Worcester & District Chess League
Bennett Cup
Nigel Towers (Redditch), current title holder, with Bennett Cup and trophy
Introduction
There were fifteen entries for the 2013-4 competition. The competition was organised in four all-play-all groups in the preliminary stage, follwoed by a knockout stage
The Alderman Bennett Cup presented to league in 1950 to be awarded to the best individual player in the league. It therefore complements the team trophies presented to the winners of divisions 1 and 2. The first competition was held during the 1950-1 season. There was no competition in 1953 and the engravings on the trophy do not include 2004 or 2005. The year 1972 was the only year when the trophy was shared. Two players have won the trophy 6 times: E Alan Copeman (Worcester City) and Geoffrey Herbert (Malvern). Currently, the champion also receives a small permanent trophy. The 2012-3 holder of the cup was David Roberts (Worcester City), but he was knocked out by the winner Nigel Topwers (Redditch) in the quarter finals.
Results of preliminary stage
| Group A | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Grade | NT | JW | GC | TS | Total | Place |
| Nigel Towers | 169 | 1w | ½b | 1w | 2½ | 1st | |
| John Wrench | 166 | 0b | ½w | 1b | 1½ | ||
| Glenn Cox | 158 | ½w | ½b | 1w | 2 | 2nd | |
| Tony Shaw | 130 | 0b | 0w | 0b | 0 | ||
| Group B | |||||||
| Player | Grade | BT | JaF | RC | PS | Total | Place |
| Brian Turner | 185 | ½b | 1w | 1b | 2½ | 1st | |
| James Friar | 163 | ½w | ½b | 1w | 2 | 2nd | |
| Ray Collett | 142 | 0b | ½w | 1b | 1½ | ||
| Peter Seeley | 116 | 0w | 0b | 0w | 0 | ||
| Group C | |||||||
| Player | Grade | JiF | DR | AM | Total | Place | |
| Jim Friar (snr) | 168 | ½w | ½b | 1 | |||
| David L Roberts | 158 | ½b | ½w | 1 | 2nd | ||
| Andrew Moore | 152 | ½w | ½b | 1 | 1st* | ||
| Group D | |||||||
| Player | Grade | MB | LC | MJ | CV | Total | Place |
| Maurice Bissell | 167 | 0b | 1w | 1b† | 2 | 2nd | |
| Leigh Canham | 163 | 1w | ½b | 1w | 2½ | 1st | |
| Matthew Jordan | 152 | 0b | ½w | 1b† | 1½ | ||
| Colin Vernon | 70 | w | 0b | 0w† | 0 | ||
| * on tie-break, lowest graded goes through. † Vernon defaulted |
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Knockout Stages
Quarter-finals - first named player is white in the first game and it was a whitewash!
Nigel Towers 1 - 0 David Roberts
Brian Turner 1 - 0 Maurice Bissell
Glenn Cox 1 - 0 def Andrew Moore
James Friar (jr.) 1 - 0 Leigh Canham
Semi-finals - first named player is white in the first game.Please complete this round by 14 May.
Glenn Cox (Redditch) 0 - 1 Brian Turner (Malvern)
Nigel Towers (Redditch) 1 - 0 James Friar jnr (Kidderminster)
Final
Nigel Towers (Redditch) 1 - 0 Brian Turner (Malvern)
The final started with a Caro-Kann Defence leading to a tough ending where Nigel eventually prevailed.