Author: Culcheth Chess Club - Admin

by Steve Potter

Going into the 3 rd weekend at Coventry the Mates were 6th in the table.
Saturday was a match against the Welsh team Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg, lower than The Mates in the table, but with a stronger team on paper.
As has happened on every Saturday so far this season, The Mates lost.

The evening meal was at the hotel. The Mates have eaten there before and it was as good this time as it was last time. There’s been to some interesting evening meal venues in Coventry, but still there’s no go to option yet.

Sunday: The Mates needed to bounce back against Ashfield. Again The Mates were out graded as a team, but only by 8 points. As per every Sunday this season the bounce back happened.

A 5 -1 win maybe flattered us, but a one in the win column, is a one in the
win column, there’s no points in chess for artistic interpretation.

That leaves The Mates with an important question. Why is there a 0/3 score on
Saturdays, yet a 3/3 score on Sundays?
The table leaves The Mates in 5 th place, well above the bottom team, but with a large number of teams only 1 point behind.

by Steven Potter

Four Nations Chess League – for more info on 4ncl

Warrington Mates in the 4NCL 25-26 Season.
Going into the 2 nd weekend at Coventry the Mates were 5 th in the table and welcomed
Jamie to the team’s ranks as mate number 10.
Saturday was a match against Poole Patzers, and for the first time 7 players travelled, so
the team had a substitute if required. The match didn’t go well though, a 4.5-1.5 loss to a
higher graded team, without a win.

Warrington Mates 2029   Poole Patzers 2124
341 w Norris, Ethan 2223 e 0 – 1 Stubbs, Oliver c 2203
342 b Mazek, Marek 2154 e ½ – ½ Majeed, Haroon 2224 e
343 w Barnes, Jamie 2075 e ½ – ½ Gomez, Daniel 2185 e
344 b Kay, Lee P 1983 e ½ – ½ Waddington, Mike P f 2084 e
345 w Furness, Robert M 1886 e 0 – 1 Thomas, James 2104 e
346 b Potter, Steven 1854 e 0 – 1 Weatherlake, John P 1947 e

The evening meal.
The Mates went to a Turkish restaurant called Antalya. It must be a chain restaurant as
the team passed another one on the way there. The food was great, there was plenty of it
and was well cooked.
Sunday replicated the previous weekend, having had a bad result on the Saturday,
Sunday was the total opposite, a comfortable win without losing a game.

  Celtic Tigers 2 1836   Warrington Mates 2023
351 w Quinn, John M 2072 0 – 1 Norris, Ethan 2223 e
352 b Pedersen, Carsten 2017 ½ – ½ Mazek, Marek 2154 e
353 w Cranston, Adam 1808 ½ – ½ Barnes, Jamie 2075 e
354 b Sturt, Charles A 1754 0 – 1 Mulleady, Peter J 1950 e
355 w Hoong, Jonathan * 1723 e ½ – ½ Furness, Robert M 1886 e
356 b Rose, Peter 1642 0 – 1 Potter, Steven 1854 e

So the the Mates slip 1 place in the table, but are looking up more than down. The next weekend should help define the season with games against Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg and
Ashfield 1, who are both currently placed below the Mates.

Players that have represented Warrington in 4NCL since team formation in 2024

The season is approximately half completed and here are a few thoughts regarding how we are doing as a club in all competitions. In the League the ‘A’ team stand proudly at the top of Division 1, but they are going to face stiff competition from Atherton and Eccles and will need to field the strongest possible teams for those fixtures. Marek and Andy Coe have scored at 75% so far, but all the players have made significant contributions to the team’s success so far.

The B Team have become the drawing masters of Division 2 with no less than 5 of their 6 matches ending even. The team has used 14 different players so far which is remarkable and evidence that every effort is being made to ensure that all club members get an opportunity to play league chess regardless of their ratings. Given the encouraging influx of new members during and since the summer recess this is particularly important.

Our RF League team has also used several players – 10 to be precise and has managed to win 2 of its 5 matches. Jonathan Miller with 3/3 has made a terrific contribution to the team’s overall performance as has Mark Williams with his 75% success score.

The cup competitions have proved something of a challenge with both our Peninsular Cup teams exiting in the first round and our Kalmar Cup team suffering a similar fate. However we are still in the George Davison Shield so we still have a chance of winning some silverware this season.

Overall the club is in good shape with several new members joining who are keen to play league and cup chess and further members seeking to join as I write. Club nights when there are no league of cup fixtures are much better attended than last season which is immensely encouraging.

So it only remains to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May it bring you everything you want in respect of over the board success in chess.

All stats can be viewed on the official league page here

Warrington & District Chess League | ECF League Management System