Mercia Chess Club |
||||||
|
||||||
Welcome Founded 5th May 1969, we are a friendly chess club serving the Sedgley and Dudley area of the West Midlands. We meet on Tuesday evenings throughout the year and welcome all players from beginners to masters.
News updated 11pm 28th January 2012
ECF January Grades are out! New half-year grades have been published here. Mercia grades have been updated here. Tony, Brandon and Chandler added but they have not yet played enough games to get a full grading. Mine seems to have gone down despite not actually playing so far this season!
BDCL Div Three 3.5-1.5 Greenlands Mercia go top of Division three with a convncing victory over travelling Greenlands. The 2 points gives them 10 points from 7 games only matches against bottom-half teams left.Derek has an adjourned game but good wins from Peter, Barry and Ken secured the result.Next up struggling SB away on Wed 1st.
BDCL Div Three Mercia 5.0-1.0 Solihull Mercia produced a superb display against a good Solihull side. Peter Thompson continued his good first season and Ken had a welcome win on board 5. Mercia defy the odds in the BDCL but cannot reproduce the same in the WDCL. Peter Thompson 1-0 G Stokes Derek Perks 1/2-1/2 J Summerfield Dave Jeffs 1-0 R Chillcott Barry Smith 1-0 M Lazell Ken Francis 1-0 M Nevin John Phillips 1/2-1/2 J Green
WDCL Div Two Mercia 2.5-3.5 Boldmere "A" Mercia lost a close first game of the new year and now must get some late season points to avoid relegation issues. Derek drew again, Dave Jeffs had a good win on board two but both Barry and the now tied Dave Webb lost.
Hastings 2011/12 Chinese victory Favourite GM Yue Wang won Hastings, see the details here.
Individual player stats for the WDCL results upto 28th Dec available here
Kramnik wins London Chess Classic 2011 The Ex-world champion produced some brilliant and also solid chess to win this years event. Unbeaten with 4-wins and 4-draws the Russian finally won the event where has came second in 2009. See here for full details.
BDCL Div Three Tam 4-2 Mercia We lost our first Birmingham match last night, with Ken rested it put pressure on the lower boards with Rod coming in as Sub. John, Rod and Dave all lost with Barry and Derek getting draws The good debut season for Peter continued with a good win on top board. Derek now has drawn all 8 matches this season!
BDCL Terrill update Mercia have drawn Kynoch 2 in the third round of the Terrill Trophy. The match will be played at home on 13th Dec. The Boldmere game on the 14th Dec might be re-arranged.
WDCL Div 2 fixture change Mercia 'A' vs Boldmere 'A' originally set for 3rd Jan is now 4th April.
BDCL Div Three SC 3-3 Mer Mercia dropped their first point of the new season after the final game was drawn tonight. This leaves the team with 5 points from 6 but the tough fixture ofTamworth away next week.
BDCL Terrill Trophy Round 1 SC 4-3½ Mer 'A' As expected, the rules committee agreed with Mercia and the result was overturned. Sutton Coldfield unfairly played out of board order and were duely punished. Mercia also got a bye in round 2 and look forward to a favourable third round tie later in the month.
WDCL Div Two Rsh 'B' 3-3 Mer 'A' A draw against Rushall 'B' was the best that the first team could manage. Derek was winning but fell into time trouble and drew yet another game this season. Barry won again and now promotion already looks a world away.
BDCL Div Three Olt 2½-Mer 3½ Mercia go top of the early season table with a narrow win over Olton. A loss on top board was countered with good wins from Dave Jeffs and Barry. Next up is a home match to the desputed cup team Sutton Coldfield! Match card here.
WDCL Div Two Mer 'A' 4-2 Bsh 'B' Mercia recorded a good win over Bushbury on Tuesday night. Wins from last year's second team players Barry Smith and Dave Webb now playing on boards 3 and 6 secured the win.
WDCL Div Two Shi 'A' 3½-2½ Mer 'A' Mercia lost narrowly to the relegated Shifnal and Telford club. Heavily outgraded there were still wins on the bottom two boards for Jon Phillips and the in-form Dave Webb.'
Graham Humphrey's has received a life achievement award for his services to chess. See here for details.
BDCL Div Three Mercia 'A' 5-1 St Georges Mercia started the new season in style with new member Peter Thompson winning on top board.
Updated links here to new WDCL and BDCL sites
Added new player to the Grades here. Welcome Peter!
Mercia Officers updated here including confirming Ken Francis as Life President.
Dudley league fixtures added here
British Senior Championships update link here Well done to local player David Anderton on winning the 2011 British Senior Championship in Sheffield.
New Grades are finally out here This years grades are out and show no major surprises. Dave Webb makes a good grading return together with Dave Jeffs.
British Championships results from Sheffield, link is here
Summer Quickplay results from 12th July
Major Section 1st equal with 4/5 Dave Webb and Derek Perks Minor Section 1st equal with 4/5 Alan Cox and Chris Heathcock
Mercia AGM Minutes from 7th June
1. Confirmed the entry of three teams in the Wolverhampton League, one in the Birmingham and one in Dudley 2. Will be entering the summer league next year 3. The officers were reelected with the exception of the B team captain as we need to confirm who is in that team. 4. New position of Webmaster agreed. Andrew elected.
5. Performance results for 2011 were as follows: 1st team best performance John Phillips 2nd team best performance Dave Webb 3rd team best performance Chris Heathcock Best overall performace 61% Dave Webb 6. Will be holding a chess puzzle night on the 21st June and a summer quick play on the 12th July 7. Subs for 2011 are proposed as £20 for Adults and £15 for juniors.
WDCL Div 2 Promotion Update
Dave lost a hopeless position in the final game of the season. This means that Kiddy 'A' get promoted by the narrowest of margins, 36.5 to 36.0 game points. Congratulations go to them and the Mercia team take a well earned rest and look forward to a new campaign in September. Division two will be stronger next year with both Halesowen 'A' and 'B' as well as Telford and Boldmere.
BDCL Div 3 Solihull Def-Def Mercia 'A' The final game of the season was declared a double default. Solihull was hosting the Leamington league rapid on the same night and could not raise a full team. With no promotion or relegation issues Derek sportingly offer to halve the points with them. Mercia finish respectably mid-table.
BDCL Div 3 Shirley 4.5-1.5 Mercia 'A' Adjournment result This game summed up a very disappointing season. With the match already lost Andrew went over to Shirley to complete his match. Fritz put him +5 with an interesting Q+B vs 4 pieces, all went to plan for the first 6 moves but then missed the winning move. His opponent then offered a draw (three times) only for these to be turned down. Finally, Andrew in time trouble missed a Queen Knight fork and lost. See game here with analysis.
WDCL Div 2 Bushbury 'B' 1.0-4.0 Mercia 'A' Despite missing 3 first team players Mercia smashed Bushbury and won the vital match. However, Mercia require 4.5 points to match Kiddy 'A' on Game average (see below). The final board is adjourned with Dave Jeffs requiring a draw to force a playoff. The position however does not look promising. The 2010/11 season goes on!
BDCL Div 3 Mercia 4.0-2.0 Olton Mercia recorded a solid win against fellow relegation threatened Olton and have secured their survival in Div 3. Good wins from Dave , John and Barry with only Ken losing meant there is no pressure for the final game at Solihull on 20th.
WDCL Div 2 Mercia 'A' 3.0-3.0 Walsall Kipping Another disaster, having agreed before the match that it was 'Do or Die' and no quick draws would be given or accepted boards 3 and 5 duly agreed to half the point (one of which in a the boards in a forced win position). On bottom board things looked completely won, in fact about 13 times the game was completely won until a draw was snatched from the jaws of victory. On Top board, rather sportingly the opponent declared a touch piece just as Derek on board two gave away a piece and the game. The outcome hung on Ken's position, pure stodge, so a draw was agreed a week later.
BDCL Div 3 Mercia 'A' 2.0-2.0 Halesowen In our match last night Barry Smith and Rod Price drew on boards 5 and 6, Ken had a rather lucky win on board 3. Mike Share seeing John Phillips about four pawns up offered a draw to his opponent who decided to carry on John then managed to loose his game! Mike adjourned with the exchange up with what looks like an easy win his opponent thinking why he did not except the offer of a draw. Board one saw Derek miss a clear 3 move forced win and was left adjourned with a pawn up to White a draw being an easy option although white (Mercia) should be able to win the ending. The 2 points will ease relegation worries. Next-up Olton another relegation threatened team.
WDCL Div 3 Mercia 'B' NOT relegated The second team lost heavily to Champions Rugeley at home in their last game of the season. This would have meant they are relegated to the fourth division. This is a disappointment for a team that were in Division Two only one season ago.However, a by a quirk of fate (and the WDCL committee) only one team are relegated this season. The team should not rest on their laurels for the same miracle next season!
BDCL Div 3 Survival update In the bottom of the table clash between already relegated Halesowen and Mutual Circle things are evenly poised at 2-2. Mercia are hoping that Halesowen who are now only playing for pride can somehow take points off Mutual Circle. The two adjournments are on 5th Apr and 12th April. Olton meanwhile lost again and now play Mercia next week to ease their own worries.
BDCL Div 3 Shirley and Lucas 4.5-1.5 Mercia 'A' The second match in a week also saw Mercia outplayed by promotion chasing Shirley. Dave and Ken lost quickly and Derek agreed to share the points after looking at a drawn adjourned position. John and Barrytravelled back but could only manage draws. It remains still to find 1 point for safety from either Halesowen, Olton or Solihull in April.
BDCL Div 3 Mercia 'A' 2.0-4.0 Lichfield Mercia were outplayed by a strong Lichfield side. Dave, John and Rod lost while Barry drew on bottom board. With the match lost Ken has a home adjournment in a dead drawn position and Derek travelled to Lichfield only to come away with a draw.
WDCL Div 2 Kiddy 'B' 3.0-3.0 Mercia 'A' Yet another draw but this time to the second team. What looked like an easy win at one stage turned into a near disaster. I do not know where to start. We were all winning, Dave Webb and John finished with quick wins then Barry had a draw. Both Dave Jeffs and Derek were winning easily with a queen for two minor pieces on top board. Derek then refused a draw and instead sacked his queen in order to force through one of the queenside pawns. Stupidly he then put his king on the wrong square and his opponent checked him and got to the two pawns to win!? Ken agreed a draw at the end which meant we drew the match.
This draw means a win against Bushbury and Walsall Kipping 'B' would secure promotion. Dropping points means the prospect of a playoff.
WDCL Div 2 Mercia 'A' 3.0-3.0 Kiddy "A' Without two of the top three players and against the strong Kidderminster club this was always going to be tough. However, they defaulted bottom board, John and Ken drew but Barry lost on Board 5 . Derek won a tricky R+N vs R+B endgame on top board and this game will be featured shortly. Dave lost his adjournment on 2 but the result was enough to prevent Kiddy's return to Div One. All eyes are now on the Kiddy 'B' match who might prove as strong as their 'A' team.
BDCL Div Three Stourbridge 3.0-3.0 Mercia Six draws have probably secured Division Three survival for this season. With Mercia still above Stourbridge and still to play the relegation favourites Halesowen then the job seems done for this season.
WDCL Div 2 Mercia 'A' 3.5-1.5 Brewood 'A' Mercia completed a solid victory over the bottom club to cement their place at the top of the division. Wins for Barry and Ken were backed up by drawns for Mike, Dave and John. Derek's position is adjourned with winning chances. Next up the promotion winner takes all match against Kiddy 'A' on 15th Feb.
Dave Jeffs giant killing victory over Martin Smyth now available here!
WDCL Div 2 Halesowen 'B' 2-4 Mercia 'A' Confirmation of a solid performance, netting all the points in the final match of 2010. Dave Jeffs and Mike Share were the winners. This puts Mercia at least temporarily top of Div 2. Next up Brewood then the big promotion clash with Kiddy 'A'.
Terrill Trophy Quarter finals Mercia (3) 3.5-4.0 vs South Birmingham A (1) Dave Jeffs pulled off a career best victory against the very experienced Martin Smyth but it was not enough against a quality side where bottom board was graded 178. Derek Perks had chances on top board having sacked a Bishops on just move 4 but then missed the best line and the chance of an incredibly fast giant killing. See here! D Perks 0.0-0.1..J. Swindells M Share 0.0-0.1 D. Malik D Jeffs 1.0-0.0 M Smyth K Francis 0.0-1.0 D. Dunn J Phillips 0.0-1.0 K. Malik B Smith 0.0-1.0 S. Williams Handicap 3.5
BDCL Div Three Mercia 2.5-3.5 Boldmere St James In the first match of the new year Mercia went down narrowly to a slightly weakened Boldmere team. Derek and Mike lost early on boards 2 and 3 with a draw for Ken and a win on bottom board for Jon. On top board Andrew won despite having flown overnight from Perth . In the final board to finish Dave lost a long endgame. With six points already in the bag the team still need one more win from the remaining games to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle.
Trophy records added and updated here Thanks to Ken and Dave for the info.
Practical Tips to success lecture in 2009 Andrew gave a talk on tips and hints to improve your play. Download your copy of the slides for you to study ahead of the new season. |
||||||
|
||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
