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.
Fixtures and Results
You can apply a filter to the fixtures by typing into the Search box. For example, if you type Ply then only the fixtures against Plymouth will be displayed.
Click on a match score to view the game results for the match concerned. If the word "Report" appears against a particular match, then when you view the game results you will also see the match report.
Individual Player Statistics
Here are the current player statistics for South Hams players in Division 1 during the 2016-17 season:
Wilkinson, Ben | 131 | 162703L | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 166 | 140 | 25.0 | 1.0 |
Peach, Cliff | 96 | 116851E | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 151 | 86 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
McConnell, Phil | 126 | 285386D | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 154 | 134 | 30.0 | 1.5 |
Archer, David | 151 | 300734A | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 170 | 150 | 30.0 | 1.5 |
Levy, Steve | 177 | 134450L | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 185 | 195 | 60.0 | 3.0 |
Overall Team Statistics
Matches Played: | 5 |
Matches Won: | 2 |
Matches Drawn: | 0 |
Matches Lost: | 3 |
Match Points: | 4 |
Percentage: | 40 |
Average South Hams Team Rating: | 578 |
Average Opponents' Team Rating: | 672 |
TCL Division 1: Teignmouth v South Hams 1 Nov 2016
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 Match | 627 | 1½-2½ | | 550 | |
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 |
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 Match | 689 | 3-1 | | 585 | |
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 |
Rating |
ECF |
Result |
Plymouth |
Col |
Rating |
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 Match | | 585 | | 2½-1½ | | | 661 | | |
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 Match | 585 | 2½-1½ | | 661 | |
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 |
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 Match | 585 | 0-4 | | 687 | |
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 |
Rating |
ECF |
Result |
South Hams |
Col |
Rating |
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 Match | | 696 | | 3-1 | | | 585 | | |
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 Match | 696 | 3-1 | | 585 | |
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.