National Stages

Final

The final was held on 5th July 2008 at Moat Community College (Leicester) and Lancashire's captain Mike Conroy was a worried man when he found out that he had the higher graded team!

The match against Middlesex was very tough, in doubt until the very end of the five hours. A surprising statistic was that the top five boards were all won with the Black pieces. However in the end Lancashire's top players battled through and retained the trophy that they won in 2007.

Mike's first three seasons as county captain produced three national championships in 1967, 1968 and 1969. Having now won it for the last two years, Mike can only dream of history repeating itself in 2009!

A few games from this season's successful campaign can be found here.

  LANCASHIRE   MIDDLESEX
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Morrison, Graham 208 1 - 0 Crouch, Colin 202
2 Hague, Ben 209 0 - 1 Lyell, Mark 198
3 Kennaugh, Charles 207 1 - 0 Spivack, Simon 201
4 Lund, Brett 206 0 - 1 Mackenzie, Colin 185
5 Hughes, Howard 196 1 - 0 Reid, John 182
6 Ivell, Nick 200 1 - 0 Ackley, Peter 172
7 Littlewood, John 180 ½ - ½ McKeown, Paul 168
8 Mitchell, Martin 173 ½ - ½ Dickson, George 181
9 Jowett, Peter 184 ½ - ½ Tasker, Michael 171
10 Timson, Paul - ½ - ½ Davey, Mark 170
11 Peacock, Malcolm 177 ½ - ½ Lee, Martin 164
12 Sumner, Jim 176 1 - 0 Coles, Steven 166
13 Kay, Lee 164 0 - 1 Djabri, Zafer 167
14 Ellison, George 165 ½ - ½ Calvert, D Ian 161
15 Conroy, Mike 160 ½ - ½ Fulton, Anthony 160
16 Whitehead, Mark 154 ½ - ½ Crichton, Martin 152
  9 - 7  

Semi-Finals

Lancashire's Open team will contest the national final again after beating Surrey at Syston on 14th June 2008. This was a repeat of last year's final and Surrey had a powerfull team, outgrading Lancashire on 13 of the 16 boards.

  LANCASHIRE   SURREY
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Morrison, Graham 208 ½ - ½ Berry, Stephen 215
2 Hague, Ben 209 0 - 1 Buckley, Graeme 216
3 Kennaugh, Charles 207 1 - 0 Sharpe, Ian 208
4 Lund, Brett 206 0 - 1 Basman, Mike 200
5 Hughes, Howard 196 ½ - ½ Briscoe, Chris 186
6 Ivell, Nick 200 ½ - ½ Povah, Nigel 198
7 Littlewood, John 180 1 - 0 Lalic, Susan 199
8 Mitchell, Martin 173 1 - 0 Zhou, Yang-Fan 183
9 Timson, Paul - 0 - 1 Granat, Russell 195
10 Jowett, Peter 184 ½ - ½ Franklin, Michael 187
11 Peacock, Malcolm 177 1 - 0 Richardson, Keith 187
12 Sumner, Jim 176 1 - 0 Osborne, Marcus 183
13 Kay, Lee 164 1 - 0 Haldane, Robin 183
14 Ellison, George 165 ½ - ½ Coleman, James 181
15 Whitehead, Mark 154 ½ - ½ Rowson, David 184
16 Taylor, Bob 159 ½ - ½ Rosen, Dan 174
  9½ - 6½  

Quarter Finals

Lancashire's Open team progressed with a good win against Staffordshire at Leyland on 17th May 2008.

  LANCASHIRE   STAFFORDSHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Morrison, Graham 208 ½ - ½ Bellin, Robert 216
2 Hague, Ben 209 1 - 0 Cooper, Lawrence 206
3 Kennaugh, Charles 207 1 - 0 Anderton, David 190
4 Lund, Brett 206 ½ - ½ Acey, Gerald 180
5 Hughes, Howard 196 0 - 1 Grinsell, Lee 177
6 Ivell, Nick 200 1 - 0 Richardson, Alex 176
7 Littlewood, John 180 0 - 1 Armstrong, Malcolm 174
8 Mitchell, Martin 173 1 - 0 Crombleholme, Alan 174
9 Timson, Paul - 0 - 1 Bennett, Patrick 170
10 Almond, Phil 178 0 - 1 Walker, Nicholas 168
11 Jowett, Peter 184 ½ - ½ Keaveney, John 162
12 Peacock, Malcolm 177 ½ - ½ Turner, John 160
13 Sumner, Jim 176 1 - 0 Pritchard, David 153
14 Morris, Glyn 176 1 - 0 Staniforth, John 146
15 Ellison, George 165 ½ - ½ Leary, Peter 137
16 Cooper, John 155 1 - 0 Gibson, Diarmid 132
  9½ - 6½  

Lancashire's U150 team were well beaten by Cambridgeshire when the sides met at Lockington, Derbyshire on 11th May 2008.

  LANCASHIRE   CAMBRIDGESHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Collins, RA 149 0 - 1 Ilett, R 147
2 Owen, D 148 1 - 0 Donaghay, R 143
3 Dobson, E 140 ½ - ½ Mission, M 149
4 Gaston, D 140 ½ - ½ Daugman, J 142
5 Horton, D 139 0 - 1 Davision, C 131
6 Jackson, P 135 ½ - ½ Duff, B 141
7 Whitfield, John 131 0 - 1 Pride, S 140
8 O' Rourke, W 131 1 - 0 Stewart, A 119
9 Tokeley, R 131 0 - 1 Byrne, C 140
10 Fanning, S 128 0 - 1 Ribbands, P 139
11 Tennant-Smith, J 128 0 - 1 Newman, R 138
12 Ashcroft, R 128 ½ - ½ Turp, P 136
13 Brogan, S 121 ½ - ½ Connolly, M 135
14 Default - 0 - 1 Default -
15 Jones, GM 122 0 - 1 Barkas, P 130
16 Teague, D 112 0 - 1 Lim, M 129
  4½ - 11½  

Nottinghamshire were too strong for Lancashire's U100 team when the sides met at Newcastle-under-Lyme.

  LANCASHIRE   NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Pritchard, Abigail 97 ½ - ½ Sayer, Ray 97
2 Quinn, Kenny 94 ½ - ½ Cronshaw, Derek 96
3 Hartley, Dave 89 ½ - ½ McIntosh, Sally 94
4 Reeves, Danny 84 ½ - ½ Zhang, Michael 90
5 Innes, Lothian e75 0 - 1 Patel, Pritesh u/g
6 Mitchell, Ian 70 0 - 1 Hobson, Ben 86
7 Walsh, Mick 61 ½ - ½ Swift, Stewart u/g
8 Tanner, Frank 51 ½ - ½ Ali, Hamzah 85
9 Walsh, James 51 1 - 0 Morrell, Len 83
10 Walsh, Matthew 49 0 - 1 Dawson, Ric 80
11 Reeves, Matthew u/g 0 - 1 Ashton, Alfred 73
12 Default - 0 - 1 Default -
  4 - 8  

Preliminary Round

Leicestershire's U125 team were too strong for Lancashire when the sides met at Kidsgrove on 27th April 2008.

  LANCASHIRE   LEICESTERSHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Socha, L 115 0 - 1 Clarke, B 122
2 Rushworth, F 123 0 - 1 Watkinson, P 123
3 Jones, GM 122 1 - 0 Pourmozafari, B 120
4 Pennington, Geoff 121 0 - 1 Daniel, J 120
5 Heyes, W 121 0 - 1 Phillips, H 119
6 O' Mara, P 120 0 - 1 Booley, G 115
7 Horne, M 113 ½ - ½ Johnson, A 117
8 Raynor, P 110 ½ - ½ Hayden, L 115
9 Flaherty, S 111 1 - 0 Wallace, R 115
10 Wright, J 108 ½ - ½ Adcock, G u/g
11 Howarth, P 109 ½ - ½ Robinson, A 107
12 Pennington, Graham 109 1 - 0 Reynolds, D 103
13 Bokuchava, G u/g 0 - 1 Adlard, L 102
14 Hart, R 106 0 - 1 Farquarson, I 99
15 Pritchard, A 97 0 - 1 Thornton, M 94
16 Horman, P 99 0 - 1 Clarke, L 71
  5 - 11  

Open Team Results

This season Lancashire and Yorkshire competed for the NCCU Open Championship. The match between the two teams was played at Heywood on 27th January 2008 and ended in an 8 - 8 draw, with Lancashire being declared the winners on board count.

  LANCASHIRE   YORKSHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Morrison, Graham 208 ½ - ½ Palliser, Richard 224
2 Hague, Ben 209 ½ - ½ Adams, David 190
3 Kennaugh, Charlie 207 0 - 1 Townsend, Paul 186
4 Lund, Brett 207 1 - 0 Gayson, Peter 193
5 Hughes, Howard R 196 1 - 0 Burnett, Jim 191
6 Ivell, Nick W 209 1 - 0 Wooley, Josh 181
7 Mitchell, Martin 173 ½ - ½ Shaw, Peter 182
8 Timson, Paul 203 ½ - ½ Le, Tuan 171
9 Jowett, Peter 183 ½ - ½ Watson, Phil 170
10 Kay, Lee 168 ½ - ½ Carpenter, Martin 171
11 Peacock, Malcolm 177 ½ - ½ Rogerson, Mark 166
12 Newton, Bob 164 0 - 1 Goldsworthy, Patrick 172
13 Cooper, John 155 0 - 1 Lewyk, Ihor 167
14 Morris, Glyn 176 ½ - ½ Nicholson, Jim 162
15 Woodcock, Simon 174 1 - 0 Hopwood, Paul 158
16 Clarkson, Andrew 167 0 - 1 Weinberger, Simon -
  8 - 8  

U175 Team Results

This season Lancashire and Yorkshire competed for the NCCU U175 Championship. The result of the match between the two teams, a close affair played in Leeds on 12th January 2008, was as follows:

  YORKSHIRE   LANCASHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Le, Ngoc Tuan 171 1 - 0 Clarkson, Andrew 166
2 Carpenter, Martin 171 1 - 0 Lyth, John 166
3 Watson, Phil 170 ½ - ½ Ellison, George 165
4 Round, R Michael 168 0 - 1 Newton, Robert 164
5 Braithwaite, Trevor 168 1 - 0 Rabbitte, Paul (substitute) 51
6 Lewyk, Ihor 167 ½ - ½ Hamer, Martyn 161
7 Williams, Winston 165 ½ - ½ Conroy, Mike 160
8 Archer, Richard 165 ½ - ½ Horrocks, Steve 174
9 Lowther, Neil 168 0 - 1 Mulleady, Peter 157
10 Kirby, Peter J 161 ½ - ½ Lythgoe, Martyn 157
11 Nicholson, Jim WR 162 1 - 0 Cukovs, Oleg 156
12 Hankinson, Mike 162 0 - 1 Cooper, John 155
13 Hamm, Jeremy 160 ½ - ½ Rabbitte, Dominic 155
14 Senior, Patrick M 154 ½ - ½ Seery, Phil 154
15 Keely, Leo 152 ½ - ½ Whitehead, Mark 154
16 Gardiner, Eric 152 ½ - ½ Parker, Michael 146
  8½ - 7½  

U150 Team Results

This season Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire will compete for the NCCU U150 Championship.

The U150 team won their first match of the season away to Cumbria by a score of 7½ - 4½. A report can be found in the Online Bulletin area.

The team's second match of the season was simply a fiasco as only three of the Yorkshire team turned up. For the record the full result of the match ("played" at Heywood on 27th January 2008) was as follows:

  LANCASHIRE   YORKSHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Collins, Richard A 149 1 - 0 Davies, Clive W 147
2 Owen, Dennis 148 1 - 0 Default -
3 Catz, Armand 145 1 - 0 Default -
4 Rabbitte, Michael J 142 1 - 0 Patrick, David 127
5 Dobson, Emlyn DG 140 1 - 0 Default -
6 Taylor, Phil M 139 0 - 1 Jones, Rupert 134
7 Atherton, Roy 139 1 - 0 Default -
8 Horton, Denis 139 1 - 0 Default -
9 Chapman, P Roger 135 1 - 0 Default -
10 Whitfield, John 132 1 - 0 Default -
11 O'Rourke, William 131 1 - 0 Default -
12 Ashcroft, Ray 128 1 - 0 Default -
      11 - 1      

U125 Team Results

This season Cleveland, Durham, Lancashire and Yorkshire will compete for the NCCU U125 Championship.

Lancashire U125 team's first match was away to Yorkshire on 14th January 2008 and the result was as follows:

  YORKSHIRE   LANCASHIRE
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Cloudsdale, Peter 124 ½ - ½ Socha, Luboslav 123
2 Adam, Dave 121 ½ - ½ Jones, Geoff 122
3 Robson, Owen 114 1 - 0 Pennington, Geoff 122
4 Dow, Michael 114 ½ - ½ Rogers, Simon 114
5 Evens, Mike 114 0 - 1 Horne, Mike 113
6 Cartlidge, Colin 109 ½ - ½ Raynor, Phil 110
7 Johnson, Stuart 107 ½ - ½ Flaherty, Steve 109
8 Wheldon, Tom 103 0 - 1 Wright, Jon 109
9 Pinder, Bill 99 0 - 1 Pennington, Graham 109
10 Strickland, Ian 98 ½ - ½ Pritchard, Abigail 97
11 Spencer, Stephen 97 1 - 0 Quinn, Kenny 94
12 Beavers, Mick 85 ½ - ½ De Santos, Andrew 93
      5½ - 6½      

The U125 team's second match was against Cleveland, played at York on 3rd February 2008. The match was a closely contested draw and team captain Phil Raynor has annotated a few of the games.

  LANCASHIRE   CLEVELAND
  Player  Grade    Score   Player Grade
1 Socha, Luboslav 123 0 - 1 Appleyard, Dave 123
2 Copeland, Philip 123 ½ - ½ Ridsdale, Peter 123
3 Pennington, Geoff 122 1 - 0 McCormack, Steve 121
4 Horne, Mike 113 ½ - ½ Lovell, Stan 120
5 Raynor, Phil 110 0 - 1 Bell, Rod 117
6 Flaherty, Steve 109 0 - 1 Gentle, Jason 114
7 Bokuchava, George 109 0 - 1 Stathen, Ron 111
8 Pennington, Graham 109 1 - 0 Henderson, Steve 111
9 Broadley, Henry 109 0 - 1 Perrett, Paul 110
10 Howarth, Peter 109 1 - 0 Fulton, Neil 104
11 Pritchard, Abigail 97 1 - 0 Walmsley, Martin 97
12 Quinn, Kenny 97 1 - 0 Whittaker, Brian 91
      6 - 6      

The team's third match was scheduled for 16th March 2008 but Durham pulled out at the last minute, so it was a 12 - 0 walkover for Lancashire. This meant that we finished second to Cleveland in the NCCU competition by the narrowest of margins (apparently it was decided by board count of the drawn match between the two counties). However both winners and runners-up will qualify for the national stages.

U100 Team Results

Unfortunately, as the only county that has entered a team, Lancashire have won this season's NCCU U100 Championship without playing a game!