| Position | Teams | Pl | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincolnshire | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Nottinghamshire | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Warwickshire | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | Leicestershire | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Worcestershire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Date | Match | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Oct | Lincolnshire v Nottinghamshire | 8-8 |
| 17 Nov | Worcestershire v Lincolnshire | 6½-9½ |
| 19 Jan | Lincolnshire v Leicestershire | 8½-7½ |
| 16 Feb | Warwickshire v Lincolnshire | 9-7 |
Lincolnshire v Nottinghamshire
Report from Nigel Birtwistle
Lincolnshire fielded a strong side when they hosted Nottinghamshire in the first match of the new county season. But Nottinghamshire are always difficult opponents and I knew the match would be close. Lincolnshire held the lead all the way through the contest and held a three point lead going into the closing stages but uncharacteristically for us we failed to convert some very promising positions and finish the job. Nottinghamshire dug in and held the positions that were worse for them and also clawed back the three point deficit by winning the games in which they were better. With one game left the match was level at 7½-7½. Jason Dilley looked to have the worst of it in the remaining game but doggedly held on to get a draw which meant that the match finished all square. Lincolnshire have a proud record of being undefeated at the Atrium since I took over the captaincy in 2009 but we came uncomfortably close to losing that record in this match and we will need to improve when we play Worcestershire in our next match on Saturday December 1st.
| Lincolnshire (Home team) | Nottinghamshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | W | Paul Cumbers | Grantham | 199 | 0-1 | Jonah Willow | West Nottingham | 218 |
| 2 | B | Murray Smith | Lincoln | 198 | ½-½ | Robert Richmond | West Bridgford | 183 |
| 3 | W | Nigel Birtwistle | Grantham | 196 | 1-0 | Alex Combie | Newark | 176 |
| 4 | B | Samuel Milson | Louth | 195 | 1-0 | Brian Thompson | West Bridgford | 174 |
| 5 | W | Nick Stead | Grimsby | 193 | 1-0 | Florian Biermann | Gambit | 173 |
| 6 | B | Stephen Prior | Grantham | 189 | ½-½ | Mike Naylor | Gambit | 172 |
| 7 | W | Jason Dilley | Grantham | 188 | ½-½ | Steve Burke | Ashfield | 172 |
| 8 | B | Joe Kilshaw | Grimsby | 185 | 0-1 | Glenn Halfpenny | Ashfield | 171 |
| 9 | W | Peter Cusick | Grantham | 175 | ½-½ | Andrew George | Newark | 169 |
| 10 | B | Francis Bowers | Lincolnshire | 168 | ½-½ | Andrew Walker | Nottinghamshire | 167 |
| 11 | W | Ivan David | Grantham | 167 | ½-½ | Daniel Broughton | West Bridgford | 167 |
| 12 | B | Graham Ladds | Newark | 155 | 0-1 | Richard Truman | West Bridgford | 167 |
| 13 | W | Chris Holt | Grantham | 155 | ½-½ | Drag Sudar | Gambit | 163 |
| 14 | B | Andy Hebert | Grantham | 155 | ½-½ | Shane Bhayat | Nomads | 162 |
| 15 | W | Keith Palmer | Louth | 152 | ½-½ | Armaan Gogia | West Nottingham | 161 |
| 16 | B | Arya Parnian | Grimsby | 149 | ½-½ | Charlie Grainger | Gambit | 161 |
| 8-8 | ||||||||
Worcestershire v Lincolnshire
Report from Nigel Birtwistle
Lincolnshire travelled to the village of Frolesworth in Leicestershire to play Worcestershire hoping to improve on their result in their opening fixture when they drew with Nottinghamshire. Lincolnshire have generally had the better of recent results against Worcestershire in recent seasons and got off to a great start when David Coates scored an early win against the Worcestershire captain Steve Woodhouse. David has made a return to competitive chess this season after an absence of three years but showed no signs of rustiness with a convincing win. Lincolnshire always led from this point on and further wins from Arya Parnian, Ivan David, Peter Cusick, Joe Kilshaw Nigel Birtwistle and Samuel Milson ensured that Lincolnshire produced a confident and solid performance to win 9½-6½. Samuel’s win was especially impressive. He slowly pushed his opponent back showing great technique and offered his opponent not the slightest chink of light to obtain any sort of counterplay. Our next match is in the New Year when we take on old rivals Leicestershire at home at the Atrium. Leicestershire as always will be difficult opponents but hopefully we will be able to continue our good form in to this match as well.
| Worcestershire (Home team) | Lincolnshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | W | Pavel Besedin | Worcestershire | 191 | ½-½ | Paul Cumbers | Grantham | 199 |
| 2 | B | Zbigniew Koncki | Stourbridge | 184 | 0-1 | Nigel Birtwistle | Grantham | 196 |
| 3 | W | Peter Kitson | Worcester | 183 | 0-1 | Samuel Milson | Louth | 195 |
| 4 | B | Dan Lambourne | Redditch | 181 | ½-½ | Nick Stead | Grimsby | 193 |
| 5 | W | Geoff Marchant | Malvern | 180 | 1-0 | Stephen Prior | Grantham | 189 |
| 6 | B | Edward Osbourn | Worcester | 178 | 0-1 | Joe Kilshaw | Grimsby | 185 |
| 7 | W | Lee Davis | Malvern | 177 | 1-0 | Stuart Williams | Grantham | 180 |
| 8 | B | Brian Turner | Malvern | 170 | 0-1 | Peter Cusick | Grantham | 175 |
| 9 | W | John Edge | Halesowen | 166 | ½-½ | Francis Bowers | Lincolnshire | 168 |
| 10 | B | Nigel Towers | Redditch | 164 | 0-1 | Ivan David | Grantham | 167 |
| 11 | W | Finlay Bowcott | Halesowen | 163 | 1-0 | Denis Georgiou | Scunthorpe | 164 |
| 12 | B | Stephen Woodhouse | Greenlands | 158 | 0-1 | David Coates | Lincoln | E160 |
| 13 | W | Mihai Zbircea | Redditch | 156 | 1-0 | Chris Holt | Grantham | 155 |
| 14 | B | Dustin Bowcott | Halesowen | 152 | ½-½ | Andy Hebert | Grantham | 155 |
| 15 | W | Hossam Aboushady | Stourbridge | 141 | ½-½ | Graham Ladds | Newark | 155 |
| 16 | B | Ian Ellis | Greenlands | 142 | 0-1 | Arya Parnian | Grimsby | 149 |
| 6½-9½ | ||||||||
Lincolnshire v Leicestershire
Report from Nigel Birtwistle
Matches between Lincolnshire and Leicestershire are usually very keenly contested affairs and this match was to prove no exception. For a change the Lincolnshire captain was the first to finish when he took advantage of a bad slip by his opponent to press home a mating attack. Following the skipper’s example Lincolnshire continued to add further wins to their tally. Leicestershire mounted a late challenge with a few wins of their own but it was too little too late. With a couple of matches left in play Lincolnshire had already won the match. The loss of the last two games gave some respectability to the score line for our opponents but in reality the 8½-7½ victory for Lincolnshire was a lot more comfortable than it looked on paper. This victory preserved Lincolnshire’s long standing unbeaten home record at the Atrium and also ensured that we will qualify for the knockout stages of the Minor Counties competition. Our final match will be in one month’s time against Warwickshire on Saturday 16th February.
| Lincolnshire (Home team) | Leicestershire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | B | Chris Dorrington | Grantham | 222 | 1-0 | Martin Burrows | Wigston | 198 |
| 2 | W | Paul Cumbers | Grantham | 199 | 0-1 | Shabir Okhai | Syston | 192 |
| 3 | B | Murray Smith | Lincoln | 198 | 1-0 | Gheorge Albu | Braunstone | 182E |
| 4 | W | Nigel Birtwistle | Grantham | 196 | 1-0 | Ray Burgess | Thurnby | 180 |
| 5 | B | Samuel Milson | Louth | 195 | 1-0 | Sean Sheahan | Shepshed | 179 |
| 6 | W | Nick Stead | Grimsby | 193 | 0-1 | Paul Colburn | Braunstone | 179 |
| 7 | B | Stephen Prior | Grantham | 189 | 0-1 | John Denton | Melton Mowbray | 178 |
| 8 | W | Jason Dilley | Grantham | 188 | 1-0 | Andy Morley | Wigston | 175 |
| 9 | B | Joe Kilshaw | Grimsby | 185 | ½-½ | Tom Dove | Ashby | 173 |
| 10 | W | Stuart Williams | Grantham | 180 | ½-½ | Tom Brown | Braunstone | 173 |
| 11 | B | Francis Bowers | Lincolnshire | 168 | 0-1 | Bob Taylor | Syston | 171 |
| 12 | W | Ivan David | Grantham | 167 | ½-½ | Karl Potter | Syston | 161 |
| 13 | B | David Coates | Lincoln | 160E | ½-½ | Graham Booley | Heathcote Arms | 147 |
| 14 | W | Andrew Hebert | Grantham | 155 | 1-0 | Patrick Reid | Braunstone | 140 |
| 15 | B | Chris Holt | Grantham | 155 | 0-1 | Jim Bingham | Braunstone | 134 |
| 16 | W | Arya Parnian | Grimsby | 149 | ½-½ | Andrew Wilson | Ashby | 133 |
| 8½-7½ | ||||||||
Warwickshire v Lincolnshire
Report from Nigel Birtwistle
Lincolnshire travelled to Syston in Leicestershire to play their final match in the MCCU stages against Warwickshire. Although Lincolnshire had already qualified for the knockout stages of the Minor Counties competition a defeat would mean the possibility of not qualifying directly for the Quarter Finals and the prospect of maybe having to play an extra preliminary round. Warwickshire on the other hand had nothing to play for except pride as they had only won one of their previous three matches. The two teams looked fairly evenly matched on paper but about halfway through the match it was quite apparent that this was not to be our day. Warwickshire held a three point lead and despite a brave fightback by Lincolnshire we eventually slipped to 9-7 defeat. Our opponents thoroughly deserved their victory which was Lincolnshire’s first defeat in nine matches in the MCCU. We will now have to wait for the outcome of the final two group matches to find out if we go straight through to the Quarter Final stages in May or have to play in a preliminary round match in April.
| Warwickshire (Home team) | Lincolnshire (Away team) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Board | Colour | Name | Club | Grade | Score | Name | Club | Grade |
| 1 | B | Henrik Stepanyan | Sutton Coldfield | 212 | ½-½ | Nigel Birtwistle | Grantham | 200 |
| 2 | W | Tomasz Sygnowski | Sutton Coldfield | 205 | 1-0 | Nick Stead | Grimsby | 197 |
| 3 | B | Donald Mason | Shirley | 197 | 0-1 | Paul Cumbers | Grantham | 196 |
| 4 | W | Nicholas Walker | West Bromwich | 186 | 0-1 | Jason Dilley | Grantham | 196 |
| 5 | B | Tony Hynes | Warwickshire | 183 | 0-1 | Stephen Prior | Grantham | 190 |
| 6 | W | Chirag Guha | Sutton Coldfield | 181 | 1-0 | Joe Kilshaw | Grimsby | 186 |
| 7 | B | Marcus Walsh | South Birmingham | 175 | ½-½ | Peter Cusick | Grantham | 179 |
| 8 | W | Anthony Sadler | Solihull | 172 | ½-½ | Stuart Williams | Grantham | 176 |
| 9 | B | Keith Escott | Sutton Coldfield | 168 | ½-½ | David Coates | Lincoln | 174 |
| 10 | W | Simon Smith | Warley Quinborne | 166 | 1-0 | Ivan David | Grantham | 168 |
| 11 | B | Mark Cundy | Olton | 164 | 1-0 | Denis Georgiou | Scunthorpe | 163 |
| 12 | W | Sean Ralph | South Birmingham | 162 | 1-0 | Andy Hebert | Grantham | 154 |
| 13 | B | Gary Hope | Olton | 155 | ½-½ | Chris Holt | Grantham | 154 |
| 14 | W | Roy Lawrence | Sutton Coldfield | 151 | 1-0 | Ian McDonald | Lincoln | 153 |
| 15 | B | Keith Thomas | Boldmere St Michael | 150 | 0-1 | Arya Parnian | Grimsby | 150 |
| 16 | W | Golam Ali | Sutton Coldfield | 148 | ½-½ | Graham Ladds | Newark | 148 |
| 9-7 | ||||||||