Raymond Slatcher Memorial Trophy 2019

Post date: 27-Feb-2019 22:58:31

Harrogate and Ilkley faced each other over twelve boards for the 17th annual match and the result was one of the most exciting matches of the series.

It was first blood to Harrogate when Max Parkhouse continued his recent hot streak by dispatching a solid opponent with ease. After that things seemed to swing Ilkley's way as four straight wins with a scattering of draws left Harrogate needing to win all four of the remaining games. It seemed a tall order but Brian Coop scored a hugely impressive win against the experienced Chris Wright and board 12 debutante Rob Carrington also scored. Paul Pritchard also edged out the victory on board 3 and suddenly the scores were level.

That left everything hanging on the Stokes vs Rogerson encounter. With both players short of time Mick seemed to be building up a decisive attack only to miscalculate and lose material. It looked like Mark was going to score the decisive victory but with just just seconds on his clock blundered one queen and was forced to promote another, at which point his flag fell. The result was the first tied match since the first encounter back in 2003.

1 Mick Stokes 1/2-1/2 Mark Rogerson

2 Brian Coop 1-0 Chris Wright

3 Paul Pritchard 1-0 Lee Crawford

4 Peter Rawcliffe 0-1 William Boothman

5 David Harasym 0-1 David Adam

6 Gordon Marks 1/2-1/2 Robin Browne

7 Peter Gregory 1/2-1/2 Bill Tait

8 Richard Tate 0-1 Robert Dennington

9 Jim Postill 0-1 Stuart Johnson

10 Ranyl Hughes 1/2-1/2 Arthur Thompson

11 Max Parkhouse 1-0 Peter Ward

12 Rob Carrington 1-0 David Webster