Press Report 3rd November 2017

It was a night of just internal games at the South Hams Chess Club with the Torbay Division 4 match being cancelled by Teignmouth, which has now been re-arranged for November.

With promotion and relegation getting nearer, Christmas being when things are decided, games are being played with no give and take from any player. In the Homan League, Chris Wilcox really turned the screw on Roy Greenhalgh and beat him in double quick time after losing the same way the previous week. In the only other Homan League game David Archer beat Clifford Peach on time when Clifford’s position fell away in the final few moves due to time pressure.

In the fiercely competitive Dunleavy League, Phil McConnell showed little mercy for new member Richard Thomas, dispatching him fairly quickly, making his promotion look uncatchable now. But the race is far from over as Alan Davies had to fight hard to get a draw against Barry Sweetman, keeping both these players in contention for promotion. Barry is having a great season after a slow start. In the final game another tense finish saw Jim Savage get a draw against James Fowler, who at the moment is in a top four place with Jim not out of the running completely.

In the only other game played that night, a M.Wray Shield game, saw a great result for Ken Ashby by holding Ben Wilkinson to a draw. There is over a 40 point grading difference between these two players. This followed Ken’s win last week in the Cookworthy Cup against Clifford Peach.