Worcestershire Chess Association: Team KO Cup 2013-4

KO Cup

Shirley & Wythall win 2014-5 KO Cup

The Final

The winning Shirley & Wythall team

Shirley & Wythall - Worcester				Final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	152 130 112 109 99 602	Gordon Christie Frank Jimenez Kim Gilbert Roger Ball Barry Knee handicap	0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - ¾	David L Roberts Ray Collett John Hesketh Roger Yates Colin Vernon .	156 149 92 88 84 569
	Shirley & Wythall won		3 - 2¾	Played 21 Apr
Match reported by Ray Collett. As is usual in this competition, the final was played at Greenlands Social Club. Shirley had a slightly higher graded team and conceded ¾ point on handicap meaning that Worcester had the advantage of the draw and Shirley would need to win 3-2 over-the-board. Board 5 finished first with a draw, but then the Worcester team suffered a loss when their board 4 player realised too late after he had picked up his piece that he was playing a losing move. At this stage, Worcester looked better on the top two boards and worse on board 3. The Collett-Jimenez game featured slow manoevres behind blocked central pawns, but Collett broke through on the a-file and gained a pawn just as his opponent looked as if he would break through with a king-side attack. Collett had a deficit of 30 minutes on the clock and could see no way to defend his extra pawn and offered a draw, which was accepted. Roberts won to equalised the teams' scores, but by then Gilbert was a piece ahead and made sure of his win. Laurence Wheatley complimented both teams on the quality of the games and presented the winners and runners-up with their trophies.

Draw and schedule

Match	Quarter final fixtures	QF match dates	Quarter Final winners	SF match dates	Semi-final winners	Date for final
QF1	Greenlands (H) - Kidderminster (A)	5 Nov	Kidderminster	4 Feb	Shirley & Wythall	21 April Shirley & Wythall won 3-2¾
QF2	Shirley & Wythall (H) - Hagley (A)	Def	Shirley & Wythall	4 Feb	Shirley & Wythall
QF3	Malvern (H) - Worcester (A)	14 Nov	Worcester	23 Feb	Worcester
QF4	Redditch (A) - Droitwich (H)	17 Nov	Droitwich	23 Feb	Worcester

21 Apr. Shirley & Wythall triumphed at their second appearance at a final for the Wheatley Cup.
23 Feb. Worcester beat Droitwich decisively to win their place in the final.
4 Feb Shirley & Wythall by the skin of their teeth got through to the final for the second time in two years.
Dec. Hagley defaulted their match against Shirley & Wythall
14 Nov. Worcester go through on handicap against Malvern
5 Nov. Kidderminster through to next round. Greenlands annihilated Greenlands 5 - 0.
9 Oct. The draw for the 2014-5 Knock out cup has been made. See above.
8 Oct. Eight entries were received: Droitwich, Greenlands, Hagley, Kidderminster, Malvern, Redditch, Shirley & Wythall, and Worcester
5 Sep. Invitations sent out to clubs.

Match details

Greenlands - Kidderminster				Quarter Final 1
Board	Grades	Home team	Score	Away team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 sum	134 131e 117 95 64 541*	Ian Truscott David Pugh Richard Collett Peter Hughes John Lloyd Handicap*	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 4¾*- 0	Craig Evans John Wrench Maurice Bissell Joe Watson John Gittus -	172 165 157 151 137 782*
	Kidderminster win		4¾ - 5	Played 5 Nov
*The match was played in somewhat irregular circumstances, neither team formally meeting the requirements of the competition rules. Kidderminster fielded a team above the maximum permitted number of grading points - which is 750 - and Greenlands playing an ungraded player not registered for play. The controllers ruled that Kidderminster could ask the match be played strictly according to the rules. Greenlands, however, stated they had been comprehensively beaten in a sporting arrangement agreed by both teams and did not wish Kidderminster to have to play again.

Worcester - Malvern*
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	149 128 92 88 84 541	Ray Collett Rob Sutton John Hesketh Roger Yates Colin Vernon Handicap	½ - ½ ½ - ½ 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 2¼ - 0	Leigh Canham John Knee Matthew Jordan Tony Shaw Barry Stone -	157 149 144 131 76 657
	Worcester win		4¾ - 2½	Played 14 Nov
* Although officially Worcester's home match, the teams agreed to play at Malvern. Match report by Ray Collett. Worcester were under-dogs, well-outgraded on four of the boards. On board 5 Worcester's Colin Vernon made good progress in the middlegame and gained material, and after an hour's play the rest of the games looked reasonably even. Board 2 was first to finish a few minutes before 10pm. Shortly after, Matthew Jordan, overcame John Hesketh, in an ending after a game that was mostly balanced throughout. Roger Yates and Tony Shaw then agreed a draw leaving the match outcome uncertain and depending top and bottom boards. Worcester was ahead on board 5 and Malvern ahead on board 1. With only a few minutes of the playing session left Vernon won for Worcester and the match on handicap. Ray Collett was fighting a reargaurd action in a double rook and pawn ending three pawns down, but Leigh Canham ran short of time and overlooked a stalemate motif allowing his opponent to salvage an undeserved draw.

Redditch - Droitwich
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	130 119 107 106 75 537	Andrew Wiggins David Smith Giles Stanton Kevin Day Harry Sargent Handicap	0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 0	Arnold Kirkland WW (Bill) Watson Terry Radford Tom Parkes David Cleak -	126 130 99 98 89e 542
	Droitwich won		2½ - 3½	Played 18 Nov
Match reported by Giles Stanton. Redditch, last year's winners are out! Except board 3, all the openings were queenside and Arnold Kirkland won with a King's Indian Defence. David Smith made an uncharacteristic blunder giving Bill Watson a piece. Giles Stanto had a promising game with control of an open d-file and central knight. Terry Radford defended well by liquidating the knight making it impossible for Giles Stanton to convert. Kevin Day won a piece early with a queen forking check. David Cleak had a long game winning in a king and pawn ending.

Kidderminster - Shirley & Wythall				Semi-final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	153 148 141 125 126 693	Joe Watson John Varilone John Chester Mark Riley Clive Billinge handicap	0 - 1 1 - 0 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 0	Matt Long Johnathan Dale Jon Asbury Frank Jiminez Kim Gilbert .	175 159 129 123 110 696
	Shirley & Wythall won on toss of a coin		2½ - 2½	Played 4 Feb
Match reported by John Wrench. A very close result from two evenly matched teams that had to be decided by toss of a coin. In the last nail-biting game to finish there was a bishop aganist knight and rook pawn. The poosition was drawn with best play, but the bishop was not put on the correct diagonal in time to stop the knight blocking the possibility of a piece sacrifice for the pawn. An edged win by Shirley & Wythall!

Droitwich - Worcester				Semi-final
Board	Grades	Home team		Away Team	Grades
1 2 3 4 5 Sum	124 123 101 90 90 538	Arnold Kirkland WW (Bill) Watson Terry Radford David Cleak John Hargreaves handicap	0 - 1 0 - 1 0 - 1 ½ - ½ 0 - 1 0 - 0	David L Roberts Alaric Stephen Colin Vernon Roger Yates Max Deering .	145 122 96 90 85e 542
	Worcester won		½ - 4½	Played 23 Feb
Match reported by Ray Collett. On paper both teams were of similar strength, but the result was very much different. Worcester's junior player, Max Deering, scored an early win when he forced his knights into the opponent's position. Shortly after Worcester went another point up with a quick win on board 3. Vernon won the exchange with a discovered check and followed it up forking king and queen with his knight. David Cleak and Roger Yates had a long struggle and Cleak forced a minor piece ending where he had an outside passed pawn, but simplification to an ending with bishops on opposite coloured squares secured a draw for Yates. There were also long games on boards 1 and 2. At one stage David L Roberts looked to be in trouble, Arnold Kirkland having manoevured a knight onto d3, but ofter exchanges of all the pieces, Roberts was left with a won king and pawn ending. On board 2, a closed Sicilian Defence led to a blocked position, but Alaric Stephen had more space and patiently played to dominate the only open file eventually winning a pawn, but his opponent blundered as the time control loomed.