The Birmingham League first team have featured amongst the front-runners in Division 1 for several seasons, but have never yet won the League Championship. They finished seventh last season.

BDCL Division 1

Fixtures & Results 2007-08 

Olton v Bushbury
Robert Reynolds v John Staniforth was inevitably drawn, albeit with a bit more excitement than usual. Dave Gostelow also drew on board 3, as did Mark Cundy on five. Alan Lloyd lost on board 2 and Richard Reynolds messed up a winning position to leave two tricky adjournments to save the match. Richard subsequently drew, as did Phil Holt on board 1.

Olton v South Birmingham A
A terrible night against a strong team saw only a half-point for Robert Reynolds on board 4. Everyone else slowly succumbed with varying degrees of catastrophie. The visitors fielded GM Danny Gormally on board 1.

Olton v Warley Quinborne
Rob Wallman on board 5 and Mark Cundy on six drew fairly early on, but Dave Gostelow on board three won his game. The remaining three games were adjourned, but Alan Lloyd and Robert Reynolds drew at the resumption to secure at least a point. Phil Holt's game was agreed drawn, so the match was won.

Halesowen v Olton
Both Phil Holt and Alan Lloyd on the top boards scored wins (an unusual event in itself) and Rob Wallman also won his game. Robert Reynolds and Mark Cundy scored draws and with Trevor Holt winning on bottom board, it was a successful night for the team.

Kynoch/Barn v Olton
This match was drawn when Phil Holt agreed a draw at adjournment. Earlier, Alan Lloyd won on board 2 and Mark Cundy won by default, but Robert Reynolds lost. Dave Gostelow drew on board 3 and Rob Wallman lost on six.

Shirley & Lucas v Olton
Dave Cheshire lost on bottom board against a strong Shirley team, but Alan Lloyd levelled the score on two. Rob Wallman drew his game and the other three were adjourned. Robert Reynolds drew before resumption and the two remaining games went as expected, a win for Mark Cundy and a loss for Phil Holt on board 1.

Olton v Tamworth
Phil Holt and Alan Lloyd both won on the top boards and Dave Gostelow drew on three. Robert Reynolds managed a rare win after sacrificing an exchange briefly to leave his opponent in a spin. Mark Cundy and Robert Wallman drew the bottom two.

South Birmingham B v Olton
A switch of matches by South Birmingham caught everyone by surprise, but it didn't make much difference to the Olton team, who were mostly asleep. The match stood at 3-2 to the home team at the adjournment, who were in fact the visitors ?! Phil Holt won on board 1 and there were draws for Robert Reynolds & Dave Cheshire. The final game was lost as was the match.

Olton v South Birmingham C
Phil Holt had a comfortable win on top board, while Alan Lloyd adjourned on board 2. Dave Gostelow sacrificed a piece for 2 pawns, but it came to nothing and he was eventually checkmated. Robert Reynolds drew on board 4, but Mark Cundy on six was confronted by a Grob and took full advantage. Rob Wallman went first one, then two pawns up, but fell into a Knight fork and has adjourned with a material disadvantage. Alan subsequently won the adjournment and Robert managed a last-gasp draw to win the match.

Lichfield v Olton
The bottom two boards proved uneventful, as both Mark Cundy and Richard Reynolds both drew quickly. Robert Reynolds drew from a slightly better position on board 3. Meanwhile, Rob Wallman was pursuing possibly the most lost of lost causes on four, having gone a Rook for Queen down. Alan Lloyd had carefully manouvered his Rook to c7 supported by a knight, but otherwise trapped, in order to win a pawn. He was able to simplify the position after a series of exchanges and adjourned a pawn up. Phil Holt on board one won a pawn early on, but the game remained complicated until late into the night, when his opponent resigned two pawns down. Alan Won his game quickly to take the match.

Olton v Wolverhampton
Phil Holt won quickly on board one, with a decisive King's side attack. Alan Lloyd on two looked in some difficulty throughout the game and it eventually told. Robert Reynolds had an uneventful and relatively short draw on board 3, while Mark Cundy went two pawns up on four. The game ended in a draw when one pawn went and his King was unable to escape the corner of the board. On board 5, Rob Wallman looked to be struggling, but held on for a draw. Richard Smith on bottom board won the match by picking up more pawns than could be considered polite and eventually a piece.

Walsall Kipping v Olton
Rob Wallman on bottom board drew with hardly any fuss and peace also broke out on board 3, as Dave Gostelow also drew early on. Alan Lloyd on board 2 had the worse half the opening and lost, but Mark Cundy trapped a piece on h1 and proceeded to bash down the door for a win on five. Phil Holt and Robert Reynolds adjourned.

Trophy matches

Terrill Trophy

•      Round 1
  Tuesday 25th September - Olton I 2½-6 West Bromwich II
  A poor performance saw the team lose over the boards to a lower division side. Phil Holt blundered on board 1, but Alan Lloyd, arriving half an hour late, won on two. Mark Cundy's game turned quickly into a disaster area on board 3, while Robert Reynolds drew an uneventful game on four. Rob Wallman had a good win on board 5, but Chris Pitt lost on six.

Homer trophy

•      Round 1
  Tuesday 13th November - Olton I 3½-5 Stourbridge II
  Alan Lloyd was unable to make the match and a late reserve had to be brought in. Phil Holt drew on top board and Robert Reynolds also drew on two. Dave Gostelow had an easy win on board 3, but Mark Cundy could not make progress on four and drew. Reserves Ken Allen and Bram Garner did well to draw on boards 5 and 6.

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Last modified: 04/12/08