Longbridge 4A recorded a 4½–1 victory over Coleshill 5 in the Dudley Townshend Trophy, overcoming a half-point handicap to produce a strong team result.
Longbridge Chess Club travelled to face Coleshill 5 in the Dudley Townshend Trophy on Wednesday evening.
The match brought together teams from different divisions, with Longbridge 4A competing in Division Four and Coleshill 5 coming from Division Five. Because of the difference between the two teams, a half-point handicap was awarded to Coleshill before the match began.
That meant Longbridge needed to score well on the boards to come away with the match.
Longbridge Make a Strong Start
Longbridge responded with an excellent performance, winning four of the five games and drawing the other.
On Board 1, Phil Maddocks got Longbridge off to a winning start with a victory over Paul Barrett.
Peter Lawrence then added a half point on Board 2 after drawing with Eamon Murphy.
From there, Longbridge took control of the match.
Matt Clarke scored a full point on Board 3 against Geoff Stokes, while Tom Sherwood also won his game against Rob Payne on Board 4.
Finally, Craig Bessant completed the excellent run of results with another victory on Board 5, defeating Malcolm Jones.
Four Wins and a Draw
The individual results gave Longbridge an impressive 4½ points from the five boards, with four wins and one draw.
Coleshill’s half-point handicap was then added to their score, giving the official final result:
Coleshill: 1
Longbridge 4A: 4½
Despite the handicap designed to account for the difference between the two teams, Longbridge produced a convincing performance and secured another useful victory.
With Phil Maddocks, Matt Clarke, Tom Sherwood and Craig Bessant all taking full points, and Peter Lawrence adding a draw, it was a strong all-round team performance from Longbridge 4A.
Final score: Coleshill 1–4½ Longbridge