As Hampshire are still part of the WECU they are eligible to play in the ECF Counties Championship, and this year Ashraf Syed captained a team in the U1850 competition.

After a bye in the preliminary round Hampshire met Yorkshire in the 1st round. Yorkshire had beaten Staffordshire 12½ – 3½ in the preliminary and brought an even stronger team to face Hampshire in the Midlands (Ullesthorpe, Lutterworth).

Despite being outrated by an average of over 150 rating points per board Hampshire took Yorkshire to the wire only losing by one point. Hampshire winners were Kevin Steele, Scott Leadbetter, Gillian Moore and Henri Blin. Many thanks to all the players making the long trip and especially to Ashraf for captaining the team and arranging the transport.

Hampshire v Yorkshire | ECF League Management System (ecflms.org.uk)

Graham Stuart
HCA Secretary