Chairman's Review of 2024-25 Season
Leamington had the ideal allocation of team in the 24/25 season, with one in each of the four divisions of the Leamington and District Chess League.
The A team had some notable successes while comfortably staying in Division 1. They avoided defeat in half their games, finishing with 3 wins, 4 draws and 7 losses, finishing sixth of eight teams in the top division and drawing a match with Kenilworth B despite being outgraded by over 200 points per board. The B team lost their first three games in Division 2, but bounced back to finish with a record of 6 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses. This surge allowed them to place in the top half of the table, 4th of 9 teams. Our third newly-promoted team, the C team, over-achieved relative to their gradings. They won 5, drew 6 and lost only 3 while coming 4th out of 8. Thomas scored 7½ points from 9 while captaining the team, the best percentage in the division among players with four games or more. The D team continued to be a good starting point for newer players (we used ten in total), improving on last season with 4 wins, 4 draws, 6 losses and a finish of 6th from 8. Cup success continues to be elusive, with three narrow defeats. However, we picked up an individual trophy when Ola managed to win the league-wide handicapped rapidplay.
In our individual competitions, Ola beat Adhruth, Tom, Jon and Ben to take the Club KO, while Manish won the Plate after wins over Thomas and Anvi. Andy picked up the George Boots Shield for greatest grading gap overcome to win, beating Bruce Baer in the aforementioned match with Kenilworth B (a gap of 296 points); Andy added the handicapped Christmas event with a score of 5½ points from 6. The rapidplay event consisted of three cups divided by grading. Chris ran away with Cup I, taking a near-flawless 6½ points from 7; Alex took Cup II with 3½ from 4, and Anvi won all five of her games to take Cup III. Finally, Chris beat Ola 3-0 to win the overall club championship.
Looking ahead, we will try to maintain our four teams where they are, while hopefully getting further in the cups.