40 years ago
David Hardy • 23 February 2021
From Phil Platts "This year will mark the 40th anniversary of the meeting between Oldham and Stott Benham in the final of the Rochdale League Knockout final. Oldham were the division one champions, my team, Stott Benham, were the division two champions. Vastly out graded on all boards, Stott Benham went down to a gallant defeat 3.5 – 0.5. Our only half point point was gained by Paul Harrington playing against a certain Dave Hardy" Paul now works for Chess & Bridge in London
Matches continue to be played every week now with last week seeing us beat 3Cs 4-2 to consolidate our position in B Division in the Manchester League. A hard fought draw away at East Cheshire this week saw us stay top of A Division in the Stockport League.
The EJCOA event we hosted last Sunday was a great success where 37 players entered. William and Sithun from the club qualified for the finals in July. Thanks go to our Senior Arbiter, Sacha for his efforts on the day that kept all running smoothly.
In the last few weeks new members have continued to join and in what was a nice surprise a couple of old members came back, namely Shlok and Veer
We are always looking for volunteers especially those who could help our beginners and intermediate groups - being the greatest player isn't strictly necessary just patience and good inter personal skills will be enough!!!
2025 started off as we finished 2024 with a team victory this time against Chorlton by 6-2. There will be sterner tests ahead but we should be confident going forward. If you have any family or friends who would like to learn how to play or improve their game please invite them along.
With Dave being away the Tuck Shop King grasped the opportunity to trial new opening hours. Having opened at the usual 7:30pm and dealing with the initial rush he decided that any late stragglers could still make use of the shop, leaving the till open for a further 15 mins. It is felt this was just a blatant opportunity to grab last minute Christmas spending....
In honour of the Tuck Shop King a Wordsearch has been created for the beginners group combining Chess terms and treats found in the Tuck Shop....wordsearch file can be found on the Homepage.
Our matches in the MCF and SDCL have all started so it is busy, busy, busy up until Xmas. Well done so far everyone!
We've been granted some funding from the ECF to have some Grandmaster coaching which my friend Stephen Gordon will arrange
The Tuck Shop welcomed some new members this week. Mr Ripple and Mr Boost Tuck Shop King is analysing the sales figures to ascertain if these product lines are viable to continue with.
