughes, Yarolsav Kolodiy, Kurt Linke, Karl Lockett, Nick Lowe, Bill McCartney, Chris McCoy, Callum McNulty, David Merrifield, Tom Tomkins, Stephen Ward, and Richard White. Yaroslav Kolodiy and Reg Clucas were new players for the team this season. There were several outstanding performances during the season with players performing above their ECF grade. Yaroslav Kolodiy had an outstanding first season and scored 7/10 with a performance grade of 175. Karl Lockett continued his fine form with 7.5/9 and a performance grade of 175. David Merrifield scored 4.5/7 with a performance grade of 148. David Hughes scored 8.5/14 with a performance grade of 139. Tom Tomkins scored 3/6 with a performance grade of 134. Kurt Linke scored 5/9 with a performance grade of 130. I thank everyone who played this season, sometimes at short notice, and those players who were able to help with transport to away matches.
As we finished in 12th place overall in the Stockport League (including Division 1) it is likely that we will remain in Division 2, even if the number of teams per division is reduced to 6. With the inclusion of Yaroslav and Reg, the team next season should be stronger than at the start of this season and I am confident that the team can compete successfully in Division 2.
David Hughes
Stockport League Team Captain 2010-11
The second half of the season in 2011 was more successful for the team. We started with a loss by 3.5-2.5 in a closely fought match against East Cheshire B but followed this with consecutive away wins against Wilmslow A by 3.5-2.5 and Bramhall by 5-1. The next two matches were losses against East Cheshire A by 3.5-2.5 and Macclesfield A by 4-2. At this stage of the season we had 7 points from a possible 20. However, we won our last four matches of the season, at home against Bramhall 4.5-1.5, away against East Cheshire B 4.5-1.5, against Denton B 4.5-1.5 and at home against Stockport C 4-2. We finished the season with 15 points out of 28, in fifth place in the league. Our overall performance in the league was 7 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses.
In total 13 members played for the team this season. The players were Reg Clucas, David Hughes, Yarolsav Kolodiy, Kurt Linke, Karl Lockett, Nick Lowe, Bill McCartney, Chris McCoy, Callum McNulty, David Merrifield, Tom Tomkins, Stephen Ward, and Richard White. Yaroslav Kolodiy and Reg Clucas were new players for the team this season. There were several outstanding performances during the season with players performing above their ECF grade. Yaroslav Kolodiy had an outstanding first season and scored 7/10 with a performance grade of 175. Karl Lockett continued his fine form with 7.5/9 and a performance grade of 175. David Merrifield scored 4.5/7 with a performance grade of 148. David Hughes scored 8.5/14 with a performance grade of 139. Tom Tomkins scored 3/6 with a performance grade of 134. Kurt Linke scored 5/9 with a performance grade of 130. I thank everyone who played this season, sometimes at short notice, and those players who were able to help with transport to away matches.
As we finished in 12th place overall in the Stockport League (including Division 1) it is likely that we will remain in Division 2, even if the number of teams per division is reduced to 6. With the inclusion of Yaroslav and Reg, the team next season should be stronger than at the start of this season and I am confident that the team can compete successfully in Division 2.
David Hughes
Stockport League Team Captain 2010-11