Keverel Chess

After having been held at West Buckland Village Hall for several years, this match had to be arranged for a new venue nearby, Norton Fitzwarren Village Hall. Several players experienced problems finding it, as the postcode, as given on their own website, when typed into google maps, pinpoints a spot over a mile away.

The new venue

Once play was under way, it wasn’t long before the expected pattern of results appeared - Somerset 1st team set for a big win and the 2nd team for an equally big loss. And so it proved, with their 1st team’s 10.5 - 5.5 win mirrored by a 6-10 loss in the lower half.

The top games get under way - (Nearest: Buckley - Mackle)

Bd. 14: Bill ingham vs Gerry Jepps.

Bd. 22: Dave Wood vs Mike Stinton-Brownbridge.

2nd team: nearest: P. Dobber vs A. Champion.

Bd. 32: Mark Baker vs John Fraser.

Meanwhile, in another village hall, near Honiton, Cornwall met their furthest opponents, Hampshire.

Now you’d think that after earlier results this season in which Devon beat Cornwall and Hampshire beat Devon, by substantial margins in each case, it would be only logical to suppose that Hampshire should beat Cornwall with some ease. But where Cornwall is concerned, logic is rarely the defining factor. In this case, for example, although the Cornish were outgraded on the majority of boards, they won 3.5 - 2.5 on both the top and bottom 6 boards, to register a 7-5 win. Where’s the logic in that?

Cornwall were without Ian George, but newly-retired County President, Robin Kneebone, seems to have more time to play, and the rise and rise of 11 year-old Theo Slade continued apace. As already reported, Theo became West of England U-12 Champion at Swindon the previous weekend, and here he was pitched into the senior county team at Bd. 7 and won in 28 moves against a higher graded opponent.