Lancaster won the 20th 'War of the Roses' chess match against York last Sunday.

The match was held at the York Railway Institute but unfortunately there was no home advantage.

Over the previous 19matches the away team has won only four times but this did not deter the team from the Red Rose County.

They turned up with a contender for the strongest team they have ever fielded.

The match was played over 11 boards and Lancaster's board six was stronger than York's board one.

Not to be deterred by the strength of the opposition the York team started the only way they know how - fighting with everything they had.

The first game to finish was on board eleven where John Lafferty had an excellent draw with his higher graded opponent.

It was a long time before any other matches finished, but when they did it was all bad news for York.

Lancaster built up a six-point lead and despite a late win from Paul Johnson, Lancaster comfortably won the match by eight points to three.

There were several good results from York players, notably Barry Marshall, who drew an opponent graded around 200, and Jon Griffith who had the better of a draw with an opponent grade 127.

York's other point came from Owen Robson who won a pawn early on, but couldn't find a way to convert it to a win.

This win by Lancaster put them in a 9-8 lead in the series with one draw.

One of the highlights of the day was the collection of memorabilia that the late David Hardcastle had left that pertained to the fixture.

As one of the driving forces behind the annual contest it was fitting that a minute's silence was honoured before play began.

In his collection were photographs of previous encounters and many of the players of both teams enjoyed looking at them and reminiscing on past encounters and players.

Next Tuesday, October 10, is the start date for the York Club Championship.

Anybody who has not yet entered and wishes to do so should contact the competition controller Richard Hardy.