CHESS: Paul Thomas suffered his worst defeat in more than 35 years as Kidderminster Rooks struggled to overcome poor opposition at Redditch in Worcester and District League Division Two.

Thomas fell for a checkmate in only eight moves but his team-mates eventually got their acts together and scored a 3-1 victory.

Kidderminster need to win their remaining matches against Headless Cross and Malvern to take the title.

Results (Kidderminster names first): Thomas 0, P Church 1; Bill Pugh 1, B Drummond 0; Ken Durnell 1, M Robinson 0; Terry Pountney 1, C Chambers 0.