This month’s volunteer thanks go out to Adam Musson, one of the strongest players in Morriston and 8th best in the league! Someone I don’t want to face over the board!

Adam joined the league back in 1981, becoming a member of Castell Nedd chess club with his father and regularly playing in the Neath & District tournament. Although his results didn’t reflect his later standard, he finished 5th in the Under 12 Minor losing to fellow Morriston player Andrew Gibbons, from 16 onwards his play improved dramatically.

After this he would see many titles, including Welsh Under 18 Rapidplay Champion, 1989 Glorney Cup, being part of the Emperors who won the league in and a member of the once dominating Nidum team that won the cup on numerous occasions.

However, it’s his contribution to the league that has helped this year’s committee meet its digitalised vision and produce a fantastic website. Adam, a fully qualified developer, dedicated much time to this project and has produced a wonderful tool for everyone to use. The few blips have been quickly fixed, blogs developed to provide easy access for information, and the match card input system allowing team captains to easily input results.

However, we shouldn’t forget other contributions too! Adam sorts the fixtures for both the league and cup, a task that can be quite daunting with the number of clubs spread out through three divisions. In particular, our requirement to split division one into cup and plate from January onwards has added more to his workload. It’s allowed the bottom half of the table to have a reason to battle it out till the end, and even now all have a chance to fight for the plate thanks to this extra, voluntary work.

In all, a big thank you for the efforts put in and contribution to chess over the years and the service he has brought to the league.