Fylde Individual Championship

This round was overshadowed by the death of Phil Copeland.  Phil was playing in the Fylde Championship for the first time but health problems during the last few weeks forced him to withdraw from the event.  Phil was a strong club player with an amazing knowledge of the game and its history.

In the top pairing George Ellison sacrificed a pawn to gain an attacking position but Malcolm Peacock managed to defend and held out for a draw.  John Cooper, fresh from his success in the Blackpool Congress where he won the Challengers Section, made a fine start to his game against Paul Evans:  sacrificing two pawns he built up a strong king's side attack which just tipped the scales in his favour.

Michael Parker won a pawn early in the game but missed a possible winning move in the middle game so Oleg Cukovs took a draw. Abigail Pritchard reached a 50% record by defeating her former club mate Les Hughes.  Dennis Davies lost a pawn early on to club mate Jon Wright but triumphed in a well played end game.  Phil Raynor managed to win a piece in the transition from the middle game to the end game in order to score a point over club mate Pat Coleman.

Rapidplay KO Cup Semi-Finals

Poulton 1 v Poulton 2  1 - 7

Under the handicapping system, Poulton 2, the stronger of the two sides, needed to win by a margin of 5 - 3 which they did quite easily.  Steven Gardner, back from University for Easter, defeated George Ellison twice.

Poulton 3 v Bispham  3 - 5

Poulton's junior side chalked up a surprising win over Division C's high flyers, Bispham who had to win by 6½ - 1½ to proceed to the final.  Bispham's Blaine McGrady and David Graham were too strong for Tom Leah (aged 12) and Connor Heelis (aged 12) but Dominic Lewis (aged 11) took both points against the experienced Ron Broxson.  Judd Bennett (aged 8) took another point for Poulton so it is an all Poulton final.

Division A

Morecambe v Preston 2  3 - 2

Morecambe were at full strength but the deciding factor was Preston's default on Board 3.

Division B

Lytham Ex 2 v Poulton 1  2 - 2

George Ellison found himself in a cramped position against Doug Williams and lost control of the centre.  Oleg Cukov's masterful control of the c-file resulted in a two pawns advantage in the end game against Phil Raynor.  Simon Rogers had a slight disadvantage in the end game but Lynne Morrison sportingly agreed a draw.  

Poulton 1 v Lytham Ex 2  1½ - 2½

Doug Williams lost the ending to the higher graded Roy Ellames.  Leo Ainsworth took a draw against Oleg Cukovs.  Phil Raynor found a fantastic queen sacrifice to beat Simon Rogers.  Lynne Morrison outplayed Ken Gorman. 

Lytham Ex 2 v Blackpool 2  2 - 2

This was an important fixture in the hunt for the Division B title.  Although the top two boards went in Lytham's favour, Jon Wright did well to defeat Lynne Morrison.  Everything rested on the final game to finish between the Under 14 National Girl Champion, Abigail Pritchard and Phil Raynor.  Phil Raynor became short of time at the first time control and, in a flurry of moves badly miscalculated and lost.