H E Atkins Memorial Congress

Les and Tom both played in the Intermediate Section of this weekends H E Atkins Memorial Congress. Tom finished on 3/5, with 2 wins, a draw, a half point bye and one loss. Les finished on 2/5, with 1 win, a draw, a half point bye and 2 losses. Neither of them were required at the prize giving !!

Club Championship 4th Round Draw

The draw for the 4th round of the Club Championship has now been made and can be viewed here, All games to be played by no later than the 31st October.

Russian Chess Ban Upheld

Checkmate for Russia as global chess ban upheld :

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kjgxj40y1o

Harrod Cup Correction

Despite what I said in an earlier post, Ashby 3 have, in fact, won the Harrod Cup. Although Market Harborough have a superior Game Points difference, it appears that the first tie break is the result of the match played between the two teams. As Ashby 3 beat Market Harborough earlier in the competition it means that we have won the Cup. Congratulations to Team Captain, Nick Wyld, and all of the players who turned out for Ashby 3 over the course of the competition.

U1450 Championship Results

There were a couple of games played in Group B in the U1450 Championship last night, with James Foster beating Ric Dawson and Mick Brown beating Damian Oldham.

Team Captains 2024/2025

There has been a change to the Team Captains for the coming season. Andrew Wilson has stood down as Captain of Ashby 1 due to work commitments. Patrick Buckley will move up from Ashby 2 to take his place. Larry Hayden will take Patrick's place as Captain of Ashby 2. Tom Gerrard, Ric Dawson and Neil Roberts will continue as Captains of Ashby 3, 4 and 5 respectively. 

Ashby 2 Finish Harrod Cup With A Win

Ashby 2 signed off with a 5.5 - 2.5 win against Latimer in their final match in the Harrod Cup earlier this evening. 

Les Fancourt Wins LRCA Minor Championship

Many congratulations to Les Fancourt on winning the LRCA Minor Championship this season. He beat Chen Yingxin of Leicester University by 2-0 in a rapidplay play-off earlier this evening after both players finished level on 4.5/5.

Ashby 3 Pipped At The Post In Harrod Cup

Ashby 3 narrowly failed to win the Harrod Cup following Market Harborough's win against Wigston on Wednesday evening. We finished level on points with Market Harborough, but they win the Cup by virtue of a superior Game Points difference.

Keith Escott Memorial Congress

Larry Hayden's other Club - Sutton Coldfield are organising a Congress in December in memory of their late Chairman. It is being held over the weekend of 14th/15th December and is only a short hop down the M42 from Ashby. If anybody is interested in playing then please follow this link for further details and an online entry form - https://congress.org.uk/congress/469/home

Welcome Back To The Club

We are very pleased to welcome Tom Dove back to the Club after an absence of a couple of years. Tom was, and will be again, one of our strongest players and an undoubted asset to the Ashby 1 team.

LRCA Minor Championship Goes To A Play-Off

The LRCA Minor Championship is going to a play-off for the second year running after Chen Yingxin of Leicester Uni won her 5th round match. Both her and Les Fancourt finished on 4/5. Les will now play her in 2 x 20 minute rapidplay matches to decide the title. Should they still be level after the 2 rapidplay matches then there will be an Armageddon game to decide the title. For those of you not familiar with Armageddon games, the 2 players will toss for choice of colours.The player with the White pieces typically gets something like 6 minutes on the clock, while Black gets 5 minutes on the clock. However, Black only needs to draw to win the match, while White needs to win.

Go Les !!!!!!

Harrod Cup On A Knife Edge

A 4-4 draw between Ashby 1 and Ashby 3 last night leaves the outcome of the Harrod Cup on a knife edge. We are 2 points clear of both Wigston 1 and Mkt Harborough 2, who play each other in their final match next Wednesday. A win for either of them would give them the Cup on Game Points difference over us. A draw would see us win the Cup by a single point. Whatever the final outcome, it has been a great performance by Ashby 3, who remain unbeaten with 3 wins and 2 draws from their 5 matches.

In other news, Jan Oldham continued her recent run of good form with a win against Doris Pearce in Group A of the U1450 Championship. Mick Brown beat Darren Oldham in Group B. 

LRCA Major Championship

Tom Gerrard played his final game in the LRCA Major Championship last night, to finish on 2/5. In his own words 'At least I doubled my score of 1/5 from last year !!' 

Opening Traps

Want to surprise your opponent and spring an opening trap on them ? Click here for a plethora of opening traps - from easy to difficult - to catch your opponent off guard. If you would like to view traps in a specific opening you will need to enter an ECO Code from the Encyclopaedia Of Chess Openings. You can click here for a list of ECO Codes. Alternatively, you can use the tab at the top of this page.

LRCA 2024/2025 Fixture List

The 2024/2025 LRCA fixture list has now been published and can be viewed here - or from the tab at the top of this page.

The fixtures can also be viewed from the Ashby Calendar link on the right hand side of this page - or from the tab at the top of this page. This will give you an overall view of all the fixtures in the current month.