Oscar Idle,10, joined Cowley last September but has been making a splash in other competitions at the weekend (25/26th February). On Saturday he comfortably qualified for the Oxfordshire under 11s team, winning 3 and drawing 3 matches from a total of 6.

Apart from severe weather problems for a number of competitors which unfortunately forced them to withdraw, the tournament went off very well. Cowley had its share of prizewinners. In the Under-225 section Ray Starkie shared the U190 grading prize, while Anna Wang shared the Best 1st Round Loser prize. Maria Mate came equal second in the Under-145 section. And the Four Knightmares (Geoff Rasell, Will Burt, David Keeling and Maria Mate) shared the team prize. A fuller report can be found on the OCA website (http://www.oxfordfusion.com/oca/GetNews.cfm). The full prize list and the crosstables for all the sections are also attached below.

Gerard O'Reilly

The Club has had its worst start to the Season that I can remember, though I expect there are a few veterans around who can remember a worse one? In total our four teams have lost two-thirds of matches played and we are occupying the bottom place in both the top two leagues. In addition our sides have all made a swift exit from the Frank Swift Shield competition. The loss and temporary non availability of key players – including our three highest graded players from last season – has reverberated down the Club affecting the 3rd team in particular as it constantly provides players to the 1^st Division sides. In Division 1, the decision to split playing strength between the two teams has put them both under pressure. In all of this the 4ths should be congratulated for producing some good results and they currently stand in 4^th position in Division 4.

In the circumstances there have been some strong individual performances. Ray Starkie and Rod Nixon have held their own very well on the top two boards for the 1^st team. There have also been good results from Will Burt, Anna Wang and Heather Lang which have kept the 2^nd team in a respectable position in Division 1. Geoff Rasell has maintained a good plus record as always, Jenny Cooke and Selby Stocks have done well in the lower sides and Jonathon Baker, a new member, has recorded wins in his first two matches for the 4^th team.

Unless we can achieve a substantial turnaround in the second half of the Season we look set for demotions from Divisions 1 and 2 which would leave us with a team in each of the four leagues again next year. That would probably be more suitable for the current strength of the Club but a shame if some of our absentees return and we are to continue to attract new strong players. A summary of the results to date can be seen on the Match Records page.