South Hams Chess Club
South Hams Chess Club

Torbay Chess League Division 1 Season 2016-17

South Hams Chess Club fields a team in Division 1 of the Torbay Chess League. This entails home and away matches against Newton Abbot, Plymouth and Teignmouth. Games played in the TDCL are submitted to the ECF grading database.

In this division, teams consist of four players; there is no maximum team grade.  The rate of play is 35 moves in 75 minutes, followed by a 15 minute Quickplay finish.  The away team has white on the odd-numbered boards.

Please visit the Torbay Chess League web page for further information on Division 1, and our fixtures and results page for the team's fixtures for the current season.

Individual Player Statistics

Here are the current player statistics for South Hams players in Division 1 during the 2016-17 season:

NameGradeECFPWDLAve OpPerf%Points
Levy, Steve177134450L530218519560.03.0
Archer, David151300734A511317015030.01.5
Wilkinson, Ben131162703L402216614025.01.0
McConnell, Phil126285386D511315413430.01.5
Peach, Cliff96116851E1001151860.00.0
 

Overall Team Statistics

Matches Played:5
Matches Won:2
Matches Drawn:0
Matches Lost:3
Match Points:4
Percentage:40
Average South Hams Team Grade:578
Average Opponents Team Grade:672

TCL Division 1: Teignmouth v South Hams 1 Nov 2016

Bd Teignmouth Col Grade ECF Result South Hams Col Grade ECF PGN
1 Taylor, Alex B 165 248954F 0-1 Levy, Steve W 177 134450L View
2 Wilson, Matthew W 158 128713J ½-½ Archer, David B 151 300734A View
3 Mills, Nathan B 153 272540L 0-1 McConnell, Phil W 126 285386D View
4 Hindom, Kevin W 151 233227K 1-0 Peach, Cliff B 96 116851E View
Overall Match6271½-2½550
Bd Teignmouth Grade Res South Hams Grade PGN
1 Taylor, Alex 165 0-1 Levy, Steve 177 View
2 Wilson, Matthew 158 ½-½ Archer, David 151 View
3 Mills, Nathan 153 0-1 McConnell, Phil 126 View
4 Hindom, Kevin 151 1-0 Peach, Cliff 96 View
Overall Match6271½-2½550
 

Match Report

Author:  Phil McConnell

Date:  2 Nov 2016

Match report by Phil, on behalf of Steve.

South Hams opening match in Division 1 ended up with a closely-fought victory over a Teignmouth team that out-graded us by 77 grading points. At the tea interval, all four games were looking close, but South Hams prevailed after the break.

Team Captain Steve was first to finish with a good win on board 1. He says he played a slightly cagey opening, against an player who is new to Devon and therefore a bit of an "unknown quantity".

Next to finish was Cliff on Board 4, who played a good, solid game but lost on time.

Time was also a crucial factor on Board 3. Phil gained an advantage when Nathan made an unsound sacrifice. Nathan then ran short of time and had to make 8 moves in 14 seconds leading up to the 35-move time control. Phil, determined not to let him think while Phil's clock was ticking, blundered a piece back during this phase, and his opponent reached the time control with 1 second to spare! So it all came down to a tense end game, (each player had a rook and 4 pawns), which Phil played a tad more accurately than Nathan.

That left David needing a draw to win us the match. A very tight game came down to both players having a rook, bishop and pawn, but with David having just 3 minutes left while Matthew had 7 minutes. David's offer of a draw at this point was declined, but once David managed to capture Matthew's pawn a draw was agreed. Well played!

A great start to the season for the Division 1 team.

TCL Division 1: Newton Abbot v South Hams 17 Nov 2016

Bd Newton Abbot Col Grade ECF Result South Hams Col Grade ECF PGN
1 Mackle, Dominic B 208 114766D 1-0 Levy, Steve W 177 134450L View
2 Thynne, Trefor W 170 120405B 1-0 Archer, David B 151 300734A Submit
3 Brooks, Paul B 161 215149C ½-½ Wilkinson, Ben W 131 162703L View
4 Howard, Charles W 150 113071H ½-½ McConnell, Phil B 126 285386D View
Overall Match6893-1585
Bd Newton Abbot Grade Res South Hams Grade PGN
1 Mackle, Dominic 208 1-0 Levy, Steve 177 View
2 Thynne, Trefor 170 1-0 Archer, David 151 Submit
3 Brooks, Paul 161 ½-½ Wilkinson, Ben 131 View
4 Howard, Charles 150 ½-½ McConnell, Phil 126 View
Overall Match6893-1585
 

Match Report

Author:  Phil McConnell

Date:  19 Nov 2016

Phil McConnell on behalf of Steve Levy...

South Hams went down fighting against a team that out-graded us by the massive margin of 104 grading points.

First to finish was Board 2, where David fought a tough battle against Trefor and played the Dutch. After miscalculating a sequence in the middle game he lost a minor piece and from then on, with correct play from Trefor, it was only a matter of time before he lost.

Then on Board 3 Ben fought out a well-deserved draw against Paul Brooks, thanks to some accurate end-game play by Ben.

On Board 4 Phil, under severe time pressure, managed to scramble a draw in a tense game with both players queening pawns - he had 28 seconds left on his clock when the draw was agreed.

This meant that Steve needed to win his game on Board 1 to secure a match draw. The game was dead level after 36 moves, with both players playing high-class, accurate chess. On move 37, with both players have less than 2 minutes on their clocks, Steve launched a high-risk sacrificial attack in an attempt to win the game, but it proved over ambitious and Steve lost on time 6 moves later.

Overall - a gallant defeat against the odds.

TCL Division 1: South Hams v Plymouth 5 Jan 2017

Bd South Hams Col Grade ECF Result Plymouth Col Grade ECF PGN
1 Levy, Steve B 177 134450L 1-0 Pollock, Richard W 181 193443A View
2 Archer, David W 151 300734A 1-0 Sivrev, Plamen B 175 290413F View
3 Wilkinson, Ben B 131 162703L ½-½ Hodge, Nicholas W 159 291419A View
4 McConnell, Phil W 126 285386D 0-1 Quinn, Martin B 146 214755F View
Overall Match5852½-1½661
Bd South Hams Grade Res Plymouth Grade PGN
1 Levy, Steve 177 1-0 Pollock, Richard 181 View
2 Archer, David 151 1-0 Sivrev, Plamen 175 View
3 Wilkinson, Ben 131 ½-½ Hodge, Nicholas 159 View
4 McConnell, Phil 126 0-1 Quinn, Martin 146 View
Overall Match5852½-1½661
 

Match Report

Author:  Phil McConnell

Date:  6 Jan 2017

A great start to 2017 for the Division 1 team. David was the star man - beating an opponent graded 175. On board 1, Steve also achieved a good win against a highly-graded opponent.

Ben achieved a hard-fought draw - arguably with the better position, but with the clocks against him was happy to settle for the draw - giving us a match win. Phil's game went to a rook-and-three-pawn end game, which his opponent deserevedly won.

Congratulations to the team - our first ever win over Plymouth in Division 1.

TCL Division 1: South Hams v Newton Abbot 2 Mar 2017

Bd South Hams Col Grade ECF Result Newton Abbot Col Grade ECF PGN
1 Levy, Steve B 177 134450L 0-1 Homer, Stephen W 190 162619L View
2 Archer, David W 151 300734A 0-1 Brusey, Alan B 166 107557D View
3 Wilkinson, Ben B 131 162703L 0-1 Thynne, Trefor W 170 120405B View
4 McConnell, Phil W 126 285386D 0-1 Brooks, Paul B 161 215149C View
Overall Match5850-4687
Bd South Hams Grade Res Newton Abbot Grade PGN
1 Levy, Steve 177 0-1 Homer, Stephen 190 View
2 Archer, David 151 0-1 Brusey, Alan 166 View
3 Wilkinson, Ben 131 0-1 Thynne, Trefor 170 View
4 McConnell, Phil 126 0-1 Brooks, Paul 161 View
Overall Match5850-4687
 

Match Report

Author:  Phil McConnell

Date:  2 Mar 2017

With this resounding win, Newton Abbot have deservedly won the Division 1 Championship for 2016-17.

Looking at the score doesn't tell the full story however. The Newton Abbot players were kind enough to say that South Hams, despite being out-graded by the massive margin of 104, put up a good fight on all four boards. Four close games, with South Hams having opporunities in each of them, and three of them going close to wire in terms of time.

In the end, however, superiority told. Many congratulations to the 2016-17 Torbay League Divison 1 Champions.

TCL Division 1: Plymouth v South Hams 13 Mar 2017

Bd Plymouth Col Grade ECF Result South Hams Col Grade ECF PGN
1 Andolo, Humphrey B 181 233310H 0-1 Levy, Steve W 177 134450L View
2 Pollock, Richard W 181 193443A 1-0 Archer, David B 151 300734A View
3 Sivrev, Plamen B 175 290413F 1-0 Wilkinson, Ben W 131 162703L View
4 Hodge, Nicholas W 159 291419A 1-0 McConnell, Phil B 126 285386D View
Overall Match6963-1585
Bd Plymouth Grade Res South Hams Grade PGN
1 Andolo, Humphrey 181 0-1 Levy, Steve 177 View
2 Pollock, Richard 181 1-0 Archer, David 151 View
3 Sivrev, Plamen 175 1-0 Wilkinson, Ben 131 View
4 Hodge, Nicholas 159 1-0 McConnell, Phil 126 View
Overall Match6963-1585
 

Match Report

Author:  Phil McConnell

Date:  13 Mar 2017

Plymouth fielded a very strong team, which out-graded us by the margin of 111 grading points. So losing 3-1 was no disgrace.

Steve was first to finish on Board 1. His opponent's mobile phone rang after Steve had made his first move, but before Black had replied. Steve - ever the gentleman - insisted that there should be no penalty for this, but Humphrey seemed to be distrcted by the incident and didn't play his best game.

On Boards 2, 3 and 4 the South Hams players, despite being massively out-graded, all acquitted themselves well before losing gallantly. Three cracking good games. The Man of the Match Award goes to Ben, who played a great game and actually had some opportunites to force a win before succumbing. On Board 4, Phil might have been able to obtain a lengthy draw, but with less than 3 minutes on his clock he opted to take a very risky (and unsuccessful) path in the hope of snatching a rapid win before time ran out.

A very enjoyable evening. Thanks to Plymouth for their hispitality, and congratulations on a well-deserved win.