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Redditch win Wheatley Final23 Jul 2025. The home team Redditch won the Wheatley Cup final with Worcester. Teams had similar ratings and there was no handicap. Game results went according to the form book and Redditch won 3-1. See full result. 16 Jul 2025. Worcester and Kidderminster fielded evenly match players and there was no handicap in the second semi-final. Worcester won 2.5-1.5. See full result. 10 Jul 2025. Longbridge turned out a strong team against Redditch. The over-the-board game results gave 2.5 points to Longbridge, but this failed to overturn the handicap of 1.1 points faced by the stronger team so Redditch qualify for the final when they will play either Kidderminster or Worcester. The other semi-final is on 16 July. See full result.
Picture on right: The winning 2025 Redditch team (Adrian Griffiths) |
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Worcestershire Chess Association annual meeting
2 Jul 2025. President Ray Collett (Worcester) and secretary Paul Sharratt (Stourbridge) reported on a successful year with an influx of young enthusiastic players. Worcestershire played in the Midland Counties Junior team championships for the first time for many years. Simon Berry (Worcester) took a team of junior players to Nottingham where they gained useful experience. Worcestershire Wolfpack A team won Division 4 of the Four Nations Chess Online League in December. Redditch was the dominant club in the Worcestershire League winning three trophies: the Bonham rose bowl for the Championship League, the Cobham trophy for the Challengers League and the Rapidplay 1 League plaque. Kidderminster won the Worcester & District League and Rapidplay League 2 plaque. Individual winners were Lee Davis (Malvern) in the Bennett Cup and Paul Serafini in the Ball Cup. Eric Horwill (Stourbridge) was unable to attend the meeting. He was awarded the Jim Friar award for services to chess in Worcestershire by Paul Sharratt separately to celebrate fifty years of Eric’s high class play for the county first team. Eric first played for Worcestershire in the 1940s and has continued playing throughout and beyond a busy career in education, both over the board and by correspondence. The meeting re-elected senior officials and resolved to hold a further meeting to add officials to its leadership team. Members voted for a default 3hr playing session in the Championship League and a time control of 60+30 unless a club elects at the start of the season to play home matches with a shorter 45+30 time control. There were no other changes to Worcestershire Leagues.
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Cup winners29 May 2025. Both Bennett and Ball Cup finals were played at Worcester City club. In the senior competition for the Bennett Cup Lee Davis (Malvern) confounded my prediction of 15 May and won the final against Joe Friar (Kidderminster). This is Lee’s seventh win of the trophy - his first was in 1981. The Ball Cup competition for u1650 players was played between Giles Stanton (Redditch) and Paul Serafini (Worcester). Paul gained the exchange for a pawn, but Giles’s bishop was in a commanding central position. Paul engineered a strong attack on the white king, forced the exchange of a pair of rooks and neatly wrapped up the game using a a passed rooks pawn. This is the first season of competitive play for Paul and winning the Ball Cup at his first attempt is a fine achievement. Congratulations to Lee and Paul! |
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26 May 2025, Dan Lambourne reports. Stourbridge won BDCL Division 3 and Longbridge were runners-up in BDCL Division 4. Redditch players played each other in the final of the BDCL u1900 individual tournament with David Smith beating Ben Attwell.
26 May 2025. Seven Worcestershire players travelled to Gloucester for the six round Cotwold Congress. In the Open Ian Clarke (Malvern) and david Smith (Redditch) scored 2½ points and Ben Attwell Redditch 1½ points in a field of 42 players. In the Minor tournament, Giles Stanton (Redditch) was the most successful followed by Colin Vernon (Worcester) on 2½ points and Alex Nicholls on 1½ points. Andrew Farthing (Worcester) did not play. Instead he ran a chess bookstall raising over £800 for St Richard’s Hospice Worcester
15 May 2025, ECF website reports. Owing to restructuring of director’s roles at the ECF, former CEO Mike Truran has taken the role of Financial Director and Stephen Woodhouse (Longbridge) has accepted the CEO role on a temporary basis until the October ECF Council meeting decides on a permanent replacement in September.
15 May 2025, LMS reports. Stourbridge made sure of winning Birmingham & District CHess League Division 3 by beating South Birmingham 4½-1½.
17 May 2025. Worcestershire under-1650 team played Kent and lost 6-10 at Reading (Berks). Adam Ware (Stourbridge), Paul Serafini (Worcester), Steve Alcock (Stourbridge), and Aiden Griffiths (Worcester) won their games. See match card.
11 May 2025. Worcestershire played Devon in the Minor Counties Championship at Banwell, Somerset. The final score was 6½-9½. Devon scored heavily on the lower boards and Worcestershire top boards held thier own in spite of being out-rated. Dan Lambourne and Harry Evans (Redditch), Ian Clarke (Malvern) and Ed Higgs (Worcester) won their games. See match card.
Challenger hoping to reverse 2024 result |
Frair and Davis in Bennett Cup Final15 May 2025, Brian turner reports. In the second semi-final, Lee Davis beat Scott Oxtoby at Worcester setting up a final between Davis and Friar. Rivalry between these players is intense with tussles between them for the County Individual Championship in 2023 and 2024. In spite of his international experience, Lee must be the underdog because Joe Friar won the Bennett Cup last year and Joe’s current rating is well ahead of Lee’s 9 May 2025, Brian Turner reports. In the semi-finals of the Bennett Cup, Joseph Friar beat Edward Higgs and is through to the final. |
Defending his trophy |
15 May 2025. Stourbridge beat South Birmingham in the play-off 4½-1½. See details.
8 May 2025. The remaining game in The Ball Cup all-play-all section is complete. The all-play-all stage winner is Giles Stanton, who will play the runner-up, Paul Serafini in the final. See Ball Cup cross-table.
8 May 2025, Dan Lambourne reports. David Smith beat Ben Attwell in the final
5 May 2025. Kidderminster held its annual President’s Cup Rapidplay (10+5) and tewnty players competed. County champion Joe Friar was first winning all his games on 5 points. Joint runners-up were John Wrench and John Varilone on 4 points. See cross-table.
1 May 2025. SB Dudley Boyz are champions for Division 2, but lost the last fixture of this Division this season to tail-enders Warley Quinborne. See DDCL Division 2 table.
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