Maybe it will come as a big surprise (it certainly did to me), but there is a new grading list out, as a reminder that some over the board chess was indeed played in the first half of 2020. Even though it feels as though we have been in suspended animation for years and years.
Another surprise is that collectively, KCC has had a "good lockdown", as we have far more risers (13) than fallers (8) in the latest list, perhaps indicating, as our esteemed Webmaster pointed out to me, that we should strive to play as little chess as possible, since this is clearly the secret to becoming stronger. Or at least higher graded, which is perhaps a more realistic ambition.
The phenomenon that is Jude topped the KCC performance charts in the latest list, somehow registering another double digit grade increase - which don't forget actually only represents about 10 weeks of competitive chess. This takes his rating rise to 69 points in the last 24 months! And he added another 9 points to his rapid play grade, though here he was exceeded by Billy who went +11.
Jude now sits at the top of both the standard and rapid play English national rankings for his age group (Under 11), while Billy is 2nd/3rd on the two national lists in the Under 9 age group. This is really quite amazing and we should all be very proud of their remarkable achievements.
Our other junior players also kept going in the right direction, with William at +4 (hardly a fair reward for a 100% seasonal score (5/5) for us!) and Vincent (making his debut on the list as a Kenilworth player, and also scoring 100% for us, with 2/2) at +5. Noah has also got his first ever grading and comes onto the list at a very respectable initial level. However, our almost no-longer-a-junior, David, showed early signs of transforming into an old codger by (a) not playing any/many games and (b) keeping his grade exactly where it was 6 months ago. Could these two facts possibly be linked in some way?
Top of the Form
Jude +12
The Club Organiser + 6
Lionel + 5
Vincent + 5
Andy B + 4
William + 4
Chris + 3
Joshua + 3
Dave + 2
Drago + 2
Phil + 2
Billy + 1
Paul + 1
No change
Algis
Andrew P
Andy W
Bernard R
David
Rod
New Kid in Town
Noah
On the Naughty Step
Bruce - 8
Ed - 6
Ben - 5
Mike - 2
Nick - 2
Roy - 2
Bernard C - 1
Tony - 1
Amongst the real old codgers I emerged as the best performer (admittedly several miles behind Jude!), though I think my +6 result owes more to them finding my lost grading points from before Xmas than for my achievements in 2020. Excellent gains were also recorded by Lionel, Andy B, Joshua and Chris, and a shout out to Dave, Drago, Phil and Paul who all saw rating gains in the new list.
The club collectively gained 50 points, while losing 27, for a nett gain of 23. We still have 28 people on the active grading list, since while Steve, Stuart and Matt have all fallen into the inactive category, they have been balanced by Lionel, Noah and Vincent.
There has been a complete transformation at the top of the club ranking list, as perennial Top Dog (an official title, in case you were wondering!) Paul, has seen himself fall to an unprecedented 4th place, behind yours truly, Andy B and Andrew P. But I'm sure the natural order of things will be restored once normal chess activity resumes. Until then, I will try to stay humble and promise not to remind people that I am currently Kenilworth Top Dog ...... more than once a week. Nor will I mention that my "reign" (does that word indicate delusions of grandeur?) as Joint British 65+ Champion has been extended to 2 years. The M in my initials could almost stand for Modesty, he said modestly.
No less than 6 of our number managed to keep their grades static, which can mainly be attributed to inactivity. Of course, we're all inactive at the moment, but the Static 6, as I like to think of them, all seem to have anticipated the shut down and gone into OTB hibernation early. Let's hope that when the metaphorical spring arrives they will emerge from their burrows - just like Punxsutawney Phil! I fear, though, that Algis has played his last game for the club, as he has returned to Lithuania for his new job. Good luck Algis, and it has been a pleasure to have you in the club for the last few years. And Drago's move to London means that he is unlikely to be able to play for us in the near future, at the very least, which will be a big loss to the club. Though Joshua manages to lead a double life between places about 100 miles apart, so if he tried.....?
As if that wasn't sad enough, I now have to turn to the part of these bi-annual reports which deals with the laggards and under-performers who have lost grading points in the last 6 months. But only by exposing this group to public naming and shaming are they likely to be motivated to reverse the decline and stop bringing shame on themselves and the club. This may seem harsh, but compared to the show trials/kangaroo courts I have been contemplating I think they are getting off lightly!
I don't know how Bruce managed to rack up such a large grading decline in the new list, but at least we can all draw comfort from the fact that none of that loss came in KCC matches! I am also pretty sure that most of Ed's loss was not achieved when playing for us, but the same almost certainly does not apply to Ben. Clearly work and literary pressures were getting to him in the early part of the year!
Well, its anyone's guess at the moment whether there will be a January 2021 grading list - and even if there is, it will surely look a lot like the July 2020 one. So we will probably be carrying these grades around with us for longer than usual. For some reason, I quite like that thought!
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