Holiday

I will be on holiday for a couple of weeks from next Monday 10th November, so there will be no news or match reports on either the website or Facebook. I will, however, try to post our League results during this period - but just results, no match reports.

Ashby 4 Throw It Away

Ashby 4 entertained Loughborough 3 last night and were held to a 2-2 draw. In the absence of GM Mick Brown, who was away playing in an international tournament somewhere, Paul Meyer was drafted into the team. His selection was justified when he put us into an early lead with a win on board 4. This was followed by a win on board 1 by Steve, against the same opponent he had beaten in a Division 2 match the night before, to put us 2-0 up. Ric slipped up on board 3, enabling Loughborough to pull one back, but it still looked like we were heading for a 3-1 win as IM Ian Maskery had an overwhelming position on board 2, with a Pawn on the 7th rank, supported by a Bishop and Rook. However, a rush of blood to the head saw him leave  a Rook en prise and his position evaporated, enabling his opponent to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat, and giving Loughborough a share of the points.

Tom Dove Wins The Club Championship

Congratulations to Tom Dove on winning the 2025 Club Championship, following his win in the final round against Tom Gerrard last night. Tom G only needed a draw to take the title but Tom D was in fine form and the win gave him the title by just half a point, with 4.5/5. His only blip was being held to a surprise draw by Dominic Lennon in the 1st round.

Click here for Tom Dove's report on the game.

There were a also couple of other Club Championship games played last night, with Neil Roberts beating Jan Oldham and Andrew Wilson beating Patrick Buckley. There was also a game the previous day, with Richard Vann and Roy Evans drawing.

Regardless of the results of any other outstanding games, Andrew and Tom G are joint runners-up.

Click here to view the Current Standings - not the Final Standings, as there are still several outstanding games to be played.

Ashby 2 Up To Second Place

The result hasn't been published on the LRCA website yet, but Ashby 2 will have moved into second place in Division 2 on Game Point Difference following a resounding 4-1 win at Loughborough 2 on Wednesday evening.This was despite being a player down as Dick Whittington, our board 1, dropped out on the afternoon of the match and we were unable to find a replacement. Something about having to go to London with his cat to seek his fortune apparently. So we started 1-0 down but were quickly back on terms, with a quick win for Steve on board 5. Chris and Tom then both won their games to put us 3-1 up and victory was assured. However, the highlight of the match was a brilliant endgame on board 2 by Patrick, snatching a win from what looked like a totally drawn position, to make it 4-1 on the night.

Rating Analytics

The Rating Analysics software makes for quite interesting reading at the moment. Taking Gheorghe Albu as an example, his current November rating is 1963, but his performance rating over his past 10 games is 2083 and over his past 5 games it is 2105. This reflects his excellent performances against the stronger opposition he has been facing in Division 1. An upward trajectory which we hope will continue.

At the other end of the scale, Patrick Buckley has a November rating of 1764, but his performance rating over the past 10 games has slipped to 1592 and over his past 5 games it is 1581. Once again, this reflects the much stronger opposition he has been facing in Division 1.

Tom Gerrard is another player on the up and up. With a November rating of 1726, his performance rating over his past 10 games is 1851.

If you've not already tried it, just enter your name to get a detailed breakdown of your results.

November Ratings

The November Rating List has just been published and the Ashby ratings can be viewed from the tab at at the top of the page.

3 Out Of 3 On Thursday Evening

Unfortunately it was not the 3 we wanted, with Ashby 1, 3 and 5 all losing.

It was a different 3/3 for Ashby 1 as they lost their 3rd match of the season, being beaten 4-1 at home by Market Harborough 1. Draws for Gheorghe and Richard on boards 1 and 3 prevented the whitewash. Click here for Tom Dove's report on the proceedings.

Ashby 3 were beaten 3-1 at 3-1 at Wigston 3. Steve was unable to reproduce his heroics of the previous week, but there were good draws for Larry and Nick on boards 1 and 3.

Ashby 5 were beaten 3-1 at home by Syston 3, but there were excellent draws by Graham and Peter on boards 2 and 4 against higher rated opponents.

Match score cards from all of the above matches available to view from the tab at the top of the page.

Win For Ashby 4 And Loss For Ashby 2

Ashby 2 were beaten 3-2 last night by a Thurnby team who were very strong on their top three boards. Chris won on board 4, while Tom and Larry drew on boards 3 and 5 respectively.

Ashby 4 were away against a strong Kirby Muxloe team, who heavily outrated us on every board, but came away with an unexpected 2.5 - 1.5 win. GM Mick Brown made short work of his opponent on board 3, but this was then offset on board 2, where IM Ian Maskery's Caro Kann turned into a Caro Can't to put Kirby level. Ric was the exchange down in his game on board 4 but, with no way through, his opponent offered the draw and Ric bit his hand off. This left all eyes on Steve on board 1, where he was up against an opponent rated almost 300 points higher. A tense endgame ensued, with both players short on time. A series of exhanges left both players with a King and 3 pawns on the board. However, Steve with a Kingside pawn majority, lured his opponent to the wrong side of the board and his subsequent Kingside pawn push meant that he promoted his pawn first and instant resignation by his opponent.

Match score cards from both of last nights matches can be viewed from the tab at the top of the page. 

Elsewhere, Les Fancourt beat Peter Anderton in the 5th round of the Club Championship.