The new ECF grades have just been published, and as these are the ones that will determine board order for the whole of next season they are quite important for everyone. Our super-efficient new webmaster has already updated the relevant page on this site (click the Players tab to discover your new grade), and now it falls to me to mark your report card, according to whether your grade went up or down:-
Top Of The Form
Ben +18
Dave +8
Stuart +7
Rod +6
Andy B +3
Steve +2
Phil +2
Could Do Better
Tony - no change
Nick - no change
See Me After Class
Mike W -1
Andrew P -2
Rajen -2
The Club Organiser -3
Mike D -4
Roy -4
Bernard C -5
Carl -6
Chris -7
Bruce -8
Paul -8
Mike J -10
So, pop-pickers, from our 21 rated players we had 7 risers and 12 fallers, with two non-movers. In total we lost 60 grading points and won 46, for a nett club loss of 14 points - an average of less than 1 point per person. Not bad, really, considering our demographic!
We now have a new club number one - move over Paul and make way for Andy, who edges him out by three points. I wonder what's put the lead back in his chess pencil?
Star man was our current Clubman of the Year, Ben Graff, who increased his grading by a massive 18 points in just 6 months. If he can repeat this for each of the next 7 grading periods he will overtake Matthew Sadler (282!!) as England's highest rated player. Go, Ben!
Tuesday, 2 August 2016
Wednesday, 13 July 2016
Game of the Month, July 2016
The more sporty of you may recall a goal scored by Mark Robins for Manchester Utd against Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup match in January 1990. It came to be known as the goal that saved Fergie's job - and we all know what happened subsequently as a result. I can't claim that July's game of the month offering had quite that much significance, but it sure as hell played a major role in shaping our debut Coventry League season.
The game was played in our very first match, away at Rugby. On Board 4, Rugby's very promising junior, Jamie Kearney, found himself up against our grizzled veteran, Roy Watson. Roy was quite heavily outgraded, and all the smart money would have been on Jamie. The smart money would indeed have won the day eventually, but not before a very exciting, and exceedingly bumpy, ride along the way. Roy repeatedly got himself a winning position, and repeatedly let it slip. Then in a final twist of fate, he blundered horrendously when up on the clock and still with an extra pawn. Tragedy. The match was drawn instead of being won, while Roy's season got off on the wrong foot - and never really recovered.
That really was one that got away. I imagine it was a case of sleepless in Fen End that night. Games like that take a lot of getting over - as we all know, only too well!
The game was played in our very first match, away at Rugby. On Board 4, Rugby's very promising junior, Jamie Kearney, found himself up against our grizzled veteran, Roy Watson. Roy was quite heavily outgraded, and all the smart money would have been on Jamie. The smart money would indeed have won the day eventually, but not before a very exciting, and exceedingly bumpy, ride along the way. Roy repeatedly got himself a winning position, and repeatedly let it slip. Then in a final twist of fate, he blundered horrendously when up on the clock and still with an extra pawn. Tragedy. The match was drawn instead of being won, while Roy's season got off on the wrong foot - and never really recovered.
That really was one that got away. I imagine it was a case of sleepless in Fen End that night. Games like that take a lot of getting over - as we all know, only too well!
Sunday, 3 July 2016
Now where was I?
Hello again folks, its the Club Organiser here again, with more news from the World Seniors Team Championships in Radebeul. As expected, the arrival of Mrs Club Organiser has impacted my blogging opportunities over the last couple of days, but now I can catch up on the last three rounds.
We duly drew our Rd 5 match against Thüringen, with our rampant GM, Jim Plaskett scoring our only win against GM Peter Enders. I sat out our Round 6 encounter against Leipzig, but the team did the necessary as wins on Boards 1 and 2 were enough to see us home 2.5-1.5.
Meanwhile I was undergoing intensive sightseeing in Dresden, which is not called Paris on the Elbe for nothing. Even my cheap phone and poor photographic skills can't entirely hide its glories (though as you'll see, I tried my best!).
We duly drew our Rd 5 match against Thüringen, with our rampant GM, Jim Plaskett scoring our only win against GM Peter Enders. I sat out our Round 6 encounter against Leipzig, but the team did the necessary as wins on Boards 1 and 2 were enough to see us home 2.5-1.5.
Meanwhile I was undergoing intensive sightseeing in Dresden, which is not called Paris on the Elbe for nothing. Even my cheap phone and poor photographic skills can't entirely hide its glories (though as you'll see, I tried my best!).
Despite being only just behind the front runners, we managed to get a reasonably favourable pairing in Rd 7 yesterday, against Ulm. For once GM Plaskett didn't chalk up his customary 1-0, but we still edged home 2.5-1.5. I drew against a 2200+ player after having slight pressure for most of the game, without it ever threatening to become a decisive advantage.
Which brought a stunning pairing today - against the all GM team from Armenia on Board 2, with the match going out live around the world. But why am I telling you this? I know you will have been watching and supporting! In which case, you didn't do a very good job. We fell to a predictable defeat, but not before Plaskett had absolutely destroyed Vaganian on Board 1 with immensely powerful play. Regrettably the 200-400 grading point deficit on the other 3 boards proved unbridgeable. However, I was +1 out of the opening (with Black) against GM Sergey Galdunts, and was still level late into the game, even after I had made an ill fated queen sortie. Eventually my poor queen position forced me to e to jettison a piece for two pawns, but only two moves before resignation I could have made it RRB and 3 against RR and 6, but in bad time trouble I walked into immediate loss instead of taking a third pawn for the piece. Still, it was a competitive game, and not as one sided as I might have feared. Nevertheless, it was still my first loss, so it hurt a bit.
Well, the adventure is almost over, and in tomorrow's final round we play yet another German regional team, this time the 11th ranked Hessische Seniors, who comprise 2 x 2300+ FMs and 2 x 2200s. Meanwhile, England 1 have put themselves in with an excellent chance of a medal by winning 3 of their last 4 matches, including todays 2.5-1.5 victory over top seeds, Iceland - and this despite resting John Nunn. Jon Speelman was the hero, winning the only decisive game on Board 1 against former World Championship Candidate, Johann Hjartarson. And tomorrow they have a dream pairing against Ulm, who we beat yesterday.
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On their way to victory in the England 2 v Leipzig match - FM Andrew Lewis (left) and GM Jim Plaskett (right)
Below are:- (1) Dresden Opera House (2) Zwinger Palace Gardens (with Mrs Club Organiser talking her own photo, left) (3) Frauenkirche (destroyed 1945, rebuilt 1990s)    |
Thursday, 30 June 2016
Draw? Yes Please!
Flash report from Radebeul.
I've just finished my Round 5 game, in which I played GM Lutz Espig in the England 2 v Thüringen match. In his heyday (2505) he would probably have beaten me giving a 30 board simul, but anno domini have seen his rating slide down to 2263. But he's still a GM, so when he offered me a draw on move 21, who was I to decline?? In fact the position was absolutely equal according to Fritz, and not a lot really happened, as you can judge for yourselves below. I was marginally worse at times, but the game never really took off.
All other boards still in play as I write, but we're doing rather well and hopefully shouldn't lose against the 7th seeds.
England 1 are walking all over Obuchiw (a Ukrainian team full of IMs) to get their challenge back on track, while the top board encounter between Iceland and Armenia is a real heavyweight struggle with all e games still in play when I left the tournament hall.
And who says Germans don't have any sense of humour? This piece of street art says quite the opposite! How it made me chortle!
I've just finished my Round 5 game, in which I played GM Lutz Espig in the England 2 v Thüringen match. In his heyday (2505) he would probably have beaten me giving a 30 board simul, but anno domini have seen his rating slide down to 2263. But he's still a GM, so when he offered me a draw on move 21, who was I to decline?? In fact the position was absolutely equal according to Fritz, and not a lot really happened, as you can judge for yourselves below. I was marginally worse at times, but the game never really took off.
All other boards still in play as I write, but we're doing rather well and hopefully shouldn't lose against the 7th seeds.
England 1 are walking all over Obuchiw (a Ukrainian team full of IMs) to get their challenge back on track, while the top board encounter between Iceland and Armenia is a real heavyweight struggle with all e games still in play when I left the tournament hall.
And who says Germans don't have any sense of humour? This piece of street art says quite the opposite! How it made me chortle!
Wednesday, 29 June 2016
A very good day at the office!
It's the Club Organiser reporting from the World Seniors Team Championships again, after a dramatic Round 4.
I love chess. especially when I have a game like I did today. Pawn sac in the opening; then a second; then an exchange sac; and then mate to the White king in the middle of the board. And when its the decisive game in the match, its even better. And it also helps a little bit when your opponent has a rating of almost 2200!! We beat Rochade Bielefeld Revival (a bit easier than taking on the whole of Canada like we did yesterday) by the minimum score, despite resting our FM, Andrew Lewis. A quick draw on Board 2 was followed by a brain freeze moment on board 4, where Kevin Bowmer, in an advantageous bishop v knight ending simply failed to move his bishop when it was attacked. But then GM Jim Plaskett stormed to his expected and powerful victory on top board, and I brought home the bacon on Board 3.
Bad news, though, for England 1 who lost 2.5-1.5 to Germany 1 (at least it didn't go to penalties). Losses for Jon Speelman and Glenn Flear with Black not quite balanced by Mark Hebden's win and John Nunn's draw. Hope it wasn't having breakfast with me (name dropping!) that caused Glenn's loss! And now they're only on the same points as us - that would be an interesting pairing tomorrow!
Today's photo would have been another quiz, except that the answer is quite visible if you look closely, which is a shame, as otherwise you'd never guess. Anyway, its former Soviet and now Armenian super-GM Rafael Vaganian.
Obviously he deserves a photo due to his chess prowess and career, but he's really here as it gives me an excuse to include a most enjoyable game he lost 40 years ago to the massively imaginative, but also eccentric and ultimately tragic, Albin Planinc. Vaganian deserves the utmost praise for walking into a beautiful mate and making this a miniature for the ages, whereas if he'd found the right defence, nobody would remember the game at all.
I'm afraid that these reports are likely to become both shorter and less frequent from now on, as Mrs Club Organiser is arriving this afternoon, so tourism will be assuming greater priority. But at least that should provide plenty more photos for me to post!
I love chess. especially when I have a game like I did today. Pawn sac in the opening; then a second; then an exchange sac; and then mate to the White king in the middle of the board. And when its the decisive game in the match, its even better. And it also helps a little bit when your opponent has a rating of almost 2200!! We beat Rochade Bielefeld Revival (a bit easier than taking on the whole of Canada like we did yesterday) by the minimum score, despite resting our FM, Andrew Lewis. A quick draw on Board 2 was followed by a brain freeze moment on board 4, where Kevin Bowmer, in an advantageous bishop v knight ending simply failed to move his bishop when it was attacked. But then GM Jim Plaskett stormed to his expected and powerful victory on top board, and I brought home the bacon on Board 3.
Bad news, though, for England 1 who lost 2.5-1.5 to Germany 1 (at least it didn't go to penalties). Losses for Jon Speelman and Glenn Flear with Black not quite balanced by Mark Hebden's win and John Nunn's draw. Hope it wasn't having breakfast with me (name dropping!) that caused Glenn's loss! And now they're only on the same points as us - that would be an interesting pairing tomorrow!
Today's photo would have been another quiz, except that the answer is quite visible if you look closely, which is a shame, as otherwise you'd never guess. Anyway, its former Soviet and now Armenian super-GM Rafael Vaganian.
Obviously he deserves a photo due to his chess prowess and career, but he's really here as it gives me an excuse to include a most enjoyable game he lost 40 years ago to the massively imaginative, but also eccentric and ultimately tragic, Albin Planinc. Vaganian deserves the utmost praise for walking into a beautiful mate and making this a miniature for the ages, whereas if he'd found the right defence, nobody would remember the game at all.
I'm afraid that these reports are likely to become both shorter and less frequent from now on, as Mrs Club Organiser is arriving this afternoon, so tourism will be assuming greater priority. But at least that should provide plenty more photos for me to post!
Tuesday, 28 June 2016
A Crazy Day
Well, the headline news from the World Teams 50+ Championships is that England 2 lost to Canada today, by 2.5-1.5, but the match could have very easily gone the other way.
This tournament has provided me with the first ever opportunity to play in the same team as a GM (Jim Plaskett), and today's match was the first I've ever played in which everyone other than me had a genuine FIDE title. We mustered 1 GM, 1 FM and 1 WFM, while Canada weighed in with 3 IMs and an FM, thoughtfully resting their 4th IM today. We were outgraded by 200 ELO points on the bottom two boards, and had almost matching pluses/minuses on the top 2. Regrettably, Professor Elo had a good day today and got the result just about right.
On Board 2, Andrew Lewis got a good draw for us with Black, and amazingly that was the only concluded game for about the first four and a half hours. Then I managed to pull off a draw with Black against FM Paul Ross. I was slightly worse for much of the game, but then things went berserk in mutual time trouble. First white sacrificed an exchange for a pawn. Then he found he had to sac a second exchange, and swap the queens off, so on about move 30 I found myself with 2 rooks against a bishop and a knight. One of my rooks had to give back an exchange, but an all too familiar brain freeze saw me move my king to unpin one rook, forgetting that the other rook was unguarded on a8. So now he had two pieces against my rook, when it should have been rook v knight, and a probable win for me. In a completely random sequence of moves, though, I then lost 2 pawns to knight forks, but my opponent returned the brain freeze compliment by getting his knight trapped, and at the time control it was bishop and 5 v Rook and 2. It should have been drawn, even though White had connected a and b pawns and a monstrous white square bishop, and my king was miles away on the king side. But I put my rook on the wrong square and I was lost. Luckily, though, my last remaining pawn managed to sidetrack his bishop just in time (it shouldn't have) and I was able to liquidate to a draw. Phew!!
And still the madness continued. Plaskett had queen, knight and pawn against queen and three pawns. Both kings were wide open, and regrettably the Canadian player was able to hold the draw. But then to cap it all off, our captain Ingrid Lauterbach lost right at the death with rook against rook and knight. Tragic. The upshot is that we have lost our 100% score, and tomorrow we play a German club team from Bielefeld.
Meanwhile England 1 managed a narrow win against Slovakia (more than our soccer boys could do), with Keith Arkell being the sole winner. Tomorrow they play Germany 1, who are very strong, too, and there is every likelihood they will have to play number 1 seeds Iceland at some point - hopefully putting up a more spirited show than the aforementioned soccer boys, who I think we all agree are an absolute disgrace.
So, I hope you all got the answer to yesterday's picture quiz. The man in the photo was legendary Russian GM, Evgeny Sveshnikov. Anyone who guessed Miguel Najdorf was on the right lines, but about 20 years too late.
No quiz today, but I leave you with some "action" shots of the England 1 team in action yesterday.
This tournament has provided me with the first ever opportunity to play in the same team as a GM (Jim Plaskett), and today's match was the first I've ever played in which everyone other than me had a genuine FIDE title. We mustered 1 GM, 1 FM and 1 WFM, while Canada weighed in with 3 IMs and an FM, thoughtfully resting their 4th IM today. We were outgraded by 200 ELO points on the bottom two boards, and had almost matching pluses/minuses on the top 2. Regrettably, Professor Elo had a good day today and got the result just about right.
On Board 2, Andrew Lewis got a good draw for us with Black, and amazingly that was the only concluded game for about the first four and a half hours. Then I managed to pull off a draw with Black against FM Paul Ross. I was slightly worse for much of the game, but then things went berserk in mutual time trouble. First white sacrificed an exchange for a pawn. Then he found he had to sac a second exchange, and swap the queens off, so on about move 30 I found myself with 2 rooks against a bishop and a knight. One of my rooks had to give back an exchange, but an all too familiar brain freeze saw me move my king to unpin one rook, forgetting that the other rook was unguarded on a8. So now he had two pieces against my rook, when it should have been rook v knight, and a probable win for me. In a completely random sequence of moves, though, I then lost 2 pawns to knight forks, but my opponent returned the brain freeze compliment by getting his knight trapped, and at the time control it was bishop and 5 v Rook and 2. It should have been drawn, even though White had connected a and b pawns and a monstrous white square bishop, and my king was miles away on the king side. But I put my rook on the wrong square and I was lost. Luckily, though, my last remaining pawn managed to sidetrack his bishop just in time (it shouldn't have) and I was able to liquidate to a draw. Phew!!
And still the madness continued. Plaskett had queen, knight and pawn against queen and three pawns. Both kings were wide open, and regrettably the Canadian player was able to hold the draw. But then to cap it all off, our captain Ingrid Lauterbach lost right at the death with rook against rook and knight. Tragic. The upshot is that we have lost our 100% score, and tomorrow we play a German club team from Bielefeld.
Meanwhile England 1 managed a narrow win against Slovakia (more than our soccer boys could do), with Keith Arkell being the sole winner. Tomorrow they play Germany 1, who are very strong, too, and there is every likelihood they will have to play number 1 seeds Iceland at some point - hopefully putting up a more spirited show than the aforementioned soccer boys, who I think we all agree are an absolute disgrace.
So, I hope you all got the answer to yesterday's picture quiz. The man in the photo was legendary Russian GM, Evgeny Sveshnikov. Anyone who guessed Miguel Najdorf was on the right lines, but about 20 years too late.
No quiz today, but I leave you with some "action" shots of the England 1 team in action yesterday.
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| John Nunn and Glen Flear on their way to decisive wins |
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| Jon Speelman seemingly more interested in Mark Hebden's game than his own! |
Monday, 27 June 2016
Germany Calling!
Greetings dear chess friends (that’s how we speak over here!), from the 4th World Seniors Team Championships in Radebeul, near Dresden. I have the enormous honour of playing for England 2 in the Over 50 section of this 9 round swiss tournament. (BTW, this honour is available to anyone prepared to fork out for all the costs!) I couldn’t quite make it into the England 1 team of Nunn, Speelman, Hebden, Arkell and Flear!
The trip has already been rather eventful so far, in both positive and negative ways. First the trip over was rather fraught. Facing an already tight connection in Amsterdam, I was not pleased that we took off 15 minutes late, and then took another 15 minutes to get to the terminal in Schipol after landing virtually in another country and taxiing for miles. I then had to make a mad dash from one end of the terminal to another, and made the onward flight to Dresden by the skin of my teeth. Regrettably, my suitcase didn’t, leaving me with the clothes I stood up in, plus a laptop and a mobile phone – but with no way of recharging them. Thankfully the case arrived about 30 hours after I did, and I am now fully functioning again – except that the internet connection in the hotel is dodgy, and so are the sockets in my room, with only 1 seeming to provide any reliable access to electricity! Could this place actually still be in the DDR?
But enough of my meanderings, what about the chess, I hear you scream?! OK, yesterday we kicked off just after 15.00, with a first round match against Danish club SK 1968 (from Aarhus), and with me playing white on Board 3. My opponent was rated 1926, but I couldn’t help noticing he’d been over 2100 a few years back. Incredibly, the game followed a line I had played only a couple of weeks back until about move 15. The game was very complex, and although I had a small edge from the opening, the balance seemed to be swinging between the players as we traded inaccuracies. Then came the crunch. With 2 minutes on my clock, and in a slightly better position, I needlessly sacked an exchange to get a bishop lodged on f6 in front of his king. I thought it was mate, but with best play it should have just led to a lost position for me. Luckily, my opponent missed the right defence and instead walked into an enormous cheapo based on a weak back rank and a queen sacrifice by me. I won a rook and he resigned a piece and position down. The team chalked up a 4-0 win and everything was hunky dory.
Today we had a local derby match against Scotland. It looked like being another 4-0 sweep at one stage. It was my turn to have a rest today (two games in a row would be so tiring, darling!) and by the time I arrived at the board after a leisurely breakfast (all rounds from now start at the unholy hour of 9.30) we were already 1-0 up, as our star board 1, GM Jim Plaskett had won with Black in about 30 minutes. I then went off for a long walk around this very pleasant town (probably about the size of Kenilworth, but with a rather better river and three railway stations!) and arrived back just in time to see us go 2-0 up. We were a pawn up in one of the remaining games, and a piece for 2 pawns up in the other. But regrettably, things then went wrong. On board 4 our man walked into a knight fork, and on board 2 the Scottish player managed to swap off all the white pawns and advance his one remaining pawn far enough down the board to get a draw, with R and pawn against R + B. So just a 2.5-1.5 win, but honour upheld against our northern neighbours.
I should be back in action tomorrow, when we play a strong Canadian team, who are seeded 7th (we’re 13th, but that’s almost entirely due to having Jim Plaskett in our team!). Internet and electricity issues permitting, I’ll be back with more news in the next couple of days – especially if they involve me getting any more points!
In the meantime, here’s a little poser for you, which I’ll answer in my next post. Who is this aged but very famous GM, who has one of the sharpest variations of the Sicilian named after him? Come on, I’ve nearly given it away, so I’ll expect a 100% success rate on this one.
The trip has already been rather eventful so far, in both positive and negative ways. First the trip over was rather fraught. Facing an already tight connection in Amsterdam, I was not pleased that we took off 15 minutes late, and then took another 15 minutes to get to the terminal in Schipol after landing virtually in another country and taxiing for miles. I then had to make a mad dash from one end of the terminal to another, and made the onward flight to Dresden by the skin of my teeth. Regrettably, my suitcase didn’t, leaving me with the clothes I stood up in, plus a laptop and a mobile phone – but with no way of recharging them. Thankfully the case arrived about 30 hours after I did, and I am now fully functioning again – except that the internet connection in the hotel is dodgy, and so are the sockets in my room, with only 1 seeming to provide any reliable access to electricity! Could this place actually still be in the DDR?
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| General view of the playing hall. Slightly busier than club night at the Engine. |
But enough of my meanderings, what about the chess, I hear you scream?! OK, yesterday we kicked off just after 15.00, with a first round match against Danish club SK 1968 (from Aarhus), and with me playing white on Board 3. My opponent was rated 1926, but I couldn’t help noticing he’d been over 2100 a few years back. Incredibly, the game followed a line I had played only a couple of weeks back until about move 15. The game was very complex, and although I had a small edge from the opening, the balance seemed to be swinging between the players as we traded inaccuracies. Then came the crunch. With 2 minutes on my clock, and in a slightly better position, I needlessly sacked an exchange to get a bishop lodged on f6 in front of his king. I thought it was mate, but with best play it should have just led to a lost position for me. Luckily, my opponent missed the right defence and instead walked into an enormous cheapo based on a weak back rank and a queen sacrifice by me. I won a rook and he resigned a piece and position down. The team chalked up a 4-0 win and everything was hunky dory.
Today we had a local derby match against Scotland. It looked like being another 4-0 sweep at one stage. It was my turn to have a rest today (two games in a row would be so tiring, darling!) and by the time I arrived at the board after a leisurely breakfast (all rounds from now start at the unholy hour of 9.30) we were already 1-0 up, as our star board 1, GM Jim Plaskett had won with Black in about 30 minutes. I then went off for a long walk around this very pleasant town (probably about the size of Kenilworth, but with a rather better river and three railway stations!) and arrived back just in time to see us go 2-0 up. We were a pawn up in one of the remaining games, and a piece for 2 pawns up in the other. But regrettably, things then went wrong. On board 4 our man walked into a knight fork, and on board 2 the Scottish player managed to swap off all the white pawns and advance his one remaining pawn far enough down the board to get a draw, with R and pawn against R + B. So just a 2.5-1.5 win, but honour upheld against our northern neighbours.
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| The local derby - Scotland v England 2. Jim Plaskett conspicuously absent having already won in about 30 minutes! |
In the meantime, here’s a little poser for you, which I’ll answer in my next post. Who is this aged but very famous GM, who has one of the sharpest variations of the Sicilian named after him? Come on, I’ve nearly given it away, so I’ll expect a 100% success rate on this one.
Wednesday, 22 June 2016
That AGM Time of Year
Perhaps the greatest joy of being Club Organiser is the opportunity, nay obligation, to attend no less than 3 AGMs. As a throwaway gesture in the direction of open government, I am able to share the major points to arise from these events.
KCC AGM
All 2015-16 club members have received a copy of the AGM minutes, so there's not really any need to revisit this particular event. Suffice to say that the "Old Guard" largely remain in control of all Club posts, except for the following changes:-
Rod Webb is the new Webmaster
Carl Pickering is the new Social Secretary
Ben Graff is Captain of our new side in the Divisional Cup competition in the Coventry League
LDCL AGM
The major point to take from the Leamington League AGM is the rule change relating to eligibility when a club has two teams in the same division. The new Rule 20 will read:-
"If a club has more than one team entered in the League, then for eligibility purposes the teams shall be considered to be in rank order. EG, if a club has 3 teams, A, B and C, then the A team is considered to be the highest team, and the C team the lowest, regardless of which divisions the teams are in. Captains may call on players from other teams for reserves. However, on playing more than 2 games on any board or boards higher than bottom board in a higher team, then any such player shall be deemed ineligible to play in the lower team for the remainder of the season."
The meeting also discussed at some length the rather vexatious question of match postponements and claims, prompted not a little by the Solihull B - Kenilworth B soap opera from last season. We were basically vindicated, but it didn't do us a lot of good as we still lost the match after we had already won it. However, the meeting was assured that in future the Rules as written would be applied properly. So all club match captains need to be aware that they have to request postponements at least 10 days before the due match date. This may mean that we all have to select our teams a bit earlier than usual if we suspect that player availability may be a problem.
Child protection issues were also discussed, as they had been at the club AGM, and as they were at the CDCL AGM. The upshot is that KCC definitely needs to develop and publish a policy, and this is on the Club Organiser's list of things to do. Luckily, it's currently a very short list.
CDCL
The most contentious issue at the Coventry League AGM was a point which bugged me all season long, namely clubs not adhering to the rule requiring a constant board order (and the league officials refusing to do anything about it). In Division 1, for instance, University A fielded five "illegal" teams; Coventry A seven; and Rugby A nine. No mean achievements in a 14 match season. A rather shambolic vote seemed to leave the rule unchanged - ie there is a constant board order rule, but the Fixtures Secretary (the newly elected Simon Weaver) has the discretion to allow variations. This seems ridiculous to me. Either have the rule or don't. But such is life in AGM world.
And talking of Rules, it became apparent that the Coventry League doesn't really know what it's own rules are. However, League Secretary Mike Johnson is going to accumulate rules from various sources and circulate to clubs with an eye to providing a single, agreed set to which we can all work. This should hopefully address the question of eligibility for the KO Cup, where certain player selections last season seemed to stretch the rules rather further than ideal.
The league decided to dispense with a number of old, redundant trophies and I put in an accepted bid for one of these, which will give us a ready made trophy when/if Ben gets any Club Championship off the ground. Alternatively, it will look quite nice in my office.
I indicated to the meeting that Kenilworth would play in the Divisional Cup next season. Good luck with raising a team for that, Ben!!
KCC AGM
All 2015-16 club members have received a copy of the AGM minutes, so there's not really any need to revisit this particular event. Suffice to say that the "Old Guard" largely remain in control of all Club posts, except for the following changes:-
Rod Webb is the new Webmaster
Carl Pickering is the new Social Secretary
Ben Graff is Captain of our new side in the Divisional Cup competition in the Coventry League
LDCL AGM
The major point to take from the Leamington League AGM is the rule change relating to eligibility when a club has two teams in the same division. The new Rule 20 will read:-
"If a club has more than one team entered in the League, then for eligibility purposes the teams shall be considered to be in rank order. EG, if a club has 3 teams, A, B and C, then the A team is considered to be the highest team, and the C team the lowest, regardless of which divisions the teams are in. Captains may call on players from other teams for reserves. However, on playing more than 2 games on any board or boards higher than bottom board in a higher team, then any such player shall be deemed ineligible to play in the lower team for the remainder of the season."
The meeting also discussed at some length the rather vexatious question of match postponements and claims, prompted not a little by the Solihull B - Kenilworth B soap opera from last season. We were basically vindicated, but it didn't do us a lot of good as we still lost the match after we had already won it. However, the meeting was assured that in future the Rules as written would be applied properly. So all club match captains need to be aware that they have to request postponements at least 10 days before the due match date. This may mean that we all have to select our teams a bit earlier than usual if we suspect that player availability may be a problem.
Child protection issues were also discussed, as they had been at the club AGM, and as they were at the CDCL AGM. The upshot is that KCC definitely needs to develop and publish a policy, and this is on the Club Organiser's list of things to do. Luckily, it's currently a very short list.
CDCL
The most contentious issue at the Coventry League AGM was a point which bugged me all season long, namely clubs not adhering to the rule requiring a constant board order (and the league officials refusing to do anything about it). In Division 1, for instance, University A fielded five "illegal" teams; Coventry A seven; and Rugby A nine. No mean achievements in a 14 match season. A rather shambolic vote seemed to leave the rule unchanged - ie there is a constant board order rule, but the Fixtures Secretary (the newly elected Simon Weaver) has the discretion to allow variations. This seems ridiculous to me. Either have the rule or don't. But such is life in AGM world.
And talking of Rules, it became apparent that the Coventry League doesn't really know what it's own rules are. However, League Secretary Mike Johnson is going to accumulate rules from various sources and circulate to clubs with an eye to providing a single, agreed set to which we can all work. This should hopefully address the question of eligibility for the KO Cup, where certain player selections last season seemed to stretch the rules rather further than ideal.
The league decided to dispense with a number of old, redundant trophies and I put in an accepted bid for one of these, which will give us a ready made trophy when/if Ben gets any Club Championship off the ground. Alternatively, it will look quite nice in my office.
I indicated to the meeting that Kenilworth would play in the Divisional Cup next season. Good luck with raising a team for that, Ben!!
Thursday, 16 June 2016
Viktor Korchnoi - 23 March 1931 - 6 June 2016
Viktor Korchnoi died last week, aged 85. He was an absolute Titan of the chess world (possibly the strongest never to be World Champion), and probably the greatest chess fighter of all time. Almost fitting that his passing should have come just three days after Muhammad Ali, the greatest fighter of all time.
I played Korchnoi once - in a simul, of course. It was at the old Morris Motors factory in Courthouse Green, Coventry, when he was on what was then a traditional post-Hastings tour. He had just come from finishing equal first there, with Karpov (who he beat in their individual encounter), while I was in my first season in the lower reaches of the Coventry League and didn't even possess a grade. We can all guess what happened, but behind Korchnoi's prosaic victory there lies a hidden story, never told until now. Of how the game very nearly became a significant piece of chess history, and without which Bobby Fischer may never have ascended to the chess summit. Intrigued? Bemused?? Disbelieving??? Read on ....... and prepare to be amazed - and ultimately disappointed!
So farewell, Viktor the Terrible. A mighty warrior, on and off the board. We shall not see his like again.
I played Korchnoi once - in a simul, of course. It was at the old Morris Motors factory in Courthouse Green, Coventry, when he was on what was then a traditional post-Hastings tour. He had just come from finishing equal first there, with Karpov (who he beat in their individual encounter), while I was in my first season in the lower reaches of the Coventry League and didn't even possess a grade. We can all guess what happened, but behind Korchnoi's prosaic victory there lies a hidden story, never told until now. Of how the game very nearly became a significant piece of chess history, and without which Bobby Fischer may never have ascended to the chess summit. Intrigued? Bemused?? Disbelieving??? Read on ....... and prepare to be amazed - and ultimately disappointed!
So farewell, Viktor the Terrible. A mighty warrior, on and off the board. We shall not see his like again.
Wednesday, 4 May 2016
Cup Final Triumph!
Last night Kenilworth won the Leamington League Open KO Cup for the second time in three years, defeating Banbury 3.5-1.5 in the final at Olton. So the season ends in Cup glory after the disappointment of finishing runners up again (three times in four years) in the League.
Both teams went into the match missing key players, but its fair to say that Banbury's loss was the greater, as without the very strong (224 grade) James Jackson on Board 1 they were up against it on ratings against our top 3 boards. For us, Andrew Paterson unfortunately got sent to Glasgow on work, and consequently had to miss his first A team match of the season - a phenomenal show of commitment to the KCC cause in his debut season with us, and a great shame that he was not there to contribute to and share in our victory.
Kenilworth went into an early lead. On Board 2, Chris Evans and Andy Baruch set off like whirling dervishes, but it was clear from early on that Andy was playing all the good moves. He more than equalised with Black in about 5 moves and then just about took over the whole board, while White had a rook stuck on a1. He won a pawn, and in the process set up a cheapo - which White fell for - that cost a piece. A few pointless moves were made before we had our first win of the night.
By which stage I had played 13 moves, and Paul had played 10. But an hour or more later we both won at virtually the same time, downing Banbury's Rowan combo. Paul played a very nice controlled game on top board against Paul Rowan, which culminated in a vicious attack on the Black king, that had castled queenside. I missed the last few moves, but I gather it was a very nice finish by Paul. My game on Board 3 against Dan Rowan seemed very one sided, but there was a major flaw in my play, as I basically blundered a pawn in the opening, but instead of taking it, Dan kindly gave me one of his instead. Thereafter it was one way traffic and the game finished around the time control with a mating attack. My second victory of the night after the equally important job of winning the toss for colours!
With the Cup won, I rather lost track of proceedings, and when my brain switched back on the match was over. Carl drew on Board 4 against Nathan Manley after a rather unexciting encounter. Carl had doubled b pawns in a double rook ending, but White couldn't get at them and the position was very equal when a draw was agreed. We suffered our only loss of the evening (and of the whole Cup campaign, in fact) when Ben went down to Neil Staples on Board 5. This was a game Ben should probably have won, as he set himself up for a big kingside attack, but he prevaricated for a couple of moves and Black got too much activity on the other side of the board. A shame for Ben, but he can take consolation from the fact that his semi-final win over Neil Clarke still stands as the Kenilworth game of the season.
So a fourth trophy in three seasons for the club - twice Open KO Cup winners, and League Division 1 (A team) and Division 3 (C team) titles. I think this calls for another celebratory meal, and the Social Secretary will doubtless be in touch with everyone shortly to make the necessary arrangements. (For my part, you can never go wrong with a curry, Paul!)
There can be no doubt that we deserved this latest triumph, as we had to beat the 1st, 3rd and 4th placed teams from the league en route to our success - and by a combined score of 12.5-2.5. Thanks and congratulations to everyone who contributed to the Cup run, which in addition to last night's players brings in Joshua (sob, sob), Andrew and Mike D. And thanks also to Richard and Rob Reynolds of Olton for hosting our Final (and the U-700 and U-120 events) in excellent playing conditions - and to Richard for taking the above photo (even though it makes me look a bit simple!)
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The victorious Kenilworth team with the Cup.
Left to Right; Paul Lam, Ben Graff, Andy Baruch, Mark Page, Carl Pickering
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Both teams went into the match missing key players, but its fair to say that Banbury's loss was the greater, as without the very strong (224 grade) James Jackson on Board 1 they were up against it on ratings against our top 3 boards. For us, Andrew Paterson unfortunately got sent to Glasgow on work, and consequently had to miss his first A team match of the season - a phenomenal show of commitment to the KCC cause in his debut season with us, and a great shame that he was not there to contribute to and share in our victory.
Kenilworth went into an early lead. On Board 2, Chris Evans and Andy Baruch set off like whirling dervishes, but it was clear from early on that Andy was playing all the good moves. He more than equalised with Black in about 5 moves and then just about took over the whole board, while White had a rook stuck on a1. He won a pawn, and in the process set up a cheapo - which White fell for - that cost a piece. A few pointless moves were made before we had our first win of the night.
By which stage I had played 13 moves, and Paul had played 10. But an hour or more later we both won at virtually the same time, downing Banbury's Rowan combo. Paul played a very nice controlled game on top board against Paul Rowan, which culminated in a vicious attack on the Black king, that had castled queenside. I missed the last few moves, but I gather it was a very nice finish by Paul. My game on Board 3 against Dan Rowan seemed very one sided, but there was a major flaw in my play, as I basically blundered a pawn in the opening, but instead of taking it, Dan kindly gave me one of his instead. Thereafter it was one way traffic and the game finished around the time control with a mating attack. My second victory of the night after the equally important job of winning the toss for colours!
With the Cup won, I rather lost track of proceedings, and when my brain switched back on the match was over. Carl drew on Board 4 against Nathan Manley after a rather unexciting encounter. Carl had doubled b pawns in a double rook ending, but White couldn't get at them and the position was very equal when a draw was agreed. We suffered our only loss of the evening (and of the whole Cup campaign, in fact) when Ben went down to Neil Staples on Board 5. This was a game Ben should probably have won, as he set himself up for a big kingside attack, but he prevaricated for a couple of moves and Black got too much activity on the other side of the board. A shame for Ben, but he can take consolation from the fact that his semi-final win over Neil Clarke still stands as the Kenilworth game of the season.
So a fourth trophy in three seasons for the club - twice Open KO Cup winners, and League Division 1 (A team) and Division 3 (C team) titles. I think this calls for another celebratory meal, and the Social Secretary will doubtless be in touch with everyone shortly to make the necessary arrangements. (For my part, you can never go wrong with a curry, Paul!)
There can be no doubt that we deserved this latest triumph, as we had to beat the 1st, 3rd and 4th placed teams from the league en route to our success - and by a combined score of 12.5-2.5. Thanks and congratulations to everyone who contributed to the Cup run, which in addition to last night's players brings in Joshua (sob, sob), Andrew and Mike D. And thanks also to Richard and Rob Reynolds of Olton for hosting our Final (and the U-700 and U-120 events) in excellent playing conditions - and to Richard for taking the above photo (even though it makes me look a bit simple!)
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