Press Report 20th October 2017

The South Hams Chess Club got off to a winning start in their defence of the Torbay League Division 3 title. They got off to a great start with a quick draw on top board from Ben Wilkinson; followed fairly quickly with two wins from Chris Wilcox catching Norman Tidy on a bad day at the office and Roy Greenhalgh on board 4. So this meant the South Hams had a win whatever happened in the game between Clifford Peach and Mike Hussey. Mike had the pressure on Clifford throughout, until the final few moves, when he lost his bishop. This turned the game completely around, but being short of time Clifford accepted a draw to give the South Hams a 3-1 victory.

In another busy club night, especially for players in the Dunleavy League, it saw Phil McConnell beat Oliver Zaffiro, James Schofield beat Ken Ashby, Alan Davies beat James Fowler and John Belli beat Zak Zaffiro. Zak, aged 12, played his best game so far this season giving John a tough and long game, which saw relief on John’s face at the final move. The night also saw new member Richard Thomas getting his first win since joining the club against Jim Savage. Although just returning to playing after an arm injury, Jim would have started this game odds on favourite, so a real stepping stone for Richard. Steve Levy entertained a former member of the club Daniel Spurling, after an absence of 20 years or so. Daniel showed Steve he can still play giving a fight in a friendly which Steve won.