Published 3 April 2014

KO Cup 2013-4 season

Draw and match results

1 Apr. Redditch win the Final. As is traditional in this tournament, the final was played at Greenlands Social Club and the teams welcomed by Laurence Wheatley. Shirley, first-time finalists turned out a strong side and conceded 3 handicap points to Redditch. The form book was not a lot of use with excellent wins for Andrew Wiggins, and Giles Stanton against more highly graded opponents. David Smith also achieved a very creditable draw so that over-the-board results were equal giving Redditch the Cup by three points.
7 Mar. Redditch beat Malvern to set up Redditch-Shirley final.
23 Feb. Hagley concede match against Shirley.
7 Feb. Kidderminster concede the match against Hagley.
28 Jan. Shirley narrowly beat cup-holders Worcester on handicap and make it to semi finals for first time.
17 Jan. Malvern decisively beat Greenlands and go through to semi-finals.
13 Jan. In the first fixture to complete, Redditch come out top in a match between two evenly graded teams to go through to semi finals.
11 Dec. Redditch substitute for Mutual Circle in KO Cup
7 Dec. The draw for the 2013-4 Knock out cup has been made.

Quarter final fixtures QF match
dates
Quarter Final
winners
SF match
dates
Semi-final
winners
Date for final
Worcester (A)* - Shirley & Wythall (H) 27 Jan Shirley & Wythall (H) default# Shirley 1 Mar
Kidderminster (H) - Hagley (A) default# Hagley (A)
Malvern (H) - Greenlands (A) 17 Jan Malvern (H) 7 Mar Redditch
Redditch* (A) - Droitwich (H) 13 Jan Redditch (A)
* Redditch and Worcester elected to play away in the quarter finals even though they were home teams in the competition draw.
# Kidderminster and Hagley conceded these matches.

Redditch - Droitwich Quarter final KO Cup
Board Grade Home team Result Away team Grade
1
2
3
4
5
sum
120
116
116
114
100
566
Ian Clack
Peter Seeley
Michele Clack
Giles Stanton
David Smith
Handicap
0 - 1
½ - ½
1 - 0
1 - 0
½ - ½
0 - ¼
Arnold Kirkland
WW (Bill) Watson
John Loynes
Terry Radford
David Cleak
-
126
126
116
96
86
550
  Result 3 - 2¼ Played 13 Jan
Match reported by Arnold Kirkland and Michele Clack

Malvern - Greenlands Quarter final KO Cup
Board Grade Home team Result Away team Grade
1
2
3
4
5
sum
156
152
143
130
(79)
581
John Knee
Matthew Jordan
Geoff Herbert
Tony Shaw
Barry Stone
Handicap
½ - ½
1 - 0
1 - 0
1 - 0
1 - 0
0 - 1½
Ian Ellis
Ian Truscott
Raichard Collett
Brian Allsop
default
-
137
130
115
109
-
491
  Result 4½ - 2 Played 17 Jan
Match reported by Richard Collett and Brian Turner. The final score flattered Malvern because the balance of the match was with Greenlands in the early stages on board 3. It was only later in the evening that three of the the games, which were all hard-fought, turned in Malvern's favour. Ian Ellis had an advantage throughout and was only kept at bay by tenacious defensive play from John Knee.

Worcester - Shirley & Wythall Quarter final KO Cup
Board Grade Home team Result Away team Grade
1
2
3
4
5
sum
158
142
116
114e
105
635
David L Roberts
Ray Collett
Rob Sutton
Rob Walkowiak
Roger Yates
Handicap
½ -½
1 - 0
0 - 1
0 - 1
1 - 0
0 - 0.08
Matthew Long
John Freeman
Frank Jimenez
Roger Ball
Dean Bash
-
169
148
139
113
62e
631
  Result 2½ - Played 27 Jan
Match reported by Ray Collett. The match was played at Wythall. With sudden turns of fortune, the match could hardly have been closer. Ray Collettt was first to strike when his opponent made a terrible move allowing a deadly mating attack in what should have been a defensible position a pawn down with bishops on opposite coloured squares. Board 1 finished amicably fifteeen minutes later. At this stage Worcester appeared to have slight pressure on boards 3 and 4 and were a piece down on board 5. A further half hour's play saw Worcester with a material advantage on board 4 and to have equalised on board 5. Towards the end of the match, Roger Ball took advantage of a massive blunder in a lost position. Worcester's board three was running into massive time trouble in an equal minor piece ending, but Roger Yates was a piece up and promoted a pawn to complete his win. Frank Jimenez, made sure of his win on board 3 and his opponent ran out of time in a hopeless position. So Wythall go through to the semi finals by 0.08!

Malvern - Redditch Semi-final KO Cup
Board Grade Home team Result Away team Grade
1
2
3
4
5
sum
156
152
143
130
79
660
John Knee
Matthew Jordan
Geoffrey Herbert
Tony Shaw
Barry Stone
Handicap
½ -½
1 - 0
½ -½
1 - 0
0 - 1
0 - 1¼
Andrew Wiggins
Ian Clack
Peter Seeley
Michelle Clack
Giles Stanton
-
132
120
116
116
114
598
  Result 3 - 3¼ Played 17 Mar
Match reported by Brian Turner.
Shirley & Wythall - Hagley Semi-final KO Cup
Hagley conceded this match
Shirley & Wythall - Redditch KO Cup Final
Board Grade Home team Result Away team Grade
1
2
3
4
5
sum
176
162
133
130
127
728
Philip Purcell
Jonathan Dale
Gordon Christie
Jon Asbury
Kim Gilbert
Handicap
0 - 1
1 - 0
1 - 0
0 - 1
½ - ½
3 - 0
Andrew Wiggins
Peter Seeley
Derek Abraham
Giles Stanton
David Smith
-
132
116
116
114
100
578
  Result 2½ - 5½ Played 1 Apr at Greenlands
Match reported by Giles Stanton and Gordon Christie. Andrew Wiggins played a Queen Pawn Opening with a Barry Attack. Giles Stanton played a Queens Indian Defence winning a pawn and gaining a strong passed b-pawn. David Smith played a Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation and exploit black's damaged pawn structure. There was a Polish Opening on board 3, which became quite cramped for black on the queen-side, but by playing aggressively Gordon Christie opened the king-side. His opponent lost a knight in the midst of some unsuccessful tactics, and resigned as black's amply-supported queen caught sight of his open king. Gordon Christie, Shirley & Wythall captain, writes: "Congratulations to a focused and determined Redditch team who played really well. In the end they could easily have won the match even without the handicap! Thank you to everyone for making the event possible, and the evening enjoyable."

15 Nov. Worcestershire Chess Association invites team entries for the 2013-4 Wheatley Memorial Cup. Teams are for five boards and the handicap rules mean that low graded teams have a realistic chance of winning. Team are of five boards. The rules have been revised and clarified. They take account of issues relating to tournament communications, sides of greatly different aggregate grades, close match results, unregistered players, and defaults. Laurence Wheatley and Maurice Bissell remain as controller and deputy controller and Ray Collett will be the tournament secretary. View details of the competition.
30 Aug. The Wheatley Cup handicap team competition was reviewed and the association's Executive Committee meeting. Contoller Lawrence Wheatley and Ray Collett have arranged to meet mid-September to consider how best to formulate the rules to cope with defaults and ungraded players. Most dates of fixtures were agreed and unconfirmed transcription of them are now published.