For the 2024/25 Winter season, Woodseats Chess Club are fielding four teams across the Sheffield & District Chess Association’s five divisions.

• Woodseats A team – Division 1
• Woodseats B team – Division 3
• Woodseats C team – Division 4
• Woodseats D team – Division 5

In the last two months, Woodseats Chess Club has completed 12 matches and had two postponed due to bad weather. Here is how the club fared…

Woodseats 1 team – December & January results

Outside of the leagues the Woodseats 1 team had a match against Chesterfield 2 in the Sam Haystead Memorial Trophy. In a slightly unfair match-up versus Chesterfield’s second team, Woodseats outrated their counterparts on every board, and by 600 rating points on Board 1. Perhaps unsurprisingly, three wins on the top three boards and two draws on the bottom two boards gave Woodseats 1 a comfortable victory.

Woodseats A team – November results

There was a mixed bag of results for the A team in December and January. The A team managed one win, a draw, and two losses against phenomenally strong opponents. Nevertheless, Woodseats’ best chess players are firmly placed in the middle of Division 1 with well over half of their matches still remaining.

Woodseats B team – November results

Due to snowy and icy weather in Sheffield, the B team’s January fixture versus Worksop B was cancelled. The team put up an excellent fight against Sheffield Nomads C, who put a 1900-rated player on Board 1, but couldn’t overcome the long odds to lose only their second match of the season. The match against Darnall & Handsworth B ended in a 3-3 draw, but once again saw some very strong players on the opposing team.

Woodseats C team – November results

December and January have produced strong results from the C team, winning all three of their fixtures. All matches have been evenly rated across all boards, which means that the team as a whole has performed above expectations to land themselves top of Division 4 with three fixtures left to play. Should this form continue, we may see Woodseats C in Division 3 for the 2025/26 Winter Leagues.

Woodseats D team – December & January results

Due to snowy and icy weather in Sheffield, the D team’s January fixture versus Sheffield Deaf A was cancelled. However, the team managed a stellar performance in their two December games. In an exciting 2-2 draw against an evenly-matched Ravenfield, every board recorded a decisive result. This trend continued during Woodseats D’s match against SASCA E, with Woodseats side recording three wins and one loss to win that fixture.

December & January – Games highlights

Here are two games that have been shared by Woodseats players these past two months.

December & January – tactics highlight

Here is one tactic that has been shared by Woodseats players these past two months.

Ecclesall C vs Woodseats C. Black (Woodseats C, 1660) to escape the White (Ecclesall C, 1658) bishop’s fork. The computer provides two solutions, both with ~0 evaluations. Can you find both?

Upcoming fixtures – November 2024

Want to get involved?

Come along to one of our club nights on Monday’s at 7.30pm in The Abbey on Chesterfield Road. If there is a home match on, social chess takes place in the bar area, otherwise in the upstairs function room. For more information, follow this link.