Altrincham & Hale Chess Club

Date	Competition	Opponents	H/A	Result	Score
06/10/2025	League Div 3	Marple	H	Won	3-2
13/10/2025	League Div 3	Glossop	A	Won	3½-1½
03/11/2025	President's Cup*	Wilmslow	H	Won	3-1
10/11/2025	League Div 3	Macclesfield B	H	Won	3½-1½
25/11/2025	League Div 3	Stockport B	A	Draw	2½-2½
20/01/2026	President's Cup*	Stockport	A	Won	2-2**
16/02/2026	League Div 3	Macclesfield B	A	Won	4-1
09/03/2026	President's Cup*	Glossop	H
16/03/2026	League Div 3	Glossop	H
30/03/2026	League Div 3	Stockport B	H
30/04/2026	League Div 3	Marple	A

* Not strictly a B team match, as the President's Cup is for players rated 1600 and below
** Won by lower board elimination

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

16/02/2026 - Macclesfield B 1 Altrincham B 4

Another win, taking the team back to the top of the Division 3 table. Simon Calvert had a quick win on board 1. David Ashby was playing his first match for 6 years, and celebrated the event with a win - the game and his comments are below. Tony Lane and Taarush Goel also won, and James Lawrence missed the chance of a whitewash when, after winning a piece, he allowed his Queen to be trapped.

[Event "Stockport League Division 3 - Stockport B v Altrincham B"] [Site "?"] [Date "2026.02.16"] [Round "?"] [White "David Ashby"] [Black "David Waterson"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D50"] [EventDate "2026.02.16"] { This was my return to league chess and I was playing someone who was playing their first competitive game of league chess. Neither of us castled and we both moved our Kings towards the middle in the middle game. Does that make the game a double bong cloud? My opponent played aggressively, pushing g5, and sacrificing a Knight for two central pawns, and extra scope for his Queen. However his Queen was on her own trying to attack in the centre and I was able to force a trade. After that I possibly should have played more defensively, but instead, I went on the attack, and it seemed to work, winning my first game for Altrincham since making my comeback to the team. } 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e3 h6 6.Bh4 Nc6 7.a3 Be7 8.Nf3 g5 9.Bg3 Bd6 10.c5 Bxg3 11.hxg3 Ne4 12.Nd2 Nxd2 13.Kxd2 a6 14.Qh5 Qf6 15.Qf3 Qg7 16.Bd3 Bd7 17.b4 f5 18.Qh5+ Ke7 19.b5 Nxd4 20.exd4 Qxd4 21.Qe2 e5 22.Qe3? Qxe3+? ( 22...Qxc3+! ) 23.fxe3 Be6 24.bxa6 bxa6 25.Rab1 e4 26.Bc2 h5 27.Rb7 Kd8 28.Rhb1 h4 29.Ba4 Kc8 30.Bc6 Bd7 31.Bxd5 hxg3 32.c6 Rh2 33.cxd7+ Kxd7 34.Rg1 Rah8 35.Ne2 Rh1 36.Rxh1 Rxh1 37.Nxg3 Kd6 38.Nxh1 1-0

20/01/2026 - Stockport 2 Altrincham 2

Our U1601 team beat Stockport to reach the final of the President's Cup. Daniel Clucas on board 1 overcame his opponent's Philidor defence, trapping a wandering Knight when his opponent tried to complicate the game. On board 2 Taarush Goel faced the Danish gambit, and though not playing perfectly managed to hold on to the extra pawn, before showing his endgame skill to win. So with wins on the top two boards, we were already guaranteed to progress, since in the event of a tied match the lowest board is eliminated - which was just as well, since we did indeed lose both boards 3 & 4. Steve Burgess lost a piece early on, though battled gamely all the way until he was mated. John Brophy fought for most of the 3 hour session before his opponent was able to cash in on his extra pawn.

The final will be at home to either East Cheshire or Glossop

25/11/2025 - Stockport B 2½ Altrincham B 2½

The team kept its unbeaten record with a draw, despite being outrated on four of the five boards. John Roche won on board 1, John Brophy, Thomas Hague and Steve Burgess all drew, with Alan Tyson the only loser.

10/11/2025 - Altrincham B 3½ Macclesfield B 1½

Our B team maintained their 100% record. They got off to a bad start when Daniel Clucas blundered a Rook when in a better position, thus losing his unbeaten record for the year. Then James Lawrence misplayed a winning pawn ending and had to settle for a draw. Team captain Simon Calvert levelled the scores on board 1, defeating his opponent's over-optimistic plans. Tony Lane and Tom Tomkins both cashed in their advantages, though Tony was in his customary time trouble before wrapping things up.

13/10/2025 - Glossop 1½ Altrincham B 3½

Another win for our B team, visiting the very nice venue of Glossop Chess Club. Things did not start well, with a defeat for James Lawrence, after looking to have a decent position. Alan Tyson made it 1-1, out calculating his opponent in a tactical battle. Daniel Clucas lost a pawn in the middle game, but was able to blockade the position in a Bishop & pawn ending for a comfortable draw. Then Tony Lane eventually broke through with his Kingside attack, despite having very little time left. Once again Steve Burgess was last to finish, coming under heavy pressure on the Kingside which he combated with some diversionary tactics on the opposite side, eventually winning material and defusing his opponent's attack. But with both players down to playing on increments, Steve was once again relieved when his opponent threw in the towel, making the final score 3½-1½.

06/10/2025 - Altrincham B 3 Marple 2

Our newly formed B team opened their account with a 3-2 win over Marple. There was a quick draw for Vijay Kakarparthi on board 2, followed by a win by young Taarush Goel on board 4, and a draw for Daniel Clucas on board 3, holding a pawn down Rook & minor piece ending. On board 1 Simon Calvert faced the same strong opponent that he drew with in August's Summer League match, but on this occasion his opponent cleverly avoided perpetual checks to convert a Queen ending. So the match hinged on Steve Burgess's game on board 5. Both players were very short of time, which did not help Steve's cause as he kept forgetting to press his clock! - but his piece and pawn advantage eventually was enough to persuade his opponent to resign, despite Steve saying afterwards that he would have accepted a draw given the time shortage!