Coventry Individual Championship / British Chess Championship

This post is not specifically about the Coventry Chess Club, but a report on the first Coventry championship to be staged for some years, and news of an event which could be of interest.
Most will be aware that the 2015 British Chess Championship is fast approaching, and that it is being held at The Warwick University, from 25th July - 8th August.
To commemorate this, Mike Johnson kindly organised a Coventry Individual tournament, starting last year, whereby the eventual winner would qualify to play in the British Championship proper.
5 players entered; namely myself; Dave Ireland, alongside Joshua Pink, Tom Thorpe, Andrew Patterson and pre-tournament favourite, Paul Lam.
It was decided that we would all play each other twice, once with either colour, therefore giving each participate 8 games to play. The winner would become the Coventry champion for 2015, and, as mentioned, have the chance to play alongside the "big boys", at the British championship.
As always, the winner would be decided by the player who totaled the most points, in this case, out of a possible maximum of 8. Should 2 players tie the winning total, a playoff would decide the outcome.

Well, some months after the Coventry Individual started, I can report that this tournament is almost over.
There are only 2 games left to play, but these are academic as far as qualification goes, as the qualifier is already now determined.

The qualifier is Paul Lam, who has now completed all 8 of his games, and gained 6.5 out of 8 points (6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss).
Paul is very closely followed by Andy Patterson, who so far has 5.5 out of 7 games played. Should Andy win his final game, he will join Paul in a tie for first place.
However, as far as qualifying goes, this is of no concern to either player, as Andy, by winning a Leamington qualifier some time back, has already secured his place at the "British" via a different tournament.
Therefore, the rules stipulate that the next highest player from the Coventry group is also eligible to qualify, regardless of if he surpasses Andy's total or not. As it happens, Paul secured qualification with a game still left to play, being well ahead of the rest of the pack.
Nevertheless, the Coventry Individual itself is not yet decided, and Andy could yet get into a playoff with Paul to decide who is "Coventry Champion".

The results are below

COVENTRY :Individual Championship

	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Points
Paul Lam	8	6	1	1	6.5
Andrew Paterson	7	5	1	1	5.5
Dave Ireland	7	1	3	3	2.5
Joshua Pink	7	1	3	3	2.5
Thomas Thorpe	7	0	2	5	1

Results:

Paul Lam 1 - 0 Joshua Pink

Joshua Pink 0.5 - 0.5 Paul Lam

Paul Lam 1 - 0 Andrew Paterson

Andrew Paterson 1 - 0 Paul Lam

Thomas Thorpe 0 - 1 Paul Lam
Paul Lam 1 - 0 Thomas Thorpe

Paul Lam 1 - 0 Dave Ireland

Dave Ireland 0 - 1 Paul Lam

Andrew Paterson 1 - 0 Joshua Pink

Andrew Paterson 1 - 0 Dave Ireland

Dave Ireland 0.5 - 0.5 Andrew Paterson

Thomas Thorpe 0 - 1 Andrew Paterson

Andrew Paterson 1 - 0 Thomas Thorpe

Joshua Pink 1 - 0 Thomas Thorpe

Thomas Thorpe 0.5 - 0.5 Joshua Pink
Joshua Pink 0.5 - 0.5 Dave Ireland
Dave Ireland 1 - 0 Joshua Pink

Dave Ireland 0.5 - 0.5 Thomas Thorpe

The British Chess Championship is not just about determining the best players in Britain, there are many tournaments being held within the event that cater for all levels, (and ages) of players.

An event like this arrives in Coventry once in a blue moon, as chess tournaments of any kind in this city have been very rare over the years. The most recent chess congress in Coventry was 2 years ago, and before that, you have to go back to 2004 and 2005 to find the last ones that were held here. Prior to this, it was way back in the late 80's (yes, really!) when a tournament was last staged here, and it was a rapid play event at that !  

So, bearing in mind Coventry has had a grand total of 4 chess events in 30 years or more, this is a very rare chance for local players to be able to play in such a prestigious event. Such an opportunity to play locally at the British will probably not come along again for a very long time, so make the most of it. 

For all interested players, the web address is http://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/2015.

Summer Cup - Round 6 - Final Results

The final round of the Summer Cup was held last night, in what was a very tense evening with a number of players able to secure a Winners or Runners Up position.

The final result is that Joshua Pink and Dave Ireland ended up on 5 points each. Therefore after a count back of each of their opponents results the winner is  . .  . . . . . . .

Joshua Pink - So congratulations to Joshua, but also to Dave who has secured the Runners Up spot.

Josh secured his position by a very impressive win over the previous front runner, Bernard Charnley. Bernard has had a really good first Summer Cup competition finishing on 4.5 points only loosing to the eventual winner.
Special mention for Bava who yet again had a good competition and could have won the tournament if he had won his last  game.

Mike Donnelly also had an excellent tournament on his return to playing Over the Board  chess, finishing on 4.5 points in the third position.

Ben Graff finished strongly on 3.5 points, and we wish him well playing for Kenilworth and look forward to seeing him next year in the tournament.

Clive Blackburn also ended up on 3.5 points winning his last three matches and placing him sixth in the tournament.
Tom Stamper also ended up on 3.5 points with a win over Don Sheward. Paul Sweatman turned in another solid performance over the whole tournament finishing on 2.5 points.

Stan Whitmore finished the tournament with a good win - securing 2.5 points.

Pete Smith finished the tournament on 3 points - only loosing two matches.

It was pleasing to see the newcomers take part and do well. David Adams finishing on 1.5 points. A chap called Nick Weaver (not sure where he has come from!) finishing on 2.5 points. Tom Stamper who I have already mentioned. Jordan Matthews battled away against the odds and wasnt quite lucky enough to win but his time will come.

I hope all players enjoyed playing in the Cup and Thank you to every single player that took part and all the support received it has helped make the Tournament the success it seems to have been with 28 players taking part. This must be a record year for the Tournament

The presentation of the Cups will take place at the AGM

That does now bring the Season to a close, although we have the AGM next week - 26th May, and all members are welcome to join us. Initial Agenda points will cover :-


Appointment of Chairman
Appointment of Secretary
Appointment of Treasurer
Digital Clocks
AOB
Summer Cup presentation
Chairmans Report
Secretary's report
Treasurer's report
Appointment of Captains

Of course, if any member wishes to add any point to the Agenda do let me know and I will make sure it goes onto the Agenda.


The club will still be open for friendly games every Tuesday right through the summer

If you are not coming to the AGM - Have a great summer and see you all in September for the new season.


Match Results from 19th May

B.Charnley 0 1 J.Pink
D.Ireland 1 0 Bava
M.Donnelly 1 0 E.Goodwin
R.Holmes .5 .5 P.Smith
B.Graff 1 0 W.Beeston
C.Blackburn 1 0 R.Sian
T.Stamper 1 0 D.Sheward
N.Weaver .5 .5 P.Sweatman
S.Whitmore 1 0 D.Adams
G.Cornell 1 0 J.Matthews
M.Johnson 1 0 I.Evans

FINAL TABLE 

J.Pink           5    - Tournament Winner

D.Ireland     5     - Runner Up

M.Donnelly  4.5

B.Charnley   4.5

Bava             4

C.Blackburn 3.5

T.Stamper    3.5

M.Johnson   3.5

B.Graff        3.5

R.Parekh      3

E.Goodwin  3

P.Smith        3

R.Holmes    3

N.Weaver      2.5

S.Whitmore  2.5 

P.Sweatman 2.5

W.Beeston   2

D.Filer         2

S.Weaver     2

D.Sheward   2

I.Evans         2

R.Sian           2

G.Cornell     2

D.Adams      1.5

T.White        1

J.Matthews   0

T.Gazee        0

Summer Cup - Round 5

Round 5 of the Summer Cup was held last night - 12th May - With now only 1 more round left there are still a number of players who can win the Tournament.

Bernard Charnley again won and is now the tournament leader closely followed by Joshua Pink. Dave Ireland, and Bava.

The final round next week is going to be a very tense evening with any of the above players able to win the Tournament.

There were also good wins for Pete Smith, Clive Blackburn, and Bob Holmes.

The AGM will be held on the 26th May. 7.45pm - 8pm start. All members welcome. This is your chance to have a say on the running of the Club. The committee look forward to seeing as many members as possible.

Results from 12/5/15

M.Donnelly 0 1 J.Pink
B.Charnley  1 0 E.Goodwin
D.Ireland     1 0 B.Graff
Bava            1 0 W.Beeston
P.Smith        1 0 A.Franklin
D.Sheward   0 1 C.Blackburn
R.Holmes    1 0 P.Sweatman
I.Evans       .5 .5 R.Sian
S.Whitmore 0 1 T.Stamper
N.Weaver    1 0 J.Matthews
G.Cornell    1 0 D.Adams


Points after 5 Rounds

B.Charnley   4.5

D.Ireland      4

J.Pink           4

Bava             4

M.Donnelly  3.5

R.Parekh      3

E.Goodwin  3
C.Blackburn 2.5

P.Smith         2.5

R.Holmes     2.5

T.Stamper    2.5

M.Johnson   2.5

B.Graff        2.5

W.Beeston   2

D.Filer         2

S.Weaver     2

D.Sheward   2

P.Sweatman 2

I.Evans         2

R.Sian           2

N.Weaver      2

S.Whitmore  1.5

D.Adams      1.5

T.White        1

G.Cornell     1

J.Matthews   0

T.Gazee        0

Summer Cup - Round 4 Results

Round 4 of the summer cup was held last night with the two players on 3 points playing each other - Mike Donnelly and Bernard Charnley. The match ended in a close fought draw. Mike Johnson earned a very creditable half point against Joshua Pink. The general feeling from other players was that Mike was in a stronger position, however being short of time forced Mike to take a draw.

Dave Ireland bounced back, with a win, after last weeks defeat to put himself back up with the front runners. Ed Goodwin is also putting in a strong show after winning last night and retaining his unbeaten run. Bava also won last night to join several players now on 3 points just behind Mike Donnelly and Bernard Charnley.

Don Sheward is also having a good Summer Cup. He won last night and is now on 2 points.

David Adams secured a half point against Pete Smith. Clive Blackburn won his first match of the tournament and is moving up the table.

Full results from last night

M.Donnelly .5 .5 B.Charnley
J.Pink          .5 .5 M.Johnson
D.Ireland     1 0  W.Beeston
E.Goodwin  1 0  D.Filer
T.Stamper   0  1 Bava
R.Holmes   0  1 B.Graff
P.Sweatman 1 0 I.Evans
N.Weaver    0 1 D.Sheward
S.Whitmore .5 .5 R.Sian
P.Smith        .5 .5 D.Adams
C.Blackburn 1 0 G.Cornell
J.Matthews   0 1 S.Weaver


Points after 4 rounds

M.Donnelly  3.5

B.Charnley   3.5

Bava             3

R.Parekh      3

D.Ireland     3

J.Pink          3

E.Goodwin 3

M.Johnson  2.5

B.Graff       2.5

W.Beeston  2

D.Filer        2

S.Weaver    2

D.Sheward  2

R.Holmes    1.5

T.Stamper   1.5

P.Sweatman 2

P.Smith         1.5

I.Evans         1.5

C.Blackburn 1.5

S.Whitmore  1.5

D.Adams      1.5

R.Sian          1.5

N.Weaver     1

T.White        1

T.Gazee        0

G.Cornell     0

J.Matthews   0

Round 5 is to be held next week Tuesday 12th May 7.30pm start. There is still time to add another two points to your score!

On another note away from the Summer Cup we hope to be able to announce the date of the club AGM and the League AGM  in the next few days. All club members are welcome to the AGM and have a say in how the club is run.  

Summer Cup - Round 3

Round 3 of the Summer Cup held last night with a bumper turnout of 28 players !

So, we are now already half way through the competition and the competition for the top places is getting very tight. We now have two clear leaders in the competition and both players have just recently returned to OTB chess. Mike Donnelly is now on 3 points - with an impressive win over Bob Holmes - who has been a Runner Up on a number of occasions - and Bernard Charnley who had a win over the current holder of the Cup, Dave Ireland.

Although in hot pursuit are a number of players on 2 & 2.5 points of which any are capable of putting together a winning run.

Last night saw a number of players secure there first points of the competition... Paul Sweatman, Ravi Sian and  David Adams. Newcomer Tom Stamper also secured his first win.

Round 4 will be held next week - Tuesday 5th May

Thank you to all players for your participation so far !

And just when you thought we could not have anymore bizarre stories about chess FIDE's President comes up with a very odd suggestion for Chess Pieces - and no this is not an April Fool.!

Have a look here ...

The Most Weird Way to Play Chess !


Results from Round 3

D.Ireland 0 1 B.Charnley

M.Donnelly 1 0 R.Holmes

S.B. Manickam 1 0 P.Smith

E.Goodwin .5 .5 M.Johnson

R.Parekh 1 0 I.Evans

B.Graff 1 0 C.Blackburn

W.Beeston 1 0 D.Sheward

Tom Stamper 1 0 N.Weaver

P.Sweatman 1 0 S.Williamson

S.Whitmore 1 0 T.Gazee

T.White 0 1 D.Filer

D.Adams 1 0 J. Matthews

R.Sian 1 0 G.Cornell

Points after 3 Rounds

M.Donnelly 3

B.Charnley 3

R.Parekh    2.5

D.Ireland   2

R.Parekh    2.5

J.Pink         2.5

E.Goodwin 2

M.Johnson  2

W.Beeston  2

Bava          2

D.Filer       2

R.Holmes    1.5

B.Graff         1.5

T.Stamper   1.5

P.Sweatman 1

N.Weaver   1

P.Smith       1

S.Weaver   1 

T.White      1

I.Evans       1

D.Sheward  1

C.Blackburn .5

S.Whitmore 1 

D.Adams     1

T.Gazee       0

G.Cornell     0

R.Sian        1

J.Matthews  0

Summer Cup - Round 2

The second round of the Summer Cup was held yesterday evening (21/4/2015).

As there are a number of highly graded players in the tournament this year, this has meant that although we are only in Round 2, already the top seeds are playing each other. This of course resulted in some very close games and more draws in Round 2 than we would normally expect.

A good example is Bob Holmes playing Ed Goodwin - their game was very closely fought and with less than 3 minutes on his clock Ed managed to force a perpetual check and claim a draw. Mike Johnson's game against Rajan was again very close although Mike felt if he had played on he may have been able to force a win.
Another new player that continues to impress is Tom Stamper who earned a draw against Clive Blackburn. Tom get his nerve in a very tricky end game which would have been easy to loose.

Don Sheward provided an upset in his game beating Paul Sweatman. Wesley Beeston also claimed his first point of the tournament.

We now have some early leaders with 2 points:

Dave Ireland,Mike Donnelly,Joshua Pink and another newcomer Bernard Charnley closely followed by a number of players on 1.5 points Ed Goodwin,Rajen, Mike Johnson, Bob Holmes.

Dont forget the next round is.... Tuesday 28th April normal 7.30pm start

As I mentioned last week chess is finally getting some publicity in the national newspapers .. but only because of a GM trying to cheat! here is another article from the Independent talking about the pressures of playing top flight chess.

Chess Cheating Star




Full Results from 21/4/2015

D.Ireland 1 0 P.Smith

M.Donnelly 1 0 D.Filer

J.Pink 1 0 S.B. Manickam

E.Goodwin .5 .5 R.Holmes

R.Parekh .5 .5 M.Johnson

B.Charnley 1 0 B.Graff

W.Beeston 1 0 T.Gazee

C.Blackburn .5 .5 Tom Stamper

P.Sweatman 0 1 D.Sheward

I.Evans 1 0 S.Whitmore

T.White 1 0 J.Matthews

D.Adams 0 1 N.Weaver

Points after 2 Rounds

D.Ireland   2

M.Donnelly 2

J.Pink         2

B.Charnley 2

E.Goodwin 1.5

R.Parekh    1.5

M.Johnson  1.5

R.Holmes    1.5

N.Weaver   1

W.Beeston  1

Bava           1

D.Filer        1

P.Smith       1

S.Weaver   1 

T.White      1

I.Evans       1

D.Sheward  1

T.Stamper   .5

C.Blackburn .5

B.Graff         .5

S.Whitmore 0 

D.Adams     0

T.Gazee       0

G.Cornell     0

R.Sian          0

J.Matthews  0

P.Sweatman 0

And finally.... if you want some FREE chess lessons check out this link