TROWBRIDGE CHESS CLUB
HISTORY
Trowbridge Chess Club was originally the Bradford-On-Avon Chess Club which met at Robert Race's house at Saint Margarets
Place, Bradford-On-Avon. The Club played in the Somerset Leagues. In 1979 they joined the Wiltshire League as well.
Around 1980 the Club moved to the Swan Hotel and was run by Andy
Hurst.
In the Late Eighties the Club amalgamated with Hattersley
Heaton Chess Society and was known as
Trowbridge/Bradford Chess Club, meeting in the Factory Canteen, Bradley Road, Trowbridge.
Where McDonalds is
now.
In 1989 Tim Woodward took over the running of the Club and the Club became Trowbridge Chess Club. In 1992 Hattersley Heaton closed and the Club relocated to the Usher Club, Back Street, Trowbridge.
In 2001 Tim handed over the reins of running the Club to Andy Bosworth and Dave Allberry.
In 2003 after the closing of Usher Brewery the Club moved to its current location
- West Wiltshire Conservative Club Lovemead House, 25, Roundstone St, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8DG.
With Andy Bosworth moving onto pastures new in Lancashire the running of the Club has been taken over by Tony Ransom.
Contact
Tony Ransom 01225
774538.
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Players
Our club members are regularly
called upon by Richard Haydon the Wiltshire County captain to play in County matches.
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Venue
West Wilts Conservative Club,Lovemead House, 25, Roundstone St, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8DG Tel: 01225 752605.
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Clubnight
Clubnight is on Thursday starting from 7.30pm and all ages and expertise are
welcome. The Conservative Club has a bar available which also sells food. Chips being a
particular favourite among members.
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Directions
Click here for directions
Map
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Leagues
We currently play in 4 Leagues on a home and away basis. The season being September-March:-
1)Charles Marsh East.
2)Vice President East - only players of
100 BCF and below are eligible.
3)Wiltshire 4-A-Side.
4)Wiltshire Minor - only players 125 BCF and below
are eligible.
So that all the club membership can play competitive chess thereby increase their BCF grading.
Captains
1)Charles Marsh East, Vice President East, Wiltshire 4-A-Side and Wiltshire Minor – Tony Ransom.
We run a club championship during the season and a quickplay
tournament in the closed season so that players can keep their hand in.
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SUCCESSES
1989/1990
In 1990 Tim Woodward the doyen of Trowbridge Chess Club in the 1980's/1990's won the Wiltshire Minor trophy for players graded under 140.
1990/1991
Tim Woodward successfully defended his Wiltshire Minor title in 1991.
Unfortunately the trophy went missing a couple of years after that.
2002/2003
In the 2002/2003 season we fielded two
teams of equal strength in the Charles Marsh East league with Trowbridge ‘B’ winning the league for that season.
2003/2004
In 2003/2004 we were runners-up to
Yeovil in the Somerset Cup.
2004/2005
For the 2004/2005 season we fielded teams
in the Charles Marsh East, Vice-President's East, Wiltshire Minor and Wiltshire 4-A-Side leagues. Both the Charles March East and Vice Presidents' East
teams were unbeaten with the Vice Presidents' East scoring 10 points out of 12 due to
draws with Bath - the away match result being achieved with only three players instead of the normal four.
The Somerset Charles Marsh East chess league consisted of Bath, Frome and Norton Radstock as well as us with each team playing each other twice; home and away. The matches consisted of 6 players aside with the strongest player on board one down
to the weakest on board six.
The league started for us on the 8th October 2004 with a 4-2 win at home to Frome and ended on the 9th March 2005 with a 5-1 win away to Bath. We could only field 5 players in their last match and so had to default on one board. In
between these two successes We
won our four other matches 5-1, 4-2, 3½-2½ and 4-2. Giving us a total of 25½ points out of 35
with one game defaulted.
In the case of the Somerset Vice-President's East chess league the line-up consisted again of Bath, Frome and Norton Radstock as well as us with each team playing each other home and away. The matches consisted of 4 players aside with the strongest player on board one down
to the weakest player on board four.
The league started well for our three-man team on 27th October 2004 with a 2-2 draw away to Bath with us fielding 3 players and so had to default on one board, and
ended on 12th March 2005 with a 2½-1½ win at home to Norton Radstock.
In between these two matches we were unbeaten by winning three matches 3-1, 3½-½, 3½-½ and drawing 2-2.
Giving us a total of 16 points out of 23 with one game defaulted.
As far as can be remembered this is the first time that we have won both Somerset leagues. This is especially notable considering
we had a small squad of only 10 players.
This prowess was further demonstrated i.e.quality
rather than quantity in the Wiltshire leagues.
The Wiltshire Minor chess league consisted of Nationwide,
Swindon 'A', Swindon 'B', Westinghouse 'A' and Westinghouse 'B' as well as us with each team playing each other home and away. The matches were 4 aside with the strongest player on board one down
to the weakest on board four.
The league kicked off to a good start
for us on 28th October 2004 with a 2½-1½ win at home to Swindon 'A' and ended on 5th May 2005 with a 3-0 win at home to Nationwide. Both Nationwide and us could only field
three players in this match and so had to default on one board. In
between these two successes we won three other matches 3-1, 3-1 and 3-1. Giving us a
total of 22 points out of 40 with two games defaulted.
We finished runners-up to Swindon 'A'.
The Wiltshire 4-A-Side chess league consisted of Brownjack, Nationwide and Swindon as well as us with each team playing each other home and away. The matches were 4 aside with the strongest player on board one down
to the weakest on board four.
The league started well for us on 18th November 2004 with a 3-1 win at home to Swindon and ended on 12th May 2005 with a 2-2 draw at home to Nationwide by our three-man team defualting
on one board. In between these two successes we drew two other matches 2-2, one against the reigning champions Brownjack
away where boards 2, 3 and 4 were playing
players graded 20-30 points above them. Giving us a total of 10 points
out of 24 with two games defaulted.
We finished third to Brownjack.
2005/2006
Due to our success last season
several of our players were above the threshold level of 100 for the Somerset Vice President East
league which meant we couldn't defend our title.
For the season our was
still relatively small i.e.14 as compared to other clubs we were playing. The Charles Marsh East league consisted of Bath, Frome, Norton Radstock
as well as ourselves with each team playing each other twice; home and away. The matches consisted of 6 players per side
with the strongest player on board 1 down
to the weakest on board 6.
The Somerset Charles Marsh East chess league started well for us with a 4-2 home win over Frome on 6th October 2005 and ended on 12th April 2006 with a 3.5-2.5 win in our away match with Bath. We won 5-1, 5-1, drew 3-3 and lost
4-2 in our other matches giving us a total of 22.5 out of a 36 point total with no games defaulted and the runners-up place. The individual players' points from the top were Dave Weston 5 out of 5,
Paul Hatvany 4 out of 4, Roy Ludlow 2.5 out of 4, Tim Woodward 2.5 out
of 4, Andrew Cooper 2 out of 3, Derek Rothwell 2 out of 4, Ilya
Shvartsman 1 out of 2, Ian Stables 1 out of 3,
Adrian Davis 1 out of 1, Alex Cooper 0.5 out of 2, Paul Girdlestone
0.5 out 1, Cameron Lange 0.5 out of 1 and Tony Ransom 0 out 1.
We started the Somerset Knock-Out Cup campaign
with a 4-4 away win on countback over Frome on 22nd
November 2005
and ended up in the final against Yeovil the winners for the last year after Weston-Super-Mare defaulted
their semi-final against us. The result of the final was a 4.5-5.5 win for
Yeovil. The individual players' points from the top were Paul Girdlestone
2 out of 2, Ilya Shvartsman 2 out of 2, Tim Woodward 1.5 out of
2, Roy
Ludlow
1 out of 2, Alex Cooper 0.5 out 1, Andrew Cooper 0.5 out 1, Dave Weston 0 out
of 2, Adrian Davis 0 out of 1, Paul Hatvany 0 out 1, Tony Ransom 0 out of 1 and Gareth Williams 0 out 1.
The Wiltshire 4-A-Side league started well for
us with a 2-2 draw with Brown Jack the reigning champions for the last 5 years on 17th October 2005 and ended on 12th April 2006 with a 3-1 win in our home match with Swindon and the "Wiltshire 4-A-Side League" title. We
won 3-1, 4-0, 3-1 and drew 2-2 in other matches. Giving a total of 17 out of 24
points with no games defaulted. The individual players' points from the top were Paul Girdlestone
5 out of 6, Dave Weston 3 out of 3, Paul Hatvany 2.5
out of 3, Ilya Shavrtsman 2 out of 2, Derek Rothwell 1 out of 3, Ian Stables 1 out of 2,
Roy
Ludlow
1 out of 1, Tony Ransom 1 out of 1, Andrew Cooper 0.5 out of 1, Gareth Williams 0 out 1 and Tim Woodward 0
out 1.
The Wiltshire Minor league started well for us
with a 2.5-1.5 home win over Swindon 'B' on
27th October 2005 and ended on 6th April with a 3-1 win in our home match with Swindon 'A'. We won 2.5-1.5,
3.5-0.5, 3.5-0.5, 3-1, 3.5-0.5 and drew 2-2 in our ther matches. Winning the "Wiltshire Minor"
league title in our penultimate match with Westinghouse. Giving us a total of 23.5 points
out of 32 with no games defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Paul Hatvany
5 out of 6, Gareth Williams 5 out of 6, Derek Rothwell 4.5 out of 6, Dave Weston 3 out of
5, Roy
Ludlow
3 out of 4, Tom Cooper 1.5 out 2, Alex Cooper 1 out of 1, Adrian Davis 0.5 out
of 1 and Cameron Lange 0 out of 1.
As far as can be remembered this is the first time that we have won both Wiltshire leagues.
Wiltshire Sporting Heroes
In the Clubperson
category Tony was nominated by Roy Ludlow as captain of Trowbridge Chess Club but it might be more accurate to say he IS Trowbridge Chess Club. He organises the premises, arranges the fixtures, collects subscriptions
and makes sure everyone is where they should be. Tony is so unselfish and often leaves himself out of the team so that other players can have a game. Tony was very pleased with his placement in the Clubperson
category of the competition sponsored by Asda and the Wiltshire Times in the top six.
Left to right Ilya Shvartsman, Gareth Williams, Andrew
Cooper, Roy Ludlow, Paul Girdlestone, Tony Ransom, Dave
Weston and Paul Hatvany. (Missing Alex Cooper, Tom Cooper,
Adrian Davis, Cameron Lange, Derek Rothwell, Ian Stables, Tim Woodward)
In the strong Mens
Club Team category Trowbridge Chess Club has enjoyed a successful season
winning the Wiltshire Minor League and the Wiltshire Four-A-Side League. The club has also also
runners-up in the Somerset Knock-Out Cup and the Charles Marsh East Leage.
All this came despite the club having one of the smallest squads in the league. They were up against the local cricket, football and rounders team with their bigger supporter base and finished third behind the football and rounders
team, but ahead of the cricket team.
Frome Congress
Roy Ludlow in the Minor Section won the Cyril Chapman Memorial Trophy for the highest placed Somerset player and the Jean Mackereth Trophy for the highest placed ungraded
Somerset player. Paul Girdlestone
competed in the Open Section scoring 3½ out of 5. His loss being to
the IM Andrew Greet. Narrowly missed
British Championship qualification
playing one of his best
combinative games in Round 1. He finished 3rd equal picking up a cash prize.
2006/2007
Torbay Congress
Roy Ludlow was very pleased with his results at Torbay on 24-26th November 2006. Entering the Intermediate Section from a rather low grade of 88 he won three of his five matches against players graded between
107 and 113. The three points gained him a £10 prize for a good performance relative to his grade.
Blackpool
We played in different sections at Blackpool. Adrian Davis scored 3½ out of 5
(Graded Under 80 section) solid throughout. Tom Cooper 3 out of 5 (Graded
80-100 section) started in a blaze of glory and then went downhill! Gareth Williams 2½ out of 5 (Graded 80-100
section) lost first two games. First game in 60 moves, but made a good
recovery. Dave Marshall 2 out of 5 (Graded Under 120
section) started with a horror story - basically beaten by move 8, but held on till move 23! included one game against Sarah Thomas from Brown Jack in which he managed to clutch a draw from the hands of defeat. Andy Bosworth 2 out of 5 (Graded Under 140 section) two draws and a win in the last game. Tim Woodward 3½ out of
5 (Graded Under 140 section) solid throughout. Good chess and fun was had by all.
Exmouth Congress
Tim Woodward was happy that he managed to maintain his record of scoring a win in
congresses with his results at Exmouth on 7-9th March 2007. Entering the Under-140 Section with a grade of 134 he scored 2½ points in his seven matches against players graded between
107 and 140.
Frome Congress
Our team of Cameron Lange, Roy Ludlow, Dave Weston and Tim Woodward won the Team Event picking up a cash prize and certificate. Cameron Lange
was joint 1st with 4½ out of 5 points in the Minor Section and won the Cyril Chapman Memorial Trophy for the highest placed Somerset player. In the Intermediate section Dave Weston
was joint 2nd with 4 out of 5 points and Roy Ludlow with 2½ out of 5 points was the joint winner of the grading prize for players graded
below 100. In the Major section Tim Woodward scored 3½ out of 5 points.
2007/2008
Torbay Congress
As last year Roy Ludlow entered the Intermediate Section of the Congress, which is held in the Belgrave
Hotel on the sea front. It is an excellent venue. This year Roy was able to book a room in the