MCCU OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
MINOR SECTION 2009-10
Shropshire County Team
Shropshire - Worcestershire - 5 December 2009
I'm pleased to report that Shropshire has ended a five match losing run dating back at least 18 months with a resounding 11.5-4.5 win over neighbours Worcestershire.
While we were favourites going into this match we certainly weren't expected to win by such a large margin. 10 of our 16 players won, with three draws and three defeats (only one with the black pieces). The final scoreline is testament to the battling qualities of certain individuals, with both Brian Whyte and John Footner grinding out wins in games lasting nearly five hours despite the match having long been decided.
Other notable performances included Nathanael Paul winning on what I believe was his debut for the county first team on bottom board. Nigel Ferrington maintained his perfect record on top board - his opponent Jeremy Fallowfield had played 11 and won 11 in all competitions this season but Nigel ended that record with a win of his own.
It was also great to see Jamie Hopkins back in action although he lost his game on board four - it looked very tight for much of it despite Jamie not having been anywhere near a chess piece for around eight or nine months.
It's tough to single individuals out for praise when the whole team performed so well - I'm delighted for everyone involved.
[As an aside, it was a relief for me personally to pick up my first team win as captain (after four defeats). It was also my first win over the board for Shropshire at any level (lots of draws for the old U125s and a few draws and defeats for the open team). This all against the county where I grew up and learned to play the game (I used to be a regular for Worcestershire's second team as a junior but never played for their first team) and still do turn out occasionally for kidderminster in the Wolverhampton League. So it was a very good day all round!]
We still don't know where we need to finish to secure a place in the national knockout stages but this will have done us no harm. Our final match is away to Lincolnshire (which will be played at a neutral venue) in March, and if we can get a strong team out hopefully we'll get the result we need.
Peter Kitchen -
Shropshire open team captain
Board |
Colour |
Shropshire |
ECF Code |
Grade |
Score |
Worcestershire |
ECF Code |
Grade |
Score |
1 |
B |
Nigel Ferrington |
110539F |
198 |
1 |
Jeremy Fallowfield |
242226J |
185 |
0 |
2 |
W |
Nick Rutter |
118369C |
200 |
½ |
Brian Turner |
120670K |
184 |
½ |
3 |
B |
Trevor Brotherton |
107391G |
190 |
1 |
Kevin Hurney |
129898H |
180 |
0 |
4 |
W |
Jamie Hopkins |
112969H |
184 |
0 |
Steve Mellor |
230883G |
174 |
1 |
5 |
B |
Dave Gostelow |
111451H |
170 |
½ |
John Edge |
110076C |
174 |
½ |
6 |
W |
Richard Bryant |
107574D |
178 |
1 |
Gary Jackson |
152157D |
173 |
0 |
7 |
B |
Brian Whyte |
145155J |
177 |
1 |
Peter Kitson |
127645B |
169 |
0 |
8 |
W |
David Everington |
110368E |
173 |
1 |
Eric Horwill |
113026C |
162 |
0 |
9 |
B |
Glyn Pugh |
117515E |
166 |
1 |
Alex Holowczak |
263651H |
158 |
0 |
10 |
W |
John Footner |
110730G |
165 |
1 |
Mike Hadley |
160573C |
158 |
0 |
11 |
B |
Colin Roberts |
118009F |
160 |
½ |
Nigel Towers |
165392B |
158 |
½ |
12 |
W |
Andy Tunks |
256377A |
152 |
0 |
Andrew Moore |
204597H |
152 |
1 |
13 |
B |
Peter Kitchen |
183527A |
160 |
1 |
Andrew Wiggins |
156972H |
149 |
0 |
14 |
W |
Geoff Lee |
266811H |
158 |
1 |
John Loynes |
185413G |
149 |
0 |
15 |
B |
Gareth Edwards |
242385G |
156 |
0 |
Arnold Kirkland |
128994K |
142 |
1 |
16 |
W |
Nathanael Paul |
245834C |
131 |
1 |
Jeremy Humphries |
266351L |
140 |
0 |
Reserve |
11½ |
4½ |
| Shropshire v Leicestershire 14/11/2009 Shropshire's first team started life back in the open minor section with a 9.5-6.5 home defeat against a Leicestershire side that reached the national open minor final last season. With the two teams extremely closely matched in terms of grading it was no surprise to see nine of the 16 games finishing as draws. But Leicestershire quickly opened up a three point lead, and despite excellent wins for county individual champion Nigel Ferrington on top board and debutant Vikas Sharma on board three we never really looked like clawing it back. Three defeats on the bottom four boards certainly didn't help our cause, although three of our five defeats were in extremely close and hard fought games. Unfortunately Trevor Brotherton, who would have been board three, had to withdraw on the day through illness, but in any case Leicestershire were worthy winners. I would like to thank everyone for their continued support - we got a pretty strong team out (including a wide cross section from across the county) and on the day were just beaten by a better side. Our next match is on December 5 (at home against my 'home' county Worcestershire), a match we need to win to maintain a chance of qualifying for the national knockout stages. Peter Kitchen - 14/11/2009 |
Shropshire v Leicestershire
Open Minor - 14 th November 2009 - -Venue - Shifnal Scout Hut
Board |
Colour |
SHROPSHIRE |
ECF Code |
Grade |
Score |
LEICESTERSHIRE (won toss) |
ECF Code |
Grade |
Score |
1 |
B |
Nigel Ferrington |
110539F |
198 |
1 |
Martin Burrows |
196 |
0 |
|
2 |
W |
Nick Rutter |
118369C |
200 |
0.5 |
Alan Byron |
191 |
0.5 |
|
3 |
B |
Vikas Sharma |
2024ELO |
1 |
John Denton |
187 |
0 |
||
4 |
W |
Richard Bryant |
1057574D |
178 |
0.5 |
Sean Sheahan |
181 |
0.5 |
|
5 |
B |
Brian Whyte |
145155J |
177 |
0.5 |
Ray Burgess |
178 |
0.5 |
|
6 |
W |
Ieuan Fenton |
240243K |
175 |
0 |
Paul Colburn |
170 |
1 |
|
7 |
B |
David Everington |
110368E |
173 |
0 |
John Robinson |
167 |
1 |
|
8 |
W |
Toby Neal |
129064C |
171 |
0.5 |
John Mitchell |
165 |
0.5 |
|
9 |
B |
Dave Gostelow |
111451H |
170 |
0.5 |
Peter Gibbs |
167 |
0.5 |
|
10 |
W |
Glyn Pugh |
117515E |
166 |
0.5 |
Sean Hewitt |
165 |
0.5 |
|
11 |
B |
John Footner |
110730G |
165 |
0.5 |
John Pattinson |
166 |
0.5 |
|
12 |
W |
Colin Roberts |
118009F |
160 |
0.5 |
Mike Salisbury |
163 |
0.5 |
|
13 |
B |
Peter Kitchen (c) |
183527A |
160 |
0 |
Jim Bingham |
160 |
1 |
|
14 |
W |
Geoff Lee |
266811H |
158 |
0 |
Dave Farrall |
159 |
1 |
|
15 |
B |
Iain Wilson |
126868F |
156 |
0 |
Graham Booley (c) |
157 |
1 |
|
16 |
W |
Andy Tunks |
256377A |
152 |
0.5 |
Paul Deacon |
152 |
0.5 |
|
6.5 |
9.5 |
Peter Kitchen has taken
over the captaincy of the Open Team this season. Would you please continue
to give him and the county your support.
Please let Peter know whether or not you want to
play. His e-mail address is pkitchen@shropshirestar.co.uk. his telephone numbers
are: 01743 467298 & 07713 636544
Windsor
The dates of the matches are: -
|
M.C.C.U. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 2008-2009 Minor Section |
|||
|
Venue |
Opponent |
Date |
Result |
|
Home v |
Warwickshire |
01-11-08 |
3.5 - 12.5 |
|
away v |
Greater Manchester |
24-01-09 |
- |
|
home v |
Staffordshire |
28-02-09 |
- |
Not the start I was hoping for as
captain of Shropshire, Warwickshire running out comfortable 12.5-3.5 winners at
Shifnal on Saturday, outgrading us by more than 40 points on many boards. Full
scoresheet below:-
Shropshire 3.5-12.5 Warwickshire
Shropshire won toss and chose black on odd boards
|
1. |
John Cox |
215 |
1 |
0 |
Nick Thomas |
210 |
|
2. |
Trevor Brotherton |
177 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Iain Galloway |
178 |
|
3. |
Nigel Ferrington |
173 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Andy Baruch |
179 |
|
4. |
Brian Whyte |
170 |
0 |
1 |
Mark Page |
178 |
|
5. |
John Footner |
168 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Phil Holt |
183 |
|
6. |
Richard Bryant |
159 |
0 |
1 |
Pablo Padilla |
172 |
|
7. |
Glyn Pugh |
159 |
0 |
1 |
Stewart Fishburne |
169 |
|
8. |
Colin Roberts |
150 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Dani Malik |
175 |
|
9. |
Iain Wilson |
134 |
0 |
1 |
Alan Lloyd |
172 |
|
10. |
Peter Kitchen |
129 |
0 |
1 |
Keith Escott |
168 |
|
11. |
John Bashall |
127 |
0 |
1 |
Kaiser Malik |
165 |
|
12. |
Ieuan Fenton |
125 |
0 |
1 |
Keith Ingram |
164 |
|
13. |
John Whittaker |
123 |
0 |
1 |
Martin Smyth |
161 |
|
14. |
Gareth Edwards |
122 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Bob Wildig |
165 |
|
15. |
Windsor Peck |
119 |
0 |
1 |
Tony Sadler |
147 |
|
16. |
John Westhead |
107 |
0 |
1 |
Joey Stewart |
149 |
|
|
|
|
3.5 |
12.5 |
|
|
I can't thank everyone enough for turning out. We were missing lots of players on
the top boards for all sorts of reasons, and we also lost Jamie Hopkins and
Andy Tunks to illness 24 hours before the match. Special mention to Gareth
Edwards who played despite a family bereavement and picked up a very creditable
draw, also to John Bashall and John Westhead for answering late call-ups to
make sure we fielded 16. It was also great to see John Cox in action for
Shropshire again, picking up our only win as it turned out.
Clearly it's going to be a tough season at this level, but everyone gave it a
good go on the day and if we keep doing that we will always have a chance. Our
next match is a daunting trip to Greater Manchester on January 24, and clearly
we will need a strong side out for that one.
Peter Kitchen
Roll of Honour
|
MCCU OPEN champions |
2006 |
|
Qualified for BCF Open Quarter Final as Runners up |
2005 |
|
MCCU Minor Counties Champions |
2007,1995, 1993, 1988. |
|
Qualified for BCF Minor Counties Quarter Finals as Runners Up |
1996,1992,1985,1984. |
|
Results 2006.7 |