LRCA Championship Results

Les Fancourt won his 5th round game against Daniel Talbot of Market Harborough in the LRCA Minor Championship on Thursday to finish on 4.5/5. He is now guaranteed at least a play-off for the title. If  Chen Yingxin of Leicester University fails to win her last game then Les will become the new Champion. Should she win then there will be a play-off. Jamie Rhodes, also playing in the Minor, lost his 5th round game and finishes on 2.5/5.

Joss Cherrington, playing in the Challengers Championship, drew his 5th round game and finishes on 3/5.

Tom Gerrard plays his 5th round game in the Major Championship this Thursday.

In other news, Richard Vann beat Neil Roberts in the 3rd round of the Club Championship.

Jan Oldham continued her recent run of good form with a win against Brian Wood in the U1450 Championship.

Harrod Cup 5th Round Draw

The draw for the 5th, and final, round of the Harrod Cup has now been made. Ashby 3 will, as expected, play Ashby 1, with Ashby 3 being the nominal home team. Ashby 2 will be at home against Latimer. Dates for both matches to be confirmed. 

Harrod Cup Update

There were two Harrod Cup matches at the Club on Thursday evening. 

Ashby 1 were up against Market Harborough 2 in a match that they needed to win to keep alive their chances of winning the Cup. However, they were surprisingly beaten by 5-3 and have dropped to 4th in the table with just one match left to play.

Ashby 2 played Market Harborough 1 and after a shaky start, in which they were 3-1 down at the halfway point, they rallied in the second half to draw the match 4-4. Great performance from Jan Oldham on board 4, making her Harrod Cup debut, who won both of her games.

Lancaster Congress Game

There was a very interesting game played by Richard Vann in the 5th round of this weekend's Lancaster Congress. He was up against a Romanian WGM and, although he ultimately lost, he overlooked a couple of tactics which would possibly have won him the game. I think he is still kicking himself !! You can view the game here - or find it in the Members Games tab at the top of the page. 

Monday Morning News

Congratulations to Les Fancourt and Jamie Rhodes on winning their 4th round matches last week in the LRCA  Minor Championship. Les is now in 2nd place, with a score of 3.5/4. He plays Daniel Talbot of Market Harborough in the 5th round and, if he wins, he will bring the title back to Ashby for the second year in succession, following Dominic Lennon's win last season. Jamie is in a mid table position with 2.5/4.

Josh was a awarded a walkover in his 4th round match in the LRCA Challengers Championship as his opponent couldn't agree on a date to play, putting him into 3rd place. If the results of the two players in front of him go his way then he still has a chance of winning it. He plays John Robinson of Anstey in the 5th Round.

There were a couple of U1450 Championship games played on Thursday, with Paul Mayer beating Ian Maskery in Group A and Ric Dawson beating Damien Oldham in Group B. If anybody else played that I don't know about can you please let me know,

I have made some changes regarding the U1450 rating file that is submitted to the ECF. Your games on the ECF Rating System will now appear correctly as the Ashby U1450 Championship, rather than as Rated Friendlies. 

The Ashby contingent of Richard, Josh, Steve and Les didn't have an auspicious time at the Lancaster Congress this weekend. Richard scored 1.5/5 in the Open, with 3 draws and 2 losses, in a field in which 9 players were rated over 2000. Josh scored 2/5 in the Major Section with 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses. Steve had a nightmare in the Major Section, losing his first 3 games in succession, before winning his 4th round game and being given a full point bye in the 5th round, to finish on 2/5. Les also had a bad time in the Intermediate Section, losing his first 3 games and then withdrawing on the Sunday due to illness.

Friday Morning News Update

Ashby 3 travelled to Wigston 1 last night for their top of the table Harrod Cup match and drew 4-4. This result leaves Ashby 3 still at the top of the table by a point from last night's opponents. Paul Mayer continued his good run of form with 2 wins. A win and a draw from Patrick Buckley, plus a draw and a loss from Steve Emmerton, gave us a share of the points. Nick Wyld was unable to produce his usual inspired Team Captain's performance and lost both of his games. If  Ashby 1 win their match against Mkt Harborough 2 on the 15th August they will join Ashby 3 at the top of the table and the scene will be set for a local Ashby derby in the final match to decide this year's Harrod Cup winners.

Elsewhere, Tom Gerrard unfortunately lost his 4th round LRCA Major Championship match and, with a score of 1.5/4, is now out of contention for the title.

Josh Cherrington has added his name to the list of Ashby players entering the Lancaster Congress next weekend, joining Richard Vann, Les Fancourt and Steve Emmerton.

In the U1450 Championship, Paul Mayer is unbeaten and leads the way in Group A with a score of 4/4. Mick Brown is also unbeaten and out in front in Group B with a score of 3/3. Ollie Fordham also has 3 points in Group B but has played 5 games, losing 2 of them.

LRCA Individual Major Championship Update

The 3rd round results in the LRCA Individual Major Championship have now been entered and the draw for the 4th round has been made. Tom Gerrard is currently in 10th place and will play Stuart Dawkins of Wigston. 

Ashby @ The Lancaster Congress

Richard, Les, Josh and Steve have all entered the Lancaster Congress, being held over the weekend of 9th/11th August. Richard is playing in the Open, Steve and Josh are in the Major and Les is in the Intermediate. If  anybody else fancies a weekend away then please get in touch.