Coventry v Leamington Match

 The Coventry and District Chess League marks its 100th anniversary this year. After a successful Season and Centenary Tournament, the League continues to celebrate - this time, challenging the Leamington League (LDCL) for an inter-league match.

Spearheaded by, Chairman Colin Green leading the Coventry & District side, and Ben Graff (LDCL Chairman) leading the Leamington side - two teams of fourteen players each, came together to celebrate the occasion.

This eventful match was held at Sprinkles Gelato on Hales Street, who very generously provided an excellent venue for all the players - supporting local chess.

From Coventry & District, the players represented clubs of Coventry, the city's two universities (Coventry, and Warwick), and the surrounding towns of Nuneaton, Rugby, and Kenilworth - which has formed the backbone of this League for the last 100 years.

There were two rounds played - every player with 30 minutes each. Round 1 saw the Leamington League take a significant lead with 9-5. This was enough for Coventry & District to manage expectations about chances of winning. Never-the-less, the players came back in earnest for Round 2 - would there be a huge upset, or would Leamington prevail?

As win came after win, it was clear that every point mattered, as the Coventry side started to take a Round 2 lead. In a turn of events, the CDCL settled on 9-5, equalizing the scores, to bring the result to a complete tie. From blundering queens to back-rank mate, the games saw the full range of tactics on display!

Both Leagues thank all the players for competing, as well as, every player and local Club organiser for keeping local chess vibrant across Coventry & District, and last but not least, to Sprinkles Gelato for their generous support.

Results

COVENTRY & DISTRICT LEAGUE    14-14  LEAMINGTON
Open
1  Philip Briggs    Nuneaton   1-1   Mark Page

2  Bob Wildig       Rugby      0-2   Mike Donnelly

3  David Ireland    Coventry   2-0   Neil Staples
4  Bernard Charnley Kenilworth 2-0   Tom Darling

5  Tony Green       Nuneaton   1-1   Ben Graff
Under 150
6  Sam Cotterill    Coventry 0.5-1.5 Dave Thomas
7  John Conway      Coventry   1-1   Dave Shurrock
8  David Riley      Rugby      0-2   Jude Shearsby
Under 120
9  John Hall    Rugby      0-2  Peter Stiff
10 John Rayner  Nuneaton   1-1  Algirdas Toleikis
11 James March  WarwickUni 1-1  Alexandros Kagkalis
Under 90
12 Paul Sweatman    Coventry 0.5-1.5 Jimmy Blair
13 Hok Chiu         WarwickUni 2-0   Jonathan Male
14 Chun Chiu        WarwickUni 2-0   Bruce Holland