West Wales Closed Championship (E.J. Clarke Trophy)

Round 3 of the Championship took place on Wednesday 8th February at the White Knights Chess Club. Most of the competitors, however, opted to play elsewhere on another night and only half the games were played on the night.

Andrew Smith (2) 0 v 1 Bill Hewitt (2) - 28 moves, Andrew lost on time 2 pawns down.

Ralph Cook (2) ½ v ½ Ian Jones (2) - Ralph won a pawn early on and Ian accepted a draw offer soon after.

Tony Goodchild (1) ½ v ½ Alan Bean (1) - last game to finish, very good game. Tony won 2 pieces for a rook but the game could have gone either way. Eventually a draw with Tony running out of time.

Janet Evans (0) 0 v 1 Ian Dyer (0) - played at Upper Killay

The above comments are courtesy of Bill Hewitt.

The following games were not played and it will be up to those concerned to rearrange before the next round. Round 4 is scheduled for the 12 April at the Upper Killay Chess Club.

Peter Bevan (1) v Leighton Anthony (1)

Neil Stuart (1) v Paul Bevan (1)

Bill Flew (1) v Norman Speak (1)

June Evans (0) v Joe Spooner (0)

Bill Hewitt is now the clear leader on 3 out of 3 with Ralph Cook and Ian Jones following close behind on 2½

League

Just the one match in Division 1 with Nidum traveling to Plasmarl to take on Morriston A. With a couple of their stronger players missing Morriston struggled to make much of an impact and Nidum went away the victors 3½-1½. They now have a 5 point lead over White Knights A thanks in part to having played two more matches.

There was only a rearranged match in Division 2 and it was between Giants and White Knights D. The Knights needed the win to give themselves some breathing space in the relegation battle but it was not to be. A 3-2 win for Giants took them back up to third spot and left the Knights stagnating second from bottom.

Division 3 was the busiest of all but still with only two matches. Leaders Morriston D played host to the club's E team and since they had not lost a match since last October were firm favourites to extent their lead at the top of the division. Morriston E, however, were never going to lie down and in the event almost whitewashed their club mates. Only a board 2 win for the D team saved their blushes. Morriston D still lead the pack but only because of game points.

The final match was middle of the table clash between De La Beche B and UK Harriers. It ended in favour of De La Beche 3-2 and takes them nearer to overtaking Harriers.

10/02/2017