Following success against Warwickshire in the Midlands County Chess Union (MCCU) U1650 Championship last month, Lichfield players were once again in action over the weekend, this time against Lincolnshire. The match was played in Leicester on Saturday afternoon.
Staffordshire were narrow winners by 7.5 - 6.5 on the day, with wins from Lichfield's Albert Chacko (Board 2) and Connor Whetnall (Board 8), and draws from Mike Hoare (Board 5) and Stephen Smithson (Board 13). Andrei Pinzaru also played in the match, but lost on Board 4. Congratulations to Connor in particular; he is now on an 11-game winning streak in classical rated chess, carrying his grade well above 1500 from its 1414 starting point just six weeks ago!
Sadly, however, because of an error in interpreting the timing of the 'Under 1650' ECF threshold within the season, the Board 1 win for Staffordshire was later voided, and the match thus adjudicated as a 6.5. - 6.5 tie.
Nevertheless it was a strong performance from the Staffordshire team, and from the Lichfield players representing the county.
Banner image used with permission from Andrew McCumiskey