Counties Chess
Union
2025-6 Midland Team |
Published 25 October 2025
Under-1650 championship Warwickshire - Derbyshire
Played on 25 October 2025 at Coleshill Social Club, Warks. Warwickshire players on odd-numbered boards had white pieces. Match reported by David Pickering and Richard Buxton.
| Board | Rating | Warwickshire | score | Derbyshire | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1619 (1637) | Allen, Matthew | 1 - 0 | Sheldon, Philip | 1636 (1643) |
| 2 | 1550 (1538) | Archibald, Warren | 0 - 1 | Dale, Owen | 1635 (1638) |
| 3 | 1518 (1527) | Stiff, Peter | ½ - ½ | Wootton, Stephen G | 1610 (1617) |
| 4 | 1534 (1534) | Davies, Paul | 0 - 1 | Temple, Richard P | 1606 (1599) |
| 5 | 1511 (1508) | Weaver, Simon | ½ - ½ | Walker, Roger W | 1604 (1608) |
| 6 | 1509 (1515) | Warden, Mike | 1 - 0 | Cockburn, Andre | 1563 (1560) |
| 7 | 1466 (1456) | Hall, John B | 0 - 1 | Parker, Joe | 1533 (1555) |
| 8 | 1401 (1424) | McCumiskey, George | ½ - ½ | Pace, Graham J | 1492 (1494) |
| 9 | 1391 (1379) | Grimes, Adrian | 1 - 0 | Oakley, Michael | 1466 (1444) |
| 10 | 1265 (1264) | Payne, Simon L | 1 - 0 | Marshall, Nigel D | 1431 (1429) |
| 11 | 1194 (1188) | Reason, Mark | 0 - 1 | Grubb, Mark | 1536 (1521) |
| 12 | 1182 (1238) | McCumiskey, Arthur | 0 - 1 | Cureton, Oliver | 1413 (1432) |
| Average | 1429 | 5½ - 6½ | 1544 |
Position on Board 5 after 31 Qg6 |
Derbyshire’s player on board 12 won quickly, his opponent falling to the Greek gift. There was a draw on board 3 and scores were equalised when Warwickshire’s board 10 won after his opponent had turned down a draw. On board 11, Derbyshire won a pawn in the opening and a further piece. After two other finishes, the score was 2-4 to Derbyshire. On Board 7, white was tempted by night fork only to lose the N to a double attack with check. Warwickshire won on board 6 and Derbyshire on board 2 taking the score to 5-3 in favour of Derbyshire. Derbyshire drew further ahead with a win on board 4 and a draw on board 2. On board 5 was an interesting position with Derbyshire the exchange up for a pawn. Roger, the Derbyshire player was quite bottled up in spite of his material advantage, and it was not easy to see how he could free himself. Black played 31..Ne3 and offered draw, which was accepted to take Derbyshire over the line to win the match 6½-3½. After 31 Qg6? there is a clear win for black with 31... Nf4! Warwickshire then won the remaining 2 games. From David Pickering’s notes of the match.
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