Telepost Chess Club 2002-2003 Season
Telepost Chess Club celebrated their most successful season with a knight at the local Indian restaurant. The Telepost A team won the first division title for a fourth successive year, matching a feat previously only achieved by Coddon.
This year it was the top two boards who excelled. On board one Nigel Ferrington went through the whole season undefeated with a score equivalent to a grade of 178. However Richard Bryant on board two was not to be outdone. He started with nine straight wins before drawing with Thomas Pym and, in the last match, losing to Phil Saxon of Shifnal and Telford. This equated to an amazing 180 score for his league season. Steve Rawlins scoring 147 and Keith Tabner at 141 provided solid support. Only captain Dave Bryan was slightly disappointing. With competition for places so fierce at the club his 131 score may not be enough to keep him in next season’s first team.
TELEPOST ‘B’ 2002/03 Report
At the start of the season they were odds-on for an instant return to the second division. They were boosted though with the addition of two new members joining the club after the Perkins club folded shortly before the season began. Steve Kempsell and Bob Simpson are both regular first division players and went straight into the ‘B’ team.
In their opening match of the season they came up against the current Shropshire champions and clubmates in Telepost ‘A’. Realistically they could not have expected to get a result but nevertheless they inflicted a rare defeat on the champions.
On board one John Bashall put up a good display against Nigel Ferrington and was unfortunate only to achieve a draw, after missing his chance of the win. John continued with his impressive results throughout the league campaign despite continually being outgraded on the top board. He ended the league season with a record of 2 wins, 4 draws, and only 4 defeats.
On board two Steve Kempsell lost out to Steve Rawlings. This was the start of a tough season for Steve K. as he had the inenviable task of playing on the second board where he was also outgraded against every opponent he played. Steve ended the season with a surprize win over Gordon Bradley, who is graded over 20 points higher.
On board three ‘B’ team captain Neil Allen drew with his ‘A’ team counterpart Dave Bryan, after having a slightly better position throughout the game. Neil ended the season with 3 wins, 5 draws, and 2 defeats. The three wins came against players he had previously never beaten.
Peter Crean gained a vital win on board four over Keith Tabner. Peter’s season also included wins over Richard Thompson, Ian Wilson, and John Tunks. He ended his season with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 6 defeats.
Bob Simpson also won on board five against John Westhead, who was a substitute for the ‘A’ team. Bob gained more points throughout the season than any other player in the ‘B’ team. He finished with 6 wins, 1 draw, and 4 defeats.
These combined performances meant that Telepost ‘B’ finished in 4th position in the first division – their best ever league position. Their success was mainly due to constitently fielding their strongest team – only having to use a substitute player on three occasions during the entire league season. The extra players were John Westhead and David Adderley from the ‘C’ team and Steve Povall who made a guest appearance, making the 100 mile round trip from his home in North Wales.
Telepost ‘B’s form continued into the summer knockout cup as they reached the semi-final stage before being narrowly beaten by Coddon ‘A’. – (Neil Allen 2003)
TELEPOST ‘C’ 2002/03 Report
Having won our first match 3-2, drawn our second and lost our fourth I did not consider we were promotion material, let alone to go on and win the league. Having lost our second match just before Christmas we came back in the new year with a smaller squad but retaining our stronger players and apart from a draw in late February, won every match apart from a draw on April fools day when the pressure was off and won the league by 4 points. I put our success down to a team effort, not having to make wholesale changes and having strong players in Dave Adderley , John Westhead and Steve Jones on the top boards. Vincent Crean had a pleasing season and I sneaked the odd game. Let’s hope we can now emulate our B team and stay in the 2nd division. – (John Casewell C team captain 2003)