Thanks to Allan Pleasants for sending the following report on his and John Weatherlake’s participation the 2023 European Chess Club Cup which was held between 1st and 7th October.  The event was very strong – the top placed team was Offerspill Sjakklubb which had 7 GMs and 1 IM in its squad and none other than Magnus Calrsen on board one. So many congratulations to Allan, John and their team mates for a fine performance.

Allan Pleasants and John Weatherlake played for the Welsh team White Knights in the European Chess Club Cup at the beach resort of Durres in Albania. The team did very well, finishing above expectations despite a bout of illness which meant we were a man down in two consecutive rounds.

The team found it tough going on the higher boards, but there was considerable success on the lower boards. Allan scored 1.5/7 against very strong opposition on top board, which included a win against a 2493 IM and a draw against a 2346 rated IM.

John Weatherlake got an excellent 4/7 on board 5. John will be awarded a provision Candidate Master title and just requires to get his FIDE grade above 2000 to claim the title. Well done John.

Adam May also got a provisional CM title for his excellent performance on board 6.

Many thanks to Jason for organising the entry and participation of the team in this event. It is much appreciated by all those involved.

You can find out more about the event on the official website, and the see the overall results and White Knights’ results on the chess results server.   As you will see, the whole team out-performed their FIDE ratings!