Special delivery from Courier

Huddersfield 'A's title defence now looks even more fragile
than this parcel thanks to Courier's win on Monday night

On Monday night it was the turn of Calderdale's Division 1 teams to wade into action for round 2 of this year's competition. But, before we turn to our own teams' results, I should first relate the seismic result that has reached our ears from Halifax where Courier 'A' overwhelmed the reigning league champions Huddersfield 'A' by a score of 3½-1½.

In itself this would not necessarily mean all that much (Courier also beat Huddersfield in the second round last season) but, coming on the back of the champion's defeat away to Brighouse in round 1, this result leaves them bereft and cut adrift from this year's title race after only two matches! Last year they recovered from a draw and a loss to claim their victory with an perfect run of 12 won matches. This year they will have to do that again and it still may not be enough to save them.

Courier's excellent win deservedly leaves them top of the table with two wins from two matches. Brighouse join them on 4 points (they are second on board score) after they saw off Belgrave away in a tight match. The other two fixtures both featured Hebden Bridge teams and so, without further ado, over to John Kerrane who reports on the action from the Trades Club.

“Hebden Bridge Chess Club’s A team confirmed their status as contenders for the Calderdale Chess League first division championships on Monday evening at the Trades Club, Holme Street, when they hosted newly-promoted Huddersfield B, and beat them 4½-½.
The individual results were:

Hebden Bridge ‘A’ – Huddersfield ‘B’

M. Parsons 1-0 N. Hepworth

D. Ursal 1-0 N. Hepworth

D. Shapland 1-0 B. Corner

N. Sykes ½-½ E. Mellor

D. Sugden 1-0 M. Rojinsky

4½-½

Meanwhile, one of their rivals, Todmorden ‘A’, was dealing out similar harsh treatment to Hebden Bridge ‘B’ at the same venue. The 4-1 score line does not reflect the closeness of the match, as several of the Hebden players came close to causing an upset, but only Steve Priest on board five could win a point for the home side.

The individual scores were:

Hebden Bridge ‘B’ – Todmorden ‘A’

A.Leatherbarrow 0-1 M.Hamer

M.Syrett 0-1 A.Clarkson

J.Blinkhorn 0-1 A.Wright

J.Kerrane 0-1 R.Tokeley

S.Priest 1-0 C.Edwards

1-4

On the same evening, Hebden Bridge ‘C’ was playing away against Halifax ‘A’ in one of the semi-finals of the Calderdale Summer Team Knock-Out Competition. In this time–handicap competition, lowly Hebden Bridge ‘C’ had a genuine chance, but the Halifax side won the match in the end. The match featured the debut for the Hebden Bridge league teams of 9-year-old Kyle Sharpe, who came away with a creditable draw against old campaigner John Nicholson.


The individual results were:

Halifax ‘A’ – Hebden Bridge ‘C’

C.Velosa 1-0 T.Sullivan

R.Cully 0-1 N. Bamford

H.Wood 1-0 T.Wilton-Davies

J.Aldridge 1-0 D.Crampton

J.Nicholson ½-½ K.Sharpe

3½-1½

Halifax ‘A’ will now play Hebden Bridge ‘A’ in the final of this competition.

Hebden Bridge 'A's assured victory has left them in third place in the table hot on the heals of Courier and Brighouse and with Todmorden for company. These four sides have already pulled clear of the rest of the division and poor old Hebden 'B' find themselves rock bottom and with the unappetising prospect of facing their colleagues in the 'A' team in the next round of fixtures. Anyone interested in seeing the current league table can do so at the league website.

This just leaves me to introduce a few more of the games from Monday night. These ones all come with a little commentary. First up is another combative victory for Darwin Ursal on board 2 for Hebden Bridge 'A'. He showed his young opponent no mercy has he brushed him aside early on in the evening. I've used the "Show/Hide" function on Chess Flash here to try and ensure this post loads as quickly as possible. Just click below for the second and third game viewers to be revealed!

Next up, and also a board 2 clash, here is Andrew Clarkson's victory of 'B' team captain, Martin Syrett. My thanks go to Andrew for taking the time to send us this game.

Finally, here is 'A' team captain Dave Shapland's effort against Brian Corner.

Thanks to all the players who took the time to send me their games by e-mail this week.