The 2024/25 internal winter league season came to an end last night (28 April) after eight months of gruelling combat, involving 94 players across four divisions and an incredible 1,093 games of chess (not including the two knockout cup competitions). Let’s review how things panned out since the run-in report of 1 April…
CHAMPIONSHIP
As expected, Mike Coffey sealed the Championship on 7 April, ultimately finishing with 24 wins from his 31 games, amassing 74 points, which is a record for the club’s top flight.
Already by far the most decorated player in the club’s history, in terms of the internal tournaments, this is the 13th time Mike can call himself Club Champion. His first title was as long ago as 1982 and began three separate sequences of domination in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s, with his most recent win being 2014. Eleven years on, Mike can be proud once again to see his name etched on the old trophy.
Former champions Ed Taylor and Chris Latham had strong seasons themselves, finishing second and third respectively. Another former champion and recent TV star Richie Kelly finished a creditable fourth, a whisker ahead of Titas Vdovycia and Sanjoy Banerjee.
At the bottom end of the table, the question was whether the super-strong players – Paul Evans, Rick Purcell and Luke Maher – would get their games in and find some form, to avoid relegation into the Premiership. Paul ultimately chose not to pursue safety and remain in the relegation zone, but he won’t be competing in the Premiership next season either, bowing out of the internal league system. Rick found enough form in the final few weeks to pull himself to safety after a frustrating and disappointing season, but Luke wasn’t able to do the same, finishing in 16th place, just a point behind Ken Jones. At the time of writing, whether he will play in the Premiership next season along with fellow relegatees Graham Carr and Jon Booth remains to be seen.
PREMIERSHIP
Long-time leader Paul Jesse clinched the title in early April, as expected, leaving behind him a most exciting scrap for the new few places. As in recent seasons, the fight for the second automatic promotion spot became a two-horse race, this time between Alan Jackson and Adam Miller, both of whom had come down from the Championship last year and were seeking an immediate return. Alan had hung onto second place for some weeks but Adam kept inching closer until, on the penultimate club night, he overtook him, putting himself in pole position going into the final club night. In the final round of games, Adam faced Brian Wiggett needing only a draw to secure promotion, while Alan had to beat Phil Taylor and hope Brian beat Adam. And that’s exactly what happened! Alan leapfrogged Adam at the last moment, clinching second place and leaving Adam to the lottery of the playoffs.
Those playoffs promise to be equally thrilling, with Adam, Brian, Jeff Povall, Chinenye Basil-Nwachuku and Harry McLeod – all rated over 1600 – being joined by Gordon Sommerville, Steve Simm and Alan Kelly. Only a fool would hazard a guess at the winner of this three-round competition, but it’s worth noting that Adam won the playoffs in 2022 so is no stranger to the pressures involved!
At the bottom of the table, all the active players in danger managed to pull themselves to safety in the end. Although there are, technically, six players being relegated into the Major next season, the reality may be very different. Mark Burgess and Phil Taylor will be leaving the club for the time being due to work commitments, while rumour has it that Tony Roberts may decide to bow out of the internal league, while the personal circumstances of Neil Maher, Leon Wolszczak and Uvindu Adimali may (or may not) prevent them from returning in September. There are a lot of uncertainties here as, unfortunately, life has a bad habit of getting in the way of chess!
MAJOR
Joe Ledgerton secured the Major title on 15 April, having previously won it in 2023. But this season has seen his chess explode beyond all recognition, and he’s a far stronger player than he was eight months ago. Thomas Moran and Terrence Jiang have made up the scary triumvirate of juniors who are soaring through the club ranks, and they were involved in a long tussle for the second automatic promotion spot. Thomas finally pulled away to secure it, leaving Terrence the favourite on paper in the four-man playoffs, which also comprise Paul Greenway, Lee Whitford-Stark and Felix Lefeuvre.
With Joe, Thomas and Terrence all rated over 1650, the Premiership is going to get an awful lot tougher next season with this brilliant young men in it!
At the other end of the table, Connor Washington reappeared in the last few weeks of the season and picked up two wins, which was enough to see him to safety and relegate both Sam Clark and Viv Oldham. They will be joined in the First Class next year by Liam Davies, Steve Prendergast and, depending on circumstances, Will Madeley and Amanda Adimali. Latecomers Sebastian Palucha and Francesco D’Amelio are immune from relegation due to their only having joined the club in the final few weeks of the season.
FIRST CLASS
The fourth division has been a strange world in its inaugural season, comprising some very active players and other very inactive ones, with many games being played at speeds which could hardly be defined as “classical” chess!
The late-season charge of Lucas Farrell and Charlie Ren prompted a strong response from long-time leader Kirsten Rowe, as all three raced to gain points from the division’s weaker players. Ultimately, Kirsten played no fewer than 69 games, racking up an incredible 48 wins and amassing a record 147 points to become the first female winner of an internal division in the club’s history. Lucas secured the second automatic promotion spot, with a very impressive 43 wins from 50 games. His final tally of 131 points was also higher than the previous club record.
The playoffs in this division will be contested between Stuart Rowe (who finished third with 101 points), Charlie, Matthew Rowe and Seb Chesworth, with John Quirk just missing out on the final club night of the season.
A great deal of credit is due to Kirsten, Stuart and to Sarah and Brendan Chesworth, for effectively being parents-in-charge of the many juniors in the First Class this season. With children as young as 5 and 6, the risk of disruption to the adults might have been thought to be high, but all have been well-supervised and behaved impeccably. New families have been made to feel welcomed and included, be they children joining the league or parents keen to support them. This is why we’re proud to call ourselves “the friendliest chess club on the Wirral”.
KNOCKOUTS
The Dave Camm final between Paul Evans and Dave Clark remains to be played, while the Open Major has been reaching its climax. Both semi-finals were drawn and went to blitz tie-breaks, with Phil Taylor defeating Alan Jackson, and Terrence Jiang beating Brian Wiggett. Can Phil capture some silverware at the very moment he leaves the club, or will young Terrence secure his first adult trophy at the club, to go with the inaugural summer tournament of 2023?
These questions, and those of the playoffs, will be decided in the next few weeks, as the summer season gets underway.