Hampshire joined with Dorset to play in the 4th Western Counties Online Championships. We also invited Wiltshire, but no-one came forward and therefore it was mainly Hampshire, with three Dorset players who took on Somerset in the preliminary round of the KO tournament.
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 Online
The format of the competition is below.
- Teams: Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire/Dorset, Gloucestershire and Somerset.
- Knock-out
- Teams of 16
- Rate play: 60 minutes plus 15 seconds per move increment from move 1.
- Matches to start at 7.30 p.m.
- Default time: 7.45 p.m
- Board elimination will be used to break ties
- The results will be submitted for rating in the ECF Online List for Standard Play.
Hants/Dorset – Somerset 18 Feb 2024 WECU Online – Preliminary
The combined Hampshire / Dorset (15 Hampshire, 3 Dorset played a tight competitive match against Somerset, narrowly losing 7 – 9 in the preliminary round of the 2024 WECU Online championship.
The match was always nick and tuck with both Counties taking a lead at some stage.
If any players wish to annotate their game I am happy to publish.
| Board | Hants/Dorset | Grade | Result | Somerset A | Grade | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allan Pleasants | 2155 | ½ | Jack Rudd | 2299 | ½ |
| 2 | Keith DF Gregory | 2009 | 0 | Oleksandr Matlak | 2275 | 1 |
| 3 | Rajasekhar Pentakota | 1993 | 0 | George Miller | 1967 | 1 |
| 4 | Roger Marsh | 1946 | 1 | Geoff Hermes | 1800 | 0 |
| 5 | Simon Redmill | 1895 | 0 | Steve Williams | 1776 | 1 |
| 6 | Jamie Doyle | 1966 | 0 | Niall Homer | 1750 | 1 |
| 7 | James I Chilton | 1847 | 0 | Paul Humphreys | 1707 | 1 |
| 8 | Tim Jones | 1821 | ½ | Brian Gosling | 1699 | ½ |
| 9 | Phil Pinto | 1714 | 1 | Chris Strong | 1698 | 0 |
| 10 | Chris J McSheehy | 1699 | 1 | Peter Dimond | 1684 | 0 |
| 11 | Gillian A Moore | 1668 | ½ | Arnold Acibar | 1671 | ½ |
| 12 | Philip Tarrant-Edwards | 1678 | 1 | Haroon Symonds | 1589 | 0 |
| 13 | Ashraf Syed | 1640 | ½ | Alan Stonebridge | 1500 | ½ |
| 14 | Sam J Murphy | 1548 | 1 | Hanni Laurie | 1470 | 0 |
| 15 | Patrick Pavey | 1378 | 0 | Finley Hitchings | 1231 | 1 |
| 16 | Kevin Huntley | 1350 | 0 | Nick Best | 1185 | 1 |
| 1769 | 7 | 1706 | 9 |
Games
If you played in the match and wish to supply an annotated game please do so.
Alan Pleasants on top board played IM Jack Rudd, who is known for his quick play. Allan managed to hold the game, despite being in a losing position and Jack Rudd having more than 50 minutes more on the clock.
Summary
Hampshire (and Dorset) were paired to play in the preliminary this season and after losing this our competition was over. Devon were the eventual winners, although Gloucestershire gave them a very close game, only losing by the one point.
The full results for each match in the competition are on LMS.
Graham Stuart – May 2024
Acknowledgements and Sources
- Ian George and the WECU Website
- LMS