Stuart Inspires The County

Stuart inspired the Staffs County U100 team to a brilliant win against Norfolk in the County Championship Quarter Final on Saturday afternoon. His win on board 1, plus a draw from Robert on board 2, helped the team to a 7.5 - 4.5 win and a place in the Semi-Final against Lancashire on the 8th June. Click here for the match score card.

Grenville wasn't quite so fortunate. He lost his game on board 4 for the County U120 team. Nevertheless, they still won their match, also against Norfolk, by 7 - 5 and will now meet Essex in their Semi-Final, also on the 8th June. Click here for the match score card.

'C' Team Sign Off In Style

The 'C' team finished the season with a flourish on Monday evening, beating the Champions, Newcastle 'D', by 3-1. Wins for myself and Ernie on boards 2 and 3, plus draws for Max and Chris on boards 1 and 4, gave us the points.  Unfortunately it wasn't enough to save us from the Wooden Spoon as we were already well adrift at the bottom of the table. Nonetheless, it was a great way to finish the season, but why couldn't we have played like that all year !? Click here for the match score card.

In the other match being played on the night we beat new boys Madeley by 3-1 in a friendly match. Due to the fact that the 'C' team were playing, and several other players were unavailable, we had to field a stronger team than we intended, with Petru and Kas on the top 2 boards. Grenville, who also belongs to Madeley, played against us. Not surprisingly we were too strong for Madeley on boards 1 and 2, but boards 3 and 4 were much closer with Julian and Stuart both drawing their games. Click here for the match score card.

Fenton Win The Gothard Cup

Fenton have won the County U161Gothard Cup on board elimination following a 2-2 draw against Sutton Coldfield last night. Board count also failed to separate the two teams so it came down to board elimination. My loss on board 4 was the game to be discarded so I can rightly claim the credit for our win !! Excellent wins for Ray and Max on boards 2 and 3 gave us our victory, whilst myself and Glyn had a night best forgotten on boards 1 and 4. Click here for the match score card.

Fenton At The 4NCL

4 Fenton players - Gerald, Petru, Max and myself - turned out for Cheddleton in the final weekend of 4NCL Division 3 North, although not all of us played on all 3 days.

In Saturday's Round 9, Gerald and Max both won, I drew and Petru lost.

In Sunday's Round 10, Gerald drew and Petru lost.

In Monday's Round 11, Petru drew.

Double Wednesday Night Defeat

It was a disappointing end to the season for the 'A' team, losing their final match at Newcastle 'A' by 3-2 and finishing 3rd in the table. An excellent win on board 3 for Kas, coupled with draws from Gerald and Glyn on boards 1 and 4, were offset by losses by Petru and Max on boards 2 and 5. Click here for the match score card. However, we should feel pleased with the way that our first season in Division 1 went overall. We beat the Champions, Holmes Chapel, and got a win and a draw against Runners-Up, Cheddleton 'A'. Unfortunately, 2 close matches against bottom club Newcastle 'A' ended in defeat and probably cost us the Runner-Up spot.

The 'C' team had another disappointing night, losing by 3-1 against Stafford 'A'. We sent what looked like a pretty strong team and were confident of getting something out of the match. Unfortunately it wasn't to be as Danny, myself and Chris were all beaten. On the bright side, there was a very good win for Grenville on board 3. Click here for the match score card

Our season is now close to an end, with only 3 matches remaining. We play Sutton Coldfield in the Gothard Cup Final at Stafford next Wednesday. The 'C' team then have their final match against the runaway Division 4 Champions, Newcastle 'D', on the following Monday and, on the same night, we are playing new boys Madeley in a friendly.

2019 Club Championship

The 2019 Club Championship will be starting on Monday 20th May. It will be a 6 round Swiss tournament played under normal NSDCA rules. There will be 2 weeks allocated for each round and, under no circumstances, will this be allowed to extend. If you are unable to play your match during this period you will be deemed to have defaulted. There is nothing to prevent you from playing your match on a night other than a Monday, or at a venue other than the Tollgate, as long as you both agree.

Stuart will be running the competition so you can please let him know whether or not you will be entering by next Monday the 6th May.

Bolton Easter Congress

Well done to Julian on finishing joint 5th out of 35 in the Knights Section of the Bolton Easter Congress with 3.5/5, just half a point away from 2nd place and a point behind the winner.

3 Man 'C' Team Snatch A Draw

We could only raise 3 players for our visit to Cheddleton 'E' on Friday. However, an early win for Chris on board 3 against a player graded 39 points higher than him put us on level terms. Myself and Stuart on boards 1 and 2 had games that went down to the last couple of minutes before draws were agreed and allowed us to go home with a share of the points. Click here for the match score card.

Same Old Same Old For The 'C' Team

Despite Chris finally managing to get a much needed win on board 4, the 'C' team slumped to yet another defeat last night, losing by 2.5 - 1.5 against Newcastle 'E'. Our other half point came courtesy of a draw by Stuart on board 3. Click here for the match score card.

Newcastle Mini Congress

The Fenton contingent failed to cover themselves with glory at this weekend's Newcastle Mini Congress. I managed 4th place with 3/5, Max and Julian were joint 6th on 2.5/5, Ernie was 10th on 2/5 and Grenville brought up the rear with 1.5/5. Click here for all of the final standings.