The Fleming Trophy is the annual chess match played between two teams from Bedfordshire against Buckinghamshire since 1932. A full history of this match can be found on Adrian Elwin's excellent and essential website below.
This year's match was held on the 4th of November at the pretty Hertfordshire village of Bedmond, with teams of 16 players each side. Representing Luton chess club were new top players, Tommy O'Brien, Julian Hudon and Daman Singh.
As the match progressed, Bedfordshire surged ahead with 6 - 2, thanks to wins from all three players from Luton on boards 7, 8 & 9. Their games can be found on the Games section of the website.
However as the match continued, Buckinghamshire managed to pull back their deficit to level the match at 6-6. Bedforshire pulled back ahead, leading 7-6 but Buckinghamshire kept in lockstep at 8-7 with one game to go.
The last game was a nail biter, with Bedfordshire's Robert Walker a piece down against Ian Hall from Buckinghamshire and the Trophy looked set to be split. To the great relief of our team, Robert got a draw, giving Bedfordshire the vital half point winning 8.5 - 7.5, retaining the Fleming Trophy.
The full results are below.
East Anglian Chess Union - Fleming Trophy 2023 Results
East Anglian Chess Union - 2023 Results and Fixtures
Well done to team captain Kevin Williamson for putting together the winning side and thank you Tommy, Julian and Daman for representing Luton Chess Club in the county, inspiring all players in the club at the University of Bedfordshire.