Last updated 26 June 2018

Worcestershire chess news 2017-8

More recent news see home page.

More recent items at the top of this page.

12 May. Worcestershire lose to Devon. In the Minor Counties national quarter final played at Banwell near Weston-super-Mare Somerset, Worcestershire lost 6½-9½. Kevin Hurney (Greenlands), Peter Kitson (Worcester), John Wrench (Kidderminster) and Ben Fuller (Worcester) won their games. John's win culminated in a splendid queen sacrifice for a winning king-side attack.
3 May, Laurence Wheatley reports. Shirley & Wythall win KO Cup for second time. In a hard fought match Shirley overcame a small handicap winning over-the-board 3½-1½ and 3.0-1.8 on handicap.
23 Apr. Halesowen A League Champions. Halesowen A have completed their fixtures in Division 1 of the League winning their last adjourned game to draw their final fixture against Worcester. They completed the season without losing a match and eased off only in the last two matches when they conceded draws to Olton and Worcester City.
20 Apr. Andrew McCumiskey reports. Two Worcestershire teams gain promotion to Division 1 in the Wolverhampton & District League. Stourbridge are Division 2 champions three points ahead of runners-up Kidderminster A are runners-up. Both are promoted.

20 Apr. Team KO final agreed for 3 May. The finalists Redditch and Shirley & Wythall, have agreed to play at Wythall on Thursday 3 May.

16 Apr, Dan Lambourne reports. Redditch gain promotion to Div 1 in the Birmingham League.
11 Apr, Dan Lambourne reports. Stourbridge win the Terrill Cup in the Birmingham League
8 Apr, Dan Lambourne reports. Redditch win Intermediate Plate National Club title. Redditch tied on 5 points with Telford, but lost out on the tie-break for the Intermediate Championship.

7 Apr Alex Holowczak reports, Worcestershire Junior champion wins Warks Junior tournament. Talented 10-year-old Warwickshire youngster Manvith Sandhu from Hallfield School, Birmingham was first on 4½ points in the A tournament for players graded over 75. Over fifty players took part.

29 Mar, Dave Scriven reports. Stourbridge have reached the finals of the Birmingham League Terrill trophy.
24 & 25 Mar. Two Worcestershire teams in the national stages. Worcestershire first team won against a higher graded Nottinghamshire side playing on Sunday at Olton. There was a parallel u140 match at the same venue, but Worcestershire came off worse while still qualifying for the national stages. The weekend had started inauspiciously with the u120 team losing heavily to Staffs at Norton Kanes.

13 Mar. Redditch are are finalists in the KO team tournament for the Wheatley Cup. Worcester play Shirley after Easter.

24 Feb. Worcestershire u120 crash against Derbyshire. Derbyshire coasted to a 10½-1½ victory with only Jeremy Humphries (Stourbridge), David Cleak and Arnold Kirkland (both Droitwich) managing to draw games.

18 Feb. Worcestershire players at Midlands Rapidplay. GM Keith Arkell (Halesowen) was 2nd on 7½ points. Don Curry, also Halesowen, was placed second in the under-2000 tournament, which Steve Crockett picked up a best performance prize in the under-1750 competition.
7 Feb, John Wrench reports. Worcs clubs in Wolverhampton League Div 2 latest. Stourbridge A lead Kidderminster A in the top two places of Division 2 and Halesowen B is in third place. Kidderminster A play Halesowen B later in the month and the winner will probably be on course for promotion to Div 1. Stourbridge B are mid-table and Kidderminster B is lower in the same division and hoping to stave off relegation.

3 Feb. Worcestershire u120 team defeated Nottinghamshire in a home match at Redditch. Seven Worcestershire players achieved wins.
24 Jan. Kidderminster beat Telford 7.25 - 3 in quarter final of the Pittaway Cup handicap team tournament of Wolverhampton & District League.

23 Jan. Redditch beat Droitwich in the KO team tournament.
20 Jan. Worcs beat Leics in the Midland counties' team championship.


6 Jan. Worcs u120 team lose to Lincolnshire. In a tight match, Worcs were pipped by 5½-6½.

5 Jan. Kidderminster beat Malvern in the team KO competition for the Wheatley Cup. The fixture was postponed from December because of snow.
5 Jan. GM Keith Arkell at the Hastings International Masters Congress. Keith scored 6 points and shared 6th prize with six others.

27 Dec. John Wrench receives award for services to Worcestershire Chess. At a presentation ceremony held a Kidderminster Club HQ, county secretary Ray Collett presented John with the Jim Friar award for 'services to Worcestershire chess'. John is secretary for Kidderminster Club, captain of the county first team, was a promoter of the Bewdley St Annes' community club and is a volunteer tutor for Chess in Schools and Communities. Jim's family donated the award to the association after Jim's untimely death and it is fitting that John should be the first recipient because like Jim he is a stalwart of Kidderminster and encourages juniors to take up the game. See also report in the Kidderminster Shuttle

 John Wrench, (right) receives the Jim Friar award from Secretary Ray Collett

17 Dec. Worcestershire lose to Warwickshire. In a double county fixture at Olton Chess Club in Tyseley, the first team, missing several senior players, lost 6-10 and the under-120 team lost 5½-6½. Geoff Marchant (Malvern) was the only winner in the senior match, but the team should take heart from young players' results with Joseph Friar (Kidderminster, board 4) and Finlay Bowcott-Terry (Halesowen, board 14) both drawing games against higher graded opponents. In the under-120 match, Peter Hodkinson (Mercia) Brian Allsop and Stan Grayland (both Greenlands) won their games.

6 Dec. Shirley & Wythall beat Greenlands in the Team KO handicap competition to earn their place in the semi-finals.

15 Oct. GM Keith Arkell (Halesowen) was second in the Birmingham & District Chess league Rapidplay with 5½ from 7 games. Other Halesowen players also scored well: John Edge 4½ (shared third prize), Dustin Bowcott and Finlay Bowcott-Terry 3½ in the Major, Manvith Sandhu and Don Curry 4 in the Minor and Tony Taylor and Silas Bowcott-Terry 3½ in the Minor.
30 Sep. Dr Brian Dudley (Stourbridge), former president of Worcestershire Chess Association and captain of the first team died aged 86 after a short illness. He was Worcestershire Individual Champion on four occasions, the first in 1961 and the most recent in 1972. Brian captained Worcestershire in the only post-war appearance of Worcestershire in the national county semi-finals against Sussex in the 1970s. The association's members extend condolences to his wife Sheila, daughter Fiona, son Michael, and grandchildren Annie and Finn. The funeral was held on Friday 20 October at Stourbridge. See also report in Stourbridge News.

29 Sep. Timman's Titans ECF book of the year. Portraits of world champions told partly through Timman's encounters with them.
21 Sep. Halesowen Club wins national award. The English Chess Federation selected Halesowen from six other nominated clubs as 2017 Chess Club of the Year. Read the club's submission from the link in the news column of their home page.

20 Sep. Worcester & District League Fixtures. At the annual meeting, Kidderminster Rooks were relegated to Division 2 and Stourbridge promoted to replace them. Stourbridge also entered a second team in Division 2. The first Division plays home and away while Division 2 teams play each other once. Most fixtures have now been arranged and are on the District website.

9 Sep. GM Keith Arkell wins again at Paignton. Keith shared first place.

22 Aug, Stewart Fishburne reports. Halesowen Simul. John Edge played nine members of Halesowen club in a simul and scored +6 =2 -1. The winning member was Peter Banks.

20 Aug. Kevin Hurney is 2017 County champion. Hurney scored 4½ points. Kevin is a member of Greenlands and South Birmingham clubs and regularly turns out for Worcestershire first team. Other prize winners were: Lee Davis (Malvern, 3½ points) Senior champion; Rob Bricknell (Redditch, 3 points) Minor champion; Philip Smith (Worcester, 2½ points) Veteran champion; Manvith Sandhu (Halesowen, 2½ points) Junior champion; and Ravi Sandhu (Halesowen, 1½ points) best ungraded player. Manvith is 9 years old and attends Hallfield School Edgbaston. He proved a very worthy winner of the junior title by beating or holding his own against established county team players.

Use Congress on the left menu for more details. See also report in Bromsgrove Advertiser.

 Kevin Hurney, right receives trophy from Andrew Farthing

13 Aug. GM Keith Arkell wins the MCCU@West Brom congress. Worcestershire and Halesowen GM Keith Arkell scored 4½ points from his five games. The decisive game was in round 4 when he beat Leicestershire's GM Mark Hebden. In the final round, a quick draw against FIDE master Peter Sowray secured first place. Other Worcestershire players in the Open were Malcolm Hunt (Halesowen) and Lee Davis (Malvern). Alan Ruffle played in the Major and three juniors who have won honours at Worcester - Arjun Pyda, Chandrahas Nalabotu, and Viswameda Nalabotu - scored well in the Minor tournament.

6 Aug, John Wrench reports. Bewdley 2017 Charity Chess Tournament. Joseph Friar retained the Mayor's Shield after another convincing performance with 5 wins and 1 draw. Twelve-year-old Finlay Boycott-Terry won the Jim Friar 'Highest Junior' Trophy scoring an amazing 5 out of 6 losing only to the winner. Runners-up were Dustin Boycott-Terry and James Friar with Dustin getting second place on tie-break. Rachael Moore on 3 points won the highest scoring woman's prize on tie-break from Catherine Nimmo. Jay Haycock won the highest ungraded player prize. The tournament was organised bu John Wrench and prizes sponsored by several local businesses. Prizes were presented by Bewdley Mayor, Councillor Anna Coleman and just under £300 was raised for St Anne's Church, Bewdley.

For older news, see 2016-7 season page.