Weald of Kent 2 vs Snodland 5: 2.5-1.5

Latest result below:

Club Championship latest

The Snodland Club Championship is not only the strongest ever but also has more competitors than ever. The latest standings in the qualifying groups are below. Each group has two qualifying places for each of the A, B and C-leagues.

Group A is very close and the leading two players are yet to play each other.

In Group B, Chris Marshall is almost certain to qualify for the A-league and probably only needs a draw from his two remaining games to confirm this. The result between David Lettington and Peter Turner is likely to decide the other qualifying spot.

In Group C, Zibby has made an excellent start, as has Hugh Broadbent. Hugh has beaten two higher graded players and onr more good result could put him in the A-league.

In Group D, the game between Douglas Smith and Ben Spink this week is likely to have a big outcome on the top positions.

Rainham 1 vs Snodland 1: 2-4

Snodland 1st team managed to win their first ever match in the Lewis Cup. The result was convincing 4-2 victory over a Rainham team that was slightly stronger in terms of grading points.

Snodland managed to score 3.5 from the first 4 games to finish and so the match was already secured as the top two boards fought on. Zibby Koncki was disappointed not to be able to win in Queen and pawn vs Queen ending, although he was very short of time and it was difficult to see a way to progress.

Ben Spink was the last game to finish in a very close game against Martin Taylor, the Kent Champion.

David Fowler and Peter Turner played very nice games to beat their opponents and Matthew Bunn managed to turn round a very bad position thanks to a nice tactic that his opponent missed.

Snodland player draws with Grandmaster

Snodland player George Hollands achieved an extremely impressive draw with GM John Emms in a simultaneous display that took place yesterday.

You can play through the game below. After 32 Rxe4, white accepts a worse position but still with chances to create a complicated ending that may have winning chances. At this point, white can in fact allow his Queen to be captured and force a draw (32. h3 Nxf2 33. Re7+ Kc8 34. Re8+ Kc7 35. Re7+ with a draw by repetition) but presumably the Grandmaster wants to keep playing for the win. However, George has a sufficient material advantage at this point that he can hold the draw comfortably.

Snodland 2nd vs Rainham 2nd : 4.5-1.5

Snodland scored their first win of the season, with a convincing victory over Rainham by the score of 4.5-1.5

Matt Bunn was the first player to score a point with an extremely impressive win against Tom Stonehouse's. Matt played a strong Caro-Kann defence and had a very nice finish with multiple threats around Tom's king. Matt was very modest about his quick win, saying "Oh, it was mostly theory!"

The next game to finish was team captain Tyrone Jefferies, who scored a win over Martin Reeve. Tyrone is in good form this season and is picking up lots of points.

Despite being ill, Zibby Koncki scored a nice victory over Andy Waters. It was Zibby's first competitive game for the club, so he is now the proud owner of a 100% victory rate. Long may it continue!

Chris Marshall converted the match into a victory with a draw against Paul Giddins in a complex rook and pawn endgame.

Rob Thompson brought his win drought to an end with and excellent victory over Rob Springett, who is an extremely tricky opponent. Rob T had a material advantage for a long time but Rob S defended doggedly and it was one of the last games to finish.

Ben Spink had a long game against Martin Taylor, the Kent Champion, but wasn't quite able to hold the rook and pawn endgame where Martin had very active rooks.

Well done to the team who gave Snodland their first victory of the season!

Snodland 4 vs Medway 1: 2-4

Although Snodland lost this match, there was an excellent result on the top board from David Fowler who drew with Andrew Mayhew, who is graded 53 points higher. Statistically speaking, in a 100 game match, David would be expected to lose every game, so a draw is an excellent result. In footballing terms, it's like a League 2 club beating a Premiership side.

Although David Lettington managed a draw on baord 2 and Tyrone Jefferies scored a neat win on board 5, the rest of the team were not able to convert their grading advantages into wins.

Despite two losses, the teams remain in high spirits and we look forward to a win this coming Thursday!

Tunbridge Wells 2 vs Snodland 3: 4.5-1.5

Snodland 3 had a slightly disappointing start to the season with a 4.5-1.5 loss to Tunbridge Wells 2, but we took heart that it was an extremely competitive match and many of the games could have gone either way.

Unusually, and not discovered by either of the players until after the game, both board 2 and board 4 for Snodland were playing on the black side of a Sicilian Najdorf in which white played 6.f3. However, Chris Marshall chose to play 6... e6, whilst David Lettington chose 6... e5 at which points the games took considerably different courses. The choice of top grandmasters is apparently 6... Qb6 when white plays 7.g4.

There was an excellent win with white for team captain David Fowler on board 3 in a very sharp line of the King's Gambit. Another win for the British U140 champion!