Bob will be at the Library this Tuesday, 15.45 - 16.45, to welcome chess players of all ages and abilities.

The final result was 4-0 to the home side, but the emphatic victory didn't quite tell the full story. Both myself & Cath (boards 2 & 4) had lively encounters, forcing our opponents on the backfoot but ultimately falling short in the endgame. Bill on board 3 seemed to be a match for his opponent, but a rook against 3 connected pawns forced a resignation right at the end. Matt on board 1 gave a really good account of himself, causing his opponent all sorts of problems which res

Despite a turn in the weather, Stafford made the admirable decision to travel to us in search of some revenge. On Board 1, Nikoli produced a superb performance, playing a blinder of a game to secure a vital victory and ensure the match ended in a draw overall. Board 2 saw Luke facing a formidable, higher-rated opponent. Knowing the challenge ahead, he invested a significant amount of time at the board and was rewarded with a completely balanced position. After 25 moves the ga

The annual Christmas Crazy Tournament took place on Tuesday 16th December and the result was the usual highly enjoyable chaos. This year, along with the usual time handicap system (the 20 minutes per game is allocated according to the grades of the two players, so it could be 10 minutes each if of equivalent grade or up to 17 minutes to 3 minutes if the grades are further apart) , Matt introduced 'War and Pieces'. Each player started with a king and 8 pawns in the usual start

Neither Bob nor Cath will be at the library during the school Christmas holiday although the chess sets will be available for those that want to play. Sessions will resume in the New Year and Bob will be at the library on Tuesday the 6th Jan from 15.45 to 16.45 to welcome chess players of all ages and abilities. Bob and Cath wish all chess players a great Christmas and a New Year full of exciting battles on the chessboard.

Rugeley Chess Club held their annual Christmas Dinner at the Chase pub in Rugeley on Thursday 11th December. A very convivial evening was shared by all. In fact, so convivial was the evening that I forgot to take any photos, so this piece of clipart will have to do!

We welcomed West Brom to our club with expectations of another tough match. Nik managed a fantastic draw from a losing position on board 1. Despite piling on the pressure on board 2, Matt miscalculated and lost a rook which proved costly. I had a fairly straight foward draw on board 3, with many of the pieces being swapped off early. Bill also achieved a draw on board 4 early on, noting there was nothing of interest happening. So we lost the match 2.5 - 1.5 but on another day

We will be offering chess lessons on Tuesdays from 18.30 - 19.15 in the Computer Room at Lea Hall Social Club in Rugeley for those who know the chess basics but would like to improve. You don't need to be a member of Rugeley Chess Club to attend although you are welcome to stay on afterwards and attend our clubnight. Some of the areas we might look at could include things like avoiding blunders, positions to avoid, good piece placement, using the features of a position to for

Mercia B at home

Rugeley knew they were in for a tough match against the reigning Division 1 champions and so it proved. Despite our best efforts on all boards, we had to concede defeat to a very strong Mercia side.

Date     League WDCL Division 3   Home Rushall 3A Grade Result Away Rugeley Grade 1 John Grant 1659 1 - 0 Luke Sullivan 1719 2 Shane Cooksey 1586 ½ - ½ Catherine Hiley 1681 3 Aarav Sohi 1563 0 - 1 Tony Meakin 1540 4 Roger Bray 1533 1 - 0 Oli Johnson 1471   Total   2.5 – 1.5 Total

A close game but we just came out on the wrong end of the result. Second draw in a row for new boy William.

After a great result previously, we anticipated another tough match against Halesowen A. Nikoli equipped himself well on board 1, but...

Unfortunately St Georges couldn't make the journey to Rugeley, they were offered another date, but declined this due to other match...

Our old neighbours at the Guild Hall welcomed us for what turned out to be a hard-fought evening of chess. Board 1 Nik’s game was the...