English Chess Forum

Hey John, don't frighten me like that!
I thought for a moment I'd got the wrong day - some of the matches are happening tomorrow.

John McKenna wrote:Great day in the morning!

Dave Gilbert, high priest of Kos, must have conjured up the ionospheric weather for the remaining q-final matches being played today.

Good luck to Surrey in the U-180 and to Kent in the U-140 & U-100.

http://www.oxfordfusion.com/oca/index.cfm?Org=4

Michael Farthing wrote:Hey John, don't frighten me like that!
I thought for a moment I'd got the wrong day - some of the matches are happening tomorrow.

I had the same experience.

In the U180, Surrey have a bye into the Semi Final on 10th June.

Apologies for the premature wake up call - I got carried away by blue-sky thinking. It's already clouding over...

Three results from Milton Keynes today:

U180 Middx 9-7 Warwicks
U140 Worcs 9.5-6.5 Essex
U140 Notts 8.5-7.5 Kent

U100 Warks 8-4 Kent

U180 Devon 10.5-5.5 Notts Lancs play Essex tomorrow at Spondon (Derby)

Michael Farthing wrote:Hey John, don't frighten me like that!
I thought for a moment I'd got the wrong day - some of the matches are happening tomorrow.

After that false alarm, yesterday, I'd like to wish Michael all the best today. I expect he's involved in the Lancs v. Herts U-140 match.

More results have appeared on -

http://www.oxfordfusion.com/oca/index.cfm?Org=4

Where I noticed - Kent 7.5-8.5 Notts, in the U-140 section. Commiserations to Dave Gilbert & Co. Congrats to Neil Graham and his merry men.

Middlesex beat Warks in the outstanding U120 tie

John McKenna wrote:

Michael Farthing wrote:Hey John, don't frighten me like that!
I thought for a moment I'd got the wrong day - some of the matches are happening tomorrow.

After that false alarm, yesterday, I'd like to wish Michael all the best today. I expect he's involved in the Lancs v. Herts U-140 match.

More results have appeared on -

http://www.oxfordfusion.com/oca/index.cfm?Org=4

Where I noticed - Kent 7.5-8.5 Notts, in the U-140 section. Commiserations to Dave Gilbert & Co. Congrats to Neil Graham and his merry men.

Nottinghamshire Under 100 had a bye to the semi-finals - but this still left four matches to arrange over the two weekends.

Our U120 team, the current national champions, were on an 11 match winning run before their match with Hertfordshire. Unfortunately a couple of late withdrawals including our Board One who went down with a sickness bug overnight meant the team was weakened. Even so the collapse of the bottom boards who scored 1/7 (-5,=2) was unexpected and the SCCU team ran out as convincing 8-4 winners.

It looked as if the U160 match was going the same way as Essex took a 7-2 lead but by the time the 15th board was declared the scores had been levelled at 7.5-7.5. Board count was in Nottinghamshire's favour had the top board game, the last to finish been drawn, but Notts were clearly winning and eventually the full point gave the Midlands county a win.

There was no such comeback in the U180 match with Devon. A mini revival at the end where Notts won three of the last four boards to finish gave the result an aura of respectability but by that time Devon had established an overwhelming match winning advantage. On paper the teams looked evenly matched which all goes to show that it's play on the day and not gradings that win these fixtures.

Finally in a close encounter, Notts just pipped a strong Kent side in the U140 section. With the score tied at 6-6 it could have gone either way but in the end Notts garnered the 2.5 points needed to edge out the southern champions by the narrowest of margins.

Now on to the semi-finals - just the three matches and 44 players to sort out.

Neil Graham wrote:Now on to the semi-finals - just the three matches and 44 players to sort out.

Good luck

U140 Yorks win on board count v Hants

John McKenna wrote:

Michael Farthing wrote:Hey John, don't frighten me like that!
I thought for a moment I'd got the wrong day - some of the matches are happening tomorrow.

After that false alarm, yesterday, I'd like to wish Michael all the best today. I expect he's involved in the Lancs v. Herts U-140 match.

Thanks John,
I lost.
However, I found it a very fascinating and exciting game and for parts of it my opponent was definitely rubbing his head with his hands!
I came away disappointed but feeling it had been a good fight.
And the team won - so we live to fight another day. Be afraid Worcs! Be very afraid!

Edit: I also got to say hello to Michael Flatt (with whom I haven't always seen eye-to-eye - but hey! Is that so odd on this forum?) - good to put a face to the name - quite different from how I have always imagined him.

Thanks for that breaking news, Michael. There you go - sacrificing yourself, again, so that your boards 10-16 score +5, =2 with the result Lancs 10-6 Herts.

Board 10 was my neigbour and our man gave a casual check in the opening forcing either a queen intervention with loss of a rook or a king move into the open. The king move into the open generated another casual check picking up a previously developed bishop. The opponent then attempted to drive queen away but succumbed to a scewer of the poor king on the other rook. All done and dusted very soon and two players with nothing to do for ages.

Despite losing I'm glad I had my game and not his.

Glad you enjoyed the game, Michael, a long day for you no doubt; I see the other 2 Lancs teams lost though

Yes, but we did better last week and have three teams in the semis, the same three sections as Yorkshire. Raises the still remote possibility (63-1 against) of three "War of the Roses" contests in the finals.