Victory Against Spinney Hill 2 in 2nd Round of Harrod Cup

A great result at home. We are now undefeated after two rounds. An exciting match with a few blunders here and there. We were winning by 2.5 to 1.5 at the half way stage, and we held on to finish the match at 4.5 to 3.5

The results were:

Pete Harrison 0/0.5 - 1/0.5 Karl Potter
Dave Ricketts 1/1-0/0 Stevan Preocanin
Colin Ross 1/1-0/0 Rich Davis
Ray Beach 0/0-1/1 Alan Butler

Well done everyone.

Colin

HEATHCOTE ARMS 2 CRASH OUT OF CHAPMAN CUP

Despite Graham Booley getting creditable half against Jim Miller, the rest of the side couldn't pull off an upset against higher ranked opposition, so despite the 2.5 points start (due to a grading difference of 151), the side lost 3.5-2.5. On the other three boards, Dave and Ray both lost inside thirty moves, whilst Colin lost to a sucker punch having gone material up.

Jim Miller - Graham Booley 0.5-0.5
John Glover - Dave Ricketts 1-0
John Dawkins - Ray Beach 1-0
Greg Adcock - Colin Ross 1-0

So we will have to win the Birstall Cup instead.

1st Round Harrod Cup Draw Against Ashby

Away at Ashby, it all went according to grade:

Lea Adlard (128) 0-1, 0-1 Pete Harrison (144)
David Reynolds (126) 0-1, 0-1 Dick Salter (129)
Paul Gibson (122) 1-0, 1-0 Dave Ricketts (97)
Nick Wyld (115) 1-0, 1-0 Colin Ross (93)

Well done Pete and Dick,

Colin

Wigston B 3-2 Littlethorpe D in Last Round of D34 Cup

For some of us, this was to be the most important match of the season. Only a draw was necessary for the D34 Cup to be ours.

The differences in grading gave us a 1.5 point lead, meaning that a win and a draw from four boards was all that we needed. Unfortunately, Aaron called fifteen minutes before the start of the match to tell us that he had 'a family emergency' and would not be coming.

Hoping for a miracle, we frantically tried to find a replacement player - but miracles don't happen all that often. In the calculation of bonuses, we had to discount Aaron's grade, and average out the grades of the remaining three players. The bonus therefore became 1 point rather than 1.5. With our bottom board defaulted, our two sides were now even at one point each, but Wigston had the stronger side.

Our chances of success had changed from being a probable win to only a possible win. Wigston's mood had visibly changed in the light of this news, as had ours. A win, however, was still possible.

The results were:

Wigston B 3-2 Littlethorpe D
Barrie Cooper (119) 0-1 Dick Salter (132)
Frank Hulford (123) 1-0 Colin Ross (100)
Charles Eastlake (124) 1-0 Ray Beach (99)
Paul Winterton (118) 1-0 Default (110)

Dick won an excellent game.

Well done to Wigston B. They should win the competition unless Loughborough have a walkover against Melton.

Colin

Littlethorpe (5) 2-2 Syston (3)

On Tuesday, Littlethorpe 5 had their final match of the season against Syston 3.
Ray agreed to swop places with Alan Goodwin to help Littlethorpe 3 out. We defaulted a board.

I swindled a win. Dave dominated in his game. Alan ran into time trouble, but otherwise could have won.

Littlethorpe (5) 2-2 Syston (3)
board 1 Ross, Colin 100 1-0 111 Creasey, John
board 2 Ricketts, Dave 100 1-0 UG Mitton, Judith
board 3 Goodwin, Alan 85 0-1 85 Agger, Reg
board 4 **DEFAULT** 0-1 UG Sanghani, Tam

Result: 2-2

Over the season we have had 2 wins, 6 draws and 10 losses. A good season's performance, i think, given that we were outgraded on every board for almost every match. All of us: Dave, Ray, Aaron, Herve and myself have had wins and have played above our grades.

In the D34 Cup, we have been even better. It all comes down to tonight...

Well done everyone,

Colin

Littlethorpe (5) 1-3 Wigston (5)

Our second to last league match of the current season saw us playing at the Heathcote against one of the 4th Division's stronger teams. We managed two draws, and Dave narrowly missed out on a win against David White. The results were:

Littlethorpe (5) 1-3 Wigston (5)
Colin Ross (100) Draw Paul Gray (128)
Dave Ricketts (100) 0-1 David White (123)
Ray Beach (99) Draw Charles Eastlake (124)
Herve Tribouilloy (62) 0-1 Denis Wilkins (122)

Well done everyone,

Colin

Spinney Hill 3 (3-1) Littlethorpe 5

Not as bad as it sounds. Heavily outgraded as usual, our team managed two fine draws - Dave against Dave Pyke, and Ray against Stevan Preocanin. Due to a mix up over days, Aaron did not arrive. My game was even until around move 50 when i crumbled in an endgame where both of us were fighting for pawn promotion.

The scores on the doors were:

Spinney Hill 3 (3-1) Littlethorpe 5
Dave Pyke (138) Draw Dave Ricketts (100)
John Colver (127) 1-0 Colin Ross (100)
Stevan Preocanin (121) Draw Ray Beach (99)
Alan Butler (103) 1-0 Default

Well done Dave and Ray.

Our next League game is against Wigston 5 at The Heathcote, in Croft, on Tuesday 5th May.
As Littlethorpe D, we now have a date for our fifth round match in the D34 Cup. We will be playing away against Wigston B on Thursday 14th May - a win would secure us the silverware.

Colin