Match Result Belgrave A 4.5 – 0.5 Huddersfield A:  Huddersfield have a really bad night, except for the Captain

James Morgan 1 – 0 Dave Keddie

Dave Patrick ½ - ½ Steve Westmoreland

Richard Bowman 1 – 0 Dave Gray

Malcolm Corbett 1 – 0 Nigel Hepworth

Kharim Khan 1 – 0 Rob Sutcliffe

This was the rearranged fixture from earlier this season. Except that Huddersfield could not get a room at the home ground, so we reversed fixtures. Everyone got that?

Nigel ‘Tal’ Hepworth, who has transformed him himself into a hyper aggressive player this year, was to face Malcolm ‘the wall’ Corbett, in a rather interesting game. Malcolm had notoriously played against Steve earlier in the year and did not put a piece past 6th rank. Nigel countered this approach by putting as many of his pieces on Malcolm’s back ranks as possible. Sadly, this backfired. About that time Dave Gray was to lose to Richard, whist Dave Keddie was steamrollered by James as his unlucky streak at Belgrave carried through into 2018.

Steve was to play Dave, with all the enthusiasm of players who had spent all Sunday playing for their County, away, in a 5-hour match. A Botvinnik structure quickly emerged with both players holding their heads in their hands wondering what they had done to themselves. To be fair it was entertaining but when Dave said to Steve he was happy for a draw on move 10, Steve nearly cried and enquired why Dave had not asked earlier rather than wait 2 hours….

The undoubted game of the night was between Kharim and Rob. Declining offers of draws in poor positions, Rob was to launch furious attacks and sacrifices on Kharim. The play got wilder as both Gents imbibed huge quantities of ale. They had tremendous fun and did not care for individual ratings. It was a great game and both guys could stand up and talk after.

So Halifax A next, with the return of some big guns. See you a week Wednesday.  

 

The Hebden Bridge A match was abandoned part way through due to player illness. He was ok after a stint in the ambulance. Depending on league position we will make a call on rescheduling, what with Todmorden destroying everyone. 

 

Match Report 12/02/18 Huddersfield 4 – 1 Brighouse: The $%^!ing door (again)

1. David Keddie 0 - 1 Nick Hudson
2. Leo Keeley 1 - 0 Paul Whitehouse
3. James Lawson 1 - 0 Adrian Dawson
4. Rupert Jones 1 - 0 Ron
5. Steve Westmoreland 1 - 0 Tim Pryke

Well what can I say. A large number of drop outs led to a plea for help to Rupert, who kindly stepped in as a board 2. Leo was suddenly available, meaning he dropped to 3. Then Andrew had a car accident, meaning Rob stepped it. THEN he stepped out with James Lawson making a re-appearance for Huddersfield whilst on break from Turkey, dropping Rupert to 4. Then we had another bucket load of snow.

This was our rearranged fixture played at Brighouse, with the room at Lindley unavailable on Wednesday due to Valentines Day.

Captaincy is difficult.

So, what happened tonight? The Brighouse Board 1 failed to turn up, meaning Paul dashed in to give Leo a game. Rupert had a comfy victory against Ron, whilst James shook off the rust to take down Adrian. Tim paid the price of allowing a French and not castling quickly enough, leading to a resignation after 14 moves and 20 minutes.

The shock of the night was Dave Keddie’s defeat to Nick.

It was good to see Dave T and Greg turn up to cheer on the team. It was less good to see Dave leave ‘the f*ck^&g door open!’ that has to stay shut at all times to stop the big angry bald man’s dog from escaping. It was even less good to see Dave absently mindedly walking through the big angry bald man’s front door instead of the chess room. The one that ‘f*ck^&g’ said keep out on. Apparently, it happens all the ‘f*ck^&g’ time too. The big angry bald man is totally ‘f*ck^&g f*c£ed off’ about it.

That makes it 2/2 rants I have now been on the receiving end of at Brighouse.

So Hebden Bridge next and the Captain has some pleading to do in order to get a good team out. Mitchell, Greg and Roger beware. I am coming stalking.

 

Chaos in the Camp: Halifax B 0.5 Vs Huddersfield 4.5
Halifax B are a perennial thorn in the side of any team. They are vastly under graded and all capable of pulling off a shock. In pursuit of the title and a swing of good fortune allowed Greg, Dave K and Leo to play in the same fixture. With Dave T replacing myself at 4 and I at 5.

Halifax were also hosting Hebden Bridge A at the same time. They fielded a much weakened team this time around, prompting me to enquired why the hell both teams go strong vs Huddersfield. Anyway, team Huddersfield gathered around Halifax A and Hebden Bridge A to watch play commence. It was about the time I was to enquire where the %^&* Halifax B had gone.

Late was the answer. Leading to Dave T furiously kicking off all the clocks at 7:50pm.

Luckily Scott charged in about then and organised a team based on who was around at the time. The mismatch was startling, with Halifax’s usual bottom 3 boards facing 3 of our best. Dave K beat Vivienne in short order, however Ray took It to the wire with Leo and Greg drew vs some super play from Scot.

As for the bottom board, Halifax B’s disorganisation showed strong. I commenced my own battle but quickly broke off to grab Dave T’s opponent from the bar before he defaulted on time. Following the advice of my 8 year old son, I used the London system again. An amazing f6 move put a scholars mate position on the board early on, but Barry spotted this. The resulting awful position led to a resignation at move 18.

Dave T’s game lasted a bit longer but against an 80 player, a quick win resulted. Which was when we realised Scot had got the board order wrong and I yet again owe Dave T a board position above me.

So a disorganised Halifax B was put to the sword 0.5 – 4.5. It happens to all of us.

 

Match report 18/12/17 Huddersfield 2 - 3 Golden Lion: Huddersfield go down fighting vs the Champions

Huddersfield hosted league Champions Todmorden (or the Golden Lion now), aiming to make a repeat of last years shock victory against the Champions. I had a cracking team arranged, with bottom board past 170 grade. Alas, it was not to be, with one player Xmas carolling with his children and the other having last minute commitments.

This left myself and Dave Tooley to make up the numbers and out graded by 20-30 points by our opponents. As we are stalwarts in the side, it was pretty cool.

Sadly Dave T was to fall to Dave Shapland in a queen’s gambit declined. Greg drew with Martyn Hamer, whilst Leo took his game to the wire with a win. Roger fought hard but was to lose.

Which left me against Andrew Clarkson and a 26 point grading gap.

I was originally down to play but a sudden injury / illness led to Dave T coming in. The loss of our Board 3 put me back on the team, in some discomfort and a large dose of painkillers. Some prior email exchanges with Dave Shapland led me to understand we would face a strong team and there were a few hints Tod had prepared for my French Defence n-f6 line. 
Which is why I prepared something different. The 1 hour video course worked like a charm and secured a comfortable draw against a much better player.

Anyway, chin up lads. We were outgunned but fought hard. Let us crush Brighouse in the New Year!

Match Result 15/11/17 Huddersfield A are top of the league

Well this is a nail biter. A draw against Hebden Bridge B, a team on paper Huddersfield should beat, has put us top of the league with Todmorden and Hebden Bridge breathing down our necks and VERY little scope for error.

Neil Suttie was to excel in obtaining a draw with Greg, whilst Dave T was unable to find the antidote to Nick’s E3 Poison. Again, I will state that Hebden Bridge A are utterly insane not to have Nick in the A Team.

I was to draw with Martin Syrett, who had to hold onto his position for dear life at one point, whilst Andrew Dearnley obtained a comfortable draw in a most welcome return to OTB play after a long absence. Dave Gray despatch Paul Gledhill, after some passive play allowed Dave to take the advantage.

Thanks all and it is Belgrave next – A big game!

30/10/17 Halifax A Vs Huddersfield A: Carnage at Lee Mount 0 – 5 to Huddersfield

  1. Bill Somerset 0 vs 1 Greg Eagleton
  2. Richard Porter 0 vs 1 Mitchell Burke
  3. Carlos Velosa 0 vs 1 David Keddie
  4. Sam Scarfield 0 vs 1 Dave Tooley
  5. Mac Randhawa 0 vs 1 Steve Westmoreland

 

Wow. Not only a clean sweep tonight but the majority of games (once I had stopped playing like a moron) were won comfortable as Halifax A were put to the sword. Convincing wins all round from Greg, Mitchell and Dave K, with Steve joining in the fun once he decided to stop making a mess of his opening. The Dave Tooley juggernaut ground on into yet another winning end game.

Thanks lads and next up is Hebden Bridge B at Lindley Liberal Club. 

 

16/10/17 Hebden Bridge 1 Huddersfield 4: Hurricane Huddersfield

Mitchell Burke 1 vs John Allen 0

Dave Keddie 1 vs Pete Leonard

Steve Westmoreland 1 vs Sam Swain 0

Dave Tooley 1 vs Neil S 0

Rob Sutcliffe 0 vs Richard Bedford 1

Yes folks, we FINALLY did one over on Hebden Bridge, after several years of misery. Thank you to all the players tonight for their hard-fought games. Bar Dave Keddie, who smashed poor Pete in 10 moves (still the thanks!).

On a night when storm Orpheilia battered Ireland and the North of England and I took advantage of the sale of curried soup (which was amazing) whilst playing chess, the team provided a fantastic win that puts us firmly in the race for the title.

It was a strange line up with Beaky playing for the Bridge, rather than Tod. There were a couple of new faces and Nick Sykes was mystifying relegated to the B Team. With all the team finding form in recent weeks, hard fought matches occurred and wins converted.

Halifax A next on the 30th and a win COULD mean this may be our year. Certainly if we get past Todmorden prior to Christmas.

Thanks guys, this is the best 40th birthday present!

 

04/10/17 Huddersfield 3.5 vs Halifax B 1.5 Scarecrow Scares

Having enough of work by 6pm, I arrived early to Lindley Liberal Club in order to set the boards out. After the redecoration the room looked fantastic and in my opinion, it is the best room in the league. Even though it was populated by scarecrows for the Harvest Festival and some damn spooky ones at that.

There were scarecrows lying on desks, scarecrows on chairs and a strange ticking noise I could not locate in the room (which luckily turned out to be a clock on top of the chess cupboard).

It was to the this rather strange audience that Halifax B arrived to play some chess after turning over their own A team the week previous. Again, I will state that these players are undergraded and all played well tonight with most games going to full time control.

The first result when to Halifax, with Alastair a no show. This was followed (returning to the 3rd person) by the Captain, who absolutely fuming went straight for Ray Cully’s throat hurling Harry H pawn up the board and decapping the fianchettoed bishop with his own. Ray defended excellently but typical positional play obtained a 2 pawn advantage, followed by Steve blundering a piece into a draw. Dave Tooley remarked on Steve’s ability to defeat 160s and stuff up against 130s as the captain’s inconsistency continued into the new season.

Next up was Greg, who looked in trouble against Peter Hughes. Greg obtained a seemingly superb position with the KID and forced a resignation from Peter, in a position I really did not understand. The scarecrows observing the match approved, as did a welcome Matthew P, who came to watch a few games.

A win followed from Dave Tooley, who sacrificed his queen to unfortunately enter draw territory. Scott G was flagged however. The same happened to Vivienne against Dave Tooley, who had an incredibly tight games with the semi-slav. Dave managed to outplay her at end game but even so, the match was very tense.

So, after a near disaster at Brighouse, the team find form and redemption. Hebden Bridge are next up.

 

2017/18 Season Match Reports

18/09/17 – Brighouse (2) Vs Huddersfield (3) Match Report
Title: Huddersfield nearly blow it.. and cats
1) Greg Eagleton ½ Vs R Broadbent ½
2) David Keddie 1 Vs C Lund 0
3) Alastair McFadden ½ Vs P Whitehouse ½
4) Dave Tooley 0 Vs A Dawson 1
5) Steve Westmoreland (C) 1 Vs T Pryke 0
 
Kick off time for Huddersfield A in the Calderdale League on a dark wet night at Brighouse. After last weeks too close for comfort warm up in the Huddersfield League, the Captain was hoping for some easy play against a weakened Brighouse Team. That was certainly the case with Dave Keddie, who obtained a quick win and put Huddersfield in the lead.
The match was odd with 3 of the Huddersfield lot employing the London, which caused a number of sniggers amongst the players. The sniggering turned to laughter, when Greg got out of his seat for a drink and we discovered a cat had apparently been living in it. Poor Greg’s nice black jacket was covered in cat hair.
That was approximately when the moggie outside started meowing on repeat.
Mews were also coming from the Captain’s table. The last time Steve had played Tim, the match was a 52 move grind with the English. The London was utilised instead to avoid this. It worked as well, with the game lasting a mere 47 moves.
A good attacking position was obtained, followed by Steve blundering a bishop. With defeat on the cards, Steve employed the kitchen sink and was successfully battered back by Tim. Eventually forcing a blunder that returned the bishop, Steve luckily took the win at end game.
Cat noises abound from inside and outside the room as giant slaying occurred. This time from Dave Tooley. Also employing the London, Dave obtained a winning position. A mixture of time trouble and missed opportunities gave Adrian victory and Dave a devastating blow to his grading. It happens. It happens to me quite frequently actually.
It was more of a whimper than a meow from Steve when Alastair, after an interested yo-yo of a game, agreed a draw with Paul. Facing a King's Indian Defence, Alastair enthusiastically attacked on the queenside with C, D and E pawns on the 4th rank. Paul exploited spaces behind the pawns with his knight to force a draw. Alastair did however meow when he saw his opponent’s grade. As did the entire remaining team, when they saw Grey in time trouble and an even ending
Greg however, is not our best player for nothing. Utilising the London he was able to obtain the draw that sent us over the line.
So, Halifax B next on the 4th of October. Let’s get nice and warmed up for this one.

 

2016/17 Season Match reports

4th July 2017

Notes from tonight’s Calderdale League AGM

Alec Ward and myself attended the AGM tonight on behalf of Huddersfield. We received a warm welcome as we have infrequent attendance at these events.

The Huddersfield B team was welcomed into the fold, with the members fine with playing at Honley Liberal Club. I mentioned that if Dave Patrick can get the fixtures to me in decent time, then we can see about the A team playing on a Monday.
There are further changes to the teams, with a Belgrave B and C coming into the League. Brighouse are promoted (Halifax C have opted to stay in the Division) and Halifax B retain their place after Todmorden B folded.

The surprise news is that Todmorden Chess Club are no more. Dave Milton has sadly had to give up organisational duties. Instead, the remaining players will form a team to play from the Golden Lion at Todmorden. They will be led by Dave Shapland, who is moving from Hebden Bridge. The Team will be called ‘The Golden Lion’, which I personally think is a great name. We should go for something similar and get logoed shirts/hoodies. Maybe like the Huddersfield Hamsters, the Huddersfield Hedgehogs or something. I digress however and the suggestions are crap. The hoodie idea, I quite like…

We are invited to join the Handicap league, which is growing. I think this is a good idea but we need someone to run it. Dave Tooley – are you interested? They are looking to utilise Huddersfield League rules for the event and I offered to join the review panel. This may in some way make up for our apparent balls up with forgetting to organise the Lightening Tournament, then going on to win it.

There are changes in Captaincy, with Dave Shapland going to the Lions and Richard Porter taking over Halifax A from Carlos. The new Captain of Hebden Bridge is not yet known.

Additionally a discussion occurred about defaults and the ability of clubs to support their B teams in the 1st division. I asked all Captains to basically speak to each us and we can sort out arrangements. We are all decent human beings at the end of the day.

Captains are warned over switching board order at the last minute. I did not know there was a 10-15 point leeway on who plays where.

I picked up the Calderdale Lightening Trophy Board, which is massive. I will drop off at the club tomorrow.

 

10th April 2017

4 man Huddersfield fall to Halifax A

The evening started out well for me personally. A nice walk around Lincoln, a good peri-peri chicken with chips and some fantastic real ale. All in the company of my gorgeous wife.

The weather was good all day and we had GREAT plans to go round the castle the next day. The breakfast was to die for.

Sadly, back in Halifax the team were not doing so well. Whilst I was chugging real ales and fine foods, Huddersfield were to have a no show, for the 1st time this season; which meant several players moved up boards and was unfortunate for our stand in captain, Dave Tooley.

Alastair fell quickly, no doubt playing his favoured Queen's Gambit. I am guessing Leo and Dave K unleashed E4, with the former obtaining a draw and the latter continuing his great form with a win (entering into the Top 10 players along with myself). Dave T eventually lost but had an entertaining game by all accounts.

All in all we finish a solid 4th. It was a good season and we pulled off some shocks. Both individually and as a team. As ever the challenge is with getting a full strength team out that can challenge for the title. Sadly this has not occurred this season.

Should any of you wish to take over the Captaincy, please let me know. If not, then I will go back to hounding you all in September. Many thanks for your time, effort and play this year.

 

5th April 2017

Huddersfield stumble past Halifax B
OK guys. Halifax B are banana skins this season, as seen by their complete tanking of Belgrave back in February. Again missing the top boards, Nigel was to come into replace Greg and Dave Keddie promoted to top board.

The first result came from myself, once more facing Vivienne. Vivienne is in fine form, scalping a number of good 140s this year and she was to take an early advantage from an opening mistake and force off a number of pieces. A draw was soon agreed with symmetrical structures and my queen tied down around the king, with pieces 'ready to go'.

Dave T rediscovered his attacking flair and demolished Scot Gornell, whilst Alastair utilised the Dutch ‘Defence’ (he did little defending) to go for Ray Cully’s king and force a resignation in under 30 moves. 
Nigel obtained a great position but did not utilise his king effectively at end game. A draw was agreed with H Wood in serious time trouble and Nigel in serious board trouble.

The final match was to see David Keddie push too hard against Peter Hughes, who punished him and won serious material as a result. A resignation followed, leaving Huddersfield 3-2 winners. Halifax A next for our final game of the season. Good luck all!

 

20th March

The Long Road to Execution
There are tales of condemned men and women taking their final walk before meeting their end. In the case of the club captain this involved a rather nice tuna, pasta and mayo, followed by an hour + drive from Bradford across unlit narrow roads, key road closures and heavy rain. The return journey was worse with snow, lightening, heavy road and a blocked road due to a hellish car crash. Seldom have I been so glad to complete a journey alive.

Todmorden is a long way to go in order to get hammered and sadly, score wise, this happened on Monday. The score line of 4.5 - 0.5 was unfair on the play. Missing our top 3 players, everyone had a go against much higher rated opposition and the games were tight - much to our credit.

Typically for this season everyone bar Dave Keddie played D4 and the usual battery of Tromps, Londons and Queen's gambits ensured. Steve put pressure on Phil Cook with the excellently named Barry Attack, Alastair played strongly with a Queen's Gambit and Dave T took his game to almost full time control. To his credit, Dave G drew with a very in form Dave Patrick.

There was no shame in the defeats, we were all massively out rated on each board, by a clear 20 points of more. We still gave a few scares though. A big thank you to all those who turned up to a match where we were vastly outgunned.

Let us move on and crush Halifax B on the 5th.

 

1st March

Huddersfield show the footballers how to do it!

Huddersfield faced Hebden Bridge B in the penultimate home game of the season, as black. Hebden Bridge arrived a player short, meaning the home time took an advantage and a 4.5 to 0.5 victory ensued.

But.....

Hebden Bridge played really well. All the games were close and drawn out affairs. Steve was the first to record a win, with a typically double edged and drawn out position. Neil Bamford held him at bay throughout the game and had a good position despite been a pawn down. Sadly for Neil a blunder put him in a triple fork and an immediate resignation followed.

Leo put in the next win, fighting hard to get an advantage against Andy Leatherbarrow's English Opening. The game was very tight and Leo's slight position pull paid off in the end.

A draw was to follow with Dave Tooley, who looked in dire straights at one point against John Kerraine's Queen's Gambit Exchange. This left Dave Keddie, who had an amazing finish, throwing sacrifices at Martin Syrett who was only 1 move away from checkmate. The charge at the King succeeded and Huddersfield took the match.

So... Todmorden A next. Get prepping guys, we have some scalps to take

 

13th Feb

Huddersfield almost beat Hebden Bridge and finish second

Well a better headline than earlier in the season, when Huddersfield were rolled over at home. Unfortunately, Huddersfield were again missing 2 of their top players, with 3 regulars out the side. This left a frantic Captain scrabbling around for players after a number of late pull outs. This led to the return of Leo to the side, along with Rob and Brynn.

The highlight of the night was the demolition of the Bak brothers at the hands of the very in form Leo and David. Sadly, the form was not replicated on the lower boards, with Steve falling to a cheapo early on and unable to equalise, whilst Bryn was outplayed by Nick Sykes.

Rob had a heck of a chance against Dave Shapland and it look as though he had victory in sights. Sadly, the opportunity slipped.

We fielded a weakened side but almost pulled off a shock. Thank you to all the players who made it on the night and Hebden Bride B next at home on Wednesday 1st March.

 

23rd Jan

Huddersfield's Title Charge ends?

Huddersfield faced the tough proposition of Belgrave, without all top 3 seeded plays, who were on holiday or on international duty in Gibraltar. As ever, it was an eventful start with the room locked and no key available; with the team having to enter via the bar area and several Belgrave players 'did their nut' at the club. Steve offered to re-arrange the fixture, a kind and generous offer that had nothing to do with the absence of the trio of top players.

Sadly, the offer was declined.

Going off start of the year grading, Huddersfield was outgunned on every board, although current live gradings had this very even. Dave Keddie (171) faced Ian Hunter (177) and was defeated after an couple of hours. Dave Tooley (157) on board 2 faced Richard Bowman (148) but the weekend form continued and Dave was beaten in short order.

This left Nigel Hepworth on Board 3 (143) facing Karim Kham (143), Steve Westmoreland (152) against Malcolm Corbett (146) and Alastair McFadden (147) Vs Gordon Farrar (145). The change in ratings since the start of the season is astounding.

Alastair managed a draw against a tough opponent, after starting in typically aggressive style. He was to run out of steam early on, with his opponents' riposte leading to an agreed draw. I did not see much of the position, but it looked like Gordon had the advantage.

One item to note in the Calderdale League, is that the opposition tends to be very booked up and experienced. Outside of the big teams, they really grind out results and the chess can be tough. Hence the Captain's dreadful draw rate last season and a change in play style.

This left Belgrave up 2 - 0.5 and some big battles occurring on boards 3 and 4. Both Steve and Nigel played the London system, a much derided opening which was frankly to save the match for Huddersfield. Nigel played in his typically excellent manner as white to outmanoeuvre Karim and force the resignation in 2.5 hours.

It originally looked like an easy victory for Steve as he bagged an early rook for a knight, playing against a Dutch defence. However, some poor positional play forced a rook to be sacrificed against the wrong bishop and Steve looked in trouble, fighting for the draw. Some good positional play, followed by a lunge at the black king eventually yielded the win after 58 moves and almost 3 hours.

So, it is Hebden Bridge A next. Leo and Greg return for Alastair and Nigel, whilst Mitchell may also play in place of Steve. Thank you for to all the players tonight. This was relatively even and (as per usual with Belgrave) tough. 2.5 - 2.5.

 

16/01/17: Attack, Attack, Attack...

Huddersfield took a 0-5 victory away to Halifax B on a dark and foggy January night, in a re-arranged fixture.

Play started late, due to the number of teams on play, although Huddersfield got off to a typical start with pawns launched to D4 and C4 (Alastair & Steve) or a Tromp (Dave T and Greg). The only exception was Dave K (E4), however the pawn soon found its way to D4.

First blood was to Alastair who tore Ray Cully to pieces in the opening in fine attacking style. This was followed by Greg overpowering Richard Porter on board 1.

Steve again had an entertaining game, this time against the Semi-Slav played by Vivienne Webster on 4. He decided not to defend the king and deliberately sacrificed the queen for the 2nd match running against Halifax. Vivienne held and looked like taking the match, until a final sacrifice allowed victory.
Much more restrained an sensible play occurred between David K and P Hughes, with David taking a comfortable lead and seeing off his opponent safely with good positional play.

Dave Tooley had a very even game against Scot D, which looked very drawish. Dave was able to get a good past pawn that tied down his opponent's rook, before utilising some excellent end game technique to commence sweeping the board of pawns. This was despite having 2 minutes on the clock for the last 10 moves.

So 0-5 to Huddersfield, which cements the club near the top of the table with the big teams. A point to note is that the style of play this season has been very attacking, with not many draws for the team. It will be interesting to see the stats at the end of the year but we are playing some good chess. Something which has been noted by the other clubs.

Belgrave next, with Nigel Hepworth making a return as Greg is on international duty.

 

14/12/16

Match Report Vs Halifax A: Pre-Xmas Blues

Huddersfield faced Halifax A as black at home, in the last of the home matches against the big beasts of the Calderdale League. The games started late, with neither side arriving on time at Lindley; bar the home captain, who was starting to panic. Earlier in day, the team had had a blow, with Mitchell dropping out due to illness. Luckily Peter Hepworth was able to make a welcome appearance in his stead.

Play eventually got underway with Greg playing his favourite Kings Indian and Dave K holding a similar position. Slav types opening filled in for the remaining players.

The first to fall was David Keddie, although play was evened up with Steve obtaining a surprise win against a 160+ rated player. Going for a Semi-Slav Meran against the Queen Gambit, Steve was able to free the C pawn after 18 quick moves of memorised theory and develop a monster bishop, which tied down the white queen for most of the game. The position was very double edged with continual mate threats on white and white unable to get the final position to convert a win. Time told in the end with Richard making a fatal error with 2 minutes left on the clock. An offer of a queen sac, led to an instant resignation.

The next result was from Dave Tooley, who was sadly unable to convert a winning position. Time trouble led to the loss of some major pieces, before the clock fell. Peter suffered the next loss, missing a draw opportunity that allowed his opponent to convert a pawn. Peter gracefully allowed the checkmate.

A full on battle was occurring on Board 1. This season Greg has overtaken Mitchell on ranking and has frankly been BLOODY BRILLIANT as our number 1 player. Greg obtained a dubious position, playing the King's Indian C5 line but fought back into end game, after losing his queen, equalising and going a piece up. The knight was utilised to its full potential to snaffle up the pawn advantage on the queen side, avoid a sneaky stalemate and finally convert the win with minutes to spare.

So a hard fought loss for the team. Halifax brought a powerful side and we were outgunned on all boards. To beat times like this we need our top players and for them to be on top form. However, on the plus side it is now our opportunity to play white against the likes of Tod, Hebden Bridge and Halifax.

Thank you for all your efforts this season. Enjoy your month off the Calderdale League and have a good Christmas. See you all in the New Year.

 

02/11/16

Match report after our awesome win tonight:

Huddersfield 'Kings'

Huddersfield hosted league champions Todmoden at home, playing black. This was to be a tough proposition as the Tod A had not lost as white for a very very long time.

Greg started on board 1 facing the Queen's Gambit, with his favourite King's Indian Defence. His opponent struggled for a reply as Greg quickly smashed home a win.

The next result was a loss on board 4 from Dave Tooley. Responding to Dave Patrick's E4 with a typical French, Dave T was to enter into an Exchange French - which is sadly a favourite of Mr P. Dave T suspected his opening was slightly off, with the bishop going to g4 rather than the traditional F5 or seizing the chance to play an early c5, with whites bishop on D3. Analysis will tell, but Dave P does know the exchange rather well, so there is no shame in the loss.

As ever the Club Captain had the most eventful game. Steve was facing M Connor, who requested his full name (including middle name), signature, grade, age and so forth prior to starting. Dave T joked that Steve's fingerprint was needed, however the credit card number, CVV, address and sexuality seemed to suffice.

Mr Connor unleashed the Catalan, which Steve had never played against before. As the Captain was pretty clueless on what to do, he responded with the Slav and a rather entertaining game commenced full of threats and counters. After almost 3 hours, the game entered into dead duck draw territory, from which Steve blundered his queen and promptly had kittens watching the rest of the matches conclude, after almost wrecking the chances of the team.

Dave Keddie brought the match back to 2-2 with some stylish play. I was unsure as to the opening that was played, but the sight of disconnected and doubled pawns on Dave's side, meant he was in top 'chaos theory' form. Running low on time, Dave was able to convert a pawn into a rook (if he got a queen it would be an unfortunate stalemate) with minutes to spare on the clock. Both his Captain and opponent (Andrew Clarkson), nearly had simultaneous heart attacks.

This left Mitchell needing to convert a win. Entering speed chess territory due to lack of time, Mitchell crushed the English utilising his knight, stacked rooks and a queen.

So victory for Huddersfield against the champions. A massive thank you for the team effort that has got us to this stage, with lower and upper boards supporting each other to win games throughout the matches so far. With the draw between Hebden Bridge A and Tod A last week, this firmly puts us back in contention for the title.

Finally a word on titles. Huddersfield have a number of teams in play. We have the Knights and the Rooks. Recently the Bishops were reformed, while I suppose we can call the kids club 'Pawns'. Tonight, the Calderdale League team earned the title the 'Kings'. So, with the week now drawing to a close, I would like to wish the best of luck to the Huddersfield 'Queens' on Saturday..... ;)

 

17/10/16

 

Match Report Away to Hebden Bridge B

Huddersfield Stake out an impressive win

After a royal tanking against Hebden Bridge A, Huddersfield were up for revenge, as Dave Keddie and Greg E returned to the team, with David Gray making his debut. The players initially gathered in the stygian gloom of the Trade Club, mingling with Todmorden A team, who were also playing. The visiting groups chatted and generally fell over / bumped into things, before the Hebden Bridge players led their opposition 'to the light'.

A tense encounter was played out on board 5 with David Gray. The nervy thriller finally concluding with Hebden Bridge finally conceding that their player was not turning up (struck by sunlight perhaps?) and David could go watch the football on his new giant TV at home. He left gleefully with apologies ringing in his ear.

Steve on board 4 was playing white for the first time since May. Deciding that the English was tool dull, he had re-learned his openings and promptly played the London; much to the amusement of the other players. However, it worked a treat as he was initially gifted a knight and took victory in 26 moves.

Not one to hang back, Steve then sent his A pawn crashing into the long casted king but some good defensive play just led to an even swop off of pieces. A trap soon bagged another free minor piece and the power of the London, or perhaps the garlic in the lunchtime madras, ensured a resignation followed.

My personal favourite match was David Keddie against Martin Syrett. Unlike all the other Huddersfield players, who thunked their pawns on D4 and despatched bishops to either F4 or G5, Dave played his favourite E4. Martin promptly replied with a D5 Scandinavian defence, possible in an attempt to move game play in line with everyone else.

What followed was what appeared to be a text book demolition of the Scandinavian as David did unto the defence, what Christianity did to the Vikings. Advancing the central past pawn to the 6th rank and driving doubled rooks onto the back line like a stake through the heart, the opposition defence dissolved into dust.

Play appeared so text book we are all expecting a book at by David, in time for Christmas, with his face on the front cover.

Meanwhile Greg on board 1 was exorcising some ghosts as he safely took down J Allan, with some excellent technical play. To fit in with the theme of this write up, it was like a beam of sunlight in the dark.

Dave Tooley was to have a difficult match, despite going a pawn up. His opponent was to seemingly rise from the dead and steal the tempo, doubling and disconnecting Dave's pawns and utilising his knight well. A very tough end game was following, with Dave (his words) 'swindling a win'.

So Hebden Bridge B is professionally despatched 0-5. We leave them eying Todmoden A hungrily back at the Trade Club.

A big thanks to the team for travelling all the way there and difficult circumstances with all the noise from the football. We play Todmorden A back at home on the 2nd November.

 

Please remember to vote for the Man of the Match on Teamer.

 

 

 

 

 

05/10/17 

Match Report
Huddersfield were at home to the title contenders Hebden Bridge. The unavailability of Leo, alongside the late loss of Greg and David K meant that Huddersfield were strongly lacking in depth, forcing the team captain to offer up Dave T and Nigel H as sacrificial lambs at board 2 and 3 respectively.

Dave on board 2 was not going down without a fight and was a lamb with fangs. A French Defence variant of the classical, kept the game going to almost full time control, with C Bak having difficulties breaking through.

Nigel on board 3 joined the stripy shirt and garlic brigade, playing the Tarrasch French, albeit with a slightly old fashioned Qb6 variant, rather than going for F6 and the exciting rook sacrifice lines. Sadly Nigel was overpowered by Dave Shapland.

Stuart had an interesting lengthy battle, using the Pirc Defence, but fell to M Syrett, while Mitchell obtained an early draw.

Board 4 was to see pure blood and thunder as Steve débuted the Semi-Slav Anti-Moscow variant against Nick Sykes; much to the early amusement and sniggers of both players. The match, like the opening, was absolutely crackers with both players attacking repeatedly and ripping open their own defences. The match somehow finished in a draw and a position best described as a Mexican Standoff; with subsequent computer analysis demonstrating very few mistakes and some good play. It was fun - which is all I really care about when playing!

So away to lick our wounds and prepare for Hebden Bridge B on the 17th of October, where we can play white and aim to get some revenge.

Could all player vote their man of the match please? We have a trophy to award!

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