Played Wednesday, 19 August 2026, Away
| Bd | Loughton | R1 | R2 | Wanstead B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerfield, Adrian P 1914 [W, B] | 0-1 | ½-½ | Bancroft, Paul 1854 [B, W] |
| 2 | Horan, G 1811 | 0-1 | 1-0 | Veselow, Zoe 1915 |
| 3 | Stirling, William J 1872 | 0-1 | 1-0 | Hunnable, Ian D 1836 |
| 4 | Moth, Simon C 1748 | ½-½ | ½-½ | Barclay, Paul R 1722 |
| 5 | Spear, Brian 1626 | ½-½ | ½-½ | Cawdery, Mary 1644 |
| 1-4 | 3½-1½ | |||
| 4½-5½ | ||||
Report by Mark Murrell
Our British Champions Bancroft’s Schoolgirls played a key part tonight but it was Paul Bancroft on Board 1 who broke the symmetry to land the Essex Knockout Plate.
Loughton as expected strengthened their team and had the paper advantage on August ratings. It was something of a shock for them to find themselves 4-1 down at half time. In addition to Paul’s Board 1 win with black pieces, Zoe Veselow took out George Horan and Ian Hunnable took out Bill Stirling to give a clean sweep across 1, 2 and 3 after our Club Rapid Champion Paul Barclay took an early draw with Simon Moth, whilst Mary Cawdery held bottom board a pawn adrift in the ending.
Second half reverses are common in this format but despite such an occurrence, the match win was not in jeopardy with Board 1 finishing first with a draw. Bill Stirling pulled one back not long after, followed by Mary Cawdery securing the match win, eventually accepting one of Brian Spear’s many draw offers to reach 5 game points and an unbeatable 1, 2, 3 Board Count, with two to play. George added to the list of black piece wins to pull another point back, leaving Paul Barclay still in play eventually holding on for a draw and a 3½-1½ reverse, to give the visitors a narrow victory by 5½-4½.
Links: Essex KO | Essex KO on ECF LMS