Burton & Lichfield sides in running for semi-final Cup and Plate places

Derby League Cup and Plate

After Rounds 1 and 2 of the Derby League Cup and Plate competitions, both played at Rolls Royce Chess Club on 23rd October, all three combined Burton and Lichfield sides are in contention to qualify for the semi-finals. In each round, every player in a team of four is paired against their equivalent from a different competing side for a 30+0 rapidplay game.

In the Cup competition, largely consisting of Division 1 sides, Burton and Lichfield ‘A’ finished the evening tied for second place with three other sides on 4.5/8, with Richard Anderson scoring 2/2, Vinod Fernando 1.5/2, and Anushka Ramawickrama 1/2. Ryan Smith on Board 3 was unfortunate not to add to this tally after a wild time scramble in his second game, but the Burton and Lichfield score was also boosted by a fortuitous victory for Richard in Round 1, when Breadsall Board 1 Paul Madden played an illegal move in a time scramble to forfeit the game.

In the Plate competition for sides from Division 2 and below, the Burton and Lichfield ‘B’ side of Kevin Gallagher, Dragos Munteanu, Peter Rose and Brian Homewood all contributed points as the team finished the evening on 3.5/8, leaving them in 7th place overall, but still in contention.

The real stars of the evening though were Burton and Lichfield ‘C’. The team scored a brilliant 5.5/8 to lead the Plate, with Terry Knight and Mark Grubb scoring 1/2, Graeme Drayton an excellent 1.5/2, and Dmitrijs Aleksandrovs a brilliant 2/2.

Round 3 and 4 of both competitions will take place on Thursday 20th November, after which the top four sides in each competition will move forward into the semi-finals to be played next year.