Tag: Witney Chess Club

Didcot 1 vs Cumnor 1 / Cumnor 2 vs Witney 4 [Match reports]

It was a mixed week for the two Cumnor teams this week with one win and one loss between them.

On Wednesday, the first team travelled to Didcot still looking for their first league win of the season.

Didcot, the team who were in division one last season, had a very strong team and when I say very strong I mean very very strong. Their fourth board being graded 171!

Didcot 1 Cumnor 1
1 Olehnovics, Andrejs (189) 1 – 0 Stevens, Gareth (149)
2 Gough, Nicholas L (179) 1 – 0 Glenn, Liam (140)
3 Crockart, Scott (173) 1 – 0 Bennett, Steven (114)
4 McInnes, Graham (171) 1 – 0 Cluley, Graham (113)
5 Cooper, Bernard D (157) 1 – 0 -Default-
6 Harkins, Sam (122) 1 – 0 Steel, Robert (87)
Match played: 6 Nov 2013 6 – 0

The Cumnor 1 team fell to a 6-0 loss but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Gareth Stevens looked to have made it to the endgame with a draw – however his opponent managed to force a win. Liam Glenn should have also picked up something from his game after gaining a tremendous amount of counterplay against his opponent’s king.

Meanwhile, Graham Cluley lost rapidly to his 171-graded opponent, at the hands of the Staunton Gambit.

Cumnor 2 had a better night on Thursday, with a 4-2 win over Witney 4.

Cumnor 2 Witney 4
1 Varney, Zoe (136) 1 – 0 Flory Mark (114)
2 Sayers, Mark (134) 1 – 0 Gilders Ian (113)
3 Carr, Robin (126) 1 – 0 Sheremetyeva, Elizaveta (114)
4 Cluley, Graham (113) 0 – 1 Coburn, Matt (101)
5 Ives, Marc ( ) 0 – 1 Blackwell, David ( )
6 Steel, Robert (87) 1 – 0 Murray, Jon (85)
Match played: 7 Nov 2013 4 – 2

Zoe Varney had a great endgame against her opponent on board one with minutes left. Mark Sayers and Robin Carr both won their games.

Graham Cluley is kicking himself endlessly over a blunder he made, giving away his Bishop – which he never recovered from.

Robert Steel picked up a win on the bottom board.

Witney 4 vs Cumnor 2 [Match Report]

On Monday night, a team of junior players from Cumnor Chess Club were given a chance to shine in an away game against Witney 4.

Witney 4 Cumnor 2
1 Truran, Joseph (120) 0 – 1 Varney, Zoe (114)
2 Holton, Jake (99) 1 – 0 Varney, Daniel (111)
3 Hauer, Isabel (94) 1 – 0 Sterrie, David (80)
4 Watkins, Seb (87) 0 – 1 Bennett Anton, Susana (11)
5 Manning, Andy (29) 1 – 0 Shakespear, Michaela (-)
6 Lloyd, Ben (-) 1 – 0 Ives, Leonora (-)
Match played: 22 Apr 2013 4 – 2

On the top board, Zoe Varney (114) played extremely well and managed to beat Joseph Truran (120), while Daniel Varney (111) had a long game on board two which he eventually lost.

David Sterrie (80) also lost on board three, but Susanna Bennett (11) stopped the rot on board four with a win.

The bottom two boards had Michaela Shakespear () and Lenora Ives ()– both of whom have only played once before for Cumnor. Although they both lost, they made a good game of it are likely to have learned something useful from the experience.

Lecture by Grandmaster Peter Wells

Grandmaster Peter Wells
Grandmaster Peter Wells
Our friends at Witney Chess Club are hosting a lecture with Grandmaster Peter Wells next Monday night (11th March 2013).

The event, which starts at 7:30pm, sounds like a great opportunity to hear from one of England’s very best chess players and maybe even pick up some tips to improve your own play!

The lecture will be held at Ducklington Village Hall in Standlake Road, Ducklington.

More details about the event, and how to pre-book your place, can be found on Witney Chess Club’s website.

We expect any Cumnor Chess Club players who attend the event to come back with renewed vigour, and at least an extra 30 points added to their ECF grade..