2020-21 season News

Peter Kitson first in club online tourament

30 Aug 2021. Seven players competed. Peter Kitson won with 3 points from 4 games. Three players scored 1 point: Matthew Holmes, Rob Sutton and Colin Vernon. The competition was organised by Rob Sutton and played on lichess.org in the 2020-1 season.

Nick Harris 1937-2021

19 Aug 2021. The inaugural match of the 2021-2 season of Worcestershire League will be in memory of Nick on Thursday evening on 16 September at St Stephen's Church Hall featuring teams led by captains from City and Stourbridge, the two clubs Nick has played with in recent seasons.
17 Aug. The club re-opens at 7:30pm on 2nd September in the Allenby Hall of St Stephen's Church, Barbourne for an evening of social chess with a break to remember Nick, whose prowess at the board will be missed by club teams.
11 Jul. Nick Harris died suddenly from a massive heart attack at home. He was among the strongest players in the county and was the current club champion having won the last over-the-board competition in 2019. An obituary with an appreciation of Nick's chess prowess will be published on this website soon. Members will be able contribute to a collection for St Richard's Hospice in memory of Nick at club nights in September.

Colin Vernon wins tournaments

7 Aug 2021. Colin was seeded ninth in the British On-line under-1700 Chess Championships. This was a 75-player, 6-round event. Seeded ninth in the field, Colin went on to take first place without loss. He ended on 5½ points and a tournament performance of 1935. In the earlier and stronger under-2000 On-line Championship that finished 29 July, Colin was 5th with 4 points from 6 games.
3 May 2021. Seeded only 56th ine the field for the u1700 4NCL online tournament, Colin finished sole first on 6½ points in this seven round event . Full details.

West Midlands on-line league Spring 2021 season results

See WMA Spring season results. 6 May 2021. In the last Division 2 fixture of the season, Worcester 2 lost 2-5 to Kidderminster. New player Gavin Pollock was the only Worcester player with a plus score winning one game and drawing the second. This result placed Worcester 2 seventh above bottom-of-table Stourbridge in Division 2.
29 Apr. Worcester 2 lost heavily 1-7 to Solihull 2 with only David Cleak and Arnold being able to salvage a draw apiece.
22 Apr. In their last Division 1 match of the season, Worcester beat Hereford 6-2. Matt Holmes and Colin Vernon won both their games. This result gave the team its best result so far in the league being placed third behind league champions Longbridge 1 and runners-up Solihull. Worcester 2 lost narrowly 3½-4½ to Longbridge 2.
15 Apr. In Division 1, Worcester 1 beat Redditch 7-1 when Rob Sutton, Matt Holmes, and Colin won games in both legs of the fixture. Worcester 2 also won their match: 5½-2½ against Isle of Wight. New player Matt Gardner won both his games.
8 Apr. Worcester 1 went down to Longbridge 1 losing 3½-4½. Worcester 2 beat Stourbridge 4½-3½.
1 Apr. Worcester 1 beat Warwick University Alumni 4½-3½ coming from behind in the second leg of the match. Rob Sutton won both his games. Worcester 2, however, were thrashed 1-7 by South Birmingham. Only David Cleak and Robin Hayles were able to get draws.
25 Mar. In the first match of the new season Worcester1 lost 2-6 to Solihull with Joe Rastall winning both his games. In Division 1, Worcester 2 drew against Mutual Circle.

Free ECF membership for new women players

20 Feb. The English Chess Federation offers free membership for the first year for female players over the age of 18 who have not previously been members. The scheme is known as Queen's Gambit Scheme Supporter. Under the scheme you have access to ECF online members clubs and events on Chess.com and Lichess, together with free online rating of all ECF rated online events, plus access to the various benefits and discounts available at the ECF.

West Midlands on-line league Autumn 2020 season results

See WMA Autumn season results.11 Feb 2020. The last match concluded with Longbridge 1 beating Hereford. Worcester 1 finished fourth in the table on 8 points and the league champions are Redditch 1.
4 Feb 2021. In the return fixture against Redditch in Division 1, Worcester lost 1½-6½ with only Collett able to win a game. In Division 2, the team drew against Solihull 4-4 with Simon Berry winning both his games.
21 Jan. Worcester drew both legs of the fixture against Redditch in Division 1 of the West Midlands Area League with new member Joe Rastall securing a draw and a loss against a GM. In Division 2 against South Birmingham, Worcester 2 lost again. See full results.
20 Jan. In the club's online championship, Peter Kitson currently leads with 3/4 followed by Tony Shaw 1½/3, two players on one point from their first game - Sutton and Vernon - and Holmes with 1/3, Collett with1/4 with Mellor yet to join the fray.
17 Jan. Colin Vernon followed up his Caplin third place with a second place in the 4NCL under 1400 tournament played on lichess.
14 Jan. Both Worcester teams suffered defeat in the West Midlands Area League. In Division 1, The team was again a player short. The planned board 1 did not appear and the reserve was not able to log in before the match. The team lost 3½/5½ to Longbridge. In Division 2, Worcester 2 lost to South Birmingham 1½/6½, with only Simon Berry being winning a game.
7 Jan. In the first West Midlands on line rapidplay matches, Worcester 2, just lifted themselves off the bottom of the table, but Worcester 1 suffered a bad defeat from Solihull and remain in top position. Ray Collet in Div 1 and Robin Hayles in Div 2 won both their games.
30 Dec. Club player Colin Vernon was third in the ECF Caplin Online u1400 championship with 5½/7. He also played in the u1700 tournament and was placed 4th. You can see his full results on the chess-results server.
19 Dec. Going into the New Year, Worcester 1 lead in WMA Division 1 whereas Worcester 2 languish at the foot of WMA Division 2.
17 Dec. Worcester 1 beat Hereford with Rob Sutton winning both his games. In Division 2, Worcester 2 lost to Lichfield in spite of Ray Collett winning both games.
10 Dec. Worcester had a clear win against a depleted Longbridge team in Division 1, while Worcester 2 lost one match a drew against Kidderminster in Division 2.
3 Dec. In a tough match in Division 1, Worcester had to concede to the strong Solihull team and relinquish top of the table spot. Peter Kitson was the most successful team member. In Division 2, Worcester 2 won one match and lost the other to accrue 2 match points. Simon Berry was the only Worcester player not to lose a game.
26 Nov. Worcester 1 got an easy win when half of the Sutton Coldfield team did not 'sit down' for the match. Worcester 2 had an even struggle with Longbridge 2 with one of the pair of matches apiece.
19 Nov. About thirty minutes into the second round match, the chess.com server crashed and players were unable to continue their games. At the time of the crash it is believed that only one game had been completed - on board 2 a draw between Peter Kitson and Nigel Towers. It seems likely that league organisers will re-schedule all stopped matches for a date after the last matches in the published fixture list.
12 Nov 2020. Worcester 1 beat new team Hereford 2½-5½ in Division 1 whereas Worcester 2 lost by the same margin to Mutual Circle first team in spite of new member Matt Gardner winning both his games on board 1.

Worcester player only one to win against Greater Manchester

31 Oct 2020. Matthew Holmes was the only county player to win his game in the MCCU online county team championship. Worcestershire lost 2½-12½. Club members Ray Collett, Tony Shaw and Robin Hyles played, but they all lost.

City club's first online Blitz winner is Stephen Mellor

22 Oct 2020. With six players ready to play, it was disappointing that chess.com wouldn't allow the five round all-play-all format that we wanted, defaulting to just three rounds instead. Some connectivity difficulties with the participants also curtailed our plans. However, well-done Stephen for winning his three games and taking the 1st place medal.

Worcester players go down in county defeat

10 Oct. Worcester City provided three players for Worcestershire’s u1825 match online against Greater Manchester: Tony Shaw, Robin Hayles, and Matthew Holmes. The team lost heavily and Matthew was the only player to escape with a draw.

Worcester teams spared last positions in WMA Summer 2020 seeason

8 Oct 2020. Worcester 2 redeemed itself from the heavy defeat last week withan aggregate win against Greenlands 2, lifting them out of the bottom position. Worcester 2 finished 9th just ahead of Solihull 2, a repeat of the Spring League standings. Worcester 1 were also spared the bottom place, but in Division 1, because the teams sharing the lower order drew. Special mention for Simon, scoring 8½ points from his 14 games.
1 Oct. Another poor night in the West Midlands Area League for Worcester’s teams. The first team lost to South Birmingham first team and must sit out the final round of the league to see whether other teams’ results mean relegation. Worcester’s chances are a little better because last week’s match netted one match point for a draw on the second half of the fixture. Worcester 2 were all but wiped out by Coventry with only David Cleak able to get a draw in the second half of the fixture.
24 Sep. A poor night for Worcester. Both teams took only a single match point from their matches. The first team lost to Solihull in a three-board fixture. The second team also drew the first and lost the second half of the fixture. Worcester 1 are mid-table and Worcester 2 languish at the foot of Division 2.
17 Sep. A good win for the first team against Redditch. Stephen Mellor and Peter Kitson each scored 2 points. Worcester 2 played Kidderminster winning the first match, but losing the second.
15 Sep. Worcester 2 lost 2-6 to the new Lichfield team who now lead Division 2.
10 Sep. Both City teams lost heavily. In Division 1 the first team lost to Greenlands led by GM Keith Arkell. In Division 2, Sutton Coldfield nearly annhilated Worcester 2 with only Simon Berry and Colin Vernon able to get draws in one of their two games.
3 Sep. It was a rest evening for the first team. Worcester 2 faced a strong Stourbridge team and lost both matches. On board 2 Ray Collett was the only Worcester player to finish with a plus score.
27 Aug. In Division 2, Worcester 2 drew the first match and then went on the win the second against Mutual Circle. In Division 1, Worcester 1 took on the strong South Birmingham first team. The first match was a draw, but the second was lost.

WMA league surprise for Worcester 2

20 Aug. Worcester players had all “sat down” for their match against new comers Lichfield. We watched the time count down to zero for the start of the match... and nothing happened ...for about 30 seconds and suddenly up pops a message from chess.com stating the match had been cancelled. Captains are trying to find out what happened and it seems likely that the match will be re-scheduled. In Division 1, Worcester faced the strong Sutton Coldfield team. Worcester's number 1 player Peter Kitson was able to play for the first time online and won both his games.
13 Aug. Worcester 1 played newly promoted Warwick University Alumni winning the first match and drawing the second in Division 1. Meanwhile Worcester 2 drew the first match, but lost the second against John Wrench’s strong Isle of Wight team. Both fixtures were played in the opening round of the West Midlands Area League Summer season. Stephen Mellor won both his games on board 2 for the first team and David Cleak both his games on board 3 for the second team.

West Midlands Area Online League Summer Season 2020

8 Aug. Worcester entered two teamsmanaged by Rob Sutton and were supported by players from Droitwich CC. The season starts 13 August.

Over the board chess still suspended

1 Aug 2020. Infections have gone down, but people cannot gather indoors to play chess.