10 years of Wallasey Challenge Matches

As has been noted in a prior news post this year was the 10th Anniversary of the D&A Challenge Cup. David Hulme has shared some of his meticulous records of the event with me (Mike) which sustain sufficient interest upon further scrutiny.

Somewhat surprisingly despite being down 5-4 in the series Chester actually lead the series on board count. Of the 217 games played Chester are 3 up leading 110-107. Chester have used 79 different players, Wallasey 52 players, a total of 131 players. Chester having used substantively more players indicative of a strong Junior presence over the series.

Both teams possess only two players that have played in all 10 matches: David Hulme and Ian Clayton for Chester; Leon Wolszczak and Colin Rees for Wallasey. All four players deserve congratulations for their commitment to the match series and for Colin further applause is due for his attainment of the best overall score attained by any player (8/10).  The best score for Chester being attained by Graham Bromley (7.5/9) who  has only missed a single match in 2013.

Additional background provided by David Hulme:

“The idea got off the ground thanks to support of Leon Wolszczak, who sourced and procured the trophy for the initial match.  The first match in 2009 was played over 16 boards with the result decided only by the final game, as was the case in each of the first four years that the event was held.  Although more recent matches have been more decisive in the final count, the highlight for me so far was the 2013 contest which had 60 players involved in another close match.”

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