Chairman's Review of 2022-23 Season
Leamington showed growth in the 22/23 season, adding a third team in the Leamington and District Chess League.
The A team were expected to struggle in Division 1, and were eventually relegated, but performed above expectations and were only a point from safety, scoring two wins and three draws from our fourteen games. Tom had a good individual season, with four wins and only one loss. The B team improved from the previous year, finishing 3rd of 8 teams in Division 2. In a topsy-turvy campaign, they opened with three wins and a draw, lost four in a row then closed with a run of three wins and three draws. Alex led from the front as captain, scoring ten points from 14. Our newly-formed C team gave several new players the opportunity to experience team play, and gained five wins and a draw from their sixteen games, finishing 6th of 9. Thomas top scored with ten points from fourteen. Our cup teams had an unfortunate habit of losing on the tiebreaker, with the under 8750 team making and tying the final but missing out on the board elimination rule.
We rejigged our rapidplay contests as a series of one-evening events, which seemed to go over quite well. Andy won the top section with 3 points from 4, Joshua took the middle section with four and a half from six, and Manish won the newly-created Rapidplay III trophy with four points from five. Ola beat John, Tom, and Jon to take the Club KO, while Ed won the Plate after wins over Manish, Chris and Anvi. Anvi also picked up the George Boots Shield for greatest grading gap overcome to win a game, beating Thomas in the Plate to overcome a gap of 497 points. Tom won the handicapped Christmas event with a score of four points from five. The overall club championship was shared between Andy and Ola.
Our growth continued throughout the year, resulting in a fourth team being added for the league next year. It should be another eventful year ahead.