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RIP – Allan Dunkerley (1949-2018)

Sadly we have to report the death of Allan Dunkerley of Rochdale Chess Club on July 11th.

Allan was a regular for Rochdale chess club for many years. Chess was a major part of Allan’s life and became a major outlet for dealing with autism. As a result he used to play regularly for Lancashire county teams before he found the travel too tiring. Allan was very much a Rochdale man, having worked in London in the civil service as a young man and finding the isolation not to his liking. Continue reading “RIP – Allan Dunkerley (1949-2018)”

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ECF County Championship Semi-Final Roundup

Clash of the Titans

After a brilliant set of results from the semi-finals, all three Lancashire teams won their respective semi-finals and now progress to the final. 

A full report to follow, but headlines are that we have a repeat of last year’s OPEN and U160 finals, it is the Battle of the Roses again.

The U100 team will face off against Leicestershire in the final. 

Continue reading “ECF County Championship Semi-Final Roundup”

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ECF County Chess Championship Roundup

Mixed Bag for Lancashire

A mixed bag of fortunes for Lancashire, as we approach the semi-final stages of the 2017-2018 Championship.

The OPEN team and current holders of the championship trophy, are straight through to the semi-finals stages where they will meet Sussex.  In the other semi-final, Yorkshire play Middlesex.  Possibility of a repeat of last year’s final still on the cards. Continue reading “ECF County Chess Championship Roundup”

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Match Report – U120 Lancashire v Yorkshire

Venue: Bury Bridge Club on 15th April

Report by Bill O’rourke

Having both lost to Merseyside, the winner of this match would proceed to the national finals. Played at the very comfortable Bury Bridge Club, a tight match was in prospect. It was really good to see both teams fielding three youngsters. One of these, Aisha Benhameida, was offered an early draw in a slightly better position and took it., 0.5-0.5. It was an hour later before her brother Mohammed finished the 2nd game, winning a very nice rook and pawn endgame to give us a 1.5-0.5 advantage. Continue reading “Match Report – U120 Lancashire v Yorkshire”

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Match Report: U120 Lancashire v Merseyside

A great venue at Winnick and excellent refreshments provided the perfect conditions for serious chess. We could not have had a worse start though. One of players failed to find the venue and returned home. 0-1. All of the games were very close. I had Jeff Wilson down as somebody who appeared to be making good progress, but his opponent Jim Moran put on his tin hat, buckled down and after an inaccuracy from Jeff took control and converted it to a win, 0-2, Ian Mitchell took a draw as he could not see a way forward, 0.5-2.5. Scott Ramsbottom looked slightly better, but left a discovered check that was so devastating that he resigned immediately, 0.5-3.5. When John Regan went down as well. things did indeed look bleak at 0.5-4.5. 

Continue reading “Match Report: U120 Lancashire v Merseyside”