The first result in the quarter finals of the Richard E Jones Trophy is in. This section is for teams comprised of players graded 1800 or under and the 6 teams in the quarter finals need to play their matches before the end of this month (March). The first match between BF Brunel and Morriston D was played on the 15th March and it went right down to the wire. A win for Morriston D on board 4 was cancelled out by a board 2 win for Brunel and when board 3 finished as a draw it was all down to the board 1 players. Morriston D needed to win while Brunel just needed a draw to go through thanks to the bottom board elimination procedure. With time running out but with a 3 pawn advantage Dave Toner finally got the better of David Merryweather and secured the win. Morriston D win 2½-1½ and go through into the semi finals.

League

The defeat in the cup brought to a close what can only be described as a dismal week for the Briton Ferry / Nidum club. On the Monday Nidum were on the receiving end of a 5-0 whitewash for what is almost certainly the first time in their history. The team doing the damage was a triumphant Morriston A. On the Thursday the All Blacks were unable to even raise a team and conceded their match against White Knights A without a game being played. There are strong indications that unavailability of players in the Briton Ferry / Nidum club means that this will almost certainly be the All Blacks’ last season. The club’s misery was compounded when De la Beche A visited Briton Ferry and demolished the Giants 4-1. The whitewash was only stopped thanks to a default by De la Beche on board 5. Not much consolation.

The other match in Division 1, in addition to the two mentioned above, was a clash between bottom placed Emperors and third from bottom White Knights C. They cancelled each other out across the boards and the result was only decided by a bottom board default from the Emperors. The 3-2 win for the Knights leaves the Emperors 1 point below the struggling All Blacks team.

In Division 2 White Knights D were away to Upper Killay Merlins and had an impressive 4-1 win. Although still 1 point below Merlins the Knights have 3 matches in hand and if they put in their usual end of season resurgence are poised to finish in third place.

On the same night that De la Beche A were demolishing BF Giants, their second team De la Beche University were playing host to second placed Morriston C. With no concessions given by either team there were wins on all the boards. Three to Morriston and two to De la Beche for a 3-2 score line in Morriston’s favour. The win just about keeps the Morriston team in touch with De la Beche A. De la Beche University remain in bottom place but with 2 matches in hand over BF Brunel.

There was just the 1 match in Division 3 and it was between top of the table De la Beche B away to CN Tribunes. The De la Beche team kept their hopes of finishing in top spot by just scrapping through 3-2. They will need to keep winning if they are not to be caught by Morriston E, a team that has won its last four matches. Their head to head on the 25th March could well decide the outcome of the race.

16/03/2019