The Ballarat Chess Club hosted the 2018 Fletcher-Morrow Shield Match against Geelong at the Ballarat Mechanics Institute, 117 Sturt St, Ballarat on Sunday, 12th August, 2018.
However, the visitors prevailed, with Geelong winning 6.5 to 3.5. Individual game results are shown below (home team – Ballarat – played White on odd-numbered boards):
| Geelong | Rating | Ballarat | Rating | Won by | |
| 1 | Michael Sugrue | 1864! | Bas Van Riel | 1789 | Ballarat |
| 2 | Geoffrey Gill | 1863! | Rob Loveband | 1721 | Geelong |
| 3 | Reza Daneshvar | 1853!! | Rod Jacobs | 1720 | Geelong |
| 4 | Alistair Anderson | 1778!! | Patrick Cook | 1688 | Draw |
| 5 | Zoran Babic | 1654! | Ruari Coffey | 1500 | Geelong |
| 6 | Mio Ristic | 1638!! | Rob Bailey | 1437 | Geelong |
| 7 | Rod Hessing | 1596!! | Jamie Brotheridge | 1493 | Geelong |
| 8 | Owen Courtis | 1464! | Kevin Perrin | 1491 | Ballarat |
| 9 | Jack Smith | 1317 | Tom Oppenheim | 1163 | Geelong |
| 10 | Paul Brown | Unr | Kiki Dunn | 1041 | Ballarat |
| 11 | Daniel Slade | Unr | Jasan Barnett | 997 | Geelong |
| Overall Winner | Geelong 6.5 – 3.5* |
*Score derived from top ten boards
This result extends Geelong’s overall lead to five matches to two, with one match drawn.
Many thanks to the Ballarat Chess Club for catering and hosting in the historic Hooper Room, where Ballarat won the inaugural challenge match in 1925.
Geelong Chess Club 