Kidderminster Chess Club produced a determined performance against reigning league champions Redditch on Monday 21 September, narrowly losing 3–2 in a closely fought WCA Championship match.
Redditch entered the match as favourites and held a considerable rating advantage across much of their team. On the bottom three boards, Kidderminster were outgraded by an average of around 300 rating points. Despite that, the team refused to be overwhelmed and pushed last season’s champions all the way.
Joe Friar – Board 1
Joe Friar gave Kidderminster a superb result on top board. Rated 2183, Joe defeated Harry Evans, rated 2022, to secure a full point for the home side. It was exactly the sort of result Kidderminster needed against such strong opposition and demonstrated the strength the club possesses at the top of its team.
John Wrench – Board 2
John Wrench followed with another excellent result. Rated 1970 against Daniel Lambourne’s 1990, John earned a draw, meaning Kidderminster had taken an impressive 1½ points from the opening two boards.
David Close – Board 3
The rating gap became much more severe on board three, where David Close, rated 1703, faced Ben Attwell at 1982. Despite being heavily outgraded, David took on the challenge against a significantly higher-rated opponent before Attwell eventually secured the point for Redditch.
David Waud – Board 4
David Waud faced one of the toughest pairings of the evening. His rating of 1663 was matched against Nigel Hosken at 1989. David put up resistance against very strong opposition, but Hosken ultimately converted the advantage to give Redditch another point.
Brandon Wilkes – Board 5
On board five, Brandon Wilkes stepped into the team at the last minute and did so without the preparation normally available before such a difficult match. Rated 1654, he faced Matt Gillings at 1981.
Gillings had also been rated around 2080 during the previous season, underlining the scale of the challenge. Despite the rating difference and late call-up, Brandon fought through the game and secured a draw to add another valuable half-point for Kidderminster.
Those individual efforts left the final score at Kidderminster 2–3 Redditch.
There may have been no match points for Kidderminster on this occasion, but there was plenty to take from the performance. Against the reigning champions, and while heavily outgraded across much of the team, Redditch were still pushed to the narrowest possible winning margin.
The top two boards produced an excellent 1½/2, while Brandon’s draw on board five showed that the team could continue finding results even where the ratings suggested a very different story.
It was a defeat on the scoresheet, but also an encouraging indication of what this Kidderminster side is capable of. If the team can continue showing the same resilience and willingness to fight against stronger opposition, there is plenty to build on as the season progresses.
Redditch took the points, but Kidderminster made the champions earn every one of them.