ANOTHER enjoyable season at the South Hams Chess Club has drawn to a close with summer in sight, reports Trevor Hurt.

Of the 11 players taking part in the internal league, as many as eight played all 20 of their games which is quite the commitment.

Ever since Steve Levy re-joined the club in 2015, he secured club champion status one way or another. He didn’t have it all his own way this year though and whilst David Archer was in the driving seat, James Schofield took top spot on the final day of the season, winning 18 of his games.

Perhaps one turning point came back in January when chairman Alan Davies beat Steve for the first time after 25 previous attempts and he was buzzing to do so.

Steve did however console himself by winning the internal knockout competition, the Cookworthy, beating David in the final.

Steve was magnanimous in defeat and was glad for James, stating that this will be good for the club and he smiled as he said that it will also spread out the pressure of expectation.

As is often said, you learn more from the games you lose, than the ones you win, so for the rest of us, we had quite an educational season!

For the first time ever, the club did not win any Torbay Chess League (TCL) trophies, a second-placed finish in Division One, behind Totnes, the closest they came.

In the Rapidplay tournament, after having to default one of their matches, SHCC finished last.

Joke of the day- due to evening commitments, I recently left my job in the factory making chess pieces. They kept putting me on knights!

The 2025-26 season will start on Thursday, September 4 at the Regal at Kingsbridge. Anyone wanting further information about how to join should visit the website at www.southhamschessclub.com.