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
Paul Hodgson is the organiser of Team Staffordshire who play matches using correspondence mode on Chess.com. For further information check here or for further details of contact Paul.
The Staffordshire Chess Congress for 2025 will be held at the King's Hall, Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th August. The Staffordshire Chess Association and the NSDCA thank Stoke-on-Trent City Council for their generous sponsorship and provision of the hall. Further details and an online entry form are available here.
Robert Milner has announced that he standing down both as President of the Staffordshire Chess Association and as Chairman of the North Staffs and District Chess Association. Eyesight problems have made it very difficult for him to continue in his roles and as an Association we wish him all the best for the future and we hope that he will continue to advise the Committee when possible.
The Staffordshire Chess Association Teams had a double match with Lincolnshire on Saturday 17th January at Bramcote in Nottingham. The Under 1650 team drew 6-6, most of the matches were drawn, but there were wins for our two youngest players, Malcolm Fletcher a Junior from Stafford Chess Club and Daniel Jones represents both Bushbury and Brewood.
First Team Captain Andrew Smith had difficulties raising a side and unfortunately he was unable to play himself due to illness on the day. A four board deficit was conceded before the match began and with Lincolnshire having several players with a 2000+ rating the score of 1.5 to 10.5 was probably better than expected. There were draws for Pavel Nefyodov (Stafford), Mircea-Marius Mesesan (Tamworth and Lichfield) and Richard Anderson (Lichfield).
Full scorecards may be viewed on the MCCU website, or the LMS
The Minor Counties (first team) and the Under 1650 team have finished their fixtures for the 2024-5 Midland Counties Championship and both teams are unlikely to be invited to participate in the National County Championship. As the only entrant in the Under 1450 competition, Staffordshire has a bye to the U1450 National Stages.
Andrew Smith deserves praise for the work he is undertaken in leading the Staffordshire first team, and let's not hope he is too disheartened. Well done Andrew.