Shirley and Chch square up again

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 30

Shirley and Chch square up again

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

Until the intervention of St Andrew’s College last year, “The Press” schools’ chess competition, inaugurated in 1971, had .been the preserve of Christchurch Boys’ High School and Shirley Boys’ High School. Shirley was successful in the first two years and Christchurch’s winning sequence of four started in 1973 before it was interrupted by Shirley in 1977. Christchurch won the A grade again in 1978 and 1979 before it had the 'limelight taken off it by St Andrew’s last year.

However, the eleventh final of the tournament at Cobham Intermediate tomorrow evening will once again feature the old adversaries, Christchurch A and Shirley A.

In recent years, Christchurch has divided its strength among the two teams it has entered in the premier grade, but this year, its A team contained the cream of its talent and subsequently the team was beaten through the seven preliminary rounds. .

~ Even so, it was not all plain sailing for Christchurch A, and St Andrew’s, which will play off for third against Linwood,, actually finished ahead on individual games. Christchurch beat Shirley in the first round, 3Vz-2Vz.

Christchurch’s team is led by one of the country’s most talented young players. Adrian Lloyd, who last year shared the . . Canterbury schoolpupils’ championship and also the national junior title, had six wins and a half from his seven matches in the preliminary rounds. The second board player, Donald Anderson, a seventh former, started in the competition in 1976 when a pupil at Heaton Intermediate. He won four and lost two of his first-round contests.

Paul Stewardson, the No. 3, has had a long association with the event and has been a member of the A team for the last three years. He scored five wins and drew one of . his seven games.

The captain, Scott Taylor, has played in the tournament for five years. On board four, he managed four wins and a draw from six games. Robert Cole, the Canterbury under--16 champion, had a disappointing tournament, gaining only three draws and losing his other three games. However, Ben Alexander, a third former, was of great value at the bottom, winning five and drawing his other game.

After its early loss to Christchurch, Shirley won its next six contests to earn its place in the final. The team is led by Brett Cameron, the Canterbury . schoolpupils’ champion, for the second year. Cameron lost to Lloyd at their first meeting but was unbeaten from that point with four wins and two draws.

The second player, Andrew Gaudin, has played in the tournament for four years and will be playing his third final. His preliminary record was four wins and two draws from seven games. Geoff Mcßobie will play the third board. He has played chess for 10 years and had a 50 per cent record this year. Landon Hepi, a fourth former, played for the A team for the first time this year. He won three and drew one of his five preliminary games. Peter Hartley will also be in his first A grade final. He strengthened the middle order with three wins and two draws from six games. The bottom board player, Peter Coates, only scored two wins in early games but one of them was against his Christchurch A opponent. The St Andrew’s team, spearheaded by three members of last year’s triumphant team, Michael Turner, David Burridge and Richard Roxburgh, lost narrowly to Shirley in their vital clash and will have to be content with playing off for third and fourth.

The other St Andrew’s team members are John Hayward, Hamish Sinclair and Anton Turner.

Linwood, which lost the first-round contest, 2-4, to St

Andrew’s, has a Malaysian, Gregory Thye, on the top board and he was unbeaten. Experienced players in Craig Blockley, Lincoln Badger and Wilfrid Walsh will be supplemented by Stephen Coates, who has just returned from a scholarship visit to Germany.

Papanui, after eight years of trying, has reached a final for the first time. It emerged from a hard battle in section one of B grade, a half-point, ahead of Burnside. Four of the team, Michael Hempl, lan Chan, William Lacey and Dean Williams had five wins from six games and Chan drew his other game. John Edwards and Darryn Smith complete a well-balanced team.

Unfortunately, its opponent, - Christ’s College B, a clear-cut winner of section two, will be without three members who took their side into the final.

The C grade final, as it has been for the last two years, will be between Heaton, which won in 1979, and last year’s champion, Cobham. Cobham, which topped the preliminary competition, beat Heaton, 4 1 /2-1%, in their first contest. Cobham had real depth in its middle order: Jocelyn Rout, a form one pupil had five wins and a draw from six games on board two; John Bryant (form one) won six of his seven games on board three; Kevin Harding (form one) lost only one of his six on board four; and Justine Cormack (form two) had five wins from six games playing either board four or five. The Heaton team was not quite so consistent. Its key players were Austin Sharp, who won five games on board two, and James Blake, who had an identical record on board three. Ben Marcus and Philip Morton had impressive records lower in the order.