2012 National Stages

[Alex Holowczak]

Results flooding in:

U180: Devon 7.5 Surrey 8.5
U120: Staffordshire 4.5 Essex 7.5

[Ian Kingston]

U180: Yorkshire 9-7 Nottinghamshire

[Alex Holowczak]

Minor: Leicestershire beat Cambridgeshire 10-6 (now confirmed)

[Alex Holowczak]

U160: Yorkshire beat Kent 11-5

First time period of 48 in 2 hours, apparently.

[Alex Holowczak]

U140: Hertfordshire beat Hampshire 11.5-4.5

[David Pardoe]

Manchester won a close fought contest against Lancs U160 by 9-7. Our juniors again put in excellent performances.
Those who decry County chess should be at matches like this...really nail biting stuff.
Its almost a shame there has to be losers in such matches, because it takes two teams to make a good match, and this certainly didnt disappoint. Finding the venue, in and amongst the backwaters of Heywood (on the borders of GMCR, West Yorks, & Lancs) at a school undergoing major reconstruction works was a tad tricky, so the match got off to a late start. Well done to all concerned.

[Alex Holowczak]

Minor: Essex beat Lincolnshire 8.5-7.5

[Alex Holowczak]

Open: Staffordshire beat Yorkshire (result and score unconfirmed)

Yorkshire fell foul of KNP v KN being a win for the KN when KNP's flag fell, my correspondent tells me.

[Richard Haddrell]

Open: Staffordshire beat Yorkshire (result and score unconfirmed)

I didn't think Staffordshire were playing Yorkshire!

[Matthew Turner]

Somerset beat Yorkshire on board count after Yorkshire lost the last game on time. It was slightly more ridiculous than Alex suggests because it was actually

K+N vs K+N+P+Q!

[Richard Bates]

Somerset beat Yorkshire on board count after Yorkshire lost the last game on time. It was slightly more ridiculous than Alex suggests because it was actually

K+N vs K+N+P+Q!

Sounds like individualism (vs good of the team) is alive and well in Yorkshire Or maybe the team were quite happy not to need to travel again!
It could be said that the presence of the Q made it less ridiculous because it makes a failure to claim a draw much more explicable...

Staffs actually lost (to Middlesex) 4.5-11.5

[Brian Valentine]

u180: Lancs 9 Beds 7

[David Sedgwick]

Somerset beat Yorkshire on board count after Yorkshire lost the last game on time. It was slightly more ridiculous than Alex suggests because it was actually

K+N vs K+N+P+Q!

Sounds like individualism (vs good of the team) is alive and well in Yorkshire Or maybe the team were quite happy not to need to travel again!
It could be said that the presence of the Q made it less ridiculous because it makes a failure to claim a draw much more explicable...

Staffs actually lost (to Middlesex) 4.5-11.5

Perhaps we shouldn't jump to conclusions. The Yorkshire player may have mistakenly believed that he needed to win.

I must say I don't like this sort of thing. Roll on small increments.

Congratulations to Middlesex on an impressive victory. I'm sure there won't be any similar slip-up against Somerset in the Semi Final.

I think Surrey 9.5 - 6.5 Lancashire on the Open Division is a result I can add to the mix, unless I've missed it up thread.

I can't recall the last time that neither of the big NCCU teams made it to the Semi Finals.

[Richard Bates]

I can't recall the last time that neither of the big NCCU teams made it to the Semi Finals.

2002 it seems. Facing Somerset (travel) and the current Surrey (strength) is probably quite close to a perfect storm in a year when both teams have been nominated though.

[Mick Norris]

Somerset beat Yorkshire on board count after Yorkshire lost the last game on time. It was slightly more ridiculous than Alex suggests because it was actually

K+N vs K+N+P+Q!

Great result, well played