Our last match of the season, which took place at the club yesterday evening, could not have been closer with the result going down to the last game. After 5 games of the match had been completed the score stood at 2.5 points each with a win by Captain Mark Shelmerdine on board 3 and draws from Ian Johnson, Mike Wilford and Dave Pallagrass on boards 4,5 and 6 respectively. The excitement mounted in anticipation of the outcome of the top board encounter in which Antonio Aguirre of Huddersfield Bishops once again showed his endgame prowess and eventually won the game and thus the match and of course the Littlewood Shield for his team. The match details are shown below.

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Although we did not win any silverware this season, I hope you will join me in congratulating the team on coming so near, and providing us with an interesting and enjoyable season in the HDCA Evening League and all the best for the future.

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Our second match in the Littlewood Shield section of the Watkinson Trophy took place yesterday evening at the club. Our opponents were David Browns who are now based in Honley.

Although this is not a handicap match we started with 2 points. This was due to the fact that our opponents turned up two players short. The Captain was grateful that our opponents had taken the courtesy of previously informing him of the situation.

Apart from the defaults on the bottom two boards, the the remaining boards were evenly balanced - we were outgraded on the top two and outgraded our opponents on boards 3 and 4. We could then, on paper at least, expect to win by 2 points. However, as can be seen from the match details shown below, we did not only win on boards 3 and 4 but also on board two. Our top board also had a fine result drawing with a much higher graded player.

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Yesterday evening’s  team players are shown above.

This fine team performance keeps us in with a chance of lifting the Littlewood Shield for the first time. Of course, the last match always seems to be the hardest, but if we carry  this form into our final match we will make it difficult for our opponents.

Our ultimate match then, in this Littlewood Shield section, is scheduled to take place at the club on Monday the 29th of March against the Huddersfield Bishops

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Our first match in the Littlewood Shield section of the Watkinson League would have been a lot closer if our opponents hadn’t defaulted on board 4. No one lost a game and both Alan Holloway and David Pallagrass chalked up the full point to add our point gift on board 4 to make the victory seem comfortable enough with a match score of 4.5 points to 1.5 points.

The match details are given below. If we can take this form into our last two matches in which we have the home advantage, we could have a good chance of getting our name onto the Littlewood Shield for the first time.

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Our game winners, Alan and David are shown above.

Other club members in action in the evening league include Peter Shaw, who drew with David Firth on top board for Netherton 1 away against Huddersfield Knights, Barry Marshall, who drew with Leo Keely on top board for West Bretton at home to Holme Valley, Barry Brian who won on board 4 against Peter Douglas and Harris Vaughan who won against Graham Hughes on board 6 both for West Bretton in the same match.

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On Wednesday evening (17th of February), the postponed match from the 6th of January againstHuddersfield Bishops, took place. A victory for us in this match could, depending on results elsewhere, put us into the finals of the Watkinson Trophy Champioship section for the first  time.

Both teams were roughly of similar grades and on this basis the result should have been close. Indeed, this was the case with the match being drawn 3 points apiece. The match details are shown below.

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In the event, even if we had won the match, the results in the other matches, meant that we still would not have made the top 4 teams and thus, neither the finals. On a positive note, we are well placed to win the Watkinson Finals Littlewood Shield section and it was good to see that Team Captain, Mark Shelmerdine gained yet another game victory in what has so far been a successful season.

Elsewhere, on the same evening, various club members were also in action for other teams.

Peter Shaw gained a top board victory against Andrew Drabble for Netherton 1 in their match against Holme Valley, whilst Bien Cuaresma, Chris Tinker and Dave Toulson gained victories forWest Bretton in their match against David Browns. On top board in the same match Barry Marshall drew with David Gray.

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On Wednesday evening, members of the Club, who play for other teams in the evening league were in action. Peter Shaw gained a victory over the resurgent David Brown’s top board David Gray. Both Barry Marshall and Chris Tinker gained fine draws against Holme Valley’s board 1 Roger Keely, and board 2 Geoff Peake, respectively in West Bretton’s 4 - 2 victory. Also gaining a draw in this match was Club Treasurer Barry Brian against Peter Douglas.

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Our first evening league match of the year took place at the Club on Monday evening. The opposition were the current holders of the Watkinson Trophy, the mighty Huddersfield Knights. Thanks to a victory on board 6 by Mike Wilford and three heroic draws against much higher graded players by Alan Holloway, Captain Mark Shelmerdine and Ian Johnson the match result was very close. This was a good team performance even though we lost by the score of 2.5 to 3.5 points.

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In our match against West Bretton on the 9th of December, only two players were not  members ofWakefield Chess Club, the West Bretton Captain Roger Tuddenham and Granville Boot. This of course meant that the match would be hard fought. In the end West Bretton’s strength and experience on the top boards proved to be too much for us on this occasion. Ian Johnson and Mike Wilford gained fine draws against Roger Tuddenham and Harris Vaughan but the highlight of the match which also bodes well for the future was Amol Vani’s victory against the wiley ( i speak from experience!) and experienced Barry Brian. The match details are shown below.

 

9th of December 2009  West Bretton v Wakefield 1. B. Marshall 1 0  A. Holloway 2. C. R. Tinker 1 0  M. Shelmerdine 3. G. Boot 1 0  D. Hepworth 4. R. Tuddenham 0.5 0.5  I. Johnson 5. B. Brian 0 1  Amol Vani 6. H. Vaughan 0.5 0.5  Mike Wilford Result 4 2 Â

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The match played at home this Monday the 16th of November against Netherton 1 was the equivalent of a local soccer derby. Although we were outgraded on the top four boards and only equally graded on the bottom two boards, the passion involved in a hard fought derby match proved positive for  Wakefield on this occasion with victories for Mark Shelmerdine, Dean Hepworth and Ian Johnson resulting in a drawn match in which there were no game draws.

This is a fine team achievement against a team who has won the  Watkinson Trophy on numerous occasions in the not too distant past.

The winners are shown below

 

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Our third match in the  Watkinson this season took place at  Honley Liberal Club, the home venue of  David Browns. We had a good team, which played well on the first 5 boards, scoring 2.5 each, but defaulted on the bottom board, which gave the last point along with victory to our opponents.

 

4th of November 2009  David Browns v Wakefield 1. D. Gray 1 0  A. Holloway 2. J. Hill 0.5 0.5  M. Shelmerdine 3. K. Stanczyk 0 1  I. Johnson 4. G. Martin 1 0  Amol Vani 5.R. Caulfield 0 1  Mike Wilford 6. A. N. Other 1 0  Default Result 3.5 2.5 Â

Other results for club members this week included wins for Barry Marshall, Dave Toulson and Barry Brian along with draws for Bienvenido Cuaresma playing for West Bretton against theHuddersfield Bishops and a draw on top board for Peter Shaw playing for Netherton 1 with veteran Tony Pogson playing for the Huddersfield Knights

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Wakefield played  Holme Valley  at the Club on Monday evening. This must be a bad day of the week for Holme Valley as some of their top players did not turn out and the bottom board was defaulted by them. With  Wakefield still being outgraded on the top three boards, however, a close match was still on the cards.

Wins for  Wakefield on boards 4 and 5 by Mike Wilford and Jim Whittaker, respectively plus the defaulted bottom board meant that Wakefield needed one half point from one of the top three boards to win the match. In the end it was top board for Wakefield, Craig Thompson who managed this with a fine result by drawing with Holme Valley top board Roger Keely. The match details are shown below.

 

 

Wakefield members who also gained good results this week playing for other teams in the Evening League were Barry Marshall who won on Top board for West Bretton against Tony Pogson of the Huddersfield Knights, Chris Tinker and Barry Brian who gained draws against Chris Booth and Richard Boylan respectively, also for West Bretton in the same match.

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The result of our first match of the season at the Club on Monday evening ended in a draw against Netherton 2. This was a good result as our Captain was not available to play on this occasion. As you can see from the match details shown below, Wakefield Junior member Amol Vani made a very useful victorious debut for the Watkinson Evening League team against, wiley, experienced  Netherton member John Eagers and looks an exciting prospect for the future.

 

Acting Captain Alan Holloway also scored a notable victory over Paul Jackson.

Along with a draw from Ian against Bill Lumley on board 3 and a fine top board performance from Craig Thompson holding his own against higher graded Ron Atkinson our points total came to 3 and the match was drawn

 

The photos below show the two winning team members: Alan on the left and Amol on the right

 

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The HDCA website has all this week’s results on it apart from  Wakefield v Netherton 2 which states the result has not been received. I have heard a rumour that the match was drawn but nothing official. I will endeavour to publish details as soon as I learn them.

Meanwhile Club members were in action in the  HDCA Watkinson League in other teams.

Peter Shaw won for  Netherton 1 on top board in the match against West Bretton, whilst Bienvenido Cuaresma won on board 2 for West Bretton in the same match! against the highly rated James Lawson. Barry Brian also won for  West Bretton in the same match on board 6. A victory by ex-member Granville Boot on board 3 for West Bretton over Netherton 1 Captain Nick Edwards also helped  West Bretton emerge from this local derby as victors.

Also Huddersfield Knights and Holme Valley won their respective matches. It seems important in view of our next match for, Wakefield to note the form of James Grist of Holme Valley who not only won on board 3 for Holme Valley this week but also drew with Nick Edwards in the Examiner last week