Latest News
Latest Results
Birmingham League AGM
The League AGM took place at the Oak Tree in Rednal (Longbridge venue) on Monday 9th June. Trophies were presnted and Rory Lynas received his Max 1600 Individual trophy on Tuesday from Mark Cundy.
Birmingham Summer League
The club has entered the Birmingham Summer Raplidplay league max 7400 section.
Warley Quinborne 6½-1½ Olton
Alan Lloyd was beaten in both games by a strong opponent. Mike Hollier lost the first game and drew the second on board 2. Robert Reynolds drew in game one, but should have done better in game 2 on board 3, losing in the end. Rory Lynas on four also drew one and lost one game.
Olton 4-4 Redditch
A curious night where every game was won with the black oieces. In match 1, Mike Hollier won on board 2 and Rory won on four. Alan Lloyd lost on top board and Tom Evans struggled on, but eventually lost on three. In Match 2, every played recorded the opposite result.
Longbridge 6-2 Olton
Alan Lloyd won both his games on board 1, but Mike Hollier, Rory Lynas and Jim Gillespie all lost both games.
Olton 4-4 Central Birmingham
Alan Lloyd lost both games on board 1. Mike Hollier was 1-1 on board 2, as was Rory Lynas on four. Tayeb Kazemi won both games on board 3 to square the scores.
Club AGM
The club AGM is on Tuesday 27th May, starting at 7.30pm. All members are encouraged to attend.
John Clulee
We have just been informed that former club member, John Clulee sadly passed away approximately 2 weeks ago. John had played for Olton since the sixties and served as club Treasurer from the early seventies until recently.
John was a keen lower division player and was always willing to step in to matches when asked. He was a team captain for many years and supported both chess and non-chess events at the Tyseley club. John was an accountant and was very diligent recording payments and receipts. His 'slippery slope' was a regular feature at club AGMs, when subscriptions were about to be increased.
John was well-known around the Birmingham League and will be missed by many local players. He was 81 and a retired Accountant.
John was a keen runner and ran a number of marathons, including London. This was limited to walking when his health deteriorated. He also enjoyed cricket and was often to be seen at Warwickshire matches. he also visited a local cricket club. Our condolences go to his sister, Margaret and their family.
John's funeral will take place at Robin Hood Crematorium on Thursday 24th April at 2.30pm. There will be a gathering at Moseley cricket club after the funeral, this is on Streetsbrook Road adjacent to the Crematorium. Please let the club Secretary know if you wish to attend this as soon as possible.
Birmingham League Finals Night
All 4 BDCL finals took place at the club on Tuesday 8th April. With a League macth also taking place, it was a busy night at the club.
Central Birmingham 2 overcame South Birmingham 3A in the Terrill Trophy. South Birmingham 1A just managed to overcome a 3.5 point handicap to beat Shirley & Wythall 3 in the Homer Plate by a score of 5-4.5.
In the Townshend Trophy, Birmingham St. Georges 4 levelled the score against Kynoch 4 on 2.5 each, after being a player down and won on board count with wins on the top 2 boards. Mercia 4 won convincingly against South Birmingham 5 in the Barrington Plate.
Olton were relegated from the top flight after a record stay in modern times spanning around 28 years. Division 1 has become stronger and the club has lost a number of players over recent seasons. We hope to have better results next season.
Thanks to Rory Lynas for most of the photos.
BDCL Lightning Tournament
The Birmingham League Team Lightning Tournament took place at the club on Tuesday 11th March. 10 teams of 4 players competed in 2 sections at the rate of 10 seconds per move.
Olton entered 2 teams, the A team playing in Section A in a double round all-play-all with South Birmingham A, Solihull And South Birmingham C. Solihull fielded an International Master graded 2500 and a 2300 player. South Birmingham fielded 3 2100 players. There were no easy games for Mark Cundy or Richard Liszewski on the top boards. Richard and Robert Reynolds alternated on board 3 and scored wins in the opening matches. Andy Cottom also contributed on board 4 and the team finished 3rd on 6.5 points.
6 teams took part in section B and Olton B competed well, but could not keep up with South Birmingham C. The team consisting of Roger Threlfall, Tayeb Kazemi, Julian Camino-Sanchez and Richard Evans scored 11.5 points over 5 rounds and were second equal with Central Birmingham A.
Rory Lynas took up a spare slot in the Central Birmingham B side. South Birmingham A won section A. More information can be found on the Birmingham league website.
Olton 3C v Stratford C is now on Tuesday October 29th 2024. The Away match against Stratford B has been arranged for Tuesday 15th April 2025.
Division 2 Coventry v Olton is now 22nd April.
Division 1's match against Sutton Coldfield is now on Tuesday 8th April 2025.
The under 8750 cup team drew with Shirley & Wythall, but lost on board elimination.
Dave Reeves
Olton Chess club has been informed that David Reeves sadly passed away On Friday 10th January.
Dave has played for Olton for a number of years and was a keen member who volunteered for any games he could get in League chess. In recent years, his mobility suffered and combined with his slight deafness, his frustration sometimes showed through. But he was well-meaning and was grateful for all the help he received getting to and from matches. He had a generous nature and was always the first to pay subscriptions or offer a drink.
Dave played previously for Westminster, Chelmsley Wood and Warley Quinborne. I remember playing him against Warley in my early days and was a decent Division 8 player.
Our condolences go to Dave's wife Alice and their family.
Funeral Details
Tuesday 18th February 2025 10.45am
St Andrews Church, 2 Craig Croft, Birmingham, B37 7TR
Cemetery 12.15pm, Woodlands Cemetery, Coleshill, B46 1DP
Afterwards: Kingshurst and District Labour Club, 51 Clopton Cres, Birmingham, B37 6QU
2024-5 Fixtures
The fixtures for the current season are now on the team pages ans available as a PDF file..
Registrations are updated on the Birmingham League page.
Friendly matches
The annual match against South Birmingham took place at Olton and details are on the Friendlies page..
The annual friendly match against Shirley took place on Thursday 15th August. The venue was Wythall Community Centre. Due to holidays, there was a reduced turnout from Olton, the match was played over 7 boards.
Shirley fielded a strong team, most players were outgraded. Roger Threlfall won on board 5 and there were draws for Richard Reynolds, Robert Reynolds, Warren Archibald and Rory Lynas. The match was lost 4-3. The result is here..
