There is a new leader in the Reg Beasley trophy (see TABLES). Following wins for the worcester county 2 side and the wolves first team, Jon Asbury has reached a score of 5/6 for 83%. Can he keep it up? Can anyone catch him?

The club progressed to the semi-final of the wdcl Pittaway Cup beating first division Kidderminster over 8 boards by 6 1/4 - 4 (including the handicap - which wasn't needed as we would have won on board count!).

We have a new member. A warm welcome goes to David Etheridge.

The Reg Beasley Trophy is awarded to the player making the highest percentage score for the club in league chess each season (from AGM to AGM) provided they have played at least 11 games (the number Reg played in his last season). A current leader board will appear in the TABLES section opposite. It should be an interesting race. Bob, Malcolm, John Llewelyn and Mark Bethel still have 100% records. How long can they keep that going?

Malcolm Hunt won the blitz tournament on 27 August with a score of 4.5/5, half a point ahead of Andy Ambrose. The grading prize was shared between Tony Taylor and John Southcote with 3/5.

The new grades are out. See MEMBERS for all our club members. Or use the link to the ECF grading page in LINKS.

We have two new members. Warm welcomes go to both Malcolm Hunt and Jon Asbury.

Stewart Fishburne took on 7 members simultaneously on 13 August winning 6 and conceding a draw to Pete Banks.

Congratulations to Maureen Clark who came equal first at the recent Monmouth Congress, with a splendid score of 4/5 (which even included a half point bye in round 1)!

At the EGM on July 22nd the club voted to move premises. Minutes of the meeting are available here. The last night at the current venue will be July 29th. The following week the club will take up residence at The Hasbury Inn, Hagley Road, Halesowen from Wednesday August 6th. This is less than half a mile from the current venue. From the consevative club turn right and at the junction with Hagley Road the Hasbury Inn is directly opposite. The club's regular night will be Wednesday thereafter.

A buzzer tournament was held on July 15th with 15 members playing. First was Stewart Fishburne with 4.5/5. John Edge, who also ran the event, came second with 4. There was a 2-way tie for the U-100 prize between John Southcote, Tony Taylor and Pete Banks. The U-50 prize was shared by Dayl Martin and Joyce Evans.

A warm welcome to our three new members, Jason Wootton, Craig Bessant and Alisdair McNeill.

An EGM of the club has been called for 7.30 pm on Tuesday 22 July. All members are encouraged to attend or to complete a proxy voting form available from the club or from John Southcote.

John Edge took on 11 players in the Simultaneous evening on July 1st, winning 8. Congratulations to Don, Andy and Bob who managed to win.

A new competition has been launched - the Summer Knock-out Plate. Well done to Dale Jackson for organising this. Everyone losing in the main Summer KO will feed into the Plate competition. See the Events panel below for the early rounds draw.

The annual Tony Evers match against Stourbridge was held on June 17th and was a great success. Home advantage told and we ran out winners by 6.5 to 2.5 To read a match report click here.

The Summer Events programme has been set. See the panel below. This includes the Summer Knock-Out, the draw for which was made on June 10. There are some early results already. The draw and progress can be found here.

Fourteen members attended the Agm on May 22nd. Minutes of the meeting are available here. Congratulations to the Trophy winners - Andy Ambrose, Summer knock-out; Bob Grimes, Quickest win; Dayl Martin, Player of the year. A Summer Events programme will follow shortly. Congratulations(!?) were also due to our new club secretary, John Southcote. Thanks were given to the retiring Don Curry.

True to the spirit of the Summer Knock-out, John Edge and Andy Ambrose waited for better weather before playing the final of last year's tournament! Congratulations to Andy on his victory. Click here to remind yourself of the full draw.

The Agm will be held on Thursday May 22nd. Minutes of last year's meeting are available here.

Andy Ambrose couldn't quite make it an all-Halesowen final in the bdcl division 1 league individual. So John Edge will take on Walsall's David Anderton. Good luck, John!

It is with great sadness that the club notes the death of Reg Beasley. Reg was a real character and a committed member of all the teams for which he played. He was always ready to play, often at short notice. He played a league match as recently as 12 February. He will be missed greatly.