Leeds Rose Forgrove Chess Club

Yes, the title was only on loan to Copperworks A for a year! An impressive season for Rose Forgrove 1 saw them win back the first division trophy with Alwoodley A once again the bridesmaids.

It was really the outstanding start that our first team had to the 2011-12 season that made the difference. Ten wins from the first ten matches gave them a practically unassailable lead. It was a tough division this season as new boys Leeds CCCC fielded a strong team and probably the critical matches were the two superb wins by Rose Forgrove 1 over Leeds CCCC. At the back end of the season, Alwoodley A battled hard to chase down our first team beating them in the process. However, two solid final wins for Rose Forgrove 1 saw them lift the title. Many congratulations!

Rose Forgrove 2 had an up and down 2011/12 season. A 4-1 win against Copperworks A and a cracking draw against Leeds CCCC were also mixed with a 5-0 drubbing from Pudsey A. Nevertheless, a respectable sixth place postion just behind the title contenders bodes well for future seasons. Rose Forgrove 3 found life extremely tough in the top division managing only one point from the season and finishing bottom which was perhaps a clear indication of how strong the top division was during the 2011-12 season.

Congratulations to Leeds University who absolutely romped away with the division two title. The team won every single match finishing fully 10 points clear of their nearest rivals! With the addition of David Grant to their team and some potentially strong newcomers it will be interesting to see how they fare in the top flight next season. Pudsey B managed to claim second spot with a respectable 26 points. Rose Forgrove 4 ended up in a good fifth position whereas Rose Forgrove 5 struggled ending up bottom of the division.

Congratulations to both Andy Bagley and Randy Donahue (Alwoodley) who jointly won the Ellis trophy. Andy beat Warren Dennison in a Rose Forgrove derby match, and Randy overcame Peter Mason in the final round to gain the accolades. In the Appleby, Pete Brennan and Mike Dow finished up joint winners of the event with 4/5 points. Many congratulations to all the winners.

The Leeds Mini-League competition was won by the canny trio in the Rose Forgrove 8 team. Well done to the team of Keith Riach, Martin Blythe and Helmut Auer who finished 1.5 points clear of the runners up, Alwoodley D.

Once again the division one was won by York A after yet another hard fought season with perennial rivals Sheffield A. This time it was much more clear cut as York A had the cushion of even losing to Bradford A on the final match of the season.

Rose Forgrove A had one of their finest performances in the first division ending up in third position at the end of the 2011-12 season. This was a marvellous performance considering just how strong the opposition was. They improved on their points tally from last season, this time amassing an impressive 15 points including  7 wins. Excellent wins over Bradford A and most notably against a powerful Sheffield A side were achieved. Top scorer for the A team was Mike Round with 8.5 points.

Hull DCA won the division 2 title with Bradford Central finishing runners-up. Both teams will seek their fortunes in the first division next season. Both teams impressively only lost a single game all season. Sheffield B were the unfortunate ones to just miss out in third place.
Rose Forgrove B performed very well in the second division finishing in fifth place which was two places up from last season. They managed to accrue 13 points including 6 wins. Top scorers were Paul Howden (6.5pts) and Andy Ross (6.5pts)

The Arjay trophy was won by Rose Forgrove A. The successful team included Taka Chipanga, Rich Archer, Mike Round and Clive Davies. They managed to overcome a strong Leeds CCCC team in the final winning 2 - 1. Victories from Mike and Clive brought home the trophy. In the Arjay plate West Leeds C overcame Rose Forgrove F, winning the final 2 - 1.

With the dissolution of the great Leaman Browne team, a new team took over their mantle in the shape of Leeds CCCC A. To be fair the team was pretty much the same as previous seasons with just a name change! They romped away withe rapidplay title amassing 14 points with 7 out of 7 match wins. Rose Forgrove ended up in joint third position behind Alwoodley 3.