Congratulations to James Holyhead who is the Shropshire Minor Individual champion after winning his second playoff match against Robert Green. It is the third time in the competition’s six-year history that a Telepost player has been champion and this year the club achieved a remarkable full house by claiming all the prizes – Dennis Bonner is U1500 winner, John Casewell U1400 and Martin Ayres U1300. James had to work for his title, with the playoffs taking the number of games to nine, and in the final game he was facing a possibly losing position before Green lost a piece. Hopefully the competition, which is for players rated under 1640 and involves one game a month for seven rounds, will attract some of our new members next season.
Two of Telepost’s youngest players took to the national stage, playing in the British Chess Championships, held this year in Leicester. In an intense week of chess, Rudi Bedford took on an Under 10 field that had a top seed rated 1907 and finished with a highly creditable score of 3.5/7. His average game length was two hours, showing real maturity for a young player. Henry Bedford, meanwhile, faced an Under 12 section in which he was seeded 63 out of 71 players. The top seed rating? A mere 1972! With 11 players rated over 1800 it’s clear that the current surge in chess is producing a tranche of seriously good players for the future. Henry scored 1/7 in the main competition and joined his brother in an Under 1600 Blitz, scoring 3/7 to Rudi’s 4/7, and Junior Blitz where Henry scored 3/9 and Rudi 4.5/9. There was individual and group coaching available throughout the tournament and the boys both went through several of their games with local coaches and FM Jonathan Blackburn. You can see PGNs of Rudi’s games here, and Henry’s here.
Telepost B’s giant killing run in the Cox Trophy was ended by Maddocks A in the final, but league and rapidplay champions Maddocks had to work to secure their treble. Daniel Hilditch-Love continues to take on and match the county’s best players, securing a draw against Athar Ansari, and Shane Greenwood had a notable win over reigning County Individual champion Glyn Pugh – 2.5-1.5 to Maddocks the final score, in a match broadcast live.
At the Shropshire Chess Association AGM held at Telepost on 24 July, Daniel Hilditch-Love was confirmed as the new League Controller, responsible for scheduling and overseeing the main Shropshire leagues. Dan, who is already a Listed ECF Arbiter, will also be controller for the Cox and Minor Knockout trophies and the Minor Individual. Our congratulations to Dan on taking up these prestigious and demanding roles. Further details of the AGM will be available when the minutes are published on the Shropshire site. Telepost’s own AGM is at the club on Monday 21 August.
We are delighted to announce that this week sees the first of our new Wednesday club nights. The club will be open from 7-11pm, with the focus on social chess and a relaxed atmosphere – the idea being that serious competitive play can be concentrated on the normal Monday nights. Steve Wilson is overseeing the Wednesday night sessions. Ahead of this new era for the club, a summary of Chess Etiquette has been published, which sets out the specific expectations for Telepost members and also details of traditional game play etiquette which will be of particular interest to newer players. It can be found here.