Barnstaple v Bideford

Result of Barnstaple v Bideford match played at the Barnstaple club on Monday:

Board	Barnstaple	Result	Bideford
1	Peter Marriott	0-1	Jack Rudd
2	Steve Clarke	1-0	Peter Sandon
3	Rick Dooley	0-1	Jon Munsey
4	John Howard	0-1	Rob Oughton
		1-3

This means Bideford, having won both matches, win the league.

Bideford v Barnstaple

Bideford v Barnstaple match played at Barnstaple Chess Club on Monday 24th November. Bideford had white on the odd boards.

Board	Bideford	Grade	Result	Barnstaple	Grade
1	Jack Rudd	215	1-0	Peter Marriott	143
2	Peter Sandon	118	½-½	Steve Clarke	125
3	Roger Neat	114	1-0	Richard Smith	108
4	Rob Oughton	100	1-0	Rick Dooley	84
		547	3½-½		460

Team Blitz Results

The annual team blitz was once again contested by the teams of Bideford, Holsworthy, Barnstaple A and Barnstaple B. All these teams had a constant set of four players playing, except for Barnstaple B; they had a squad of five players from whom they picked four each round. It was a double-round all-play-all, and the results went as follows:

Round 1: Bideford managed a 3-1 victory over Barnstaple A; Holsworthy managed a victory by the same scoreline over Barnstaple B.

Bideford, Holsworthy 3; Barnstaple A, Barnstaple B 1

Round 2: Barnstaple A beat their B team 3-1; Bideford beat Holsworthy on the top two boards and lost on the bottom two.

Bideford, Holsworthy 5; Barnstaple A 4; Barnstaple B 2

Round 3: Bideford beat Barnstaple B 4-0; Barnstaple A and Holsworthy drew 2-2.

Bideford 9; Holsworthy 7; Barnstaple A 6; Barnstaple B 2

At this point, we stopped for refreshments, including Steve Knight's famous egg sandwiches. One of the Barnstaple B players had to leave at this point, so the remaining four players played all the remaining games.

Round 4: Barnstaple A beat Bideford 2½-1½; Holsworthy beat Barnstaple B 3-1.

Bideford 10½; Holsworthy 10; Barnstaple A 8½; Barnstaple B 3

Round 5: The crucial deciding result came in this round, as Bideford managed to beat Holsworthy 4-0, with Barnstaple A beating Barnstaple B 3½-½. These results meant Bideford only needed 2 points against Barnstaple B to take the title.

Bideford 14½; Barnstaple A 12; Holsworthy 10; Barnstaple B 3½

Round 6: Bideford wrapped up the title by beating Barnstaple B 3-1; Barnstaple A got second place with a 3-1 win over Holsworthy.

Final scores: Bideford 17½; Barnstaple A 15; Holsworthy 11; Barnstaple B 4½

Leading scorers for each team:
Jack Rudd (Bideford, board 1) 6/6
Peter Marriott (Barnstaple, board 2) 6/6
Theresa Garrett (Holsworthy, board 3) 5/6
John Howard (Barnstaple B; two games on board 3 and three on board 4) 2½/5

I would like to thank my team-mates Roger Neat, Jon Munsey and Peter Sandon for their contributions to our victory, and everyone, particularly organizer Richard Nash, for making it a fun evening.

Team Blitz

A reminder to everyone that the first North Devon League event of the season, the Team Blitz, takes place on November 10th at Barnstaple Chess Club. A fast and fun event, with each player's having just ten minutes for an entire game. Some people might say that this would make no difference to the way I play; I couldn't possibly comment.

The event is likely to be a double-round all-play-all, with entries from Bideford, Holsworthy, Barnstaple A and Barnstaple B. The first three of those teams will be fighting hard for the title; the last will be fighting hard to finish with some points.

Bideford, whose team will consist of me, Roger Neat, and two from Jon Munsey, Rob Oughton and Peter Sandon, will probably be seen as favourites: we have a good record in this event in recent years, with Jon and me in particular gaining from our speed of play.

Barnstaple may be weakened by the likely absence of their captain Steve Clarke. Still, a team with Peter Marriott, Richard Nash and two from Steve Knight, Rick Dooley and Richard Smith is still not a pushover by any means.

The Holsworthy team are somewhat more of an unknown quantity, because their players mostly do not play at the Barnstaple club. Nevertheless, a team composed mostly of Smollocombes and Garretts is also pretty strong at this level.