2012 Cheshire Trophy Tied for the Second Year Running
The annual start-of-season match between St Albans and Watford for the Cheshire Trophy was played over 19 boards at St Albans on Monday 24th September 2012.
As usual, it was a keenly and closely fought contest. Despite St Albans being significantly out-graded on the top 12 boards, the match result was always going to be close. Board 8 was the last game to finish, with Ian Cross needing a win to tie the overall match. With a couple of minutes remaining, Ian had a winning position, with a rook and five pawns (two of them passed) against a bishop and three pawns. However it was a tense finish as both players were desperately short of time, and a large group of onlookers watched as Ian held his nerve to force a win.
Barry Morris and Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell shake hands
So, the final score was 9½ - 9½. For the second year running the match was tied, and for the second year running St Albans (as holders) retain the trophy.
Many thanks to the Watford team for braving the wind and rain, and participating in an enjoyable evening.
The individual board results were as follows.
| Board | St Albans | Grade | Result | Watford | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roe, Simon J | 205 | 0-1 | Tiruchirapalli, Venkataramanan | 221 |
| 2 | Jayawardena, Mihiranga | 191 | 0-1 | Stone, Andrew M | 200 |
| 3 | Willmott, Neil D | 175 | 0-1 | Holland, Edward N | 199 |
| 4 | Havard, Gwyn | 170 | ½-½ | Rudge, Jerry F | 195 |
| 5 | Fraser-Mitchell, Jeremy N | 158 | ½-½ | Carnochan, Mace | 184 |
| 6 | Ellis, Aidan B | 166 | 1-d | default | |
| 7 | Bower, David E | 162 | ½-½ | Lancaster, Roger | 175 |
| 8 | Cross, Ian K | 147 | 1-0 | Morris, Barry | 175 |
| 9 | Walsh, Richard EW | 124 | ½-½ | Kalerwa, Edwin M | 151 |
| 10 | Palmer, James C | 141 | 1-0 | Charles, Simon | 153 |
| 11 | Phillips, David | 137 | ½-½ | Russell, Chris | 145 |
| 12 | Laskier, Paul | 133 | ½-½ | Sloan, Cecil | 135 |
| 13 | Douse, Terry | 132 | 1-0 | Abbott, Philip | 126 |
| 14 | Narbeth, Simon | 132 | ½-½ | Blinko, Nick | 123 |
| 15 | Flatt, Mike | 135 | 0-1 | Kumar, Sanjay | 120 |
| 16 | Marsh, Andrew | 130 | 0-1 | Kearns, Roger DJ | 117 |
| 17 | Hebblethwaite, Dominic | 130 | 1-0 | Healey, David J | 112 |
| 18 | McMahon, Austin | 130 | 1-0 | Harrison, James | 90 |
| 19 | Leake, John A | 125 | 0-1 | Shaw, David K | 88 |
© St Albans Chess Club