4 NCL

The next 3 rounds of the four nations chess league are at the Delta Hotels in Warwick.

29^th April 2 p.m.

30^th April 1 p.m.

1^st May 1 p.m.

 

Coventry have a team in the fourth division and will hope to finish the season strongly and get promoted to division 3.

Any support during the weekend will be welcome and there is also a very well stocked bookstall at the venue.

KO Cup Result

 The KO Cup Final was played yesterday (28/3/2023) and after a very tense finish, Coventry came out on top with a 4-0 (4 - 2.5 with the handicap).

Every player was very conscious that as Coventry University were a Division 3 team, they started with a 2.5 point start, leaving very little room for any player to make a mistake, indeed Coventry University only needed either 2 draws or one win, to win the match and the Cup.

The match started with Coventry winning the Toss and electing to play with the white pieces on odd Boards. The first win came relatively soon with Jonathan Fowler on Board 3 quickly being two passed pawns up and then just rolled them forward. At this point it looked like Coventry Chess may be in for an easy win, however the remaining 3 games proved otherwise and it was some time before Josh Pink won his match on Board 1. Then the remaining Boards on Board 2 & 4 were both very close games with both games being equal for a long period of time, when finally Francis Sagyaman won on Board 2 with the Black pieces after having to play accurately and absorb a strong attack to repel white. He finally managed to get a pin on a knight to the white King in the middle of the Board, which proved to be a winning position after a very awkward opening position for Francis.

This now just left Board 4 and although Coventry Chess were winning 3-0 this was still not enough to ensure a win for Coventry Chess as a loss on this Board would have meant Coventry University winning the match.

One of the challenges of the KO Cup is fielding a team with players that qualify to play for a team, as this competition is the one with the strictest qualification requirements. So finding out that Ed Goodwin one of our regular first team players was unavailable to play, sent me hastily to check previous players possible qualification and scouring previous games for any player that had not played for another team. If we could not find anyone then the match would have been over before it started due to the handicap, a situation, which I believe, had befallen a previous Team. However, fortunately having found a relatively new player who recently joined us and confirming their eligibility with Malcolm Harding, the League Secretary, Zainanbkhan Bozhguolva was confirmed as being eligible.

So, Zainanbkhan was left with the pressure of either winning or drawing the match. For the majority of her game it was equal although her opponent had quite a strong Queens side attack and looked as though they make break through at any time, however Zainanbhkhan played accurately and managed to hold on, however by this time both players were down to 5 minutes each on their clocks and consequently the game turned into a "five minute on the clock game" with both players playing quickly until it came down to each player both having 60 seconds left on their clocks and Zainanbkhan managing to obtain a passed pawn to win the game and match at 10.50pm!

By this time there was still a crowd of players who burst into spontaneous applause! at the ending of this very tense and interesting game. Celebrations then followed with the winning team being presented with the KO Cup and pictures taken(I will try and get some from a player who took some pics)

Congratulations must also go to the Coventry University team who proved to be a formidable team for a Division 3 team and whilst they may be disappointed to lose this match, they have had an incredible season, comfortably winning Division 3 and reaching the finals of the KO Cup. We all agreed they will make a fine Division 2 side and would not be surprised to see them near or top of the promotion spots next Season.

This match signals almost the end of another enjoyable League season (one evening left for Divisional Cup games) and of course our traditional Summer Cup will start after the Divisional cup matches are complete.

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Coventry Juniors . . . Availabilty of Places

 Coventry Juniors Chess are pleased to say all available places are now taken at the moment, however if you would like to be on the waiting list for summer term and/or September then email coventrychessclub@mail.com with your child's name, school year and your telephone number and if a place opens up then we will contact you with further details. 

There may also be Junior events like tournaments or holiday camps this year so it is still worth while registering as you may wish to be on the email list for those upcoming tournaments/holiday camps

Book Signing

 

Local Children’s author and Kenilwoth  Chess Club member, Ed Goodwin, has a book signing at:-

Kenilworth Books in Talisman Square on 11^th February from 10:30 to 13:30

for his new children’s book Amazing Adventures in Time. He I will also have some copies of his first book Journey to the Moon and other stories for sale at a special price.

About the Author

This is Ed’s second publised book after the success of his first book Jopurney to the Moon and other stories.

Ed lives in Coventry. He is a retired IT project manager who now coaces chess to Adults and Juniors

and is a highly rated League player in the Coventry and District League. He also supports blind and partially sighted people in computer skills and creative writing.

Upcoming Tournaments in the Coventry area

 There are a number of tournaments coming up in the Coventry area

for more details click here

Warwickshire Tournaments

Coventry Juniors Chess Club

For any new Juniors we have now added a seperate page to t:his site which will contain any updates for times and dates of all our sessions. So do check it out here :

Coventry Juniors Chess