Semi-finals

Discussion about all aspects of the ECF County Championships.
John Moore
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Semi-finals

Post by John Moore » Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:32 pm

The first of the semi-finals takes place this weekend. Essex take on Lancashire in the Open event on Sunday 13 June at Syston. Should be a close match.

John Philpott

Re: Semi-finals

Post by John Philpott » Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:09 pm

Three quick draws (Sands v Morrison, Jowett v Myall and White v Cooper) have done nothing to overturn John's prediction of a close match, although Lancashire do have an overall grading advantage.

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:41 pm

What was the result, asks an interested player who could not have been there today?

Graham Morrison
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by Graham Morrison » Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:44 pm

Jonathan Rogers wrote:What was the result, asks an interested player who could not have been there today?
Hi Jonathan,

We (Lancashire) won 9-7. See quick report at http://www.sccu.ndo.co.uk/matchbcf.htm

Cheers,
Graham

John Philpott

Re: Semi-finals

Post by John Philpott » Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:45 pm

Final score was Essex 7 - 9 Lancashire. Game scores (some of which are currently incomplete) are appearing on the Essex Chess Blog at http://chesster9.wordpress.com/

Jonathan Rogers
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by Jonathan Rogers » Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:58 pm

Thank you both! And a special hello to Graham, whom I have not seen post here before.

The sides look more evenly matched than I had expected, though it seems that the match was less close than the scores suggest. Maybe some of the Lancashire grades are deceptively low. Looking down their list, I remember playing Mike Conroy in a semi-final in 1991 (Nottinghamshire v Lancashire), and Nick Ivell, whom I played in 1992, looks like a very strong board five.

Essex can't complain - we hadn't expected even to qualify for the national stages for most of the season. And I can't remember us ever beating Lancashire!

John Moore
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by John Moore » Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:18 pm

Some criticism on the Essex website about the early draws. Maybe fair, I don't know. But I am sure we were happy with where we stood after the first three. Looked like we were losing on bottom board (where David M made a remarkable recovery) but we looked to be better on a couple of boards and I thought George O'Toole was doing well. That is a game worth looking at!

I spent all my time trying to decide whether I was playing Hartston Portisch from Nice 1974 which Hartston won very quickly. Actually the position is different because they faffed around wheras we played properly. Anyway, I am a pawn down (admittedly with plenty of compo) but half an hour behind on the clock in a complex position. So I take the draw.

John Philpott

Re: Semi-finals

Post by John Philpott » Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:52 am

John Moore wrote
Some criticism on the Essex website about the early draws
My initial response was that I would regard the references as objective statements of what happened rather than criticism. At that stage I must admit that I was looking at the main post and had not spotted the comments!

James Pratt
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by James Pratt » Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:42 am

Hartston said that when he was playing Portisch in Nice he had a combo which he was uncertain about. Bill got up and exchanged pleasantries with Keene. Portisch complained.

"After that" related WRH "I knew it worked."

John Philpott

Re: Semi-finals

Post by John Philpott » Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:47 am

Essex play Notts at Eaton Ford in Cambridgeshire in the U180 semi-final this afternoon. I am now an author on the essexchess Blog at http://chesster9.wordpress.com/and hope to be able to provide regular updates during the afternoon.

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Rob Thompson
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by Rob Thompson » Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:30 pm

In the U-180 Devon and Warwickshire drew 8-8, with Warwickshire going through on board count
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Roger de Coverly
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by Roger de Coverly » Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:53 pm

Sussex beat Staffs in the Open semi which was played at Bourne End. There were 3 games outstanding including Loz when I left.

That makes for a Lancs v Sussex final which is one of the occasions when a midlands venue for the final makes reasonable sense.
Last edited by Roger de Coverly on Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

John Philpott

Re: Semi-finals

Post by John Philpott » Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:53 pm

For anybody who did not check out the blog, I can advise that Essex U180s lost on board count to Notts, and Essex U160s lost on board count to Yorkshire.

Neil Graham
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by Neil Graham » Sat Jun 19, 2010 11:06 pm

U-140 Nottinghamshire 8 Yorkshire B 8* Yorkshire win on Board Count. Notts have raised an appeal concerning an eligibility matter,

U-100 Yorkshire 2.5 Warwickshire 7.5 (I think).

Phil Makepeace
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Re: Semi-finals

Post by Phil Makepeace » Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:12 am

Lincs 6.5 - 9.5 Middlesex (Syston). So it's a Middlesex - Leics/Herts Minor Final.

At 6.5 - 5.5 up, it wasn't clear where the other 2 Middlesex points were going to come from (we were miles down on board count) but, with a bit of luck, we managed to get there.

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