Congratulations to Barry Smith of Mercia Chess Club who has retired as club secretary after serving since the formation of the club in 1969. A remarkable achievement which the Staffordshire Chess Association wishes to record. In addition to that post he has served as a club captain for many years, been President of the Wolverhampton League and represented Staffordshire teams.
His replacement is Mike Cash and he will be assisted with club fixtures by Dave Hodgkinson.
This year’s championship will be held at Painsley Catholic College, Cheadle, Staffordshire, ST10 1LH on Saturday 22nd November. The event will be a six round rapid play with sections from Under 8 to Under 18.
For further
information please see the website and entry form here or contact Jonathon for
further details.
The Congress was held to mark the Centenary of the establishment of the City of Stoke-on-Trent in August. Thanks to the generosity of the City Council the splendid Kings Hall was provided free to the organising committee. The congress was opened by the Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Steve Watkins. There were ninety entrants with nearly half from North Staffs District Chess Association or other Staffordshire Clubs.
Stafford Chess Association’s Junior Secretary, Jonathon Blackburn as the initial proposer of the congress fittingly won the open section of the congress, beating Jacob Boswell formerly of Cheddleton and Leek Chess Club into second place. With this win Jonathon becomes the Staffordshire Closed Champion.
Full results may be seen here
Thanks to
the Organising Committee for all their hard work: Neil Hankey, Jonathon
Blackburn, and Martyn Stanley, all from Alsager Chess Club with Andrew Crosby from Kidsgrove Chess Club. David Price of Crewe Chess Club and Congress
provided much helpful advice to the committee, and he is to be thanked for
giving up his playing place to assist the arbiters.
The lead controller was Staffordshire’s own International Arbiter, Matthew Carr with assistance from David Price and Colin Abell of Cheddleton. Thanks to their hard work in running an enjoyable weekend. It is hoped that the funding can be found to make the Staffordshire Congress an annual event.
Andrew Crosby has produced an excellent report in the August edition of Chess Moves.
A reading of Chess Moves shows that Luke Sullivan of Rugeley Chess Club won the Under 1700 Section of the Glossop Chess Club weekend event in July.
Congratulations are due to Staffordshire's own International Arbiter, Matthew Carr who has been awarded a FIDE Certificate of Appreciation for his work in managing congresses and training future Arbiters. The full ECF Tribute may be seen here.
Matthew has recently been the Chief Arbiter at the very successful revived Staffordshire Congress and for relaxation he represents Rugeley Chess Club in both the Wolverhampton and Cannock Leagues.
Incidentally, Matthew is not the only Staffordshire Chess Player who has received a FIDE Certificate this year, Andrew Crosby of Kidsgrove Chess Club was awarded a FIDE Certificate of Appreciation for his work behind the scenes at June's World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships.
Ray and Eunice Dolan stepped down from their Midlands Counties Chess Union (MCCU) roles at the June Annual General Meeting. Together they have made a massive contribution to local chess with roles at the MCCU, the Staffordshire Chess Association, the Cannock and District Chess League and the formation and management of the Junior Club at Bloxwich. I am sure all Staffordshire Chess Association players and friends will join me in wishing them a happy retirement.
Peter Evans
There was success for two North Staffordshire players in the Open Section of the Crewe Congress. Jacob Connor Boswell, who began his chess career at Cheddleton and Leek, as a junior, won the section with a score of four wins and a draw from 5 rounds. Among the runners up was Staffordshire Junior Secretary Jonathan Blackburn with four points.
There was plenty of participation by Staffordshire players in all sections.
Saturday 7th September saw the Staffordshire Under 1450 team face Essex in the semi final of their section of the ECF Counties Championship. The match was played at a neutral venue, Finedon Community Centre in Northamptonshire. The Staffordshire Chess Association would like to thank the centre for all of their arrangements.
The match was a victory for Essex by 8.5 to 3.5 and Staffs wish them good luck in the final. Possibly the could have been stronger if a couple of young players whose rating in September 2024 qualified the for the team. Please see here for match score.
Thanks to Stephen Smithson for running the team, to the players and the parents of any juniors who played.
The next county season begins in September. Any player for any Staffordshire, Stoke, Wolverhampton or Walsall based club who wishes to play next year should contact Stephen or Peter Evans