A visit to Stourbridge, a local derby and the visit of a grandmaster

Redditch came up short in their opening match of the season in Division One of the Worcester & District League against Headless Cross on Tuesday with a 2.5-1.5 defeat. first result of the evening came early as Ashley Davis beat Dave Spowart in just 19 moves on board 2. As the evening progressed, Andrew Wiggins and Ian Clack had to settle for draws on boards 2 and 4 against Dave Richardson and Terry Radford respectively. As the evening drew to a close, it was down to the final match on board 1 between Daniel Lambourne and Glenn Cox. Daniel seemed to have some initiative but was ultimately unable to find a way through and Glenn was able to record a draw to seal the match for Headless Cross.

The Division Two side was able to record a 2.5-1.5 win, however, at Stourbridge on Wednesday. Michele Clack succumbed to Paul Sharratt on board 1 and Ian Clack drew with Colin Woodall on board 2. Stourbridge's new players Sam Bradley and Helen Kirkby were beaten on boards 3 and 4 by Derek Abrahams and Richard Turner to record a victory for Redditch

The main event of the week was a visit on Tuesday by grandmaster and English number 15 Keith Arkell. Arkell recently released his autobiography and signed copies for present members before performing a simultaneous exhibition. Ten players took him on and it initially seemed that Arkell was on course for a clean sweep. Michele Clack lost early on and further defeats followed to leave Arkell with seven wins from seven. However, advancing the king into enemy territory a move or two too early when a pawn up in a winning position allowed Peter Seeley to mate in two moves and record a thoroughly unexpected victory. He recorded his eighth victory of the evening before sitting down to complete his final match against Dave Spowart. An apparently equal endgame was reached before Arkell seemed to have crafted a winning position. However, he missed an intermediate move and played a pawn sacrifice one move too early again, allowing Dave the chance to salvage a draw - a chance that was eagerly snapped up. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and one can only hope that such an evening may be had again at some point.



League campaigns contine next week against Hagley in the Worcester & District League Division Two on Tuesday, Kidderminster Knights in the Worcester & District League Division One on Wednesday and Warley Quinborne in the Birmingham League Division Four on Thursday.


Closing thought: "Have you got me?!" - Keith Arkell to Peter Seeley when realising he was to be mated on his next move

Two from two in Birmingham Divison Four

Redditch recorded their second successive victory in Division Four of the Birmingham League on Tuesday night with a convincing 4.5-1.5 win over Soliull. The match started badly for Redditch, however, as Steve Crockett found his queen pinned to his king by Nigel Byrne's bishop on Board 1. Despite currently being ungraded after ten years away from competitive chess, Nigel used to be graded 148 and it would appear he's returned at this level. Derek Abraham swiftly equalised for Redditch with a victory over John Hodges on Board 6 before Peter Seeley and Robin Anderton agreed a draw in a complex position on Board 3. Peter felt he had an initiative and subsequent analysis showed he could have won a pawn and possibly exchanged down to force this through; however, he deemed it too risky to play on in practical terms being 20 minutes behind on the clock. By this stage, Redditch's Kevin Day had won a piece against John Green on Board 3 and was able to convert this material advantage into a victory before Giles Stanton defeated Philip Ravenscroft on Board 5. With the match decided, Michele Clack and former Redditch player Irina Amelkina continued their duel on Board 4. As the clocks ran down, Michele had a material advantage of a bishop for two pawns, although Irina appeared to have some initiative as compensation. This did not prove to be the case however and Irina's time ran out when faced with the unenviable choice of losing her queen or being mated.

There was no such joy for Redditch in two resumed matches against Warley Quinborne in Division Two as Dave Spowart and Andrew Wiggins both lost their matches against higher graded opponents to hand Warley an unassailable 3.5-1.5 lead with just one adjourned match between Michele Clack and John Fahy remaining.

Redditch get their Division One campaign in the Worcester & District League underway next Tuesday with a home match against fellow Redditch club Headless Cross. However, the main event of the evening is a visit by Keith Arkell. Originating from Worcestershire, Arkell is ranked 15th in England with a grade of 234 and was English Champion in 2008. Although it is unclear what will occur at the club on Tuesday, possible events are taking on challengers at speed chess or playing multiple members simultaneously. He will also be signing copies of his recently released autobiography. It will certainly be a delight for members to meet him.


Closing thought: "It is always better to sacrifice your opponents' men." - Savielly Tartakower

Mixed fortunes for Birmingham League teams

Following the visit of Warley Quinborne last week, Redditch faced another stern test on Monday evening when they visited Kynoch. Kynoch have arguably the strongest team in the division and they mustered their full strength side for this match. The match got off to a somewhat intersting start when when Andrew Wiggins failed to arrive on time for Redditch on Board 4 and David Ireland and Ed Goodwin for Kynoch on Boards 1 and 5 - one of whom would definitely come to regret this later on.

Board 3 was the first game to finish. Kynoch's Keith Ingram played his favourite Bishop's Opening against Dave Spowart. a greater familiarity with this opening and a 30 point grading difference proved to be too much to handle and Dave found himself facing an uncomfortably short defeat. Whether or not Ed Goodwin's late arrival had an effect on his play is unclear; however, he showed signs of rustiness in his first match of the season against Peter Seeley on Board 5. After losing swiftly to a player graded 157 last week, Peter had joked before this game that he should have an easier game against 155-rated Ed. He certainly hadn't expected to face a lacklustre Trompowsky Attack and a draw after 24 moves to record his best result to date! Tom Robinson continued his run of good form on Board 2. Nick Roberts castled into an attack against him and Tom recorded yet another victory - this one against a player ranked ten points higher. Unfortunately for Redditch, two wins followed for Kynoch. Andrew Wiggins held on until the end against an opponent graded 30 points ahead of him in Tony Hickey when he dropped a bishop. Giles Stanton made a great start against Larry Wright's Philidor Defence, winning a pawn. However, he could not hold this and ultimately had to concede defeat. With Kynoch two points up, the match was sealed but play continued on Board 1 where Daniel Lambourne was a pawn down against David Ireland in a Rook & Knight endgame. David seemed to have an initiative; however the 25 minutes he lost at the start as a result of his late arrival had an impact and Daniel was able to claim a victory in a time scramble. Although they lost the match, Redditch can atke heart from an excellent display.

Tuesday saw the Division 4 side commence their league campaign with a trip to Olton B. Having unfortunately lost his resumed match to hand Olton 2 a 4-2 victory in the Townshend Trophy last week, Derek Abraham faced a trip to Olton for a third successive week. His most recent trip, however, was a much happier one as he soon found himself a rook up against Bramwell Garner. Coupled with a lead attack, this led to a swift and much-needed victory for Derek. This victory was followed by three draws on the top three boards. Steve Crockett and Kevin Day on Boards 1 and 2 both won pawns but were unable to capitalise. Peter Seeley dropped a pawn in the opening but soon won this back and then went a pawn up himself at the cost of a weakened pawn structure in the endgame. After he felt he was winning the game, he made an innacuracy to promptly had the pawn and the initiative back to experienced opponent Tom Evans. However, Tom once again conceded the initiative, allowing all pawns to be exchanged off, resulting in a draw. As the end of the session approached, Giles Stanton and Richard Evans looked to be heading into an endgame that could only result in a draw. However, Richard made the classic mistake of leaving his back rank unprotected, allowing Giles a mate-in-one opportunity that was promptly snapped up to claim the match for Redditch. Michele Clack was a pawn down at the end of the session with the match to be completed at a later date.

Redditch continue their Division 4 campaign next week, welcoming Solihull. With Redditch having won their opening match and Solihull having lost theirs, a repeat would certainly be appreciated!


Closing thought: "Life is like a game of chess, changing with every move." - Chinese proverb

Weekend of success for Redditch individuals

Tom Robinson and Steve Crockett continued their fine run of form at the Birmingham Rapidplay at the weekend with Tom finishing joint first in the Major U170 section and Steve joint second in the Minor U110. They were also joined in celebrating success by Andrew Wiggins, who won the U140 section of the Dudley Congress.

Tom began his tournament with victory over another Redditch player in Nigel Towers. He followed this up with a victory over fellow joint winner Andrew Price before two further wins and two draws gave him a share of first place with the tremendous score of 5/6, with all six of his opponents having higher FIDE ratings than himself.

Steve also claimed a score of 5/6 with four wins and two draws. With several juniors in the pool, Steve drew with 14-year-old winner James Cole in the final round, meaning Robert Ashworth gained a small measure of revenge from Steve's victory over him in Leamington by taking a draw this time around to deprive Steve of a share of first place. However, second place is still a great achievement and Steve will no doubt expect to remain among the prizes when entering his next tournament.


Redditch club teams continue their matches this week. A report on a Division 2 trip to Kynoch in the Birmingham League this evening will follow with news on the Division 4 side's trip to face Olton B tomorrow. Hopes are high for these individual successes to rub of on the rest of the club.


Closing thought: "Not winning a tournament is not an option for me, unless it's no longer theoretically possible - then of course winning becomes impossible. But up to that point, not winning is just not an option." - Magnus Carlsen

League campaigns underway

Redditch's campaign in Division 2 of the Worcester and District League got off to a flying start on Monday with a 3.5-0.5 victory away against Droitwich. Board 4 was the first to finish after 90 minutes of play. Droitwich's Rhodri Furlong played the Reti Opening against Derek Abraham. Derek won a pawn and had a 5-4 pawn advantage with a supported passed pawn in a same-coloured bishops endgame. Derek was unable to find a way through, however, and a draw was agreed. Giles felt he played poorly in his opening against John Hargreaves on Board 3 and dropped a pawn. However, his attack was sufficient enough to claim the win. Shortly afterwards, Andrew Wiggins beat Arnold Kirkland on top board. Droitwich's Barry Tisdell sacrificed his c-pawn for quick development against Peter Seeley's Queen's Indian Defence on Board 4. However, his subsequent plan was too slow and allowed Peter to consolidate his position before a couple of further errors allowed Peter to win further material and the game.

Tuesday evening saw a much tougher match in Division 2 of the Birmingham League against Warley Quinborne - arguably one of the stronger sides in the division. In fact, Redditch had the highest graded player of both teams, but their second player had a lower grade than all Warley Quinborne players. This gulf in class was evident on Board 4 as Ian Emery defeated Peter Seeley under an hour. Peter stepped into a trap following Ian's Scotch Gambit that allowed Ian to emerge a pawn ahead. Further inaccuracies lost a second pawn before a mate in just 22 moves. Ian Clack held his own on Board 6 against Jon Turner until the endgame when he dropped his queen for Jon's rook. Tom Robinson got Redditch off the mark after refuting Michael Doran's pawn sacrifice before closing out a win. Redditch were 2-1 behind at the end of the playing session but Dave Spowart, Andrew Wiggins and Michele Clack will hope to salvage a result for Redditch when the matches are resumed.

The internal standardplay all-play-all also commenced on Tuesday with two matches. Giles Stanton overcame David Smith and Richard Turner defeated John Harrison.

Both Birmingham League sides are in action next week. Redditch 2 face another tough match with a trip to Kynoch on Monday, whilst Redditch 4 visit Olton 4B on Tuesday. The weekend also sees the Birmingham Rapidplay, for which the key question is whether or not Tob Robinson and Steve Crockett can continue their recent success.


Closing thought: "A male scorpion is stabbed to death after mating. In chess, the powerful queen often does the same to the king without giving him the satisfaction of a lover." - Gregor Piatigorsky