Macclesfield Wake Up at 10pm

Macc A entertained East Cheshire on Monday 4th of March. The visitors had three strong players on the top boards and were able to take all 3 points there despite resistance from Gary, Carl, and especially J-P, who played the strangest game of the season so far. At one point he had 2 minor pieces and a rook for a queen, but also 3 pieces completely stuck.

At 10pm the secretary usually has a doze. For once however he entered an ending with six pawns each and also bishops of the same colour and forced his opponent into a zugzwang which cost the game. Ant had been a pawn down for a long spell when he pulled off a great combination to take down the hard-to-beat Jim M. Phil, on board 4, had to beat James and yet was in what looked to some of those spectating to be a very dodgy situation. With seemingly full control of his defensive resources and despite being very short of time he was able to get a pawn onto the 5th rank which his opponent had to acknowledge was unstoppable. Superb!

The previous week saw Macc B visiting Stockport B. Illness forced a very late change to the Macc team with the secretary standing in at the last moment. Stockport fought hard and took an early lead but Jake and Geoff gave the visitors an advantage. Dan on board 5 had the advantage for most of his game but resourceful defense from his opponent earned a draw. The stage was set for skipper Tom to find some excellent moves which stunned his opponent into late inaccuracies and earned a 3.5-1.5 win taking Macc to a mid-table position.

Championship Victories for Ant and Marcus

Both Carl and J-P had a chance to deny Ant a solo victory in the Club Championship, but on the 22nd of January, both fell at the first hurdle, with Carl unable to best underdog Tom in a crazy back and forth game, and J-P falling to Geoff. With no more games left to play for Ant, the results mean that the Club Champship victory is now confirmed! Joachim settled the remainder of the fixtures with a win and a loss, putting a close to this season's Club Championship.

In the Pomeroy Cup, Denzil played Marcus to decide the overall winner. Marcus was able to convert with the black pieces, meaning he finishes the competition unbeaten, and will take the Cup victory!

The Secretary's Quickplay has now started, with 10 entries across two groups. It is a 20 minute time control with 10 seconds increment, and entrants play each other twice each with the black and white pieces. Registration remains open - if any club member would like to enter, please email Geoff with your intent.

League results

NSDCA - 29th January

Macclesfield	1½ - 2½	Holmes Chapel A
Gartside, Carl	½ - ½	Bennett, Patrick
Trier, Joachim	0 - 1	Turner, John M
Cattermole, Philip J	0 - 1	Ewens, John P
Laurence, Geoff	1 - 0	Roberts, Malcolm A

NSDCA - 13th February

Fenton A	3½ - ½	Macclesfield A
Acey, Gerald	1 - 0	Trier, Joachim
Floresc, Petru	1 - 0	Cattermole, Philip J
Hill, Steve R	½ - ½	Brough, Anthony RW
Capatina, Kasian	1 - 0	Fothergill, Marcus

SDCL Div 1 - 6th February

Stockport A	5 - 1	Macclesfield A
Beardsworth, Allan	1 - 0	Smith, Gary P
Longson, Sarah N	1 - 0	Taylor, John Paul J
Pink, Joshua	½ - ½	Trier, Joachim
Stoker, Andrew J	1 - 0	Brough, Anthony RW
Crowther, Michael P	½ - ½	Laurence, Geoff
Coe, Andy Laurence	1 - 0	Lobo, Denzil P

SDCL Div 2 - 31st January

Ashton	4 - 1	Macclesfield B
Elgar, Tim	1 - 0	Brough, Anthony RW
McBeath, Joel	1 - 0	Moitié, Tom
De Silva, Sithun	0 - 1	Fothergill, Marcus
Keech, Paul	1 - 0	Barnes, Daniel
Vaddhireddy, Sai	1 - 0	Gartside, Jenny

Ant takes commanding lead in the Club Championship

On Monday after a postponement of the Eccles fixture, Ant took on Tom and Carl took on J-P in the Club Championship. Ant leapt on a couple of early mistakes in the opening by Tom which left Tom with a sad pawn structure and eventually down an exchange by move 20. With the nice advantage, Ant did not let up and prosecuted white's weaknesses and took home a relatively easy win.

Ant has now finished all his games, with 4 wins and 1 loss. After J-P took home a win against Carl on the other board, that means both Carl and J-P have 2 wins and 1 loss each. Either would need to win out to secure joint first place and a playoff with Ant.

Club Championship as it stands

Rank	Name	Played	Won	Draw	Loss	Points
1	A. Brough	5	4	0	1	8
2	C. Gartside	3	2	0	1	4
2	J-P. Taylor	3	2	0	1	4
4	G. Laurence	4	1	1	2	3
5	J. Trier	3	0	2	1	2
6	T. Moitié	4	0	1	3	1

Carl is yet to play Tom and Joachim, whilst J-P is yet to play Geoff and Joachim.

Pomeroy Cup

Denzil played and won against Jenny, setting up a final match against Marcus that will decide the 2023-24 Pomeroy Cup.

Rank	Name	Played	Won	Draw	Loss	Points
1	D. Lobo	3	3	0	0	6
1	M. Fothergill	3	3	0	0	6
3	D. Barnes	3	1	0	2	2
3	J. Gartside	3	1	0	2	2
5	B. Woodhall	4	0	0	4	0

League results

Macclesfield have now got a point in each of the competitions, with draws in the NSDCA and SDCL Division 1.

SDCL Div 1 - 4th January

Urmston A	3 - 3	Macclesfield A
J. Hill	½ - ½	G. Smith
D. Owen	½ - ½	J-P. Taylor
D. Newell	0 - 1	J. Trier
A. Robinson	1 - 0	A. Brough
L. O	0 - 1	G. Laurence
T. Wilson	1 - 0	D. Lobo

NSDCA - 8th January

Macclesfield	2 - 2	Alsager A
G. Smith	0 - 1	S. Hood
J. Trier	1 - 0	J. Booth
P. Cattermole	½ - ½	S. Blackburn
G. Laurence	½ - ½	J. Blackburn