Wessex A & Wessex B qualified for the Division Championship play-offs for Div 1 & Div 2 respectively and went into action on 23rd April.
Two close matches ensued with only 1 draw across 8 boards and both matches went down to the wire… see below…
Division 1
Our A team faced a strong Streatham A team who won their section by a mile with 7 wins from 7 rounds.
Wessex A were unbeaten in their section, although with a more modest 2 wins and 5 draws they qualified by the tightest of margins, by a half-point on game points!
Wessex A rose to the tough challenge and a win from Gavin with the black pieces yet again (his 5th black from 6 rounds this season), against a strong FM opponent, combined with a win from Jaimie and a draw from Rolandas saw us over the line to a narrow 2.5 – 1.5 victory, inflicting Streatham’s first loss of the season.
This is the 5th time we have played Streatham (in 5 consecutive seasons) and I suspect this rivalry will long continue. We have lost 3 of the previous 4 matches, our only win coming in Dec 2022 season 6) when (as this time) Gavin beat their board 1 FM with the black pieces.
So…….. on to the final next week and a chance for cup glory
| Streatham A | 2099 | Wessex Some Stars A | 2140 | |||||
| 121 | w | Venkataramanan, T.S. | f | 2217 e | 0 – 1 | Lock, Gavin R | 2218 e | |
| 122 | b | Hodgson, John H | 2030 e | ½ – ½ | Lukosius, Rolandas | 2129 e | ||
| 123 | w | French, Angus J | 2034 e | 0 – 1 | Wilson, Jaimie | 2114 e | ||
| 124 | b | Stone, Andrew M | 2116 e | 1 – 0 | Pye, David E | 2102 e | ||
| 1½ – 2½ | ||||||||
Division 2
Our B team faced a useful looking Heffalump Hunters, who, having been promoted from Division 3 last season, swept all before the to win their Division 2 section with 7 wins from 7 rounds. Our Wessex B had also had a cracking season with 6 wins and a single loss (to Oxford 2 who topped the section) so it was always going to be tight. With white winning on every board we tied the match 2 -2 (our wins came from Peter & John) to then disappointingly lose the match on board count.
I noticed that Peter beat an FM with a 2295 FIDE rating whilst John beat an opponent with a “real world OTB grade” of 2315! Well done to both.
Historical note – Wessex D played Heffalump Hunters last season and lost in their section match before beating them in the play-off final (on board count!) to take the Div 3 title.
| Heffalump Hunters | 1909 | Wessex Some Stars B | 1955 | |||||
| 211 | w | Chaerle, Josse | 2033 | 1 – 0 | Pentakota, Rajasekhar | 1973 e | ||
| 212 | b | Kokol, Peter | f | 1931 e | 0 – 1 | Anderson, Peter W | 2036 e | |
| 213 | w | Carpentier, Jannes | 1919 e | 1 – 0 | Marsh, Roger D W | 1907 e | ||
| 214 | b | Vanden Bussche, Steven | 1756 e | 0 – 1 | Weatherlake, John P | 1907 e | ||
| 2 – 2 | ||||||||
So our season continues into Round 9, a.k.a the FINAL, with Wessex A waving the flag and looking to retain their Div 1 title against a strong Dundee A team (who narrowly beat Dundee B, on board count, in the other semi-final).
I’ll issue a “Final report” after next weeks battle on 30th April.
We then have a “long break” until Sept 10th when season 10 starts…
Keith Gregory , 25th April 2024
