Fenton Retain South Potteries Chess Challenge Cup

Fenton retained the South Potteries Chess Challenge Cup with a one-sided 5.5 - 1.5 win against Meir last night. 

Click here to view the match score card - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/188672. This was the 19th match in the series and Fenton now lead by 13 - 6.

2023 AGM

The Minutes of the 2023 AGM, held last Tuesday 12th September, can be viewed here -  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qdrmL94AyIP3e7McIB8eQJBLq715zrsH/view?usp=sharing.

Fenton Rapidplay Championship

The Rapidplay Championship has now been re-scheduled for Sunday 22nd October. I am not going to assume that everybody who entered on the original date will be entering on the new date, as I am already aware that a couple of people can't. Similarly, there will be people who were not available on the original date but who will be available on the new date. So I am starting from scratch and asking everybody who wants to play to please let me know.

Fenton Finish With A Flourish

Fenton rounded off their South Cheshire Shield fixtures with a 4-0 whitewashing of Crewe 'B' last night. It wasn't our usual team lineup though and, in fact, it was difficult to even raise a team on the night. Phil and Lea were both away on holiday so unavailable, Glyn pulled out on the day as he tested positive for Covid, Ray was driving to Wales and Derek Whitehurst and Evan Clark were both unavailable. So we had to juggle our remaining players as best we could. I dropped out so that Petru could play on board 1 and Joshua Mullane and Ian Mullin both made their competitive debuts for the Club on boards 3 and 4. Mycle, on board 2, was the only regular team member playing.

However, it could not have gone better. Petru got an early win on board 1 to put us into the lead, followed by Ian mating his opponent on board 4, to put us 2-0 up. This meant that the match was at least drawn and the Shield guaranteed to be ours. Joshua went into an endgame with a King and 6 pawns against a King, Knight and 4 Pawns. After several Pawn exchanges, Josh was left with a passed Pawn that could not be stopped, putting us 3-0 up. Mycle's game was the last to finish and, after all the pieces had been exchanged, his Pawn advantage in the endgame proved decisive.

So we finished the competition with 5 wins and 1 draw from our 6 matches and an unassailable lead at the top of the table. Congratulations and thanks to everybody who has played in the team over the course of the Summer.

Click here - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/141750 - to view the full result card from last night's match.

Fenton Almost Over The Line In South Cheshire Shield

Fenton cruised to a 3-1 win at previously unbeaten Crewe ‘A’ last night, to cement our position at the top of the South Cheshire Shield. A draw in our final match against Crewe ‘B’ will confirm us as this year’s winners. 

We raced into an early lead, with Lea winning on board 2, closely followed by Phil on board 4. This left us needing just a draw from the remaining two matches to ensure the win. Mycle had a slightly better position in his game on board 3 but offered the draw, which his opponent accepted, to give us the points. This just left Steve’s game on board 1, where he was about to win a piece but accepted a draw and an early finish to the match. 

Click here - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/141745 - for the full match score card.

Fenton Held By Alsager In South Cheshire Shield

Fenton's winning streak in the South Cheshire Shield came to an abrupt halt last night, when we were held to a 2-2 draw by Alsager. Phil put us into an early lead with a win on board 4. This was followed by draws on boards 1 and 3 from Steve and Lea to put us 2-1 up, and ensured that we would not lose the match. Unfortunately, Mycle was unable to secure the draw on board 2 that would have won the match for us.

We now travel to 2nd placed, and also unbeaten, Crewe 'A’ on the 1st August, in a match that will probably decide the outcome of the competition.

Click here to vew last night's match score card - https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/141743.