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.
Coventry Chess Club. Check out the site for the latest news on the activities of Coventry Chess Club.
Thursday 18 August 2011
Thursday 4 August 2011
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 !
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 !
Monday 1 August 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday 26 July 2011
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
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
Saturday 16 July 2011
Pictures from Doubles Tournament
Here are a few pictures from the latest Doubles Tournament run by Dave Ireland.
One of our Juniors
Thursday 14 July 2011
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.
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.
Thursday 30 June 2011
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
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
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