John Grant made the draw for the quarter finals of the Club KO. I am no longer speaking to Mr Grant:

Shane Cooksey v Ray Muzuva

John Grant/Pradeep Shankar v Peter Leary

Luke Fisher v John Staniforth

Steve Whatmore v Stephen Gaskell

We have a normal club night plus a Cannock League match on Monday 23rd so the club will be open. However, the club is closed on Monday 30th December. We reconvene in the new year on January 6th with 2 home games & a normal club night.

I gambled on rotating our line up in our penultimate Cannock League Division 1 game against Lichfield last night. I moved up to face off against Lichfield's top board while Stephen & John took boards 2 & 3. Cosmin won a piece early on & went on to defeat his opponent on board 4, while Stephen & John both drew. I was last to finish but although I gave it everything, I couldn't survive long enough to really trouble my opponent & lost leaving the score 2-2. This was an improvement on our away defeat, so the plan worked pretty well. We now have 1 match left at home to Rugeley in January. With all 4 Division 1 teams still able to win the league, it promises to be an interesting game.

With several first team players missing we had tried to reschedule our latest Birmingham League Division 2 match at Shirley & Wythall last night. We'd happily accommodated similar pleas from Walsall Kipping & Longbridge earlier in the season, but our opponents refused our request. I was resigned to reluctantly forfeiting the game but Cosmin was determined to play & 'guaranteed' that we'd win. After dozens of emails & calls, we eventually had Shane & Stefan standing in at short notice & had a full 6 board team, although each of us was significantly outrated.

Things looked quite optimistic with Shane gaining an excellent draw, along with myself, Cosmin & Peter L. John S, on board 1, had a Pawn advantage in the middle game but his opponent had a much better minor piece & eventually the pressure on his defences told leading to defeat. At 3-2 Stefan was left to finish against his opponent who outrated him by 300+ points. Stefan played a very attacking game, but came out of the middle game a Rook down. He managed to put significant pressure on his opponent's King, but eventually it found a safe haven & defeat followed.

Final score: Shirley & Wythall 4 Rushall 2

Thank you to everyone who played, especially Shane & Stefan who stepped in at short notice. Apologies to Matt who was all set to play until we remembered that we'd only registered the top 20 or so rated players thinking that he'd never be needed.

Our latest game in the Wolverhampton League Division 1 saw us outrated on every board. It was so one sided that Mercia's board 4 was higher rated than John on our board 1. With Stephen taking his mock exams Alex stepped in & played superbly to grab a draw in a Bishop v Knight endgame while myself, John & Cosmin all tasted defeat.

Final score: Mercia 3.5 Rushall 0.5

4 of our players entered the Cannock League individual tournaments this season. In the Robert Ward Trophy, myself, Stephen Gaskell & Steve Wilcox have all won through to the knockout stages. With 5 players in total qualifying, Stephen was randomly drawn to play a quarter final qualifier while me & Steve have been given a bye into the semi finals.

In the Dolan Trophy, for players rated below 1500 ECF, Aarav Sohi received a really tough draw having to play two of the highest rated players in the competition. However, he performed very well & despite losing his first game, he fought hard to win his second last night & qualify for the knockout rounds in the new year. Congratulations Aarav!

We started last night's game at Rugeley in 4th & last place in Cannock League Division 1. However a close victory moved us right up to 1st place & ensured that we still have hopes of winning the league. Stephen lost to Rugeley's rapidly improving board 1, but the scores were tied when John won on board 2. With Cosmin ahead in a Pawn endgame, when I got offered a draw in a slightly better position, I was happy to take it. Cosmin soon converted his advantage & we came away with a 2.5-1.5 win.

We have 2 Cannock League Division 1 games remaining - at home to Lichfield & Rugeley - & know that we need victory in both to ensure we take the title. Anything less & our hopes will be over.

Disaster struck in last night's Cannock League Division 1 match at Wolverhampton. Stephen got a creditable draw on Board 1, but John, myself & Cosmin all had the advantage in our openings but our positions slowly disintegrated leading to 3 defeats.  We now sit bottom of the table, but things are so tight that victory at Rugeley next week will put us top. 

With no league matches yesterday Steve Wilcox organised another club Rapidplay evening. It was very well supported with a total of 23 players taking part, including the majority of our first team, making it a very competitive & enjoyable evening. Cosmin was the overall winner with 4.5/5, followed by Alex, Stephen & John Staniforth all with 4/5. Prizes were awarded based on finishing position, over 60s, under 18s & slow starters. The under 1640 rating prize was shared by John Grant, Craig, Stefan & Liam who all achieved 3/5. Congratulations to all of the winners.

All games played between current ECF members will be rated.

Thanks to Steve for organising a great evening & to everyone who kindly donated their cash prizes back to the club.

Our Semi Final match versus Tamworth has been arranged for Tuesday 4th February, with the game being played at Norton Canes due to the lack of free Mondays we have available.

The first round game at Stafford last night saw us go through to the semi finals after a 3.5-0.5 victory. Due to a family bereavement Stafford's board 1 was unable to attend so Stephen had a default victory. Shane then agreed a draw on board 4 leaving Cosmin & Peter just needing a draw between them for us to progress. Cosmin was the exchange up when his opponent's time expired to give him & us the win & shortly after Peter sacrificed a Knight on h7 that was incorrectly taken by his opponent. Peter's Queen & Rook then combined to threaten checkmate & with no escape his opponent graciously resigned.

Final score: Stafford 0.3 Rushall 3.5

In the semi finals Stephen drew us out to play at home to Tamworth - a repeat of last year's final. The date is yet to be agreed. Wolverhampton & Rugeley will contest the other semi final.

Our Birmingham League Division 2 home game set for 4th November has now been moved to 6th January at the request of Walsall Kipping.

We won our latest Birmingham League Division 2 game at Oscott last night. 3 players won their games & 3 drew. Making his Birmingham League season debut, Shane finished first with a drawn game that ended with a level Queen & Rook position. Cosmin won his game after a clever sacrifice forced a trade down to a Queen v Rook endgame. Stephen totally swamped his opponent in the middle game & a multi-piece attack resulted in another win, closely followed by Peter who converted his level piece endgame into a win with some clever maneuvers. Me & John then drew our games with victory already assured.

Final score Oscott 1.5 Rushall 4.5

There was no luck involved in our Cannock League Division 1 game versus Wolverhampton - just some quality chess. Although John lost & I drew, superb play from Cosmin who defended well then took his slight advantage (2 Knights v Rook & extra Pawn) forward to victory, took us to a 1.5-1.5 score with just Stephen to finish. He had a Queen versus Rook & Knight in a very complicated end game. Eventually he sacrificed his Queen for the 2 pieces with both players Queening Pawns at the same time. Stephen however, had 3 Pawns remaining to his opponent's 1. That became 2-1, but he cleverly swapped off a Pawn each & eventually his last Pawn pushed on to get a 2nd Queen. His opponent played accurately to stop him & looked to have held on for a draw at one point. However, Stephen's tenacity paid off & an inaccuracy allowed him to fork his opponents King & Queen, leading to the swapping off of both Queens & allowing his last remaining Pawn through untouched. A fantastic victory that earned us both points.

Final score: Rushall 2.5 Wolverhampton 1.5

Well our luck certainly changed in our latest game. We took on an extremely strong Central Birmingham team in our first Birmingham League Division 2 match of the season. We were out-rated by around 800 ECF points across the 6 boards, but managed a terrific 3-3 draw. I lost early & then John drew. Peter played very aggressively & won after his opponent had to give up a minor piece to prevent being mated. Alex then lost after a clever combination overwhelmed his defences, leaving Stephen & Cosmin to finish with us 2.5-1.5 behind. Stephen eventually agreed a draw as the end game position became blocked, but at the same time Cosmin's opponent got behind his defences. Sadly for him, just as he was about to win material, his time expired & Cosmin was able to claim the win & a draw for the team.

Final score: Rushall 3 C Birmingham 3

It was deja vu all over again in our latest Wolverhampton League Division 1 match. We visited West Bromwich & lost narrowly for the 2nd time in 8 days. This time myself, Stephen & John S got creditable draws on the top 3 boards - Stephen after a brave Bishop sacrifice, John after a sharp French Defence & me after a rare Queen's Gambit Accepted. However, Cosmin sadly lost concentration after his opponent offered a draw, which he politely declined, only to go & lose a piece for nothing on the next move. This was the turning point in the game & led to his eventual defeat & a therefore narrow team defeat.

We now have a break from Wolverhampton League play for a while, but start our Birmingham League Division 2 season next Monday hoping for a bit better luck.

Final score West Bromwich 2.5-Rushall 1.5

Our first Cannock League Division 1 game ended in a narrow defeat to Lichfield. Stephen blundered in the middle game & lost to his 2000+ rated opponent. Me & John S then drew fairly quickly leaving Cosmin on board 4 to hopefully take victory to tie the match. He was looking good, being the exchange ahead, but unfortunately missed a Knight fork & lost his Rook. After a tense finish he managed to get 2 passed Pawns against an extra piece, but a draw was finally agreed with all Pawns taken to hand Lichfield the 2 points.

Final score: Lichfield 2.5 Rushall 1.5

new tournament organiser craig cowley has done the draw for two internal competitions

The under 15 trophy is an all-play-all. last years winner stephen gaskell is now too old so we will be looking for a new winner.

The les wilcox trophy is a knockout for under1640 rated players

The draw was made last night for the Club Championship. 20 players have entered, so 8 players will play in the 1st round with the other 12 getting a bye into the 2nd round. The draw was made randomly by Steve Wilcox:

Stefan Winman v Zach Bennett

John Grant v Alex Pready

Matthew Blackwell v David Jarvis

Liam Parsons v Stephen Gaskell

Games need to be played before the end of October.

After a few weeks of negotiating with Phil Bull, we have agreed to play a WolRush Cup match each season against Wolverhampton. The match will take place as a standard play preseason game & as I won the toss we will be at home on Monday August 4th next year. It will be 7 boards with each board having a maximum rating limit so that players of all abilities can compete.

I tried to reinstate the Walrus Trophy against Walsall Kipping with the idea of playing at the end of last season, however their committee did not want to get a team together to play us at that time.

We welcomed Wolverhampton in our first home Wolverhampton League Division 1 game of the season last night. I took away an early draw, after which Cosmin earned a full point defeating his opponent with his trademark opening. John S was a piece down to his opponent while Stephen looked equal with his. Stephen managed to secure the draw, but his opponent felt that Stephen had the best winning chances in the Pawn endgame. Meanwhile John had fought back from a piece down to a Bishop for a Pawn ahead! With the score 2-1 to us, he offered a draw to ensure a team victory & his opponent accepted knowing that he could only realistically draw at best. Final score - Rushall 2.5 Wolverhampton 1.5.

Our Wolverhampton Division 3 team also played at home against Warley Quinborne & won convincingly with Alex, Peter, John G & Shane all winning their games to take a 4-0 victory.

We started our Wolverhampton League Division 1 season with a trip to Warley Quinborne on Thursday. Against a slightly higher rated team we managed 3 draws - John on 2, myself on 3 & Cosmin on 4. However, on board 1, Stephen sadly lost in a double Bishop & Pawn endgame after his opponent managed to get a Passed Pawn & Stephen was forced to sacrifice one of his Bishops for 2 Pawns. Eventually the extra minor piece paid off. Final score: Warley Quinborne 2.5 Rushall 1.5.

Although we played a couple of Cannock League games in August, our season officially kicked off with our Rapidplay competition yesterday evening. We had a wonderful turn out with a total of 23 players competing in 5 swiss rounds of 15 minute games. Stephen Gaskell came out on top with 5 wins followed by Craig Cowley & me on 4. Top junior was Zach Bennett (3 points), top under 1640 rated players were Shane Cooksey & Matthew Blackwell (3.5 points), top oldies were Alex Pready & John Grant (3 points) & top performer after a slow start was Pradeep Shankar. Thanks as ever to Steve Wilcox for organizing an enjoyable evening.

After discussions at last night's AGM some tweaks are being made to this season's Club KO. All club members will receive an email soon with the new rules/guidelines & an opportunity to enroll in the tournament.

Rushall have won the prestigious Pittaway cup for the first time.

The trophy is contested by W'ton league first teams in a jamboree pairings event.

Rushall scored 6 points from the 8 board team.

Our team was Cosmin-Constantin Arapu, Steve Whatmore, Stephen Gaskell, John Staniforth, Alex Pready, Peter Leary, Steve Wilcox and John Grsnt.

Mayday Rapidpla

First stephen gaskell. 5 out of 5

Second steve whatmore 4 out of  5

15 players took part

Our first team in the Birmingham League, division 3, captained by Steve Whatmore, have won the Championship with a match still to play.

13 year old Stephen was equal first in the minor section ( under 1700 rating ) at the massive Blackpool congress, 10th to 12th February 2023. His score was 4 1/2 out of 5

• Half season, best percentages in league so far
•                                        played    won   drawn   lost     points    percentage
• Joseph Wilcox                        4      3         1         0       3 1/2        87.5%
• Cosmin-Constantin Arapu        9      6         1          2       6 1/2        72.2
• Steve Whatmore                    14     8         4         2         10           71.4
• Stephen Gaskelll                   12     7         3         2         8 1/2        70.8
• David Jarvis                           6      2         4         0         4             66.6
• Pradeep Shankar                    3      2         9         1         2             66.6
• Alex Pready                          12     6         3         3        7 1/2         62.5     
• Samuel Baugh                       12     6         3         3        7 1/2         62.5 
• Stefan Winman                      12     6         3         3        7 1/2         62.5 
• Peter Leary                           12     6          2         4        7              58.3
• John Staniforth                      15     4          9         2       8 1/2         56.6
• Shane Cooksey                     10     3          5         2       5 1/2         55.0

19/12/22 equal first with 4 / 5 were peter leary and steve whatmore

Steve Wilcox played his 1,000th Rushall team game on Monday 24th October V Rugeley.

Steve wants to thank everyone for the generous gift to mark the occasion

Rushall's 13 year old Stephen Gaskell won the Crewe under 1500 section with a perfect 5 out of 5 for the weekend. Cogratulatios Stephen.

8 teams. Lichfield win with 3 1/2 out of 4

A warm welcome to our first Romanian player. Cosmin-Constantin Arapu came along tonight and played some entertaining games

At the AGM on 15/8/2022 Stephen Gaskell was named Most Improved Player Of The Season

Manpreet Sangha 4 1/2 / 5

Adrian Dibble / Alex Pready 4 / 5

best u/1630 gtade also Adrian

best over 60 y o also Alex

best under 18 Stephen Gaskell 2 1/2 / 5

best score from player with slow start Aryan Shankar 2 / 5

David Jarvis Played 12 - 62.5%, Stephen Gaskell Played 8 - 62.5%, Shriya Pillay Played 14 - 60.7%,

Adrian Dibble Played 7 - 57.1%, Joseph Wilcox Played 9 - 55.5%, John Grant Played 22 - 54.5%,

Alex Pready Played 21 - 52.3%,  Roger Bray Plated 19 - 52.6%.

16/5/22 We win final Cannock league division two match V Rugeley, Winning Championship. Played 6, scoring 9 points.

Top scorer for the ream was Stefan Winman with 3 out of 3

CDCL's Cup Final, Drawn 2 - 2 , but Rushall win on board count.

It is sad to report the passing of Walsall Kipping's David Anderton, who died on 1st April, 2022.

David was a brilliant player for Walsall and Staffordshire. He had been past President of the County as well as first team captain for many years. He had many roles with the English Chess Federation including captain of their international team.

Condolences go to David's widow Doreen, a past member of Rushall Chess Club.

Good News. Steve has decided to play ror us in the WDCL as well.

               RESULTS

Joint Winners ( 4/5 ) Alex Pready, Steve Whatmore, Steve Wilcox(also best over 60 )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     best under 18 y o  ( 3/5 ) Stephen Gaskell

best under 1640 grade ( 3 1/2/ ) Stefan Winman 

best slow starter ( 3/5 ) Pradeep Shankar

sixteen entered

On our Links page you can navigate to the ECF ratings page. Here are shown the half season (January) ratings. Only five of our players have increased their grades since the start of the season (July 2021). They are Joe Wilcox +23, Shriya Pillay +22, John Staniforth +17, Peter Turner +6, Steve Whatmore +5.

Please let Webmaster David Jarvis know of any newsworthy items.