This trophy for knockout winner in the under 1650 grade was David Jarvis, who retained his trophy.

This trophy for the most improved player season 2024-2025 was presented to Matthew Blackwrll

John Staniforth and Peter Leary drew in the final of the club championship and agreed to share the trophy

Aarav Sohi won the Wolverhampton league's Individual knockout Trophy - The Bidgood Cup.

The 15 minute rapidplay on 23/6/25 was won by Stephen Gaskell with 5/5.

Second place went to John Staniforth with 4/5

17 players took part.

Draws from Peter & myself weren't enough to take away any points as we suffered defeats on boards 1 & 4.

Forgive me if you've read this before, but we were again outrated on every board. As ever though, one of our players stepped up & this time Alex won his game. 2 draws by John G & Shane helped our score, but losses on the top 3 boards meant that we lost 4-2.

We finish the Birmingham League comfortably in mid table of Division 2 thanks to some strong early results. Thanks to everyone who played & contributed this season.

Congratulations to Steve Whatmore on winning the Cannock league's premier individual trophy

Believe it or not, we were outrated on every board again!

However, once again, we battled hard to get a point. Draws from myself, John S, Steve Wilcox & Alex were all well deserved. The star of the evening though was undoubtedly Peter, who needed a win with us 3-2 down & him still playing. He chose 2 wonderful sacrifices, firstly giving up a Bishop for 2 Pawns & then his Queen for a Bishop to ensure one of those Pawns was able to reach the 8th rank & take victory. A fantastic piece of play with time running down. Well played Peter!

Once again we were outrated across every board - it's becoming a bit of a theme. However, 2 excellent wins by Alex & John G + draws from Shane & myself meant that we shared the spoils & advance to mid table.

A fantastic win by Shane & draws by John S, Alex & myself weren't enough to give us the points as we lost 2.5-3.5 to South Birmingham.

Aarav Sohi won his Quarter Final match last night at Lichfield. He now qualifies for the Semi Final & will play another junior from Rugeley with a place in the Final for the winner.

Once again we were outrated on every board, but draws from John S, Shane & myself gave us the 1.5 points. Each of our 3 defeats went deep into the games with our players giving very strong accounts of themselves.

Final score Wolverhampton 4.5 Rushall 1.5

The draw for the semi-finals is: Ray Muzuva v John Staniforth & Steve Whatmore v Peter Leary. 

Tamworth progress to the Final on board count.

Final score Rushall 2 Tamworth 2

Again outrated on every board we battled hard to gain a valuable point in our fight for Division 1 survival. 

Final score - Rushall 2 Halesowen 2

Despite being outrated on every board we came away with a terrific win. Strong draws from John S & Steve Wilcox put is in a good position & then victories by Peter L, Cosmin & myself guaranteed us the victory. Finally, Shane battled hard on board 6 but narrowly lost his game. 

A good solid win by Stephen & another win by John showing his terrific end game technique got us the draw. I volunteered to take on Rugeley's up & coming superstar to no avail & sadly Cosmin lost a very open attacking game on board 4.

We now have finished our CDCL Division 1 campaign with 2 wins, 2 draws & 2 defeats. Although we are top now, the other 3 teams have games in hand meaning that we will finish either runners-up or third.

We managed to collect a very welcome 2 points. Stephen lost to a 2100+ ECF rated player on board 1, while John achieved a very creditable draw against a stronger opponent. Cosmin's game on board 3 was wild with his early Pawn sacrifice creating a very strong attack that eventually forced victory. I finished last on 4, managing to force a win with my good Bishop against a bad Bishop in the middle game.

We visited Lichfield's first team in our latest Wolverhampton Division 1 match yesterday. Each of our opponents were significantly higher rated but Stephen, John & myself all managed to claim draws. However, Cosmin narrowly lost his game when his opponent managed to obtain an outside passed Pawn which his King was forced to block, leaving a free Pawn on the other flank to Queen. 

Overall, to lose to such a strong Lichfield team, by a relatively small margin was a fine performance.

Final score: Lichfield 2.5 Rushall 1.5

WK unable to play due to illness of a key player. Our thoughts are with him & we wish him a quick recovery.

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.

Our AGM has been arranged for Monday 12th August at the club - we hope to see as many members there as possible. In the Birmingham Summer Rapid Play League our u6600 team & u5800 B team have struggled a little against some really strong opposition. However, our u5800 A team, captained by David Gaskell, finished in a fantastic 2nd place in their division, narrowly behind South Birmingham. Our Club Championship was won for a second time by Steve Whatmore who just pipped Stephen Gaskell in the Final.  All of our 2024-2025 fixtures have now been agreed in the Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Cannock Leagues. As well as our normal Chase Trophy entry, we have also entered 2 teams in the Cannock League's Chase Shield - a new knockout competition for Division 3 & 4 teams.

The Birmingham League have accepted too many new teams for next season to fit them all into their divisions 4 & 5, so have decided to ‘bump up’ a team from Division 4 to Division 3. After the top 2 teams were promoted, 4 teams were tied in 3rd place last season in Division 4, but they decided that our B team would be the only one to be ‘bumped up’. We queried this decision as we clearly do not have the strength of playing squad to compete at the higher level, however we were told that the decision was final & we have no right of appeal. With the likely prospect of our players being unfairly matched against significantly stronger opponents in every game, we have therefore decided to withdraw our B team from the Birmingham League. Instead, we will enter 2 extra teams in the Cannock League Divisions 3 & 4. This will allow our mid-rated & developing players to play in games where they will have the opportunity to enjoy their chess by competing on a level playing field against similarly rated players. All of our other league entries will remain the same as last year.

Stephen Gaskell won the Cannock League's premier individual competition - the Robert Ward Trophy last night. After 2 drawn games he won the toss for colours in the armageddon tie-breaker & chose white. In a tight game his opponent - Tony Preece - ran out of time & Stephen won the game. Congratulations to Stephen - the work & dedication he is devoting to his chess is really paying dividends & his improvement this season has been outstanding.

After a narrow defeat to champions Tamworth in the Cannock League Division 1 we have now finished our 2023-2024 season. We have had a remarkably consistent mid table performance across all of our 7 league teams. In the Birmingham League we finished 6th out of 12 teams in Division 2 & 5th out of 13 in Division 4. In the Wolverhampton League we finished 5th out of 9 in Division 1 & 6th out of 11 in Division 3. In the Cannock League we finished 3rd out of 6 in Division 1, 4th out of 9 in Division 3 & 3rd out of 6 in Division 4. Our season did have 1 big highlight - when we won the Cannock League's knock out competition - the Chase Trophy. In total, 29 players competed for us in the various leagues & several others took part in our in house mini league competition. Membership is up on this time last year & we have seen some significant improvement in many players, whether just competing in friendlies on club nights or challenging themselves in rated matches. Long may it continue!

We have entered 3 teams in the Birmingham Summer Rapidplay League. All match dates have now been confirmed & are loaded onto LMS.

The Jaguars won our inaugural internal mini-league with 5 points out of 6. Luke starred with 3 wins from 3 games, closely followed by Cosmin, Vladimir & Zach who gained 2 points from their 3 games. For the other teams, Alex starred with 2 wins (against Peter L & Cosmin) & a draw against Stephen for the Lions. Thank you to everyone who competed & in particular Steve Wilcox for organising the tournament.

We played teams from Mercia, Lichfield & Wolverhampton in the Wolverhampton League's Pittaway Cup Jamboree format on Tuesday. Having won the trophy last year we were keen to retain it. Wins for Stephen & Peter weren't enough though as despite having strong winning chances John S & Steve couldn't convert them to wins & drew, Cosmin was a Pawn up in the endgame but also couldn't convert & John G also drew his game to give us 4 points out of 6. Sadly, Alex & Roger lost (Alex also had strong winning chances) so it wasn't to be our night. Like us, Lichfield also finished with 4 points, while Wolverhampton had 5 points. Bizarrely, despite having arguably the strongest team of the 4 competing, Mercia were given a massive 2.25 point advantage as a Division 2 team (they won it easily with 9 wins & a draw from their 10 games) competing against 3 Division 1 teams. So, despite winning only 1 game & drawing 4 on the night, their 3 points out of 8 became 5.25 to give them the trophy. 

We suffered defeat in our final Wolverhampton League Division 1 match last night away at Kidderminster. Stephen & John earned draws, but sadly Cosmin & Alex lost to give a score of 3-1 to our opponents. We have finished in a creditable 5th place with 3 wins & 5 defeats.

We won our latest Cannock League Division 1 game yesterday - a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory at Wolverhampton. John managed a quick draw, but with Cosmin losing, the pressure was on Steve & Stephen. Thankfully both managed to win & ensure that we still have some hopes of finishing in 2nd place with 2 games still to play. In Cannock Division 3 a home win against Rugeley gave us a 4th place finish, just a point off top spot, while in Division 4 we have 1 match remaining & again still have hopes of a runners-up finish.

Congratulations to Stephen Gaskell who defeated John Grant in his Semi Final to reach his first Club KO Final. He will face the winner of Steve Whatmore & John Staniforth, who are yet to play their Semi Final.

We played our final 2nd team game in Birmingham League Division 4 yesterday. A draw with Redditch ensured that we also finished in the top 6 in this Division - an improvement on 8th place last year. Aarav deserves a special mention for winning all 3 of his games, including against an opponent last night rated over 1500 ECF.

We concluded our Birmingham League Division 2 season with an away fixture at promotion chasing Halesowen. All 6 players battled hard to get results with John S, Steve, Cosmin, Alex & Roger taking home draws & Stephen earning an outstanding win on board 1 against a player rated in excess of 2050 ECF. This gave us a 3.5-2.5 victory and a top half finish in the Division. Stephen's game has developed beyond all recognition & he's surely on the way to exceeding 2000 ECF before the end of the season.

Roger Bray has very kindly donated a set of 6 digital clocks to the club. Everyone at the club is very grateful for Roger's extremely generous & thoughtful gift & I'm sure we'll all enjoy using them in matches to come. Thanks Roger!

Warley Quinborne's Birmingham League Division 2 B team visited us yesterday. After being soundly defeated by their A team 10 days ago we were pleased to get some revenge with a 5-1 victory. Wins for Stephen, Steve, Cosmin & Alex + draws for John & Peter ensured that we will finish comfortably mid-table - a great achievement after winning promotion from Division 3 last year.

For the 2nd time in 3 years we have won the Cannock League's Knock-Out Cup called the Chase Trophy. We narrowly defeated Tamworth in the Final with a mix of good team tactics, brave attacking play & a spot of luck. Captain Steve Whatmore shuffled his team from the semi-final & added Stephen Gaskell. We expected Tamworth to play with one of their 2000+ ECF players on board 1 so were looking for a volunteer to 'take one for the team' - knowing that getting any kind of result was going to be tough. Steve offered but Cosmin thought he was the best person for the job - sadly he lost, but acquitted himself very well. Steve's plan was for Stephen to take on their board 2 - who we expected to be similarly rated - but felt confident that with Stephen in a strong run of form, he could deliver a victory. That's exactly what he did - after pressuring his opponent into an erroneous Rook move he politely resigned with a forced loss of material inevitable. Being out-rated on board 1, we knew that the rating advantage would switch back to us on the lower 2 boards. Alex was rated 200 ECF points above his opponent & had a back & forth battle on board 3. After declining a draw offer knowing that he had to win, Alex had to take some risks & got lucky as his opponent missed a discovered check opportunity which would have won his Queen & Tamworth the match. Alex went on the attack & despite his Pawns dropping all over the board & both players under 30 seconds left on their clocks, he managed a brilliant checkmate with Rook & Knight to grab victory for himself & the team. Roger eventually lost on board 4 (again in a very interesting hard-fought game), but we had already won the match at this point - a 2-2 draw meant that the result went down to board count - which was also level at 5-5. The next tie-breaker is board elimination & with board 4 being a Tamworth victory this was removed from the score to hand Rushall the trophy. 

We travelled to Warley Quinborne's Birmingham League Division 2 A team last night. Our squad were seriously out-rated pretty much across all 6 boards & the result went against us by 5.5-0.5 - just Steve Whatmore managed to claim a draw with the other 5 team members all losing against stronger opponents. We remain comfortable in 6th place in the Division & will aim to reverse the result in a couple of weeks time when their B team visit us, before our last Birmingham League match away to promotion chasing Halesowen.

We welcomed local rivals Lichfield last night for our penultimate Wolverhampton League Division 1 game of the season. With the prospect of relegation still very possible a result was vital. We were considerably out rated on the top 2 boards but Stephen is always keen to test himself against the best opposition & John can virtually always be guaranteed to get a draw. John was first to finish with his 1/2 a point & then Steve followed with another draw on board 3, as although he felt he was slightly ahead, he could see that Cosmin had a strong chance of a win on board 4. This is indeed what happened to leave us 2-1 ahead with just Stephen to finish. He had several opportunities to repeat moves to claim a draw, but with both players in time trouble he kept taking the initiative to his opponent & played superbly to get another terrific win. We therefore took the match 3-1 & with Telford & West Bromwich sitting below us in the table having completed their seasons we are safe from relegation - a tremendous achievement with the lowest rated squad in Division 1. Bizarrely, we lost to both earlier in the season, but have managed 3 wins against some of the stronger teams! We just have unbeaten Kidderminster away now to come to end our Wolverhampton League season.

Lichfield's Cannock League Division 1 A team provided our latest opposition last night. We managed to come away with a 2.5-1.5 victory with wins for Steve & Alex & a draw from John. 

South Birmingham's league leading A team visited us in Birmingham League Division 2 last night. Stephen once again volunteered to take board 1 & scored a stunning victory over a player rated over 1950 ECF. He cleverly sacrificed the exchange in the end game to leave himself a Bishop & 2 connected passed Pawns versus a Rook. With his opponent's King on the other side of the board & unable to help, he managed to skillfully push both Pawns to the 7th rank leading to resignation. This is Stephen's biggest ever win & a clear sign of his abilities going forward. Well done to him. Sadly, the rest of the team were unable to bring home the points - Alex had a good win & Steve a creditable draw, but John, Cosmin & Peter all came away with losses leaving the score a 2.5-3.5 defeat.

We have played 2 Cannock League Division 1 games in the past week - winning 1 & losing 1. At Rugeley, we lost 3-1 with draws by Steve & John, but both Stephen & Alex were defeated. A much improved performance against Lichfield B saw us earn the points with an unbeaten team performance - draws from Stephen & John (obviously!) & wins from Cosmin & Alex saw us reverse the score, winning 3-1. Although Tamworth are well ahead of the pack, we are in with a shout of emulating last season's performance of claiming the runners-up spot with 4 games still to go.

Alex made the semi final draw last night - the matches to be played are John Grant v Stephen Gaskell & John Staniforth v Steve Whatmore.