Festivities for the season kicked off with the first of three handicapped Rapidplay events, and Macclesfield welcomed several new members to the fold. Whilst some players were brushing off the off-season rust, others took the initative and strong performances were put in by Club Champion Anthony Brough, who went undefeated on the night. Coming in second were Chris Riley and last season's Pomeroy Cup champion Marcus Fothergill.
We also took the opportunity to crown our new champions. Congratulations to Ant and Marcus on fantastic seasons last year.
As always, many thanks to Denzil, our tournament director for the evening. Members, please monitor your inboxes for further news of this year's club competitions.
The chess club opened on Monday with it's annual AGM where matters involving the club organisation were discussed and agreed. This was followed by a nice hour of casual chess. Amongst the topics of discussion were the dates for this season's handicapped rapidplay tournaments.
The first will be held on Monday 9th of September. All players are welcome to join. The entry fee is £2 and all entry fees are returned to the players as prizes. Players will be alotted a rating which can be estimated if necessary, and matches will be played using time odds to settle the differences.
More information can be found over at the Pollard Cup page.
The Club looks forward to welcoming members, new and old to join us for a fun evening of chess!
Macclesfield travelled to Crewe for the U1825 cup final following a very unsuccessful league campaign which culminated in last place. Skipper Phil however has captained this team for ages in the hope of someday winning a cup and he was seeing the positives. "We haven't even lost a single board in reaching the final," he noted.
Joachim took top board. Sadly his beloved car is confined to a garage and the resulting upset affected him, first blood to Crewe. On board 3, Ant learn't that news of his becoming Macclesfield champion has spread far and wide and he was steered to a safe draw by his opponent. On board 2, J-P was out to redeem his season. In depth analysis ahead of the game made him realise he'd forgotten all his openings. The remedy he decided was that he has to think from move 1. When he took the notable scalp of Karl that made it 1.5 each.
Phil on board 5, played an attacking game and was rewarded when accurate play won a piece and put Macc 2.5-1.5 up. This left the secretary, and when the clock reached 10pm teammates began to show concern that he'd get dozy again. This time he'd wisely ordered a strong coffee however and he ground down David to secure the 3.5-1.5 win.
Rumour has it that celebrations continued in the Cattermole household long into the night. Let's hope he got into work OK next day!