11th Witney OTB Congress
Saturday 2nd & Sunday
3rd November 2024 at
Cokethorpe School, Witney.
Four sections:
Open, U2000, U1800 and
U1600 with a prize fund of £2000
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Entry fee £30.00
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More here
This event is disabled friendly and
wheelchair accessible.
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You can pay with credit/debit
card or through PayPal |
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Pairings & Results:
Open |
U2000 |
U1800 |
U1600 |
Games
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Information
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Prizewinners |
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Witney
OTB Rapidplay 2024
(event completed)
Sunday
29th September
at
Cokethorpe School, Witney.
Three
sections:
Open, Junior Major,
Junior Minor
Pairings & Results:
Open |
Junior Major |
Junior Minor |
Games
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Information
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Prizewinners
A big
thank you to all the players,
arbiters and helpers for such a
successful event.
This event was disabled friendly and
wheelchair accessible.
A full list of prizewinners will be
published soon.
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Summer Tournament 2024
Matt Holmes and Kingsley Driver came first equal in the summer
tournament on 5.5 points each.
Mike Truran finished in third place with 5 points. After Matt
lost against David Tomboline in Round 7, Kingsley pounced with wins
against the Edwards family in Rounds 7 and 8. A particularly strong
finish to the tournament from Kingsley with 4 consecutive wins!
The final results grid is attached. Thank you to all for
supporting the tournament and therefore enabling the club nights to
be extended beyond the normal chess season.
See you in September,
- Derek Edwards
Results Grid
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Summer Tournament 2023
Thirteen players participated in the end-of-season club
tournament with all 3 Witney teams represented. There were 8 rounds
played over 4 evenings with a rate of play of 25 minutes plus 10
second increment per move.
Top seed Mike Truran (ECF rating 2117) had little trouble in
demolishing all opponents and scored the maximum 8 points.
The other
chess winning machine, Matt Holmes (ECF rating 1855), beat all but
Mike and finished second with 7 points. Derek Edwards (ECF rating
1696) finished third with 5.5 points followed by John Bartle (ECF
rating 1263) fourth on 4.5 points. There were few surprise results
with the possible exception of Ian Gilders' (ECF rating 1672) final
round win over Tomasz Rudny (ECF rating 1919) following a knight
fork and loss of material. A special mention should go to Wiktor
Rudny for his positive enthusiasm despite being outgraded by all his
adult opponents. The full results sheet for all players is attached.
The tournament was played in a good spirit throughout with
experienced and inexperienced players enjoying some fun
end-of-season chess. All are welcome to participate in next year's
tournament in a bid to become the next Witney Chess Club Summer
Tournament champion.
- Derek Edwards
Results Grid
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Dave Barnaby
Some sad news to bring you, Dave Barnby, a major member of the club
in its formative years, sadly passed away at the age of 85 after a
long illness. I'm sure our thoughts are with his wife Francine and
daughter Erica who with with him when he crossed his final finish
line.
A more detailed record of Dave's achievements and adventures will be
in the Witney Road Runners newsletter next week.
-
Steve Hopkins |
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9th Witney OTB Congress
This took
place Sat 5th & Sun 6th November 2022 at
Cokethorpe School, Witney.
Prize fund £1800
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The event
was disabled friendly and
wheelchair accessible.
Thank you for taking part in this
event.
Pairings & Results:
Open |
U2000 |
U1800 |
U1600 |
Replay Games
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Entries
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Prizewinners
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This congress
was a Chessable ECF Grand Prix event |
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Girls U17 European School Championship
by
Rinesa
Saraci
In the spring, I was delighted
to have the opportunity to compete in my first
international tournament: The European Schools
Chess Championships U17 Girls in Rhodes, Greece.
Alongside the rich landscape, the event
consisted of nine standard play games. Having
disproportionately practised fast chess online
over the lockdown period (bullet chess was one
favorite!), adjusting to long over the board
games was challenging.
However, my reputation for being one
of the last to finish was quickly
regained, exiting the playing hall
in round 7 after 5 hours! Although I
was unable to secure the win during
this time, the game was nevertheless
close and hard-fought. Similarly,
despite reaching a winning position
against the top seed and overall
winner in round 5, I was unable to
convert my position to a win. This
was especially disappointing after
having accumulated a four-round
unbeaten streak. Following further
unfortunate losses in rounds 6 and
8, I was all the more determined to
score against my final opponent: a
WCM.
Saraci, Rinesa vs. Parnes, Shira | Girls U17
European School Championship 2022 | chess24.com
For me, these events provided
the impetus I needed to get back into chess
after a few years’ absence, and it has been good
to catch up – even if only virtually – with old
acquaintances from the club. I hope that it has
been a similarly useful outlet for other players
across Oxfordshire. The matches seem to have
been played in an excellent spirit.
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Summer Tournament 2022
After picking up two
further points yesterday
evening, Alan Gentry was
the clear winner of the
summer tournament with
seven points in total.
The outcome was not in
dispute after Alan beat
contender Shira Parnes
in a hard-fought game in
Round 7. Matt Holmes and
Alan Kennedy tied for
second place with six
points after picking up
two wins each on the
evening. Charlie Manning
and Andy Pearson also
finished the tournament
with a flourish, taking
maximum points from the
last two rounds. Most
importantly, some good
chess was played and
enjoyed over the past
four weeks. Thank you
for playing your games
in a friendly and
supportive manner.
See you in September -
Derek
Results Grid
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Here's a nice game from the 13th 4NCL Online Congress Open
Section, which one of Witney CC's junior club members Adam
Sieczkowski won.
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It was the cat’s fault…
by Patrick Moss
With the pandemic preventing
over-the-board play, chess players have been
getting their fix online. With the Oxfordshire
Chess Association setting up the “Mike Duck
Online Tournament” in late 2020, we have now had
two tournaments, with Witney having two teams in
the first one and three in the second.
For me, these events provided
the impetus I needed to get back into chess
after a few years’ absence, and it has been good
to catch up – even if only virtually – with old
acquaintances from the club. I hope that it has
been a similarly useful outlet for other players
across Oxfordshire. The matches seem to have
been played in an excellent spirit.
Continue Reading ... |
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Witney Junior Wins British Online
Chess Championships Under 16 Blitz Title!
Very many congratulations to
Witney Chess Club member Adam Sieczkowski, who
is the new British Online Chess Championships
Under 16 Blitz Champion with a score of 8/9. The
final table is
here.
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Witney
Online Rapidplay 2020
Sunday 20 September.
Pairings & Results:
Open |
Junior Major |
Junior Minor |
Replay Games |
Information & Schedule |
Entries
T hank
you for participating in this event!
The list of winners is published.
Round times: Rd1 - 10.00; Rd2 - 11.30; Rd3
- 13.00; Rd4 - 14.30; Rd5 - 16.00; Rd6 - 17.00.
Entry fee: £5.00 for ECF
members/supporters.
Trophies: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, best
performance prize in each section.
No of rounds: Six.
Time controls: 20 mins + 10 sec increment
Open and Junior Major, 10 mins +5 sec increment Junior Minor.
Tie-breaks: sum of progressive scores
followed by sum of opponents' scores. Games will be ECF online rated.
Contact: Mike Truran
on mike@truranfamily.co.uk
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Witney Rapidplay
2019
This popular one-day event was an excellent
warm-up for the new season, and is one of the best-value congresses
around. It took place on Sunday 22 September. The venue as usual was
The Batt C of E Primary School in central Witney.
Many thanks to all
helpers, parents, Dave Thomas and Mike Truran and of course the
competitors! There were two main sections, Senior and Junior
(Major & Minor).
Results & Pairings:
Senior/Open |
Junior Major |
Junior Minor
| Photos of
winners and runners up
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Reunion
with Allan Short in New Zealand
Allan Short
played for Witney1 in the 1990s. A number of our present club
members will still have fond memories of Allan.
One enjoyable
memory I have is playing in a weekend tournament at the British
Chess Championships in Swansea in August 1995 along with Allan and
Howard Searle. During 1997 and 1998, I played Allan four times in
Witney1 vs Witney2 clashes and in the county individual
championship. Overall, honours were even! Allan met his future wife,
Kendra, whilst working at Cothill House prep school near Abingdon.
They soon decided to relocate to New Zealand, Kendra's home country,
in 1998.
Whilst visiting
Mike Truran at his splendid New Zealand retreat recently, we decided
to carry out some internet research to see whether Allan was still
living in the country. The key search word proved to be “chess” as
Allan, now headmaster at
Waihi
School, Canterbury, South Island, had received publicity for
promoting the game with his pupils.
Within a couple
of weeks, it was my pleasure to meet up with Allan, Kendra and two
of their four lovely children in mid-November. Allan now has little
time or opportunity to play chess regularly, but he is proud that
one of his sons has a keen interest and has played in tournaments.
Allan loves his family life and his work as headmaster at an
independent school for about 100 boys, the majority of whom are
boarding and are sons of farmers. He lives in an old farm house
himself, which has only had two previous owners. Pet sheep and
chickens wander outside.
Allan was keen
to learn how many of his former team mates still play for Witney
Chess Club. He is also looking forward to Mike Truran's planned
visit in the new year.
- Derek
Edwards, December 2019
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Witney playing a
visiting chess team from Leiden
(Netherlands) at the Corn Exchange,
Witney, in the summer 1994. Leiden
is the twin city to Oxford.
Witney players from the back right
include Professor Robin Reeves (retired to Cornwall),
Allan Short, Carl Moxley (after graduating from York
University moved to London to work in the City), Dave
Hackett (still playing for Witney) and Nick Jones (works
in the Low Countries but played last year in the Witney
Rapidplay).
For the record, Witney won the match
6½ - 1½! |
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Seventh
Witney Weekend Congress |
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Summer Tournament 2019
- Derek Edwards
Fourteen players participated in the
end-of-season club tournament, with some higher graded players
compared to previous years participating. A time handicap system was
again employed to give lower graded players a realistic chance of
winning against stronger opponents.
There were 8 rounds played over 4 evenings. After
the first 6 rounds, Dave Blackwell led the field with 5 points,
including notable victories against Howard Searle and Derek Edwards.
However, in Round 7 Dave lost to Alan Gentry, who had now moved into
top position after a slow start to the tournament.
In the final round, Alan (ECF 151) looked set to
win the tournament providing he could overcome a 10 minute time
handicap and beat Shira Parnes (ECF 112). Top seed Mike Truran (ECF
189), with the black pieces, was able to overcome a 20 minute time
handicap and force a win against Dave Blackwell with a mating attack
down the open h file.
Meanwhile, Shira, watched by all the other
players who had already finished their games, was able to overcome
her time pressure and force a surprise win against Alan – much to
Mike Truran`s delight who was left in first position with 6 points.
Alan finished second in the tournament with 5½ points followed by
four players (Howard, Derek, Dave and Shira) with 5 points.
Previous winners of the tournament, Ian Gilders
and Hugo Rayner, finished with 4 points and 3 points respectively.
Other notable results included Bob Kilbride-Newman`s wins against
Mike Truran and Dave Blackwell, Matt Coburn`s wins against Alan
Kennedy and Ian Gilders, and Neil Holt`s win against Matt.
The full results sheet for all players is
attached. The tournament was played in a good spirit throughout,
with young and older players, and inexperienced and experienced
players, enjoying some fun end-of-season chess.
All are welcome to participate in next year's
tournament in a bid to become the fourth winner of the Witney Chess
Club Summer Shield. |
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2019 Oxon Junior Championships |
14.1.19 -
Witney Chess Club member Joshua Soanes (graded ECF 93) won the
Oxfordshire U18 section with a score of 5/6
His results were (ECF grades shown in brackets);
Rd1. Win vs Oliver Frost (41)
Rd2. Draw vs Dimitrius Zakarian (143)
Rd3. Draw vs Shira Parnes (107)
Rd4. Win vs Ewan Bridson (112)
Rd5. Win vs Freddie Beneat (97)
Rd6. Win vs Daniel Varney (183)
Congratulations to Joshua!
Crosstable with full results.
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Sixth
Witney Weekend Congress |
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Witney Rapidplay 2018
This popular one-day event was an excellent
warm-up for the new season, and is one of the best-value congresses
around. It took place on Sunday 23 September. The venue as usual was
The Batt C of E Primary School in central Witney.
Many thanks to all
helpers, parents, Dave Thomas and Mike Truran and of course the
competitors! There were two main sections, Senior and Junior
(Major & Minor).
Results & Pairings:
Seniors |
Junior Major |
Junior Minor
See a small
collection of photos from this event.
For your diary:
Next year's event - Sunday 22 Sept 2019. |
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Summer Tournament 2018
- Derek Edwards
Twelve players
participated in the end-of-season club tournament. A time handicap
system was employed to give lower graded players a realistic chance
of winning against stronger opponents. There were 8 rounds played
over 4 evenings.
In the final round,
junior player Hugo Rayner held Derek Edwards to a draw (opposite
coloured bishops in the end game, although there were still 2 pairs
of rooks on the board) and therefore Hugo was the clear tournament
winner with 7½
points (from a possible 8 points). Hugo achieved 3 wins against
higher graded players and probably didn't need the time handicap in
his favour in order to achieve these wins. Well done!
Derek came second in the
tournament with 6½ points followed by Alan Gentry with 6 points.
Junior player Bill Read had a commendable win against first seed
player Alan in Round 5 and finished fourth equal with Dave Blackwell
on 5 points. Last year`s tournament winner, Ian Gilders, scored 4
points, consistently beating all his lower graded opponents but
losing to all his higher graded opponents. The full results sheet
for all players is attached.
The tournament was
played in a good spirit throughout, with young and older players,
inexperienced and experience players enjoying some fun test. All are
welcome to participate in next year`s tournament.
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Grandmaster Peter
Wells Simultaneous Display
Peter held his annual simultaneous
display at Witney Chess Club’s Ducklington Village Hall venue on
Monday 9 April 2018.
The evening was very successful. 22 players
entered and Ian Gilders was the only one to trouble the scorers with
a draw.
Many thanks to all helpers and attendees.
See a
collection of photos here.
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Elizaveta's recent chess success |
11.1.18 -
Elizaveta Sheremetyeva did very well and came first at the
Oxfordshire Junior Chess tournament in the Under 18 section with a great
score 6/6 and was awarded with "The Frank Wood Trophy".
Well done
Elizaveta!
Josh Soanes and Bill Read also did well at the Oxfordshire Junior
Championships last weekend – they were joint winners of the U15 section
on 4/6.
More News
about Oxfordshire Junior Chess.
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Cowley Christmas Blitz 2017 |
Attendance at this year's Christmas Blitz, held
on Monday 11 December, was seriously affected by the snow the preceding
weekend and the very cold weather and icy conditions on the day. In the
end, 34 players competed, well down on the previous year. Even the
controlling team of Tim Dickinson and Priscilla Morris was depleted,
with Tim unable to travel up to Oxford because of the bad weather. For
different reasons I was also unable to be there, but with Priscilla in
charge and several other club members stepping in to help, all else went
well on the night.
Csaba Koszta (now of Swindon) improved on his
share of first place in the Summer Blitz by winning outright with 8½
points out of 10. He finished a half-point ahead of Cowley's James Cole,
while there was a triple tie in third position, with Oxford City's Phil
Hayward, Cowley's Eldar Alizada and rapidly improving junior, Tom
Shepherd, now of Bicester Chess Club, all on 7½ points. A number
of players who had registered in advance were in the end unable to make
the journey to the event, but one notable exception was Witney junior
Hugo Rayner, who scored 5½ out of 10 and took the prize for the
best visitor graded under 155.
The full list of prizewinners is as follows:
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Rose Hill Methodist Church, Oxford
OX4 4JP |
1st=: Csaba Koszta (Swindon) 8½
2nd: James Cole (Cowley) 8
3rd=: Phil Hayward (Oxford City) 7½
3rd=: Eldar Alizada (Cowley)
Best Cowley player: John Courouble 7
Best visitor: Mark Sayers (Cumnor) 7
Best junior (U18): Tom Shepherd (Bicester) 7½
Best lady: Maria Mate (Cowley) 5
Best U165: Graham Cole (Cowley) 6
Best Cowley U155: Bob Waugh 6½
Best visitor U155: Hugo Rayner (Witney) 6
Best U14: Freddie Beneat (Abingdon School) 6
Best U145: Stephen Ennis (Cowley) 6
Best U130: Mark McLeod (Didcot) 5½
Best ungraded: Zulfi Heydon (Cherwell School) 4
Best U12: Hakeem Asif (Cowley) 2
Best U10: James Deeke (Oxfordshire Juniors) 3½
Best slow starter - 0/2: Peter Cole (-) 3
Best very slow starter - 0/4: Boris Fedorov (Cowley)
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It is a pleasure, as always, to thank: Rose Hill
Methodist Church for allowing us the use of the downstairs Hall for the
event; the Kidlington Chess Tournament for the loan of equipment; and
those who kindly donated prizes for the event or made donations to the
Lester Millin Memorial Fund.
I am also very grateful to: Sara Sengenberger and
Dave Robson, for the transporting of equipment; Sara and Ellie
Sengenberger and Bob Samuels for setting up the hall and equipment; Will
Burt for help with setting up and for taking entries on the door; Bill
Stanley for acting as compere and for manning the wallcharts to keep the
round-by-round scores up to date; Bob Samuels for presenting the prizes;
the many people who helped clear up afterwards; and, in particular,
Priscilla Morris, who controlled the event efficiently and calmly as
ever.
- Gerard O'Reilly (30 December 2017)
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Looking back |
My name is David Norris, and I
used to play for the club as a
teenager in the 1970s. In 1978 I
left to study, and barely played
thereafter.
I read your report and
interview with Keith Broome with
interest, and can maybe supply you
with a few other names from that
period. I certainly remember Keith
and being driven around Oxfordshire
on Thursday evenings to play. If I
remember correctly the club had two
teams then. The top player was
called Anthony Ogus, who I think
lectured at one of the Oxford
colleges. I remember playing against
the OU pieces with John Nunn on top
board, John dashed outside telling
one of his other players that
Anthony could win the exchange and
have a better position, but he
didn't and I'm sure we lost 6-0.
Other notables of the club
were a DJ Williams who was a modern
language teacher at Henry Box. He
ran the school chess club for many
years, and encouraged quite a few of
the school team to also play for
Witney. Apart from myself these also
included Charles Hornsby, Simon
Mills, Peter Baden, and my brother
Martin. Others who I remember from
that time are a John Williams, who
was at Wood Green, there was also a
guy called Tim from Eynsham who had
a stall at Witney market. There are
a few more who I can remember, but
the names are eluding me at present.
I can see that the chess club
is far stronger than it was in my
day, so it is nice to see it as a
success. Hope you find this useful.
Best wishes,
David Norris |
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This popular one-day event was an excellent warm-up for the new season, and is
one of the best-value congresses around. It took place on
Sunday 24 September
2017.
The venue was as usual The Batt C of E
Primary School in central Witney. There were two main
sections, Senior and Junior (Major & Minor).
Pairings, results and
final standings:
Senior |
Junior Major
| Junior Minor
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List of Entries |
See a
collection of photos from the day - with thanks to Andrew
Varney. |
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5 free plastic sets and boards |
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26.7.17 -
We are pleased for the opportunity for Witney Chess Club to claim 5
free chess sets and to include the link to Chess 4 Schools
https://chess4schools.co.uk.
Chess 4 Schools is a specialist retailer of Chess
Sets for Schools and Clubs.
Further news, should we be successful, will be
posted as soon as we know!
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Oxford Times |
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Matt Rose | July 2017 |
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The annual
Cowley Summer Blitz was held on Monday 26th June
at the Rose Hill Methodist Church on Rose Hill.
Matthew Rose reports and includes a very
instructive game played against GM Peter Wells
and a position puzzle (with solution!).
Read more here. |
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Witney Chess Club Summer Tournament 2017
28.6.17 -
Ian Gilders was the top
performer in the Witney Chess Club Summer Tournament, scoring 6.5 points
from 8 rounds. There were 12 players, with 2 further players standing in
when others were unable to attend during the 4 weeks of play. Half the
entries were junior members, and a time handicap system was used to
enable players with lower ECF grades to have a realistic chance of
winning games.
After Round 7, Ian saw his lead in the tournament
slip away after losing his pawn end-game to Howard Searle (who was
standing in for Bill Read). Elizaveta Sheremetyeva took advantage by
beating her fellow junior player Shira Parnes. However, in Round 8
Ian was able to beat junior Hugo Rayner whilst Elizaveta found the
time handicap worked against her when she lost to Thomas Griffiths
whilst under time pressure. This left a relieved Ian Gilders half a
point ahead of Elizaveta.
The tournament was played in a friendly
atmosphere with all players enjoying their chess. It provided a good
opportunity for relatively new players to extend their experience
and for players across the league divisions to play each other.
Click here to see the tournament summary sheet.
- Derek Edwards |
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Megafinal Report 2017 -
from
Elizaveta Sheremetyeva
02.3.17 -
The Oxfordshire Megafinal held on Saturday 29
April at Cokethorpe School attracted over 200 strong juniors, with
Witney players performing creditably.
The most notable success among our
juniors was Hugo Rayner’s 1st place in the U11 section; with 5 out
of 6 points he only lost a tough game in the last round to the 2nd
placed competitor. Hugo achieved the title of U11 Supremo.
Bill Read (U13) - 4½/6
2nd place Freddie Beneat (U11) - 4/6
Joshua Soanes (U14) - 3½/6
3rd place Elizaveta Sheremetyeva (U15) - 3½/6
Suprema
Good luck to everyone in the coming Southern
Gigafinal on the 22-23 July!
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Grandmaster Peter
Wells Simultaneous Display
08.4.17 -
Peter held his annual simultaneous
display at Witney Chess Club’s Ducklington Village Hall venue on
Monday 20 March 2017.
Always a popular event, it received very positive feedback from the
juniors in particular. Peter found time to talk about their
individual games, and signed an autographs
for those that asked.
The evening was open to all Oxfordshire players,
and was well attended.
See a collection of photos here
- with
particular thanks to Paul Girdlestone and club members.
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Kidlington - 2017 Tournament Report
Much to the organizer's surprise,
we had a full house (192 players) for the Kidlington Tournament
nearly a week before the start, with the result that we had to close
entries early.
You can find a full
report of the tournament, as well as
crosstables of the four sections and a full list of
prizewinners on the
Kidlington Chess Tournament website.
Among notable successes by Witney
players, clearly the headline has to be Marcus Harvey's splendid
outright win (repeating his clear victory in 2015) in the Open
section on 4.5/5, ahead of pre-tournament favourite, Grandmaster
John Nunn. (The half-point he dropped was against Nunn in Round 3,
and he beat Oxford University's Portuguese FM David Martins in the
key game of the final round.) Also in the Open section, Dave
Hackett, who I gather played in the very first Kidlington Tournament
as a junior, had an excellent Saturday with 2.5/3, but came up
against even tougher opponents on the Sunday. Jake Holton scored
2/5, in the process marginally outperforming his grading. In the
Oxfordshire Individual Championship revived this season, the title
and trophy going to the eligible player with the highest combined
score in the Open sections at Witney in October and at Kidlington,
David Zakarian emerged as the winner with a total of 5.5 points,
with Zoe Varney in second place on 5 points. (Marcus Harvey scored
4.5/5 at Kidlington, but he didn't play at Witney!)
In the U180 section Alan Gentry
scored well above his grading, scoring three points and losing only
to two of the players who shared second place. In the U145 section,
young Bill Read scored a very creditable 3/5. And in the U120
section Hugo Rayner finished on +1 with 3 points, losing in the
final round to one of the joint winners.
My thanks go to everyone involved
in making the tournament a success: to all who came to play; to the
staff at our venue, Exeter Hall, Kidlington; to Andrew Butterworth
of Chess Direct, for
providing the bookstall and the sets and boards for the tournament,
as well as many of the clocks we used; to Helen Hackett of
Hacketts Food & Drink
of Witney; to Ian Brooke; and most of all to our team of controllers
(Tim Dickinson, Priscilla Morris, Andrew Varney and Lucy Smith) who
ran things in their usual efficient, unruffled and friendly way, and
to our Treasurer, Tom Williams, who is now standing down after being
at the heart of the organization of Kidlington for all the first 40
years of its existence. A very special 'Thank you' to Tom!
The 41st Kidlington Chess
Tournament will take place on Saturday & Sunday 3 & 4 February 2018.
Further details and entry forms will be available later this year. I
hope to see many of you there!
- Gerard O'Reilly |
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Cowley Christmas Blitz 2016
The
Cowley Christmas Blitz, held
on Monday 5 December,
attracted an excellent total
of 62 participants, the
highest number for many
years.
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The tournament resulted in a tie on
9 points from 10 games between
Daniel Varney (Cumnor) and Cowley's
Will Burt, with Daniel taking first
prize on the tie-breaking system.
Third and fourth place respectively
(again separated only on tie-break)
were Cowley's Rich Weston and Mike
Handley.
A number of Witney's juniors
competed. Among them was Bill Read,
who was among the prizewinners for
the third successive Cowley Blitz.
In last year's Christmas Blitz he
won the Best Under-12 prize. This
summer, he won the Best Under-130
grading prize, and last Monday he
won the Best Under-14 prize.
Congratulations to Bill!
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The full list of prizewinners is as follows:
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Rose Hill Methodist Church, Oxford
OX4 4JP |
1st: Daniel Varney (Cumnor)
9/10
2nd: Will Burt (Cowley) 9
3rd: Rich Weston (Cowley) 8
4th: Michael Handley (Cowley) 8
Best Cowley player: Maria Mate 7.5
Best visitor: Dan Rowan (Banbury) 7.5
Best junior (U18): Hari Selvaraj (MCS/Blackbirds)
5
Best lady: Jasmine Burgess (Cowley)) 4.5
Best U165: Ian Bush (MCS/Blackbirds) 7.5
Best Cowley U155: Bob Waugh 7
Best visitor U155: Kelly Riley (Cowley Workers)
6.5
Best U14: Bill Read (Witney) 5
Best U145: Tamal Matilal (Cowley Workers) 5.5
Best U130: Billy McCauley (-) 5
Best ungraded: Jim Vincent (-) 5
Best U12: Jenith Wiratunga (Cowley) 4
Best U10: David Kardashyan (William Fletcher
PSch.) 2
Best slow starter - 0/2: Domas Druzas (Didcot) 5
Best very slow starter - 0/4: Hakeem Asif
(Cowley) 4
- Gerard O'Reilly (11 December 2016) |
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Fourth
Witney Weekend Congress
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This event
took
place on 22nd & 23rd October 2016 at
Cokethorpe School, Witney. There were
four main sections: Open, U170, U145 and U120
with a prize fund of over £1900.
Pairings and Results
Open |
U170 |
U145 |
U120 |
Entries
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Prizewinners
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Photos
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The annual Witney
Rapidplay tournaments took place on Sunday 25
September at the Batt School in Witney.
There were lots of
trophies, medals and certificates! In
addition, there were good quality
trophies for permanent retention for the top
three places in each section. Ties were
broken using sum of progressive scores,
followed by sum of opponents’ scores where
needed.
Senior |
Junior Major |
Junior Minor
Thank you for your support - MT.
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Dates for your diaries
30.8.16 - The AGM is on
12 September
- start 19:30, so we may not run a junior
session that evening (although there will
probably be some chess from around 20:30).
Normal club nights start again on
19 September.
Looking forward to seeing you all for the new season!
- Mike |
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Pavel features in Guardian chess column
29.7.16 -
Michael Adams, the England No1,
is making a rare appearance in the
annual British championship, which
reaches its half-way mark at Bournemouth
on Saturday. Games are free and live to
watch online (starting at 2.30pm), with
master and computer commentaries to help
understanding of what is happening.
Read more in Leonard Barden's column
about the Championships
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Cowley Summer Blitz
Report
11.7.16 -
Although over fifty people
registered for this year's
Cowley Summer Blitz, held on
Monday 27 June, we ended up with
a slightly lower figure of 47
participants. (Perhaps some
couldn't resist the lure of
watching live on TV the England
v Iceland soccer match at the
Euros!).
Full report with results here ... with thanks to - Gerard
O'Reilly.
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Annual
Club Dinner
23.5.16 -
The annual club dinner took place at
Hacketts in Witney on Friday 20 May, and the trophy winners were:
Witney 1: Dave Hackett
Witney 3: Elizaveta Sheremetyeva
Witney 4: Marianne Hauer
Witney 5: Freddie Beneat
Chairman's Award: Josh Soanes
More photos here |
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Peter
Wells Simultaneous Display - 14 March 2016
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Very many thanks
to Grandmaster Peter Wells for
another enjoyable and instructive
evening. Peter as always received
many accolades for his sporting and
generous conduct, including letting
players have numerous move passes
and allowing players to start a
second game in the event of a quick
loss. Mrs T.’s copious refreshments
also went down well, providing the
sustenance needed for the 25
attendees to achieve a number of
wins and draws.
Josh Soanes,
another of Witney Chess Club’s crop
of promising juniors, deserves great
credit for his win against Peter, as
does even younger Hugo Rayner for
his fighting draw, and I understand
that Marc Ives’ draw will shortly be
doing the rounds of Cumnor Chess
Club.
Ian Bush (draw)
and Gary Reynolds (win) also
recorded excellent results. |
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Josh Soanes 1:0
Gary Reynolds 1:0
Marc Ives ½:½
Ian Bush ½:½
Hugo Rayner ½:½
Many thanks to everyone, whether players or
organisers (Alan, Tim, Danny and Faith), for their support, without
which these events could not take place.
More photos here
- Mike |
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Pavel wins
1st prize at the 39th Kidlington
Chess Congress
14.2.16 -
I know it's a bit late but just
a few words about Pavel
(left) winning first prize
at the 39th Kidlington chess
congress on his third attempt.
This is the
first time he has entered the
U225 section as a top seed and
it was a new experience for him,
but he coped very well and went
on to win all his games
finishing top with 5 out of 5!
It was really fine display and
he managed to beat a list of
very strong opponents. After
four rounds he was leading with
4/4 and a point ahead from the
closest rivals so for the fifth
round all he needed was a quick
draw and he would have
guaranteed himself the outright
wining of the tournament. The
game started well and he was
offered a draw after 17-18 moves
but he declined and played on
like a champion!
The game
proved to be one of the longest
games and was entertaining quite
a few spectators at the end of
the tournament and Pavel managed
to show his endgame skills and
won it to finish 5/5.
I am very
happy to see that Pavel is
taking over from where Marcus
has left it and keeping the
Kidlington title with the Witney
chess club! I hope Witney will
continue to see more success
stories of its players for the
years to come!
Prizewinners 2016 |
U225 Crosstable and Results
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Other Crosstables |
- Asen
Asenov |
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Kidlington Chess
Congress 2016
10.2.16 - Witney Chess club were well
represented at Kidlington Chess Congress this
year, there being 11 players from our club spread over the 4 sections.
They were composed of 7 juniors and 4 seniors.
Congratulations must go to
Bill Read who scored 4/5 in the U120 section(2
draws and 3 wins) and came 2nd equal.
Bill has been board 1 for the
successful Witney 5 team all season and has
recently moved up to the 4th team. Definitely
one for the future.
Our biggest plaudits must go
to Pavel Asenov, (the highest-graded U 15 in the
country!) who won the top section, U 225,
with a marvellous 5/5, a
point clear of his nearest rival. At his rate of
progress, I doubt if he will be allowed entry
into that section next year! Pavel showed great
powers of concentration and will to win in his
last match when he could have easily accepted a
draw, forcing the situation in an unbalanced
position before going on to convert a Queen and
pawn ending with consummate skill.
Photos here with thanks to Brendan Gorman
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Tournament Report by Gerard O'Reilly
- Alan Gentry.
Witney Grades -
January 2016
Grades are based on results
up to 30th December 2015. They are not written in
stone. Corrections may be made at any time, both
to game results and to players' details, as
errors come to light. They are based on games
played up to 31st Dec 2015.
For detailed guidance on
using the list, see the new
ECF Grading website.
Cowley Christmas Blitz
Report
The 2015 Cowley Christmas
Blitz was held on Monday 14 December and
attracted 54 entrants, the best total for our
Christmas Blitz in the years for which I have
records. The clear winner, with 9/10, was
Witney's Marcus Harvey, the sixth time he has
won the Cowley Blitz. The only point he dropped
was in the final round against Graham McInnes of
Didcot Chess Club. Sharing second place, a point
behind, were Jake Holton (Witney), the current
British Under-14 champion, and Didcot's Matthew
Staniforth. They were followed by five players
on 7½/10.
The success of Witney juniors
was a noteworthy feature of the event. In
addition to Jake Holton, other Witney juniors
walking away with prizes were Elizaveta
Sheremetyeva, Marianne Hauer, Bill Read and
Freddie Beneat. The complete prize list is as
follows:
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Rose Hill Methodist Church, Oxford
OX4 4JP |
1st: Marcus Harvey (Witney)
9/10
2nd: Jake Holton (Witney) 8
3rd: Matthew Staniforth
(Didcot) 8
4th: Csaba Koszta (-) 7½
Best Cowley player: Will Burt
7½
Best visitor: Graham McInnes
(Didcot) 7½
Best junior (U18): James Cole
(MCS/B) 7½
Best lady: Francesca Matta (Bicester)
6½
Best U165: Geoff Rasell
(Cowley) 7
Best Cowley U155: Oscar Idle
6
Best visitor U155: John Place
(MCS/Blackbirds) 6
Best U14: Elizaveta
Sheremetyeva (Witney) 5½
Best U145: Marianne Hauer
(Witney) 5½
Best U130: Kelly Riley
(Cowley Workers) 5½
Best ungraded: Sandy Ruxton
(-) 7½
Best U12: Bill Read (Witney)
5
Best U10: Freddie Beneat
(Witney) 3½
Best slow starter - 0/2: Ian
Bush (MCS/Blackbirds) 5½
Best very slow starter - 0/4:
John Taylor (Cowley) 4
We at Cowley are grateful to
everyone who helped make the event a success,
especially:
Rose Hill Methodist Church
for allowing us the use of the downstairs Hall
for the event; the Kidlington Chess Tournament
for the loan of the equipment we used; those who
kindly donated prizes or made donations to the
Lester Millin Memorial Fund; John Taylor, Will
Burt, and Dave Robson for particular assistance
with the transporting of equipment and setting
up; Rob Harvey for manning the wallcharts and
keeping the results up to date round by round;
the many people who helped clear up afterwards;
and, above all, our controllers Tim Dickinson
and Priscilla Morris, for their calm and
efficient running of the event.
- Gerard O'Reilly (19
December 2015)
Witney Rapidplay and the third Witney Congress
2015
Just to let you know that all
the details for the forthcoming Witney Rapidplay
(Sunday 27 September 2015) and the third Witney
Congress (the weekend of 17-18 October 2015) are
now available; just follow the “Witney Rapidplay
2015” and “3rd Witney Congress” links above.
You can find the entry forms
for the Witney Rapidplay
here
(separate junior and senior entry forms – please
also note that there are two sections in the
junior tournament) and for the third Witney
Congress here.
If you are able to enter
online, that makes the administration easier all
round! - Mike Truran
Photo from 2014 rapidplay event |
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Weekend
Congress 17 and 18 October,
Cokethorpe School, Witney. |
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Pairings and Results:
Open |
Major |
Intermediate |
Minor |
Entries
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More information | |
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Round times: Rd1 Sat 09.30; Rd2 Sat
14.00; Rd3 Saturday 18.30; Rd4
Sunday 09.30; Rd5 Sunday 14.00. |
Rapidplay
(Sunday 27
September 2015)
Pairings & Results:
Senior |
Junior Major |
Junior Minor
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Entries
| Photos |
Young guns on rise in federation ratings
The latest English Chess Federation (ECF) ratings list has been
published showing the now standard upward march of younger brains at
the expense of their seniors.
Oxfordshire has a fine record of producing
promising juniors and presently boasts some of
the most impressive young players in the country
... [Read
more]
The British Chess
Championships 2015 were held at the University
of Warwick, incidentally where my parents both
went to university.
Before the U14 competition
came the U15, which I suppose was an overall
success: 74 FIDE points won, largely thanks to
beating the second and fourth seeds, but some
bad games, blundering an exchange then
collapsing the game after as a result.
Read Jake's report here ...
12.8.15 -
Many congratulations to Jake, who is the
new British U14 Champion after coming half a
point ahead of pre-tournament favourite Koby
Kalavannan (FIDE rating 2178).
You can find details of
Jake’s performance by following this link:
http://bit.ly/1N2udZm
Pavel also did well in the
Championship itself, scoring 5½/11 with a 2200+
FIDE rating performance and including a draw
against Grandmaster Simon Williams.
Details of Pavel’s
performance can be found here:
http://bit.ly/1JTDQYg
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Older items
from the 2014/15 season are
here.
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New items
from the 2013/14 season are
here.
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News items
from the 2012/13 season are
here.
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