East Glamorgan Chess League

 


Doing the Business  
28 February 2007
 
 
Aberdare  were visited by Caerphilly Castles a potential Division 2 contender but yet again Aberdare triumphed  with a 4-1 win and with further games in hand Aberdare still hold the  best Division title potential   
 
 Aberdare Wasps      v           Caerphilly Castles 
 Richard Miles         draw        G Cantello
 David Llewellyn    1   v  0       R Gough
 Philip French        1   v  0       B Hurn
 Steve Woodrow   1  v  0        A Howell
 Jeff Woodrow        draw        H Morgan
 DL

Absence makes the heart grow fonder     
                                                       
24 January 2007
 
The Clwb-y-Bont was the  destination for Aberdare when they played  Pontypridd First team who  were unable to play their strongest side
 
Aberdare who are strong Division 2 contenders showed their strength  with a  final score 
of  4 -1
  
   Pontypridd Un          v                Aberdare Wasps   
   D.James              1   v    0         Tom Clarke            
   R. Thomas           0   v    1          Richard Miles          
   P. Warden           0   v    1          David Llewellyn     
   D. Baker              0   v    1         PhilipFrench            
   R. Jenkins           0   v    1          Steve Woodrow  
   DL

It must have been Fair well  rather than Goodbye

10 January 2007 

Hugh Oliver returned to  Aberdare Chess Club after the absence of over  25 years and promptly won his game against Penarth

Hugh is still an active player and has maintains a high  standard as his grade suggest however for Penarth they found  Aberdare much too strong with a final score of 4 -1 to the home side

Aberdare Wasps         v             Penarth Piers

Huw Oliver             1 v 0            T.Briddon

D.Llewellyn            draw            J.Thomas

Philip French         1 v 0             B.Hughes

Simon Richardson  draw           S.Warburton

Jeff Woodrow        1 v 0            H.Brunker

DL


Three out of Four or Four out of Five ??                        

13 December 2006 

Nelson B were only able to field 4 out of a 5 board team on their visit 

With Aberdare a point up they started on a roll and continued to rack up the points winning 4 - 1 overall  

Aberdare Wasps            v           Nelson B 

Richard Miles           1    v    0    J. Jones             

Simon Richardson    1    v    0     K. Forward 

Jeff Thomas             1    v    0    K.O'Rourke      

Jeff Woodrow           0    v    1    B. Miles         

Graham. Parker       1    v    0     Default            

DL


A visit to the Seaside                                 

30 November 2006

 

Aberdare visited Barry at their new venue but it did not prove a holiday for the home side with Aberdare snapping up a virtual full house of 4 ½ out of 5 with only Philip missing out on this occasion

 

Barry Camelot       v        Aberdare Wasps                                    

A. St.Clair          0 v 1     Tom Clarke

A. Wood            0 v 1     Richard Miles

P. Watkins        0 v 1      David Llewellyn

G. Etzmuss       Draw       Philip French         

W. Lewis          0 v 1     Mike Woodrow

DL


 
Back to old Habits                                             
22 November 2006
 
Aberdare produced a strong win over Caerphilly Knight having a smaller margin of victory over their Castles Team
 
Aberdare Wasps       v           Caerphilly Knights 
T Clarke                  1  v    0      P Bollada 
Philip French          1  v    0      B Hurn
Graham Parker       1  v   0      J Evans
Steve Woodrow     1  v    0      C Silver
J Woodrow            0  v     1     L Davies
DL

 
 Mike prevents a Drawn Match              
 
9 November 2006  
 
Mike Woodrow was the only winner  on the night with all the team members drawing at Bridgend
 
 
Bridgend B           v               Aberdare Wasps  
 
Mike Cleaves     draw            Dave Llewellyn
Neil Stuart          draw           Philip French 
Anthony Baker   draw           Graham Parker
Mike Kearn       0   v  1         Mike Woodrow
Robert Rees       draw           Simon Richardson
DL

Looking for more
23 Oct 06
 
Travelling to Caerphilly did not produce the expectant result for Aberdare who played a stronger team than their opponents
However a win is a win after all and the prospect of Team promotion is still on target
 
Caerphilly Castles       v           Aberdare Wasps    
Alun Howell              0  v  1       T Clarke
Bob Hurn                   draw       Dave Llewellyn
Hugh Morgan           0  v  1      Philip French
James Evans            draw       Graham Parker
A Robertshaw          1  v  0      Simon Richardson
DL
The First of Two
18 October 2006
 
Aberdare continued its player rotation policy for the first match against one of the two Pontypridd Teams
Aberdare produced a  strong performance on the night with Mike Woodrow uncharacteristically missing out
 
 
Pontypridd Dau           v         Aberdare Wasps   
 
K.Evans                   0  v  1      Tom Clarke          
M.Jones                   0  v  1      David Llewellyn   
S.Batmanghelich    0  v  1      Steve Woodrow  
H.Lloyd                    1  v  0       Mike Woodrow 
P.Warden                0  v  1      Jeff Woodrow    
DL  

Debutante at last

4 October 2006

Tom Clarke flew & floated his way over to Wales from Ireland to make his Wasps debut. Though tired from recent treatments for his illness and jet lagged from the previous day’s long journey, he managed to stay awake for the full 2 hours his game took, eventually agreeing a draw with an equally graded opponent. Dave romped home to his first win of the season and Simon’s usual ending occurred with him running out of time to turn his attack into a win. Jeff nearly made the time control, whilst Philip had turned down draw offers hoping to find a win with a pawn up in the end-game.

Cardiff Pawns         v               Aberdare Wasps

D Roberts            draw             Tom Clarke

J Fathallah          0  v  1           David LLewellyn

G Wagner      adjudication      Philip French

S McGregor       draw             Simon Richardson 

D Tibb               1  v  0            Jeff Thomas

SR


Double Act

20 September 2006

 

Pontypridd Un visited Aberdare, the first of their two Teams within Division 2

Both David and Steve were better for most of the match but failed to capitalize 

Philip produced a solid draw while Graham found himself under pressure for most of the match and finally succumbed

However pride of place goes to Mike for the only Team win of the night

Aberdare Wasps        v            Pontypridd Un

Dave Llewellyn      0   v  1       D Jones

Philip French         draw          K Evans

Graham Parker     0   v  1         D James

Steve Woodrow     draw          K Staveley 

Mike Woodrow     1   v  0        J Davies

DL


First of the Season

11 September 2006       
        
 A fine win on board 1 saw G Parker's opponent ignoring a dangerous pin for a dubious attack which came to nothing.
Making his return debut J Woodrow outclassed his opponent with an attacking combination which left her a bishop down and no compensation. Simon agreed a draw against much improved opposition in M Servini.
Steve was out of sorts against an in form Beryl Hughes who was keen to dish out some punishment as repayment of her treatment the last time she visited Aberdare.
And finally Jeff just about overcoming his time problems making the time control but with an inferior position.
 
Overall a good team performance against a stronger than expected newly promoted Penarth.
  
Penarth Piers      v             Aberdare Wasps
K Hannah      0    v    1        G Parker       
M Servini         draw            S Richardson  
B Hughes      1    v    0        S Woodrow   
S Warburton 1     v    0       J Thomas       
H Brunker      0    v    1        J Woodrow 
 
MW

5 Aberdare Players in top 30
 
 1 May 2006
 
Aberdare Wasps had a good  representation in the top 30 Players of the 10 Team that make up  East Glamorgan Division 2  
 
Mike Woodwood eventually took over from Philip French with the best Aberdare Season average of 75% to 71.4%
DL

Philip takes charge as David’s form falls

10 April 2006

Philip French assumed Board 1 as he is riding high on 70 %  while David has proved unsuccessful in last few games

Sadly although putting up resistant Philip eventually lost to the Welsh International while David’s opening play proved too strong for his opponent and Simon drew a wild game

Mike drew with Mike in typically solid style while Jeff lost to the more experienced Jeff Tyrell

Pentyrch A                v            Aberdare Wasp 

Dave Sully              1 v 0        Philip French  

William Harwood    0 v 1        David Llewellyn

Mike Gale              draw         Simon Richardson

Mike Maguire         draw         Mile Woodrow

Jeff Thomas            0 v 1        Jeff Tyrrell

 DL


B proved stronger than A

5 April 2006

Aberdare Wasps drew against Bridgend B having won on the earlier encounter

David Llewellyn again failed to capitalize on some inaccurate play and eventually went down hill while Jeff Thomas’s time pressure troubles continue to cause him difficulties

Graham achieved a good draw against Mike Cleaves while Simon capitalized on his sacrifice and Mike consolidation his position to achieved the full point

Aberdare Wasps       v         Bridgend B

David Llewellyn     0 v 1       Alan Bennett

Graham Parker      draw      Mike Cleaves

Son Richardson    1  v  0      Mike Kearn

Mike Woodrow      1 v 0       Anthony Baker

Jeff Thomas          0 v 1        Len Skinner

DL


Promotion hopes are dashed

27 March 2006

Aberdare (4th) needed to trounce Penarth (3rd) in this top-of-the-table clash to keep promotion hopes alive. Things looked promising early on, but a horrible blunder by Steve and a time scramble by Dave resulted in dropped points. An excellent win by Phil and Graham clutching a draw from certain defeat was impressive, but ‘attack of the night’ award goes to Simon, who gave up a central pawn on move 10 to totally bamboozle his opponent with a stunning queen & knight combination resulting in mate on move 28. Promotion pretensions may be over but there’s Welsh KO silverware to play for soon

Penarth A               v          Aberdare Wasp

Robert Taylor      1   0    David Llewellyn

Tony Gutteridge  0   v  1    Philip French

Ken Hannah        1  v   0    Steve Woodrow

David Jiles          draw       Graham Parker

Beryl Hughes       0  v  1    Simon Richardson

SR


Reversal of Fortunes

14 March 2006

On attending Rhiwbina Recreation Club, home of North Cardiff Chess Club Aberdare found they had to use the “Bowling Pavilion “   (not the warmest place you will find!!) and the top boards failed to produce on the night

Nonetheless all was not lost with the lower boards producing the goods to make a drawn match on the night   

North Cardiff Woodpushers     v       Aberdare Wasps

            Jim Stewart               0  v   1   David Llewellyn

            Robert Dineen          0     Philip French

            Steve Woodrow         draw     Ron Reid

            Nessie  Georgion     0  v   1    Graham Parker

            Robert Peters          0    v   1    Mike Woodrow

DL


Can still hang with the best

8 March 2006

Bridgend A are  a strong promotion Team  but Aberdare who seem to suffer from persistent consistence problems produced  a marvelous result with a

3 – 1 points on the night with one  game to go

Aberdare Wasps      v              Bridgend A 

David Llewellyn     1  v  0         D Robinson

Philip French          draw          Jonathan Kell

Graham Parker      draw          Richard Jones

Simon Richardson playing on Mike Cleaves

Mike Woodrow       1  v  0        Mark  Jones

DL


A Weakened Team gains an excellent result.  

22 February 2006

The Aberdare team bereft of its 3 top - graded players travelled to Pontypridd more in hope than expectation. However, every member out-played their opposite number resulting in a 3.5 v 1.5 victory. Graham was impressive in his dismantling of Mike Jones, the ex-Aberdare player whose fine play this year sees him top of division 2 individual performance charts – a very sweet finish to chase Mike’s king into a mate. Simon & Jeff also won, with Mike agreeing an early draw against his bogey opponent. Steve stepped in to play Board 1 against an opponent rated over 200 grading points higher and went into the end-game up ‘the exchange’ but with connected passed pawns bearing down on his king; a slight miscalculation allowed these to become too strong, when a draw or even a win seemed more likely - Nevertheless an excellent performance.

K Evans    1  v  0    S Woodrow
M.Jones    0  v  1    M.Jones
A.Jeanes  0  v  1    S.Richardson
K.Mason   Draw    M.Woodrow
P.Warden  0  v 1   J.Thomas

Top Boards take the Points but Mike Woodrow  just keeps rolling on

8 February 2006

Cardiff Dragons visited the Rugby Club for their return match but found the top boards too strong.  However Mike Woodrow remains hard to beat with a solid draw.

Aberdare Wasps v Cardiff Dragons

David Llewellyn   1  v   0    Dominic Bryon

Philip French       1  v  0     Peter Bollada

Steve Woodrow  0  v  1   Tony Briddon

Mike Woodrow      draw   Fred Wusteman

Jeff Thomas         0 v   1   Steve Herkes

DL


Aberdare plough on into Welsh Cup Semi Finals

25 January 2006

The under 1800 team took full advantage of home advantage, trouncing the visitors from West Wales League 3.5 Points to ½ point. The teams were evenly matched on the top boards, but within an hour of starting Mike Woodrow had beaten his opponent into early submission and with Graham closely following with a victory on board 2, the tie was won Steve & Simon then agreed quick results to see the team progress.

Aberdare          v         Castedd Nedd  ( Port Talbot )

S Woodrow    draw     J Thomas

G Parker        1 v  0     H Griffiths

M Woodrow  1 v  0     M Prescott

S Richardson  1  v  0    J Prescott

Simon & Mike also represented the East Glam League at the Welsh U1700 jamboree on Sunday 22/1/06 with Simon gaining 1.5 points from his 2 games and Mike winning the first game but falling in the second when victory looked assured. The county finished in second place.

SR


Rain almost stopped play

4 January 2006

The return match against Cardiff Pawns again proved a Aberdare win on the night although a water leak from the second floor ceiling did caused some concern

Fortunately the Steward was on the case and as it was nearing the end of the match did not appear to  cause too many problems

Aberdare Wasps   v           Cardiff Cavaliers

D Llewellyn     1  v  0       H Price

P French         draw        P Bollada

S Woodrow      1     I Collins

G Parker         v  0      W Wilkins

M Woodrow    draw        L Khanna


Christmas 2005
 

Aberdare Chess Club have settled for fourth having previously lead the   East Glamorgan Division 2 Chess League
Sadly  results have not been  consistently strong  and with a small number of reserves  and limited availability of Dave Hill fourth may have been inevitable 

However  Chairman Simon Richardson felt fourth provides a good spring board particular since three teams are  promoted and points margin is  small
In addition, with two Teams remaining in their respective Welsh Chess Union Team Knock Out Simon remain hopeful of further future success
 
On the bright side though four may even  be a lucky Club number as Philip French is the fourth best league performance so far with 81%!!

2006 awaits
 

A Shower  before Christmas   
 
7 December 2005
 
Aberdare welcomed Penarth A for the last match for 2005 and proved a taxing affair
Dave Hill was unable to play necessitating a short notice replacement yet Penarth proved too strong anyway with only Philip making a mark on the score board
 
However at the end of the night the Club dog insisted in getting in on the action by providing a shower for one of the visitors to which everyone was obviously very apologetic for a unique event
I guess this will be one for the next Revised Rule Book  !!
 
Dave Llewellyn        0  v  1   Robert Taylor
Philip French           1  v  0   Tony Gutteridge
Graham Parker       0 v   1   David Jiles
Simon Richardson  0  v  1   Russell Dodington
Jeff Thomas             0  v  1   Beryl Hughes

Dave Hill is back

 28 November 2005

 The second visit to Bridgend this year saw a meeting with their B Team

Although not of the obvious strength of the A team it had nevertheless a number of seasoned veterans and a strong Board 1

Dave Hill has just returned to the club and promptly draw which together with other wins

resulted in a eventual match win

Bridgend B     v        Aberdare Wasps

A Bennett    draw     D Hill

M Cleaves   0  v 1    D Llewellyn

N Stuart      0  v 1    P French

R Rees       draw      S Woodrow

L Skinner   1 v 0      S Richardson


North Cardiff this time

16 November 2005

The trip to North Cardiff Club proved worthwhile for Aberdare who drew the top boards

and gained full points on the lower order to end the night with a strong win

 

Aberdare Wasps v North Cardiff Woodpushers

P French      draw     J Stewart

S Woodrow draw     R Dineen

G Parker      draw     R Reid

M Woodrow 1  v 0  N Georgion

J Thomas      1  v 0  Paul Williams 


Held out 

10 November 2005

 Well done to Simon and Philip who held out in a somewhat poor team performance in Bridgend

 

Bridgend A        v      Aberdare Wasps  

D Robinson    1 v 0    D Llewellyn

J Watts          draw     P French

N Stuart         1 v 0    S Woodrow

R Jones          1 v 0    G Parker

M Jones         0 v 1    S Richardson 


 

Dai missed Dau  
 
26 October 2005
 
 
Aberdare Wasps welcomed Pontypridd Dau  once again meeting both familiar and new faces
Both pride and honour were certainly at stake as Pontypridd had just knocked Aberdare off the Division 2 Leader slot
 
David Llewellyn did not  play whereby Philip French assumed the Board One position and proceeded to win well
The other  boards did not appear to hold out early promise yet Philip's win encouraged other Team members resulting in a  3 -2  home win and return to the number one spot 
 
 
P.French          1 v 0   K Evans
S.Woodrow      0 v 1   A Jeanes
M.Woodrow     0 v 1   M Jones
G.Parker          1 v 0   P Griffiths
S Richardson  1 v 0   P Warden

Cardiff Again

12 October 2005

 Cardiff was again the venue for Aberdare Wasps this time against their Dragons Team

M Krause       0 v 1  D Llewellyn

G. Wagner     0 v 1  P French

A Briddon      1 v 0  G Parker

F Wusteman 0 v 1   S Richardson

S Herkes       1 v 0   J Thomas


Rivals

3 October 2005

Honours on the night go to Aberdare Wasps when they travelled to Title rivals  Pentyrch A

With one game to declare it was Mike Woodrow who showed the way with the only win of the evening

D Sully            draw               D.LLewellyn  

M.Gale           draw                P.French      

C.Ley             adjudication    S.Woodrow  

M.Maguire     0  v  1              M.Woodrow  

C.Tyrrel          draw               G.Parker 


Its Tough Out There 

21 September 2005

Cardiff Pawns were not such fertile opportunity for Aberdare Chess Club with a much higher graded team visiting Aberdare Rugby Club venue

Nevertheless Wasps  top boards David Llewellyn and Philip French  proved too strong for their  opponents while Simon made a critical mistake, Graham had a good position at one point but faulted later while Jeff slowly found his position worsening  to the point that he was unable to actively contest the position

The Season continues !!

D Llewellyn        1 v   0     M Harbecke

P French            1  v  0     B Hunt

G Parker             0  v  1    J Fathallah

S Richardson     0  v  1    S McGregor

J Thomas           0  v 1     T Briddon


 First Blood

7 September 2005

Cardiff Cavaliers hosted Aberdare Wasp’s first match of the new season

Cavaliers, who were recently promoted from Division 3 of the East Glamorgan Chess League, fought well yet experience showed on the night with Aberdare success With one game to be finished the Team are quietly confident to add to their 3 ½ v ½ score

T .Duong 0 v 1 D. Llewellyn

I .Collins draw S .Woodrow

P Lancaster unfinished M .Woodrow   Eventually   0 v 1

A .Delport 0 v 1 S. Richardson

W .Wilkins 0 v 1 J. Thomas 


Starters Orders

25 August 2005

Aberdare Wasps have now received their Fixture list for the forthcoming season in East Glamorgan Chess League

First Match will be on Wednesday 7 September 2005 away to Cardiff Cavilers while the first Home match will be on Wednesday 21 September 2005 against Cardiff Pawns

Attempts at arranging pre season friendly has not been an easy task this year but the Chess Club hopes to meet on 31 August anyway to discuss the Match and League schedule


A New Beginning

1 July 2005

Aberdare chess Club is currently seeing a bit of a player Siesta during the off season yet at the recent AGM it was evident players remain keen for next season. Situated in Aberdare Rugby Club with Wednesday Club nights it has been proposed to seek some friendly matches before September when playing will become a ' serious affair’

Winners of every conceivable local chess title during its history the Club has seen both low and high points including the winning of the prestigious   East Glam Division One Title on more than one occasion

Although new people have joined the  continual draining away of players has been a constant concern whereby it is now agreed for  only one Team can be fielded in the local East Glamorgan League