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U150 20062007

U150

Season 2007 - 2008

 
Saturday 5th July
 

Congratulations to Yorkshire on winning the U150 County Championship. We had come so close last season, but this time we were well beaten. The final score was 10 - 6, and you have to go back to January 2006 to find the last time another county scored as much as 10 points against us. We had played eleven matches since that defeat by Kent, and the final was a disappointing occasion for us to have an off-day. Yorkshire even gave us a head start with a default. We should not take anything away from Yorkshire. They were strong opposition, certainly as strong as Warwickshire and Cambridgeshire who we had beaten in the previous rounds to reach the final. Perhaps the fact that our only wins over the board came from two players who are unlikely to be eligible for U150 chess next season underlines the strength of Yorkshire.

 
The venue for the finals was again Moat Community College, Leicester. Although we had the head start of the default win, Yorkshire made the early running with two victories to edge ahead. Adam Batson levelled the match with a win on the top board to conclude another fine season for the county, but by that stage I was hearing reports that we were in trouble. Although we were level on some boards, on others we were slipping slowly but surely to defeat. The points started to stack up for Yorkshire, and with five boards left they had reached 7.5 points. Although the Herts players fought gamely on, it was apparent that Yorkshire had another board in the bag, and it was all over with four boards still in play. Mace Carnochan pressed home his advantage to give us a late consolation win on board eight.
 
There followed the presentation of trophies, and photographs, and happily this included the celebration of a win for the Herts U100 team, captained by Kidge Elder.
 
Despite the disappointment of the final, this has been a memorable season for the U150 team, and at this point I would like to affirm the contribution of Simon Morris, David Edney, Paul Lawrence, Avinoam Baruch, Steve Rawlings, Tarisai Savanhu, Dominic Robinson, Dane Young, Jon Spencer, Gary Thurston, Mir Wali, Keith Woodhouse and Alan Gore. These players may not have played in the final on Saturday, and some have them have stepped into the team at short notice, but they have all contributed to the success of the U150 team this season. I would emphasise that the U150 county game is about having a strong squad of players that enable players to compete against players of a similar grading. We have used 29 different players this season, and I wish to thank each one for their support.
 
Next stop is the HCA AGM which will be held at The Free Church, Church Road, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6JQ, on Friday 11th July, starting 7.30 pm, when among the presentations will be the award of the Tom Wright Trophy to Paul Kenning, who finished with a score of seven points from his eight matches.
 
Have a good summer, and hope to see you all next season for more adventures with Herts U150.
 
Regards,
 
Mike

 

Board Yorkshire Grade Score Herts Grade Score
1 James Carpenter 145 0 Adam Batson 147 1
2 Youri Taroyan 148 1 David Cox 149 0
3 Robert Murray 145 0.5 David Bower 145 0.5
4 Clive Davies 147 0.5 Antony Hall 145 0.5
5 Andrew Bak 146 1 Anthony Burrows 144 0
6 Tom Whitaker 141 1 Roger Gordonsmith 143 0
7 Jonathan Swallow 142 1 Richard House 142 0
8 George Bak 140 0 Mace Carnochan 142 1
9 Tom Pitcher 106 0.5 Mark Topham 141 0.5
10 Default   0 Brian Judkins 138 1
11 Paul Howden 135 0.5 James Aldred 137 0.5
12 Robin Browne 134 1 Simon Charles 137 0
13 Rupert Jones 134 0.5 Mark Harris 136 0.5
14 Martin Simmonds 132 1 Ian Mutton 132 0
15 Rob Letton 130 0.5 Paul Kenning 130 0.5
16 Nick Mahoney 128 1 Mike Price 127 0
Total     10     6

 

Saturday 7th June 2008

Herts U150 reached the ECF final for the second consecutive season, as they beat Cambridgeshire 9.5 - 6.5 in their semi-final at Stevenage yesterday.

 
After the quarter-final win over Warwickshire, we were faced with the absence of three of our strongest players for the semi-final. We are therefore fortunate to have been able to call on Dominic Robinson, Steve Rawlings, Mark Harris and Mir Wali to maintain the balance of the side, and ensure that we were a close match for strong opponents from Cambridgeshire. After three early draws, Cambridgeshire moved ahead, and at that point they looked to have the edge. However, Mir Wali scored our first win with a text book attack on the castled position, and with Anthony Burrows soon winning with a ferocious counter-attack, we moved ahead. Elsewhere most boards were looking level. Eventually Cambridgeshire levelled with their second win, but this was to be their last success. In the space of a few minutes the match dramatically swung Herts way as we won two boards in a manner that was unforeseen. Antony Hall was the beneficiary of a sudden blunder by his opponent, and then Dominic Robinson won as his opponent contrived to lose on time after being significantly ahead on the clock. Congratulations to Dominic on his debut for Herts; as an experienced watcher of Dominic's games I should not be surprised that his opponent fell into this trap. Although Cambridgeshire put up some stern resistance on the remaining boards, Herts were generally in control, and with David Bower a rook up in his game, we soon had a further Herts win, which brought us to 8 points, and a guaranteed place in the final.
 
Congratulations to Paul Kenning on winning the Tom Wright Trophy; with the final still to be played, he has an unassailable lead. Congratulations also to David Bower, Anthony Burrows and Mir Wali, whose sequence of results qualify for county ties. All trophies and ties will be awarded at the Herts AGM, to be held at The Free Church, Church Road, Welwyn Garden City, AL8 6JQ, on Friday 11th July, starting at 7.30 pm.
 
I am once again grateful to Wali, who not for the first time has come into the side as a last minute replacement with such outstanding success. I am aware that he is unbeaten in county play this season, and his performance underlines one of the secret strengths of this U150 team, and that is several players in this team have grades in county play (if such were published), that are far superior to their actual published grades. You might think that Cambridgeshire on paper had an edge over Herts on the lower half boards (Cambridgeshire were fielding a couple of juniors in case you are wondering at the discrepancy), but Herts remained solidly unbeaten on the lower half boards.
 
Now turning to arrangements for the final.
 
We will play either Notts or Yorkshire in the final, which will take place at 1.30 pm on Saturday 5th July at Moat Community College, Maidstone Road, Leicester, LE2 0TU.
 
 
The date coincides with the weekend of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and last year some players were badly delayed on the M1. You should expect to be seated at your board by 1.15 pm for the pre-match rituals, so make allowances for this.
 
I shall be away on holiday to Switzerland from Friday 20th June to Friday 4th July, the day before the final. I am so glad that the team has re-paid my faith in them. When I booked the holiday, I was confident we would reach the final. I would have been sick to have come back earlier than necessary had we not reached the final !
Whilst I am away, I have arranged that Paul Kenning should be the point of contact, in case any changes need to be made to the team.
 
The team for the final will be based around the team that travelled to Birmingham for the quarter-final. Next week I hope to announce the team for the final, plus the names of three or four players on standby in the case of late withdrawals, which has occurred too often this season. What I need this week, is confirmation of your availability for the final (or not). Next week before I depart, I will then e-mail or speak individually to the selected players, and those on standby, with final arrangements, and this will include instructions for contacting Paul in my absence.
 
Once again, thanks to everybody for their support this season that has carried us through to the final. Looking forward to seeing many of you in Leicester.

 

Board Herts Grade Score Cambridgeshire Grade Score
1 Dominic Robinson 149 1 Ray Ilett 147 0
2 Steve Rawlings 146 0 Marcus Mission 149 1
3 David Bower 145 1 Francis Bowers 145 0
4 Antony Hall 145 1 Francis Donaghy 143 0
5 Anthony Burrows 144 1 John Daugman 142 0
6 Roger Gordonsmith 143 0 Chris Davison 131 1
7 Mace Carnochan 142 0.5 Stephen Pride 140 0.5
8 Mark Topham 141 0.5 Bernard Duff 141 0.5
9 Brian Judkins 138 0.5 Ashley Stewart 119 0.5
10 James Aldred 137 0.5 Colin Byrne 140 0.5
11 Simon Charles 137 0.5 Patrick Ribbands 139 0.5
12 Mark Harris 136 0.5 Richard Newman 138 0.5
13 Ian Mutton 132 0.5 Phil Turp 136 0.5
14 Paul Kenning 130 0.5 Marcus Connolly 135 0.5
15 Mike Price 127 0.5 Mike Bradley 132 0.5
16 Mir Wali 117 1 Peter Barkas 131 0
      9.5   6.5  

 

Saturday 17th May 2008

Warwickshire 7 Herts 9

A fine win for Herts U150 as they travelled to Birmingham, took on a strong Warwickshire side, and came away with a 9-7 win, that took them through to the ECF semi-finals for a second consecutive season. The Warwickshire captain pointed out that the teams that had beaten them in the last two seasons, were the teams who had gone on to win the final. Let's hope that we can make this three seasons in a row !

 
After a couple of draws, Herts nosed in front with a win for Mace Carnochan on his debut for the Herts U150 team. We hope that win will be the first of many for Mace playing for Herts. However, Herts really took a grip on the match when in the space of five minutes, Herts won all three of the bottom boards through Paul Kenning, Mike Price and Simon Morris. This was a crucial strike, and although Warwickshire were making signs of a fight back on some of the other boards, this was a gap that they could not overcome. Dick House meanwhile was giving a demonstration of how one advanced pawn on the seventh rank could be stronger than several pawns that were not advanced. When Ian Mutton mated his opponent, we knew we were home and dry, and a few minutes later Dick confirmed victory with the win that took us over the winning line.
 
Congratulations to Paul Kenning on taking his winning sequence this season to six out of six, and Dick House for four wins out of four.
 
You only have to look at the grades of the Warwickshire team to appreciate that this win was right up there with the best achieved by the Herts U150 team in my time as captain. I was most impressed with the commitment of the players who made this journey to Birmingham; we had a strong side, but we needed to if we were to match Warwickshire. In order that everyone knows where they stand, I have no hesitation in stating that the players who travelled to Birmingham will have first refusal on places for the final, should we be successful in the semi-final.
 
Now turning to arrangements for the semi-final.
 
The Herts v Cambs U150 ECF semi-final match will take place at 2 pm on Saturday 7th June 2008 at Holy Trinity Church Parish Room, High Street, Old Town, Stevenage, SG1 3HS. This is the venue of Stevenage Chess Club.
 
Rate of play: 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 30 minutes for all remaining moves.
 
Board Warwicks Grade Score Herts Grade Score
1 Colin Eckloff 148 1 Adam Batson 147 0
2 Robert Reynolds 144 0.5 David Cox 149 0.5
3 Robert Wallman 148 0.5 David Bower 145 0.5
4 Mike Doran 146 1 Antony Hall 145 0
5 Rob Hearne 145 0.5 Anthony Burrows 144 0.5
6 Thomas Robinson 144 0.5 Roger Gordonsmith 143 0.5
7 Robert Walker 143 0 Richard House 142 1
8 Richard C Reynolds 142 0 Mace Carnochan 142 1
9 Gary Hope 140 0.5 Mark Topham 141 0.5
10 Darren Lee 140 0.5 Brian Judkins 138 0.5
11 Simon Williams 140 1 James Aldred 137 0
12 John Fahy 135 1 Simon Charles 137 0
13 Phil Bull 135 0 Ian Mutton 132 1
14 Adam Draper 135 0 Paul Kenning 130 1
15 Alan Burnet 127 0 Simon Morris 130 1
16 Aled Walker 127 0 Mike Price 127 1
    Total 7   Total 9

 

Surrey 6 Herts 10

10th November 2007

A crucial result for Herts U150, as they won 10 - 6 away to Surrey at Coulsdon. With Surrey having won their opening match, and after our opening loss to Essex, this was a match we could not afford to lose if we hoped to progress to the ECF national stages again. Half a dozen of the Herts players were unavailable for this match, and as the teams lined up, there was very little to separate them on paper. However, with early wins for Dick House and David Cox we gained a useful lead, and with further wins from Alan Gore, Paul Kenning, James Aldred and Simon Morris we pulled steadily away to lead 8 - 4. Tarisai Savanhu secured victory with a draw, and when David Bower converted his rook's pawn we had yet another winner to add icing to the cake.

 
Although Essex have won their opening two matches, they have both been at home. We have now completed two tough away fixtures, and we can look forward to having two home, and just one away left to play. Nevertheless, our next opponents will be Kent at Gadebridge Community Centre, Hemel Hempstead on Saturday 8th December. Kent have been fielding a strong looking team this season, and we shall be looking to do likewise. If you are unavailable for this date, I would appreciate you letting me know before I start to send out the invites to play in about ten days.
 
We will be sharing the venue with the 1st team, so there will be the opportunity for transport sharing if applicable.

 

Essex 8.5 Herts 6.5

13th October 2007

Do you ever get the feeling that events are conspiring against you ? I did, on Saturday, when shortly after 2 pm heavy machinery associated with the car park re-surfacing roared into life just outside the South Woodford venue for our U150 away match against Essex. You begin to wonder "What next is going to go wrong?". If your hearing was OK, then you could shut the noise out with concentration, but for Anthony Burrows it was intolerable, and he understandably refused to start. David Smith, the SCCU controller who was playing for Essex, agreed to share a double default with Anthony, but that left Mark Harris at a disadvantage as he was re-paired with Anthony's opponent from board 4.
 
I would like to share with you some of the organisation leading up to this match, so that you understand what was going on, and to underline the task facing us this season. With the fixtures, we essentially have a two-year cycle, so this season we are home to those counties we visited last season, and away to those counties we hosted last season. This season for the U150 team is harder in terms of fixtures, as we face three away trips to Essex, Surrey and Sussex, and just two home matches, against Kent and Middlesex. To make matters more complicated, with the exception of the November fixtures, we are playing on the same date as the county 1st team.
 
Jeremy, as 1st team captain, was given his toughest journey to Sussex to start with, and we anticipated that he would struggle to raise a full team without support from U150 players. Fortunately, I received a prompt and strong response from U150 players for the match against Essex. I appreciate that not everybody is able to commit themselves to a match date until nearer the time, but as a rule of thumb, I am seeking to finalise a team a week before the match. I do not go with the first 16 replies received, but it obviously helps your chances of playing if you reply promptly. In this case there was good reason to finalise the U150 team early, as Jeremy was going to need all the help we could give him, and I accordingly gave Jeremy a list of U150 players who were not scheduled to play against Essex.
 
Golden rule 1 - If you have a full team of 16 players a week before a match, never assume you will have the same 16 players a week later.
 
In the last 48 hours before the match, we lost two of our strongest players due to work and illness, and with all available U150 players heading for one match or the other, we were grateful to Dane Young for stepping in at short notice, and to Jeremy for releasing Mark Topham to the U150 match. On the morning of the match, ten minutes before I was due to leave home, I received a phone call from the Essex captain to advise that the venue car park would be closed. I promptly asked for, and was given, a delayed start to the match. And then the heavy machinery started............all part of the rich tapestry of life of a county captain !!!
 
The match itself was close, but Essex away are a tough enough proposition without the setbacks we had endured, and Essex edged away to a 9 - 7 victory, with the only Herts winners being Adam Batson and Paul Kenning.
 
It is worth remembering that we lost our first match last season, and we all know what happened after that. So there is still everything to play for.
 
We now turn our attention to the November matches. Jeremy has a vital match on 3rd November which I believe is crucial to their chances of qualification to the ECF stages as a minor county, and as we are not in U150 action, please give him your support if required.
 
On Saturday 10th November, we are away to Surrey at Coulsdon. I am already aware of at least four players who are unavailable for this date, so this may well stretch our resources. As before, let me know your availability, and I will provide travel details as appropriate.
 
The venue for our match on Saturday 8th December will be Gadebridge Community Centre, Hemel Hempstead. We will be sharing the venue with the 1st team, so there will be the opportunity for transport sharing if applicable.