League results and tables

Does anybody reading this know of any recent results, or up to date league tables from Div 1 ?

The obvious answer is to look on the new Coventry chess league website, but unless i'm losing the plot, the most up-to-date results seem to be partial results from the 25th Oct.

Bobby Fischer

At 9pm on Wednesday 30th November BBC 4 9pm Storyville there is an analysis of Bobby Fischers life.

May be worth a watch as it is unusual for chess to even get a mention on any TV programme.

Simon

Rearranged Venue 22nd November

Please note there is a function in the ballroom on Tuesday 22nd November.
Therefore all matches will be held in the Lounge.
The following week matches will be played in the Ballroom as normal.

Simon

KO Cup Draw

The KO Cup draw for the Coventry and District Chess League is as follows:

Rug C v Cov A

Cov C v Cov B

Cov F v Cov D

Cov E v Rug B

Nun B v Cov G

Matches to be played on 03.01.2012

Warwick University - UPDATE

Taken from the Coventry League website

Changes in Warwick University teams and location Posted: 17 Oct 2011 11:34 PM PDT Warwick University have added a team to play in Division 2 (position 5 in the table) and called it University E. So - note that there are now more games in Div 2. Also note [all divisons] that the University have changed their chess location. It is now in Rooms 4 and 5 of the Students Union HQ. To get there find the Costcutter supermarket on the site and it is up the stairs to the RHS.

Coventry and District Chess League Website

The league have a new website where they are posting the latest league and cup results.

Plus,I believe, they hope to get League tables updated as well.

Well worth checking the site out to keep up to date with the latest results.

The link is Coventry Chess League Website

Digital Clocks

On Tuesday 4th October 2011, history was created in the Coventry and District Chess League.

As a trial Digital Clocks were used in a competitive match for the first time. Despite the misgivings of some others, the sky did not fall in, the earth did not stop spinning and no major injuries were reported!!

In fact the match passed off very quietly with the result as follows;

Coventry B 21/2 V 11/2 Coventry C

All players found the clocks very easy to use with no issues arising.

Chess Tuesday 20th September

On Tuesday 20th September the chess club will meet in the back room behind the bar for one week only.

The stewardess has informed me there will be a public meeting in the main hall on that evening.

Simon

Tuesday 23rd August

This Tuesday just gone, a doubles tournament was run, and the pairs were as follows ;

Howard Jones and Paul Sweatman,
Rajan and Maric,
Martin and Dave Ireland,
Bava and Dave Howlin,
Lucas and Wesley Beeson.

In a close competition, only a single point separated the top 3 pairs. However, it was one of the juniors, Lucas, and his playing partner, Wesley, who took first place and shared the prize money.

Congratulations to them !!

Results from last 3 weeks

Here are the latest results from the last 3 weeks of competitions at the Coventry Chess club.
In Week 1, Wesley Beeson and Dave Ireland were joint winners, in week 2, Wesley and Dave Filer were joint winners and in week 3, Dave Ireland won the tournament. It was blitz on all 3 weeks, either 5 or 10 minute chess depending on the number of entries.
Last Tuesday it was 5 minute all play all, which worked out well, as there were a large number of people up the club.

New Season

Well at last! The new 2011/12 season officially starts on Tuesday August 30th.

I will be collecting membership fees on that evening, so if all players could attend even if you do not wish to stay for the whole evening.

Although you could always take part in one of Dave Ireland's mini-tournaments! which have proved to be very popular!

Membership Fees are as follows:

Adult       £18.00
Under 18 £16.00

Massey Ferguson Social club member £8.00  (Due in January)
Concession .50p for over 65

UPDATES
1. New website is now starting to take shape so please have a look around.

STAY IN TOUCH! I have also put on a facility whereby you can receive any update to this website. On the top right hand corner of the site you will see "follow by email" just enter your email address in that box and every time there is an update you will receive an email with the new information.

2. New Grades have been received and have been posted under Tables& Grades

3. New Digital Clocks have been received and will be trialled for the first season by the A team.

Do you think you could improve your Coventry grade?

A thought occured to me the other day ( occasionally this happens !) Why not give the upcoming chess season a bit more spice. I've spoken to various players from different clubs and the general impression I get is that they feel the Coventry chess league has been dwindling in recent years. From our club's point of view, we've had a lot of new players join recently, which is very encouraging. Hopefully this is a reflection on the league's potential as well.
Back to my idea, and it's based on the player in our club whose Coventry grade increases by the most between now and next season, with prizes !! The amount of prizes is up to us !!
Basically, anyone that wants to enter pays an entry fee before the season starts, and everyone will pay the same amount, how much that is is up to you all. Now there's probably about 40 players in our club with a Coventry grade, if 40 people want to participate, then they pay into the pot. If this was even as little as £1 each, ( and bear in mind this is for a season ), that's enough to buy, for example, one of the strongest PC chess programs as a prize for the most improved player in our club. So the winner could win the latest version of Shredder, Junior, Hiarcs, Fritz or world computer champion Rybka, whichever they preferred.
That's just if participants put in a pound each, but as it would be for a whole season, players might want to put in a fiver, a tenner or even £20 each, providing everyone was happy with it, and were all willing to chip in the same amount. Think about it, £10 x 40 people, for example, gets enough money in the pot to have real nice prizes for the 3 or 4 most improved players of the season. The first prize in this instance could even be lessons from a master player, either in person or online, or tickets to see a major event, plus expenses paid !!
The league used to, and maybe still does, award a trophy to the league's most improved player. This is nice to win, but I don't know if it's even still awarded anymore, as the annual prizegiving has now been abandoned. So why not renew the idea for our club members ?
I think it's a nice idea which would create a lot of enthusiam and motivation to obtain good results during the season.
I think to make it a fair reflection on the overall season, players should have to play at least 10 league games to qualify for prizes. After all, if one player happened to get, say, 5 fortunate results in 5 games, they might abandon the rest of the season as a tactic to achieve a probably over inflated grade, and also to attempt to bank a prize having only played a part season.. This is not what their teams would want, as they would effectively lose that player for the rest of the season , and it would not be good for the league overall. However, a 10 games minimum rule would stop this potential tactic and mean all participants would have to play their fair share in the league.
So let me know what you all think, either when we're next at the club, or by posting comments.
I welcome views from other players and clubs in the league, or even if you don't play in the Coventry league ! Alternatively, I can be contacted at davidireland2010@hotmail.co.uk or irasputin@hotmail.co.uk
See you soon !

5 minute chess on 26th July

Hi. Another good turnout at the Massey Ferguson club on Tuesday 26th July saw 13 of the regulars play an all play all 5 minute tournament. The entrants included the junior brothers, Simon and Jacob; two more juniors, also brothers, Martin and Lucas, their dad Maric, Paul Williams, club newcomer Carl Stephens, Howard, Bava, Wesley, Dave Howlin, Dave Filer and myself, Dave Ireland.
It turned out to be a close run finish, with less than 2 points separating myself, Bava and Wesley.
The top scoring junior was Martin, who finished on 6 points, and our new player, Carl, had a fair tournament and looks like he should do well in his debut season for the club. Paul was unlucky in some of his games, losing a few on time rather than on the board. Playing blitz chess can take a bit of getting used to, although the internet does provide the chance to do just that, with many chess servers and websites now in operation.

The top 3 scorers ( out of a possible 12 points ), were :

Dave Ireland 11,
Wesley Beeson 10+1/2,
Bava 9+1/2.

Quick Play Chess on 19th July

A ten minute per game tournament was held on the 19th July with 16 entrants. There was a big turnout at the club which was encouraging, with 20-25 people there. It was nice to see Maric, Michael and Lucas back, as well as the other juniors, Simon and Jacob, along with their mum, Henrietta. Yves, who has recently joined, also played. Additinally, another club newcomer, Carl Stephens, did well, finishing in a four way tie for second place.
Here are the full results after six completed rounds:

Dave Ireland 5+1/2, Howard Jones 3,
Dave Filer 4, Dave Howlin 3,
Carl Stephens 4, Jacob Junior 3,
Paul Sweatman 4, Perry Blunden 2,
Wesley Beesley 4, Yves Andre 2
Maric 3+1/2, John loughnane 1+1/2,
Simon Weaver 3, Martin 1+1/2,
Lucas 3, Simon Junior 1

Pictures from Doubles Tournament

Here are a few pictures from the latest Doubles Tournament run by Dave Ireland.

One of our Juniors

Pairs tournament / 12th July

Another pairs tournament was run on Tuesday, 12th July, which featured 5 pairings. It was the same format as an earlier competition which took place 2 weeks prior to this ( see blog re : 28th June ). Different pairings were used this time, but the idea was again to balance up the chances of each pairing if possible. Everyone enjoyed it, and some games had wild fluctuations, in particular, the ones involving me and Paul. I didn't think we were going to get a point going into our final match because we'd lost all our games up till then, but we did manage to win our very last game. Here are the results :

Howard Jones and Paul Sweatman 6,
John Loughnane and Wesley Beesley 6,
Simon Weaver and Yves Andre 4,
Bava S and Dave Howlin 3,
Dave Ireland and Paul Williams 1,

Congratulations to the top two pairings who shared the prize money, and it was good to see yet another club newcomer, Yves Andre, competing and doing well.

Doubles chess on 28th June

On Tuesday 28th June, I ran a doubles tournament at Massey's club. I decided to even things up by pairing people up so the cumulative grade of each partnership added up approximately the same as other pairings. In theory, if you pair 2 players graded 150 and 50 together, and put them up against another pairing graded 130 and 70, it should be a close match more often than not. At least this was my theory, but there was only one way to try it out, and that was putting the idea into practice. So, with a little consultation with Simon Weaver, I put the following pairs together : Ed Goodwin and Paul Williams, Howard Jones and Clive Osman, Simon Weaver and Paul Sweatman, Bava S and Jacob Junior and finally myself, Dave Ireland, and Simon Junior. Jacob and Simon Junior are two young players who have very recently joined our club, and are aged 11 and 9 respectively. I don't know what their surnames are, so for the purposes of this post only, I will give them the imaginery surname of Junior. Also good to see joining in were club newcomers Bava S and Paul Williams.
The format was pairs play all other pairs twice, once with either colour, making a total of 8 games for each pair. Each side had 10 minutes per game. Each player within their respective partnership made alternating moves, with no consulting or advice allowed during a game.

The results were as follows :

Ed Goodwin and Paul Williams 1, Dave Ireland & Simon Junior 1,
v Howard Jones & Clive Osman 1, v Bava S and Jacob Junior 1,

Howard Jones & Clive Osman 1, Ed Goodwin and Paul Williams 0,
v Bava S and Jacob Junior 1, v Simon Weaver & Paul Sweatman 2,

Dave Ireland and Simon Junior 1, Simon Weaver & Paul Sweatman 1,
v Simon Weaver & Paul Sweatman 1, v Howard Jones and Clive Osman 1,

Ed Goodwin & Paul Williams 0, Ed Goodwin and Paul Williams 0,
v Bava S and Jacob Junior 2, v Dave Ireland & Simon Junior 2,

Bava S and Jacob Junior 1+1/2, Dave Ireland and Simon Junior 1,
Simon Weaver & Paul Sweatman 1/2, v Howard Jones & Clive Osman 1,

From my point of view, there were two expected things that happened. One was that the games were often very topsy turvy, with wild fluctuations. This was due to the disparity in the gradings and experience within some of the pairings, as well as the fast time control; ,and it made for some very interesting games, and sometimes unpredictable results. The second expected occurance was the almost total lack of draws; as far as I know, there was only 1 draw during the entire night. If you'd seen the games, you might be surprised there was even one draw !!
So, bearing in mind the anticipated wild games, and random results, the one really surprising thing is that so many matches ended up in an overall draw, ( each match consisting of 2 games ). Considering virtually all games were decisive, and the fast time limit, I wad surprised how many pairings managed one win apiece against each other. I know I said that matching pairs into equally cumulative grades would even things up, but I never expected things to be so close between most pairs. In fact, the tournament went right down to the last match. When me and Simon sat down to face Howard and Clive, we had to win both games to pip Bava and Jacob for overall honours. Watched by the majority of the other contestants, me and Simon won the first game, but it just didn't happen for us in the second game, which we lost.
I guess Howard and Clive made the most stable and 'equal' partnership, because their games seemed the most balanced overall, and they drew all their matches. The one partnership that seemed to struggle, at least results wise, was Ed Goodwin and Paul Williams. I'm not sure why; but I think when me and Simon played them, we won both games on time, so perhaps the time control was a factor that affected their results. On another day, they'd probably achieve a fair share of wins, so maybe it was just what happened on the night.
I think everyone that participated enjoyed it, particularly our potentially young superstars of tomorrow, watch out for them in years to come !!

So the overall scores were :

Bava and Jacob, 5 + 1/2,
Dave and Simon J, 5,
Simon W & Paul S, 4 + 1/2,
Howard and Clive, 4,
Ed and Paul W, 1

Blitz tournament summary : 14 / 06 / 2011

Blitz tournament summary : 14 / 06 / 2011

Hi, this is the first time i've posted something on the web ever, and it concerns the first tournament I've ever run.

Meeting at Massey's each Tuesday for chess social nights seemed ok, but I wanted to vary the format a bit, add a little bit of competitive enjoyment, and encourage more interaction among the members.

For a start, I didn't even know the names of some of the members playing in the 2nd and 3rd divisions, and they probably didn't know mine.

Most Tuesdays, various players seemed to be playing the same opponents again and again, with seemingly liitle variety, so I thought i'd arrange a 5 min tournament, which ran on 14th June.

It proved enjoyable for most; out of the ten players that entered, eight completed all rounds. There were a couple of withdrawals midway through though; Clive seemed to struggle with the format, but I think 5 minute chess can be unsettling for those not used to it. Mike Johnson also had to leave early, albeit still in realistic contention. Wesley enjoyed a good tournament, finishing second, with the ever solid Howard Jones and club newcomer Bava finishing joint third.

Another new player, John Loughnane, accrued 10 points, with Paul Sweatman managing a solid 9 points. Two players new to 5 minute chess were Perry and another newcomer Dave Howlin. Perry enjoyed the quick pace and got 6 points, whilst Dave finished on 4 + 1/2. Although finishing nearer the foot of the table, Dave was one of two players to gain a win against me, the other being Wesley.
So the format was all play all twice, once with either colour, making a total of 18 games.
The full results were :

Dave Ireland 15 + 1/2 ;
Wesley Beesley 12 ;
Bava S 11 + 1/2 ;
Howard Jones 11 + 1/2 ;
John Loughnane 10 ;
Paul Sweatman 9 ;
Perry Blunden 6 ;
Dave Howlin 4 + 1/2 ;
Clive Osman / Mike Johnson did not complete all scheduled games.

Dave Ireland

Doubles Chess!

With the success of last weeks 5 minute chess tournament, Dave Ireland has kindly agreed to organise other tournament next Tuesday 28th June. It will probably take the format of doubles chess.

So if you wish to try something different and have a bit of fun come along next Tuesday!

All welcome. start time 7.30pm.  .50p entry with the winners taking the pot!

Club Openings over the Summer

As normal, the club will remain open over the Summer holidays for friendlies.

FUN TOURNAMENT Dave Ireland is going to a run a five minutes on the clock tournament on the 14th June. Just turn up at 7.30pm at the club to enter. Open to all players.

Pete Smith receiving the Runners up trophy for the Summer Cup

Dave Ireland receiving the Winners trophy

Summer Cup Final Result

SUMMER CUP RESULT

WINNER: DAVE IRELAND

RUNNER UP: PETE SMITH

All the final results are on the Summer Cup Page

AGM

Coventry Chess Club AGM is to be held on:

Tuesday May 31st 7.30pm at Massey Fereguson

All members are welcome to attend.