Wednesday 9 September 2015

Tournament in Coventry March 2016


A note for your diaries March 5th/6th 2016.

Tournament in Coventry at Coventry Rugby Club,The Butts, Coventry

This tournament is being organised by Ed Goodwin and Dave Ireland, so if you need any more details do get in contact with them and I am sure they will be pleased to hear from you.

I understand there is going to be an Open, U170, and U145 however these may change. More details to follow.

On another note, I am please to say that we now have the Fixture Cards for the New Season 2015/2016.  Please check with your Captains as there are a few amendments to one or two fixtures.
Please see Simon if you do not have your Fixture Card.

The first match's are September 29th. Divisional Cup match's. We have a new club joining the League this season - Kenilworth.

Just a reminder to any member that has not paid, membership fees are now due. 

I am also pleased to report that the D team are now fully equipped with their new digital clocks and ready to go!

Captains please note, we are going to have a meeting next week to finalise the teams for the New Season.

Simon



Friday 28 August 2015

New Season and Team Formations


Well, Summer holidays now over it is time to once again turn our attention to playing Chess
  
I am pleased to say the New Season is almost upon us and on Tuesday 8th September I will start collecting membership fees for the New Season.

Could all members please try and attend - even if just to pay the membership fees - as we have to pay the ECF their membership fees very soon and any members not registered are unable to play in the league.

The membership fee this season is £35.00 for Adults and £26.00 for U18's.

As always membership fees cover Bronze membership to the ECF, which covers all your league and cup games being graded. League Fees, Hire of the room at Massey Ferguson, all equipment supplied, and running of the club. 

For members that have purchased Bronze/Silver/Gold or Platinum memberships direct from the ECF then membership is just:-  Adults £20.00 Juniors £18.00.


Any new players hoping to join a team are asked to also come along on the 8th September as we will be forming the new teams the following week.

Looking forward to seeing you all on the 8th September

Simon
















Monday 3 August 2015

British Chess Champioships



I have just heard from Bava and he took part in the British Chess Championships U150 at the weekend.

Bava had a fantastic result coming 2nd overall with 3.5 points.

He was unbeaten winning 2 games and drawing three games. This is a great result as he has finished above a number of higher graded players. I have included a link below to the full results from the British Chess Championships. Congratulations to Bava !

If anyone else has any results they would like me to publish from the British Chess Championships, please drop me an email. Simon



Result

Bavas Results


I have just been looking at the Diary and I will probably start collecting Club Membership Fees for the new Season on the 8th September. I will confirm later in the Month. £35.00 Adult. £28.00 Junior.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

British Chess Championships and Notes from League AGM


Check out the latest game from the British Chess Championships.

FM C Storey v GM D Howell


At the League AGM a proposal was put forward to stop issuing any more trophies to Winners or Runners up in the League or KO Cup due to lack of interest in holding the cups or trophies. Mike Johnson has asked for any feedback on this proposal.

It was confirmed that Kenilworth will be entering a team into the First Division next season.  Chelmsley Wood it seems will continue to play in the third division despite defaulting their last 3 matches of the season.

Whilst University continue to cause issues it was felt that excluding them from the Divisional Cup and KO Cup had reduced the number of defaults quite dramatically.

Dave Filer announced that the ECF have increased the Bronze, Silver and Gold memberships. I have copied the new rates below from the ECF Website.

Membership categories 1 year
(expires 31 August 2016)
3 years
(expires 31 August 2018)
Bronze Adult £15.00 £45.00

Junior £11.00 £33.00
Silver Adult £22.00 £66.00

Junior £16.00 £48.00
Gold Adult £32.00 £96.00

Junior £26.00 £78.00
Platinum Adult £60.00 £180.00

Junior £60.00 £180.00

Saturday 25 July 2015

New Grades & British Chess Championships


The new grades for July have just been issued by the ECF

To check your grade go here http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/new/menu.php

Also, the British Chess Championships have started today and there a quite a few Coventry players taking part. So if you fancy supporting any of them the venue is at Warwick University.

There will also be a number of GM's, and IM's attending various tournaments - so there should be some great chess to follow.

More details here  http://www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/2015/

Thursday 16 July 2015

League AGM



The league AGM will be held on the 28th  July 2015 at Massey Ferguson. 7.30-8.00pm start.

All club members are welcome to attend.

If you wish to add anything to the Agenda let Mike Johnson know.

Friendly matches will continue as normal for those who just wish to play chess.

Thursday 4 June 2015

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.