WECU County Chess Matches 2013 / 14 - Hampshire Chess History

Hampshire had a very busy chess season, playing in the West of England, Chiltern League and National stages. Adding all these matches (26!) would make this post too long, and therefore it will be split into separate articles. This post is to cover just the West of England County matches where Hampshire played 7 matches against 5 counties. Wiltshire were the missing county who last played in the WECU in the 2005/2006 season (excepting the online matches in lockdown).

The previous Chiltern League article for the same season is here.

One of the hopeful benefits of posting a season which is less than 10 years ago (written in 2023) is that I will know a lot more of the players. Although I was not playing county chess at this time (not much chess at all to be honest).

If anyone has any additional information on the season, please do let me know, either in the comments or by email Hampshirechesshistory@gmail.com

WECU County Matches
Hampshire Player Performance
Summary
Acknowledgements and sources

For the record of Hampshire County matches and links to any articles I have written the table on the Hampshire County Chess Matches page will detail these. The Hampshire County Chess History page summaries the leagues Hampshire have played in and the successes Hampshire have achieved. Both of these are available from the menu at the top of the site as well.

WECU County Matches

Hampshire A vs Cornwall A – 19th October 2013
Hampshire B vs Dorset B – 30th November 2013
Hampshire A vs Gloucestershire A – 18th January 2014
Hampshire A vs Devon A – 8th February 2014
Hampshire B vs Devon B – 8th February 2014
Hampshire A vs Somerset A – 8th March 2014
Hampshire B vs Somerset B – 8th March 2014

Hants A v Cornwall A – 19 Oct 2013

Hampshire’s first match was against Cornwall and the match was held in Gittisham which is about 100 miles from where I live and about 115 miles from Falmouth. As you can see even with the matches played half way between both counties this is still a bit of a journey. A number of Hampshire players enjoyed this fixture as a great day out, normally stopping for a bit of lunch, before travelling on to play the match.

Martin Newbury (25), Stephen LeFevre (25), Len Walters (22) and Peter Marshall (21) are the Hampshire players who have represented Hampshire in this fixture more than 20 times and on the Cornwall side RJ Grime (27), Jeremy Menadue (25), Colin Sellwood (22) and Anton RB Barkhuysen (21) are the plus 20 players. There are at least 4 matches where I don’t have the results, which means the true figure is probably higher. None of the Hampshire players mentioned were playing in this match, but Dominic Tunks who probably played more than 20 times was, or at least his game started before being abandoned.

For this match I am going to refer to the report on the Cornwall Chess website. At this time David Jenkins produced very interesting match reports and I recommend reading these as they bring the match to life (2013 to 2015 is the recommended period). Cornwall has the smallest population by a large margin in the WECU, but at this time as David states they were not considered cannon fodder to the other teams (not that they ever were) and with the team’s average grade of 163 over 13 boards, they certainly ad a much stronger team than Hampshire.

Hampshire players are normally on time for County Matches, but it looks as if there were issues on this day, as Hampshire were late and Cornwall had illness and clock issues. I will leave it to David to explain in more eloquent detail than I ever could.

County Chess Match: Cornwall vs Hants:- The delay in publishing the result arises from two unfortunate circumstances. The Cornwall team due to the captain’s illness and a regrettable misunderstanding arrived without clocks, although a number were speedily resourced locally. Most of the Hampshire team turned up at the venue at times that, had clocks been running, most of their players would have had very little time before the time control. The match was sportingly ‘rescued’ by agreement and played over 13 boards. Unfortunately the clock on Board 1 failed during the game. Dominic Tunks and Mark Hassall therefore abandoned their game by mutual consent. In effect this reduced the match to a contest over 12 Boards.

Cornwall were able to field a strong team largely by persuading old hands to return to the fray, particularly David Saqui and ex Cornwall champion James Hooker (although sadly James was unable to play a match game because of the clock shortage) and the continued steady improvement of our international junior Theo Slade. The 7-5 win for Cornwall in a well-fought contest was a welcome sign that we can no longer be considered canon-fodder for the traditionally stronger teams.

Simon Bartlett, Lloyd Retallick, Theo Slade and Colin Sellwood all achieved draws, the latter two involving some element of rescue from tense positions. It was Cornwall’s five victories that sealed the result, particularly as Robin Kneebone and Gary Trudeau played below their current form. Jeremy Menadue was, as ever, both subtle and stately in his win, and it was good to see David Saqui’s tactical acumen had not rusted in his absence from county chess. Interesting, too, was Grant Healey’s recovery from a ‘lost’ position, a case of the corpse lashing out.
David Jenkins – Cornwall Website

With the board one game being abandoned the match was played over 12 boards and Cornwall were narrow 7 – 5 winners, with David Fowler, Jon Young and Sam Murphy being the Hampshire winners.

Looking back on Cornwall’s season they also beat Gloucestershire, drew with Somerset, but Devon proved too tough a nut to crack and they lost heavily 4½ – 11½. But an excellent season nevertheless.

Board	Hants A	Colour	Grade	Result	Cornwall A	Colour	Grade	Result
1	Dominic R Tunks	White	196	Abd	Mark I Hassall	Black	182	Abd
2	Timothy J Davis	Black	170	0	Jeremy FS Menadue	White	180	1
3	David W Fowler	White	167	1	Robin FG Kneebone	Black	180	0
4	Gareth Aneurin Jones	Black	163	½	Simon Bartlett	White	174	½
5	Christopher PA Priest	White	152	0	David AJ Saqui	Black	171	1
6	Andy I Manning	Black	149	½	Lloyd Retallick	White	167	½
7	Gillian A Moore	White	148	½	Theo Slade	Black	162	½
8	Barry A Kocan	Black	148	0	Grant Healey	White	162	1
9	Stephen D LeFevre	White	140	½	Colin Sellwood	Black	159	½
10	Jonathan G Young	Black	138	1	Gary Trudeau	White	158	0
11	Roy E Ashmore	White	132	0	Jeff J Nicholas	Black	152	1
12	James A Barnett	Black	124	0	Richard AL Smith	White	139	1
13	Sam J Murphy	White	107	1	David G Lucas	Black	133	0
			149	5			163	7

Hants B v Dorset B – 30 Nov 2013

At this time Dorset only entered a team into the Wayling Cup (the B team competition) which was for players graded under 160. Being the closest County to Hampshire, this is normally a fixture which is easier for both teams to field a strong team. Hampshire’s averaged 139 and Dorset 130.

Hampshire ended comfortable winners, with Bernard Cook, Stephen Smith, Chris Priest, Gillian Moore, Roy Ashmore, Ashraf Syed, Philip Gething and Sam Murphy being the Hampshire winners.

Board	Hants B	Colour	Grade	Result	Dorset B	Colour	Grade	Result
1	David F Thompson	White	157	0	Mark Littleton	Black	159	1
2	Bernard Cooke	Black	154	1	Geoff C Searing	White	151	0
3	Stephen J Smith	White	154	1	Julian C Cherryson	Black	147	0
4	Christopher PA Priest	Black	152	1	David Aldwinckle	White	138	0
5	Gillian A Moore	White	148	1	John E Balem	Black	136	0
6	Barry A Kocan	Black	148	½	Paul Brackner	White	135	½
7	Stephen D LeFevre	White	140	½	Ivan J Willis	Black	133	½
8	Jonathan G Young	Black	138	½	Paul T Errington	White	131	½
9	Robert Davenport	White	135	½	Paul A Bland	Black	130	½
10	Timothy J Chapman	Black	135	½	Paul A Jackson	White	127	½
11	John H Watts	White	134	0	Frank Fallon	Black	127	1
12	Roy E Ashmore	Black	132	1	W John Kelly	White	120	0
13	Ashraf Syed	White	132	1	Keith C Spooner	Black	117	0
14	Kevin G Steele	Black	129	½	Mick Rogan	White		½
15	Philip Gething	White	124	1	Mike Kaye	Black	96	0
16	Sam J Murphy	Black	107	1	Marian Cox	White	103	0
			139	11			130	5

Hants A vs Gloucestershire A – 18 Jan 2014

Gloucestershire along with Devon are one of the powerhouses of the WECU, but this was Hampshire’s largest win against them (same result in 1995/96 season). This was not always the case as Hampshire lost by the same score in 2002/03 and on that day we had the stronger team on paper.

In this match the teams were also evenly matched grade wise, but as can happen, sometimes one win follows another, and Hampshire won by 12½ – 3½ with Ian Thompson, Dominic Tunks, Chris Bellers, Fraser McLeod, David Fowler, Stephen Smith, Chris Priest, Gillian Moore, Jamie Chilton, David Culliford and Tim Cutter winning their games.

Board	Hants A	Colour	Grade	Result	Glos A	Colour	Grade	Result
1	Ian D Thompson	White	210	1	Nigel K Hosken	Black	191	0
2	Dominic R Tunks	Black	196	1	Daniel M Lambourne	White	186	0
3	Chris JV Bellers	White	187	1	John Jenkins	Black	177	0
4	Paul F Cooper	Black	178	½	Michael J Ashworth	White	163	½
5	Fraser N McLeod	White	173	1	Philip J Meade	Black	158	0
6	Timothy J Davis	Black	170	½	Phil Dodwell	White	156	½
7	David W Fowler	White	167	1	Phil Denison	Black	153	0
8	Stephen J Smith	Black	154	1	Geoffrey P Taylor	White	152	0
9	Christopher PA Priest	White	152	1	Chris R Haynes	Black		0
10	Gillian A Moore	Black	148	1	Kevin N Bendall	White	147	0
11	Michael Roberts	White	142	½	Barry Whitelaw	Black	145	½
12	James I Chilton	Black	136	1	Patrick Baker	White	141	0
13	David Culliford	White	133	1	Jim A Caterer	Black	130	0
14	James A Barnett	Black	124	0	Robert M Ashworth	White	126	1
15	Sam J Murphy	White	107	0	Peter R Bending	Black	125	1
16	Tim G Cutter	Black	107	1	Dave C Morse	White	101	0
			155	12½			150	3½

Hants A v Devon A 8 Feb 2014

Devon are always strong in the WECU, and Hampshire made a real effort to bring their strongest available players, with a team averaging 169, just 2 points below Devon’s 171. Devon’s team are normally strong across all 16 boards, whereas Hampshire went from 210 down to 136 Devon had a much narrower difference, with board one 188 and board sixteen 162.

This makes it challenging on the lower boards for their opponents, and this proved to be the case for this contest, as Devon scored 3½ on the bottom 5 boards, which were key to Devon’s two point win. Hampshire’s winners were David Fowler, Chris Priest and Barry Kocan in a match where 50% of the games were drawn.

Board	Hants A	Colour	Grade	Result	Devon A	Colour	Grade	Result
1	Ian D Thompson	Black	210	½	Stephen J Homer	White	188	½
2	William M McDougall	White	193	0	John KF Stephens	Black	189	1
3	Dominic R Tunks	Black	196	½	Plamen D Sivrev	White	185	½
4	Chris JV Bellers	White	187	½	David Regis	Black	176	½
5	Paul F Cooper	Black	178	½	John Fraser	White	167	½
6	David W Fowler	White	167	1	Brian WR Hewson	Black	165	0
7	Andrew McDougall	Black	172	½	John F Wheeler	White	176	½
8	Fraser N McLeod	White	173	½	Alan W Brusey	Black	181	½
9	Stuart W Knox	Black	163	½	Meyrick Shaw	White	173	½
10	David F Thompson	White	157	0	Jonathan WR Underwood	Black	172	1
11	Christopher PA Priest	Black	152	1	Trefor F Thynne	White	165	0
12	Stephen J Smith	White	154	0	H William Ingham	Black	160	1
13	Gareth Aneurin Jones	Black	163	½	Paul Brooks	White	167	½
14	Gillian A Moore	White	148	0	Steven Martin	Black	162	1
15	Barry A Kocan	Black	148	1	Michael H Stinton-Brownbridge	White	158	0
16	James I Chilton	White	136	0	Nijad Rahimli	Black	162	1
			169	7			171	9

Hants B vs Devon B A – 8 Feb 2014

Hampshire struggled to put a B team together and they defaulted (in advance I presume?) 8 boards. All games were drawn, but this meant Hampshire lost 10 – 2.

Board	Hants B	Colour	Grade	Result	Devon B	Colour	Grade	Result
1	Timothy J Chapman	White	135	½	Oliver E Wensley	Black	157	½
2	Kevin G Steele	Black	129	½	Brian GE Gosling	White	151	½
3	Jonathan G Young	White	138	½	Andrew S Kinder	Black	150	½
4	David Culliford	Black	133	½	Chris J Scott	White	142	½
			134	2			150	10

Hants A vs Somerset A – 8 Mar 2014

The last match of the season was against Somerset and this was the strongest team Hampshire met in the season. Somerset had three players graded over 200 and their top two players were one point either side of 220.

With a team averaging 16 points less, the 6½ – 9½ loss was a reasonable result with Ian Thompson, Chris Bellers, and Paul Cooper the Hampshire winners.

Board	Hants A	Colour	Grade	Result	Somerset A	Colour	Grade	Result
1	Ian D Thompson	White	210	1	David E Buckley	Black	221	0
2	Jasper Tambini	Black	190	0	Jack Rudd	White	219	1
3	Dominic R Tunks	White	196	½	Patryk Krzyzanowski	Black	197	½
4	Chris JV Bellers	Black	187	1	Ben P Edgell	White	206	0
5	Paul F Cooper	White	178	1	Matthew J Payne	Black	184	0
6	David W Fowler	Black	167	0	Peter E Chaplin	White	190	1
7	Stuart W Knox	White	163	0	Andrew F Footner	Black	176	1
8	David F Thompson	Black	157	½	David P Littlejohns	White	186	½
9	Timothy J Davis	White	170	½	Barry Morris	Black	178	½
10	Christopher PA Priest	Black	152	½	Gerry N Jepps	White	156	½
11	Gareth Aneurin Jones	White	163	½	Chris S Purry	Black	177	½
12	Gillian A Moore	Black	148	0	James Byrne	White	161	1
13	Michael Roberts	White	142	½	David Painter-Kooiman	Black	166	½
14	Robert Davenport	Black	135	0	David Peters	White	156	1
15	James I Chilton	White	136	½	William J Taylor	Black	151	½
16	Roy E Ashmore	Black	132	½	James E Fewkes	White	163	½
			164	6½			180	9½

Hants B vs Somerset B – 8 Mar 2014

The B team was played over 6 boards and Hampshire lost narrowly 2½ – 3½ with James Barnett winning his game.

Board	Hants B	Colour	Grade	Result	Somerset B	Colour	Grade	Result
1	Timothy J Chapman	Black	135	½	Adrian W Champion	White	156	½
2	David Culliford	White	133	½	Darren Freeman	Black	151	½
3	Michael R Pope	Black	133	½	Utibe Effiong	White	137	½
4	Sam J Murphy	White	107	0	Patrick S Wojcik	Black	144	1
5	James A Barnett	Black	124	1	Tristan West	White	138	0
6	Tim G Cutter	White	107	0	Simon Pickard	Black	122	1
			123	2½			141	3½

Hampshire Player Performance – WECU

If you were graded over 160 the most games you could have played was 4, but if under 160 there were 5 matches available. Players who played in every possible were Chris Priest, Gillian Moore, David Fowler and Dominic Tunks.

These four players all scored 50% or more with David Fowler forsaking draws with 3 wins and 1 loss. Other notable results were Chris Bellers and Ian Thompson with (2½/3). Ian’s games were all on board one against players averaging 200, whilst Chris’s was on boards 3 and 4 and his opponents averaged 186 – two very impressive results!

Hants Player	Win Percentage	Points Scored	Games Played
Christopher PA Priest	70.0%	3.5	5
David W Fowler	75.0%	3	4
Chris JV Bellers	83.3%	2.5	3
Ian D Thompson	83.3%	2.5	3
Gillian A Moore	50.0%	2.5	5
Jonathan G Young	66.7%	2	3
Stephen J Smith	66.7%	2	3
Paul F Cooper	66.7%	2	3
David Culliford	66.7%	2	3
Sam J Murphy	50.0%	2	4
Dominic R Tunks	66.7%	2	4
Fraser N McLeod	75.0%	1.5	2
Roy E Ashmore	50.0%	1.5	3
Timothy J Chapman	50.0%	1.5	3
Barry A Kocan	50.0%	1.5	3
Gareth Aneurin Jones	50.0%	1.5	3
James I Chilton	50.0%	1.5	3
Ashraf Syed	100.0%	1	1
Philip Gething	100.0%	1	1
Bernard Cooke	100.0%	1	1
Stephen D LeFevre	50.0%	1	2
Kevin G Steele	50.0%	1	2
Tim G Cutter	50.0%	1	2
James A Barnett	33.3%	1	3
Timothy J Davis	33.3%	1	3
Michael R Pope	50.0%	0.5	1
Andrew McDougall	50.0%	0.5	1
Andy I Manning	50.0%	0.5	1
Stuart W Knox	25.0%	0.5	2
Michael Roberts	50.0%	0.5	2
Robert Davenport	25.0%	0.5	2
David F Thompson	16.7%	0.5	3
John H Watts	0.0%	0	1
William M McDougall	0.0%	0	1
Jasper Tambini	0.0%	0	1

Summary

As reported in the HCA AGM Hampshire finished 4th of 5 in the Howard Meek, and 3rd of 4th in the Wayling Cup. To me our teams looked strong, but there were a lot of competitive counties this season. Defaults seem to be an issue, and looking back at this now ten years later, I think this is down to fixture congestion. The AGM also mentioned the WECU dissatisfaction with our defaults.

Hampshire joining the Chiltern League was initially for rated sections, but now this was an Open championship (as well as Under 150 and 125) and the cracks were beginning to show. There may have been issues with communication, but probably running the WECU and Chiltern League for 5 teams was too much weekend chess for players to commit to.

HCA AGM:- Dominic Tunks reported that our first team had finished 4th of 5 in the WECU county championship, and our 2nd team was 3rd of 4 in the 2nd teams section.
We had had many defaults in the Somerset and Devon matches, and the committee recommended dropping the second team, due to lack of players.
Members reported that some players were not aware of our county matches, either WECU or Chiltern or both. There is clearly scope for improvement in our communications.

The WECU had expressed its dissatisfaction with our record of defaults in county matches.
HCA AGM – June 2014

As some background on Hampshire Chess this season the winners of the top divisions in the Southampton Chess and Portsmouth Chess Leagues were Southampton University A and Portsmouth A respectively. The 2013 Hampshire Congress has 75 entrants (a record at this time) was won by Alex Ruiz of Southampton Chess Club.

The full list of Hampshire officers during the 2013 / 14 season were: