Junior Quadrangular Team
Tournament
by Mike Truran
23.07.2011 -
What will hopefully be a template for future
similar events took place on Thursday 21 July
when four junior teams from Cowley, Cumnor, MCS
and Witney met at Cumnor Chess Club for a three
round rapidplay tournament (15 minutes per
player per game).
A very enjoyable time was had
by all - many thanks to Steve Bennett for making
such an excellent venue available. When the dust
settled after three rounds of hard-fought chess
Cumnor deservedly emerged as decisive winners
with 14 game points out of 18. Such was Cumnor’s
dominance that no other team achieved 50% game
points, with MCS second with 8½, Witney third
with 7½ and Cowley fourth with 6.
23.07.2011 -
Joseph played the following game at the recent
junior quadrangular team tournament at Cumnor
Chess Club. I particularly liked the way in
which he turned down the obvious recapture of a
piece, taking a pawn instead for an irresistible
attack on his opponent's king.
P. McKenna (Cumnor) - J.
Truran (Witney), Junior Quadrangular Team
Tournament 21 July 2011.
20.07.2011 - Here's the
second instalment
of the club minutes from the early days of
its existence. The club members of the time
certainly seemed to like bureaucracy, with
proposals for a club register of attendance,
collection of weekly subscriptions andthe drafting of a
new constitution for consideration at a future
extraordinary meeting (only a year after the
previous constitution was agreed). Or might it
have been that somebody lost the previous
constitution and they had to start again?! -
MT
15.07.2011 - The last proper
Club evening will be this Monday, July 18th,
before we stop for our August break. On Monday
25th July at 7.30pm. we shall have an evening of
sorting and checking all the chess kit we have.
If you can come and help that would be great,
and hopefully there will be time for a few games
at the end. We shall start again on Monday Sept.
5th.
Do keep
practising as we have a busy season ahead. We
shall have four league teams, one in each
division, and hope to give even more youngsters
a chance to play league chess. Do keep looking
at the club web site. You will see how well our
youngsters have done in the UK Chess Challenge
Gigafinals. Thanks for everyone's support
through the year. Cheers, Tim.
8th South Wales
International
15.07.2011 - Peter Wells has won the 8th
South Wales International with 7½/9 taking the
first prize of £1000. The event was held at
Penarth a
town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan
and involved over 70 players from 10 countries.
12.07.2011 - Witney Chess Club was well
represented at last weekend's
Southern
Region Gigafinal at Reading with five juniors
taking part - a great advertisement for the club
and its junior players! My thanks to the parents
for letting me have commentaries (Catriona,
Charlie, David and Faith) and photos (Charlie).
U10 section: Jenni and Jake
both scored 3/6 and Marianne scored 4.5/6. Jenni
and and Marianne were both happy - this was
Jenni's first Gigafinal and she had some long
battles, unluckily losing a couple of games on
time but playing some good combinations. She
also managed to record all her games, a
first at a
competition like this. Marianne beat her score
from last year and beat one of the girls who had
defeated her last week. She only lost to the
girl who won overall. Jake managed a creditable
3/6, but he was disappointed with this final
result as he was 3 wins up after 4 rounds. He
did, however, beat the Kent Supremo!
U12 section:
Joseph scored 3.5/ 6. Apart from being
"massacred" (his word) in one game he kept going
and won his last game to get a rosette which he
was very happy with and is now adorning his
bedside table. He scored 2.5/3 with black, so
it's probably time to work on some white
openings as well!
U13 section:
Isabel had a tough first match against the
ultimate winner but kept going for nearly the
full hour. She finished with 3/6, which actually
placed her third! So she's the first ever Witney
player to qualify for the Terafinal.
Congratulations to Isabel!
Club ladder update
11.07.2011 - Here's the
latest ladder
following this evening's matches. Results: Guy
1-0 Isabel; Guy 1-0 Marianne; Luke 0-1 Andy;
Luke 1-0 Isabel; Jake 1-0
Charlie; Guy 0-1 Joseph. - MT
A fine win
11.07.2011 - Here is
Marianne's fine win from the National Girls’
Chess Championships Midlands Qualifier. Although
her opponent was better for a time in the middle
game, I was very impressed by the way Marianne
seized her chance when it arrived and
constructed a very nice mating net. - MT
National Girls
Championship
05.07.2011
- Marianne went to
the National Girls Chess Championship on
Saturday at St Paul's Girls School in
Hammersmith. It was a tough competition, and
after a first round win, she then played the 2
ultimate winners (both finished on 5.5/6) and
lost both, although in at least one of those she
felt equal to her opponent, and was cross at a
mistake which cost her the match.
In the afternoon
saw a further loss, but she picked herself up,
got on with the coaching with Harriet Hunt and
finished the day with a further win and a draw.
So, 2½ points in total and some hard-won
experience. The advice from Harriet is to learn
a few different openings
- Catriona Hauer.
In June Marianne
and Isabel took part in the Midlands Qualifier
of the Girls National Chess Championship in
Derby. Marianne won the U10 competition and
Isabel was runner up (equal points with the
winner but 2nd on progressive points) in the U14
section.
Click to see a full report here.
Club ladder update
04.07.2011
- There were ladder
games played at the club on Monday. Isabel 1-0
Jake; Marianne 1-0 Keith (Marianne moves above
Keith); Joseph
½-½ Tim; Charlie 1-0 Venetia. The updated ladder
is
here. -
MT
Fixture list 2011/2012
04.07.2011 - The draft
fixture list for the forthcoming 2011/2012
season has been published, and can be found
here.
Triangular Junior Chess
Match vs. Cumnor & Cowley
28.06.2011 - We are planning a
Triangular Junior Chess Match with Cumnor and
Cowley. It will be at Cumnor on Thursday, July
21st starting at 7.15pm. There will be teams of
6 or 8 youngsters. Please can you let me know
your availability and also whether you can help
with transport. Many thanks, .
Club ladder
28.06.2011 - There were
various ladder games played at the club last
Monday - the updated ladder is
here. Please
check it for accuracy - I got the results second
hand! - MT
Cowley Summer Blitz
21.06.2011 -
The 2011 Cowley Summer Blitz was held on Monday
13 June. A total of 44 players took part. An
even more closely foughtcontest than in last December's Christmas
Blitz resulted in a five-way tie for first place
on 8 points out of 10, including three of the
four players who tied for first place then. On
the tie-break first prize went to David Zakarian
of Cowley again.
Congratulations to:
(a) Mark on coming second,
equal on points with the winner.
(b) Mercedes on being the
best U10 prize-winner.
(c) Dave on beating Mr
Zakarian in one game and having him on toast in
the other one.
The full list of prizewinners
is as follows:
1st: David Zakarian (Cowley)
8/10
2nd/3rd: Mark Hannon
(Witney), Will Burt (Cowley) 8/10
4th: Csaba Koszta (Cumnor)
8/10
Best visitor: Robbie Coleman
(Oxford University) 8/10
Best Cowley player: James
Foster (Cowley) 7
Best junior (U18): Marcus
Harvey (Bicester) 7.5
Best lady: Anna Wang (Cowley)
6
Best U165: Phil Neatherway
(--) 7
Best Cowley 155: Ruby Marsden
(Cowley) 6
Best visitor U155: Graham
Cole (MCS/Blackbirds) 6
Best U14: James Cole
(MCS/Blackbirds) 6
Best U145: Liam Glenn
(Cumnor) 6
Best U130: Tony Heslop (--) 5
Best ungraded: Zoltan Kozma
(Cumnor) 5
Best U12: Joana Baptista
(Cowley) 3.5
Best slow starter - 0/2:
Kelly Riley(Oxford City) 5
Best very slow starter - 0/4:
David Sterrie (Cumnor) 4
Best U10: Mercedes
Hobkirk-Capps (Witney) 2
Cowley Chess Club thanks:
Rose Hill Methodist Church for allowing us the
use of the downstairs Hall for the event; the
Kidlington Congress and Tom Williams for the
loan of equipment; all who helped with the
transport and setting up of equipment,
especially John Taylor, Jon D'Souza-Eva, Will
Burt, and Priscilla Morris, as well as the many
people who helped with the clearing up
afterwards; all those who kindly donated prizes;
and of course all those who came along to play.
- Gerard O'Reilly
Success at the Girls
National Championships
13.06.2011 -
Marianne and Isabel took part in the Midlands
Qualifier of the Girls National Chess
Championship in Derby yesterday. The idea was to
get some extra practice and competition
experience - but to our surprise and delight
Marianne won the U10 competition and Isabel was
runner up (equal points with the winner but 2nd
on progressive points) in the U14 section.
The day was full-on chess
with nearly every spare minute between rounds
spent on coaching from IM Jovanka Houska, who
was wonderful. However, the girls also thought
they'd benefited from Dave Hackett's coaching
over the last two weeks, so please pass on our
thanks to him too! Some photos and games from
the event are available
here.
We've now got the dilemma of
whether to miss the Eynsham Carnival to take
part in the final at St Paul's Girls School in
London next month
- Catriona Hauer.
Witney accounts 1972
12.06.2011 - The first
recorded
set of accounts for the club can be found
here. Interesting to see what a significant
share of the club's income the jumble sale
comprised!
- MT
Village Hall
09.06.2011
- The Village Hall will CLOSE at 12 noon
on Sunday 31 July 2011 and RE-OPEN at 3.00pm on
Monday 8 August 2011. This is due to decoration
and maintenance and will apply to the MAIN HALL
and the LILAC ROOM.
Please contact me on 01993 709886 if there
are any problems. Thanks, Sarah.
Club ladder
07.06.2011
- Monday evening's ladder results: Rich 1
Alan 0, Luke 1 Andy 0, Tim 1 Luke 0. The updated
ladder can be found
here.
Witney Archives
31.05.2011 -
Many
thanks to Alan Kennedy for finally tracking down
the club's old minute book (I believe he finally
had to call in sniffer dogs to locate it under
the various piles of debris that have apparently
accumulated in his office over the years). I
will be publishing extracts from it at
periodical intervals;
here's the first
instalment, the very first set of minutes
for the newly formed Witney
&District
Chess Club, rising like a phoenix from the ashes
of the old Saddlers Arms club. Interesting to
read that one of the first actions was to set up
a ladder competition. "Plus ca change, plus
c'est la meme chose", as they say in New
Zealand. - MT
Cowley Summer Blitz
29.05.2011 -
Hello everyone, I'd be grateful if you
could publicise this notice (see below) in your
club and remind any members of your club/squad
(or other friends) who might be interested that
this year's Cowley Summer Blitz is taking place
on Monday 13 June. All chessplayers are welcome.
- Gerard
The 2011 Cowley Summer Blitz
will be held on
Monday 13 June
at Cowley Chess Club (at Rose Hill Methodist
Church in the Main Hall downstairs). All
chessplayers are welcome.
As usual, there will be ten
games (five rounds playing games with both
colours). A cash prize will be available for the
tournament winner, and lots of other prizes of
books, etc., including grading prizes, prizes
for juniors in various age groups, for the best
slow starter, etc.
Donations of
(non-alcoholic) prizes will also be gratefully
received.
Round 1 will start at 7:15pm
sharp. Players should register by 7pm at the
venue on the night if they haven't registered
their entry in advance, to enable pairing cards
to be written and the first round draw to be
completed promptly. Prizegiving will be at
approximately 9:45pm. (It will be possible for
young juniors for whom a 9:45pm finish is too
late to play in either two rounds [8:05pm finish
approx.] or four rounds [8:55pm finish approx.]
if this is arranged in advance.)
Entry fee: £3, to be paid
when you arrive on the night. Proceeds will go
to the Lester Millin Memorial Fund. We will also
be glad to receive donations for the Fund.
Please register your entry in advance if
possible (it helps us to make a
prompt start) by sending an email to
blitz@cheekychess.org.uk giving the following
information (or fill in this form and hand it to
Gerard O’Reilly):
Name:
Club:
Grade (Standard-play rather
than Rapidplay if you have one):
Age at 1st September 2010 if
under 18:
Finally, if the entrant is a
junior who can play in only the first two (or
the first four) rounds, please specify which in
your email.
Advance
registrations by email can be accepted until 12
noon on Monday 13 June.
No Club Monday 30th May!
29.05.2011 -
As it's a
bank holiday
weekend, I
suggest we don't meet at the chess club tomorrow
evening.(MT)
More Club dinner photos
24.05.2011 -
More
club dinner photos have been added,
including pictures of Tim and Mark and their
trophies for chairman's award and best scorer
respectively.
23.05.2011 - Well known junior coach and
organiser Andrew Martin has recently been
pulling together some useful instructional
material for juniors.
This is what Andrew says:
'I have started a new channel, backed by Yateley
Manor School, where I'll be posting
informative clips from time to time. I have
no doubt at all I'll get support from quite a
few sources, so the content may be rather
diverse. You are welcome to visit and comment.'
I would be interested to hear
from some of our juniors as to what they think
of the videos.
Club Ladder
19.05.2011 - OK ... I've turned Rich
Weston's "hard copy" board
into a spreadsheet so that we can keep both
formats going over the summer months. If you can
think of better nicknames for yourselves, let me
know!
If you can give this your
support the club committee would be really
grateful. The juniors in particular like it, and
if it gives them the chance to play some
"official" games against the adults over the
summer so much the better.
Ladder Results
17.05.2011 - Some ladder results from
yesterday evening: Luke 1 Marianne 0, Andy 1
Jake 0, Gareth 1 Matt 0, Guy 0 Joseph 1.
Twin success
16.05.2011 - Twins Mercedes and Venetia
Hobkirk-Capps (8 yrs) started learning chess
when 6 years old, but have non-chess playing
parents, so had to learn everything from their
chess club. Venetia has been diagnosed
Asperger's Syndrome (a form of Autism), so
concentration is a challenge but the organisers
at Witney Chess Club have been extremely
supportive.
Venetia won the
Gloucestershire 'Under 7 Suprema' Cup at the
British Land Chess Challenge Megafinal in 2010,
and also the 'Under 8 Suprema' Cup at the
Gloucestershire Magafinal 2011 (Northern
Gigafinal in Derby, July 2011). Both girls have
numerous cups and medals from various
tournaments, but jointly share the Silver
Trophy, for the 'Smartest Girl 2011'.
They also have individual
trophies for 'Wiltshire and West of England
Under 8 Best Girl 2011', but jointly share the
Silver Cup for 'West of England Under 8 Girl
Champion 2011' (with twins being in the same age
group they often score the same points and are
asked to 'play-off for the title/trophy but
mercifully, sometimes they are allowed to
share!).
The girls play for
Oxfordshire and hope to get an ECF grade this
summer. Both thoroughly enjoy Monday evenings
(7.15 - 9.00pm) at the
Witney Chess Club,
which is very welcoming to beginners of any age
and the more experienced player.
- Charlotte Hobkirk-Capps.
Pictured: Proud winners Venetia (left) and
Mercedes.
Club dinner and match
photos
16.05.2011 - Alan Gentry has kindly
provided some pictures from the recent club
annual dinner in May and some (belated) photos
from the City 1 vs. Witney 1 match on 10th
December last year (which finished in a 3-3
draw) are also available. See them and those of
Mercedes and Venetia above on our
club photo gallery.
Recent article
10.05.2011 -
Here's a
nice article
about Witney
1's Division 1 title that appeared recently in
the Oxford Times.
Ladder Tournament
10.05.2011 - After the unfortunate loss
of the first chess ladder (dismantled by persons
unknown), Rich has worked hard to recreate a new
one (this time with a smaller board that can be
locked away in the cupboard or taken home).
Please support this new venture by (a) turning
up at the club during the summer months to play
ladder games (b) coming up with new nicknames if
you think Rich hasn't been imaginative enough
with his own creations.
Recent ladder results of
which I'm aware: Derek 1 Alan 0, Isabel 0 Joseph
1. Please let Rich and/or me have the results of
ladder games as and when they are played so that
the ladder can be kept updated.
Enjoying Witney CC
Warning for
those of a sensitive
disposition
- this video contains some swearing.
09.05.2011 - Our occasional junior
reporter Luke Plowman tells us why he enjoys the
chess club. Hopefully Rich has managed to
reconstruct the missing ladder to avoid
disappointment! I was interested by the way to
read that juniors aren't always the
technological masters of the universe I thought
they were. Clearly Eddie Izzard isn't the only
one to have problems.
'Here's another thing for
the club website. Sorry that I haven't sent
anything for ages but I was thinking what to
do and then our CPU blew up but it turned out
something wasn't plugged in.
At WITNEY CHESS CLUB
there’s a ladder and it’s really fun if you’re
not trying to be competitive. The ladder is a
big piece of cardboard with the names of all the
players at and their nicknames in the order of
how good they are.
You can challenge people
up to three places ahead of you and if you beat
them you swap places with them. It’s really fun
and I enjoy it a lot and I’m sure you will too
if you join WITNEY CHESS CLUB.' - Luke
Witney Photos
08.05.2011 - ... and here are
the promised
photographs
from 1992 and 1993. Omnia mutantur, nos et
mutamur in illis.
Witney Archives
08.05.2011 - Alec Toll and
Derek Edwards have recently been burning the
midnight oil unearthing some old club records
from the early 1990s. The first instalment has
been posted on the
Archives
page
- a big newspaper article on Witney Chess Club's
1992/1993 league and cup successes in the Witney
Gazette for 9th September 1993. Various
annotated photos from the Frank Wood Shield
finals of 1992 and 1993 and the various trophies
won by the club at the time will be following
shortly. Many thanks to Alec and Derek - and if
anybody else can lay their hands on any
historical material to do with the club I would
be glad to receive it.
News update
06.05.2011 - As well as
Joseph's success at the Berkshire Region
megafinal, Witney Chess Club juniors did very
well at the Oxfordshire Region megafinal. Jenni
(4/6), Jake (4/6) and Marianne (5/6) all
qualified for the gigafinal in the U10 group,
with Jenni coming third equal (and beating the
girl she tied with) and Marianne second in the
U10 girls. Isabel won the U13 girls Suprema
title with 4/6 in the merged U13 section and
also qualified for the gigafinal. Andy got 3/6
in the U12 section, a very creditable result in
a tough competition but unfortunately just short
of the qualifying mark. Our very own Alan
Kennedy awarded the prizes.
News
03.05.2011 - 1) One of our juniors,
Joseph Truran, qualified for the British Land UK
Chess Challenge gigafinals over the bank holiday
weekend when he scored 4½/6 to come second in
the U12 section of the Berkshire Region
megafinals. Did any of our other juniors
take
part in the megafinals, and if so how did they
do?
2) At the final 4NCL
weekend of
the season Brown Jack (for whom Mike, Peter R.
and Tim play) came third in Division 3 and so
are promoted to Division 2 of the 4NCL next
season. The report on the final weekend is
available
here.
Cowley 4 vs. Witney 3
08.04.2011 - Finally catching up after a
hectic week and the final match report of the
season. Witney 3 finished the season off in
style against the
bottom team Cowley 4. Luke finished very
quickly such that I didn’t get to see much other
than he was ahead on the brief looks I had
... continue
reading.
- Roger
Annual Club Dinner
07.04.2011 -
The annual chess club dinner is scheduled for
Saturday 7 May at Hacketts (7.30 for 8.00). I've
negotiated a discounted price of £19.95
for three courses plus coffee. Spouses, partners
etc., are very welcome as usual. Menu and
further details are
here.
The Waiting Game
by Catriona
07.04.2011 - Chess, for parents, is a
waiting game. I'm sitting in a school classroom
(not on an infant-sized chair for once, at
least!) and I'm
waiting.
And waiting. Chess is so different from other
sports where you share in the action and know it
will be all over by a given time.
[Continue
reading]
Congratulations
06.04.2011 - First off, congratulations
to all three Witney teams. We had a fantastic
season, with two gold medals and a bronze (on
goal difference). That sounds like a great
result in anybody's book, and if there were an
OCAaward
for best club of the season I think there would
be only one candidate. Well done to one and all.
By the way, I think it's somewhat
counter-intuitive (to say the least) that a team
with a game point difference of 16 should come
third to a team with a game point difference of
2 (really? only 2??) and I shall raise the
matter of tie breaks again at the next AGM.
06.04.2011 - Witney2 drew 3-3
with City2 last night in our final match of the
season. This leaves us in
third position in Division 2 on 17 pts,
behind
City2 in second place. Click
here for
Derek's detailed report and to see Howard's
reply.
Results
05.04.2011 - Witney 1 are Division 1
champions. Huzzah! Detailed
report to follow.
Witney Chess Club History
04.04.2011 - I've recently had the
privilege of spending some time with our longest
serving club member Keith Broome and discussing
the club's history. Keith is a mine of
information on the early days of the club, but
I'm hoping that there is more that we can
recover - so if any of you have any memories
that you would like captured for posterity.
In particular, I'm looking
for copies of the photos of the Witney team with
the Frank Wood Shield trophy when we won it in
the 1992/1993 season. Keith was able to locate
them, but unfortunately they seem to have
accidently been consigned to the rubbish bin
together with the copies he had made before he
was able to hand them on to me. If anyone can
let me have copies it would be a great addition
to the club's archives.
[Read more about
our club's history]
Frank Wood Shield sf -
by Sean Terry
03.04.2011 - In the end a
comfortable win for the visitors, who needed to
score 4 points to gain a match victory against
the Witney second side – a result which somewhat
flattered Oxford while masking some performances
of merit by the hosts. Read Sean's match report
in
WORD or
PDF. See acollection of
photos from the match. Click
here to play through all games.
Frank Wood Shield sf
29.03.2011 - Witney2 crashed
out of the Frank Wood Shield semi-final last
night to City1. The score was ½-5½ but it wasn't
as easy for the high-flying Div1 side as the
score suggests.
[Read
more]
Witney 1 vs. Oxford City 1
25.03.2011 - As the 2010-11 season draws
to a climax, the question of whether things
would end with a bang or a whimper had been
largely decided a few
weeks
earlier when City dropped a point against Cowley
2 – but a win tonight would still leave them
with an outside chance of Witney tripping
themselves up in their last match (v Cowley 1,
April 3).
24.03.2011 - A thorough thrashing on
Tuesday night away to Bicester1 - unfortunately
we were on the receiving end! Bicester, as
expected, put out a strong side
... continue reading.
Witney 3 v Wantage 3
23.03.2011 - Last week Witney
3 continued their winning ways with a tight win
over Wantage 3. The evening started with Andy
losing quickly but hopefully
learning at the same time.
[Read
more]
Witney 1 v Oxford City 1
22.03.2011 - As Virgil put it, "Forsan et
haec olim meminisse iuvabit" or as they say in
Witney ... @!#$%*. Are we going to snatch
defeat from from the jaws of victory after all?
After losing to City 1 we maintain a tenuous one
point advantage over them.
[Read
more]
Club ladder competition
15.03.2011
- Rick
Weston has set up a club ladder competition to
stave off boredom during the long months ahead
when OCA league chess takes a back seat.
Could I encourage you to take part in it please,
as it will give many of us a much needed
opportunity for more serious practice (as
opposed to successions of five minute games!)
when there are no league matches taking place.
Rick has kindly produced a set of rules (which
will no doubt be refined over the course of
time) and these can be found at the club; if I
can get a copy of the rules from Rick I will
post them on the website as well. Rick has also
created various nicknames for each of us
(of varying quality, it has to be said), so if
you want to ensure that your "nom de guerre" is
as you would like it, please have a look at the
ladder board and let Rick or me know if you can
come up with something better.
Being Average: Occasional
Ramblings About Life in the Middle Lane (article
1)
10.03.2011
- Being an average player is great. I
don't know what grade makes you average, but we
know who we are! This may help:
Your mind wonders off to
playing chess on holiday in Spain or Kashmir
You can play for several
teams (for reasons you don't understand)
You go quiet when there
are discussions about the rules
You will do ANYTHING
rather than be last to finish
You will make a big
effort to improve 'next' season
You get asked to say
'something' for the website, 'anything'
YOU are the heart and soul of
club chess; the middle lane road-hog. Even when
overtaken you won't move over. Now you know who
you are I will come to the point of this first
article....which is....how to deal with
finishing last.
I spent three seasons
dreading finishing last and it finally happened.
It was every bit as terrifying as my nightmares.
I had to go to the toilet again. I can't
remember if I was four pawns or a minor piece
ahead; and I can't remember if I lost or got
perpetuated. I can't remember if it lost us the
match, the cup or the season (PTSD I guess). It
doesn't matter. The important thing is I am
still in the middle lane, and I am not moving
over.
Thanks for reading ... it has
helped me a lot to 'come out' here. Look out for
my next article about brilliant moves.
- Anon
Website endorsement
10.03.2011
- I
just have to congratulate you on this site -
it's really good. Where some club sites fester
this is really quickly updated and very readable
(even to a non chess player like me). Plus, both
my girls find it really encouraging to get name
checks! Thank you to and to everyone who keeps
it updated. - Catriona
Summary from the OCA
website of the latest state of play
10.03.2011
- Witney 1 have a five-point lead in
division 1 but City 1, with a game in hand,
can still just catch them. City 1's January loss
to University 1 looks like the decisive result.
Barring vast numbers of defaults, Didcot 1 are
relegated.
Division 2 is tight. Witney 2's loss this
week to MCS Blackbirds 1 means that Witney are
level with Bicester 1 but have played a game
more, with University 2 just a point behind.
Bicester defaulted their match at Witney so the
top two haven't yet played this season. It's
tight at the bottom too, with MCS and Cumnor 1
holding a narrow advantage over Wantage 2
although Cumnor have the toughest run-in.
In
division 3 Cowley 3 have dropped just a
single drawn match all season and a single match
point from a possible six will make them
champions. Bottom spot lies between Banbury 2
and draw specialists Cowley Workers (6 draws
from 10 matches so far!). Banbury and the
Workers still have to play one another so they
can't both overtake Didcot 2 or Bicester 2, both
of whom have superior head-to-head records
against the bottom two.
A win this week over Cowley 4
has ensured that Witney 3 win
division 4. St Clare's and Cowley each won
at one another's venues (but nowhere else) and
look to have a private battle for last place.
MCS Blackbirds 2 could still theoretically
finish bottom, but a point against either St
Clare's or Cowley 4 would kill that possibility.
Wantage & City 5
09.03.2011 - Wantage and City 5 played
last night with an outstanding win for City 5.
Witney 3 are now in an unassailable position and
I can confirm that,
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
A big thanks to all the
players this year who have all made this success
possible and with two games to go. With Witney 1
nearing their title it's looking like an
excellent year for Witney Chess Club.
Wantage 1 ½-5½ Witney 1
09.03.2011 - Wantage 1 ½-5½ Witney 1. A
comfortable win in the end, although to be fair
the score was slightly flattering. Read Mike's
Witney 1 board by board summary
here.
Bad result
08.03.2011 - A bad
result for Witney
2 last night at home to MCSB1. MCSB1 seem to be
our bogey team - they have won only 3 matches
this season and 2 of these have been against us
... [more]
'Opening preparation for
the Club Player'
Grandmaster
Peter Wells
08.03.2011 - Upwards of 30 people
attended Peter Well’s lecture on (almost) the
above topic, organised by
Witney CC,
and a pleasant and thought-provoking evening
resulted – punctuated by lively discussion, tea
at the interval and some post-match pub analysis
in the Bell Inn.
Click to
read Sean Terry's lecture report.
Excellent night
07.03.2011 - An excellent
night for Witney 3 as we rolled out a number of
Juniors and they all played well ...
[continue
reading].
02.03.2011 - Witney 3 took
another step closer to the title with a hard
fought victory over City 5 on Monday.
Clickhere to
see Roger's report and
here to see Patrick's game from the match.
Peter Wells simul photos
27.02.2011 - Some
photos
taken at the recent Peter Wells evening are now
available on
our gallery.
4NCL Photos
27.02.2011 - Our roving
reporter Sean Terry of Oxford City took a number
of photos at the recent 4NCL weekend at
Sunningdale in which the Oxford and Brown Jack
teams played.
Click to see them here.
4NCL Weekend 3, 19th & 20th Feb 2011
21.02.2011 - The Oxford 2 and
3 teams were in action this weekend in Division
3 of the 4NCL together with Swindon-based Brown
Jack, for
whomPeter
Richmond, Tim Headlong and Mike Truran from
Witney Chess Club also play. Both Oxford 2 and
Brown Jack are flying high and are in the frame
for promotion to Division 2. Sean Terry of
Oxford City Chess Club has been kind enough to
send through most of the games from the various
matches.
Click to see the games.
10.02.2011 - The Witney 1 v Cowley 2
match report (played 7th Feb) is
here
& Witney 3 v MCS/B2's match report (also 7th
Feb) is
here.
Website layout
03.02.2011 - Match reports for
Witney 1,
2,
3 and the
Frank Wood Shield
can now be found on their own pages of the site.
In the near future the
games page will be
similarly divided. This is to make access to the
information easier and reduce the length of the
homepage.
20.01.2011 - Please see the attached
from Gerard O'Reilly regarding the forthcoming
Kidlington tournament Sat 5th & Sun 6th
February. This is a really excellent tournament
which it is well worth playing in. Hacketts
To Go will, as last year, be providing the
refreshments.
Dear all,
I would be grateful if you
could bring to the attention of your fellow
club/squad members the following announcement
about the upcoming
Kidlington Tournament:
Exeter Hall - The Congress venue
The 2011
Kidlington Chess Tournament is taking place
on Saturday and Sunday 5th-6th February. There
are 3 sections (Under-145, Under-180, Under-225)
of five rounds each.
The prize fund is excellent as always
(over £1700), with a bookstall from Chess
Direct, and refreshments available. Entry fee
£25. Entry forms should be available at local
chess clubs, or can be obtained direct from me.
They can also be downloaded from the Congress
website,
http://home.btconnect.com/OCA/kid.htm where
you will also find further details of the event.
Please enter in advance if
you possibly can (it helps us to make a prompt
start to the first round).
However, we will we not
turn away players who turn up early on the
Saturday morning to enter. We look forward to
seeing many of you there for an enjoyable
weekend's chess!
Gerard O'Reilly (Kidlington Tournament
Secretary)
Peter Wells Simul
20.01.2011 - Mark Hannon got the only
other draw to be achieved in the Peter Wells
apart from Gareth's.
Here it is.
Peter Wells Simul
19.01.2011 - Gareth Stevens from Cumnor
Chess Club has submitted
his excellent draw from Peter Wells' recent
simultaneous display - one of only two players
to prevent a clean sweep by Peter.
Congratulations Gareth!
Oxfordshire represented
19.01.2011 - As many of you will know,
Oxfordshire is represented by Oxford (three
teams) and Banbury in the 4NCL - and Dave
Hackett and I also play for Swindon-based Brown
Jack in the 4NCL. Sean Terry of the Oxford City
club has kindly sent me a large collection of
games from the various matches
played by the Oxford teams at the recent 4NCL
weekend which you may find of interest. Also;
Mark
annotates his game against Wei Sin Tan
from the recent Frank Wood Shield match.
Sean has kindly provided
a PGN of games from the above match on 13th
Jan (see below
right).
Oxford City 1 vs. Witney 1
06.01.2011 - Our games from the match
Oxford City 1 vs. Witney 1 on 6th December are
now available to play through
here.
Email from OCA League
Secretary
06.01.2011 - We recently received the
following email from OCA League Secretary George
Spalding in connection with a dispute a couple
of years ago (which some of you may remember) in
which the Wantage player failed in an attempt to
claim a draw after the end of the game on the
grounds that the Witney player had insufficient
winning material (K+R vs K+R). What he should
have done was make a claim under the OCA's
version of article 10.2 of the FIDE laws of
chess ("the two minute rule").
Hello Folks,
You may have noticed that
International Arbiter Alex McFarlane is now
writing a column in the BCM Magazine, answering
readers problems. Just out of curiosity I sent
him the details of the Wantage-Witney dispute of
a couple of years back.You will not perhaps be
surprised by the fact that his judgement was the
same as that made by the OCA Committee - a win
for White (the Witney player). But it is good
to know that the right decision was made by
us based on the facts. See page 33 of the
January 2011 issue ( Vol 131, No 1) for details.
The moral as always is
- claim BEFORE your flag falls!
Happy new year to you all!
George
The wording of article 10.2
is below. I strongly recommend that if you have
a moment you look at the OCA's interpretation of
article 10.2 in the Guidance for Captains
document on the OCA website
www.oca.oxfordfusion.com/GetDocuments.cfm.
It might happen to you!
Article 10: Quickplay
Finish
10.1 A 'quickplay finish' is the
phase of a game when all the (remaining) moves
must be made in a limited time.
10.2 If the
player, having the move, has less than two
minutes left on his clock, he may claim a draw
before his flag falls.
He shall summon the arbiter
and may stop the clocks. (See Article 6.12.b)
If the arbiter agrees the
opponent is making no effort to win the game
by normal means, or that it is not possible
to win by normal means, then he shall
declare the game drawn. Otherwise he shall
postpone his decision or reject the claim.
If the arbiter postpones
his decision, the opponent may be awarded
two extra minutes and the game shall
continue, if possible in the presence of an
arbiter. The arbiter shall declare the final
result later in the game or as soon as
possible after a flag has fallen. He shall
declare the game drawn if he agrees that the
final position cannot be won by normal
means, or that the opponent was not making
sufficient attempts to win by normal means.
If the arbiter has
rejected the claim, the opponent shall be
awarded two extra minutes time.
The
decision
of the
arbiter
shall be
final
relating
to (a),
(b) and
(c).
Matt Rose report
03.01.2011 - Matt Rose has a report on
December's Witney 1: City 1 match in the Oxford
Times here:
My thanks to Matt for
selecting my loss for publication!
Peter Wells Evenings (2)
16.12.2010 - As most of you will
hopefully know, we will be holding two more
evenings with Peter Wells in the new Year on 17
January and 21 February.
The flyer gives more information, and I very
much hope that as many of you as possible will
be able to attend. Please note the 31 December
date for discounted entry fees - I will be at
the club on Monday 20 December should anyone
wish to sign up then.
Peter Wells Evenings
Peter Wells
16.12.2010 - As many of you will already
have seen from the OCA diary, Witney Chess Club
have engaged Grandmaster Peter Wells to hold two
sessions at Ducklington Village Hall on;
17 January
(simultaneous display) and
21 February
(modern opening preparation)
These evenings are open to
all Oxfordshire players, and we are very much
hoping that, as with last season's sessions,
they will be well attended such that further
such evenings can be arranged in the future.
In order to encourage early booking so that
we can get an idea of likely numbers we are
proposing the following prices, which are being
held at last season's levels:
1. Both evenings booked by 31
December: £10.00.
2. Individual evenings booked
before 31 December: £6.00.
3. Bookings after 31 December
and on the night: £7.50 per evening.
Light refreshments (coffee,
tea etc) will be included in the price.
If you would like to attend,
please make cheques payable to "Witney Chess
Club" and send them to me at The Old Farmhouse,
7 Church Street, Ducklington, Witney, Oxon OX29
7UA. For the first evening (simultaneous
display) Peter has asked that numbers be limited
to 30, and so we will need to accept bookings
for this evening on a first come first served
basis. For the second evening (modern opening
preparation) we will be able to accommodate
greater numbers in our spacious new venue!
We would be very grateful if
you could publicise these evenings within your
various chess clubs - as well, of course, as
attending yourselves!
London Chess Classic
08.12.2010 - Anyone interested in
watching chess at the very highest level (yes,
even higher than Witney 1) could do a lot worse
than to attend the London Chess Classic at
London Olympia.
I went up on the first day
(Wednesday) and found it utterly absorbing.
The 2010 London Chess Classic
is the strongest event ever to be held in
Britain with eight of the world's best players.
Among them are world champion Viswanathan Anand,
from India (current rating 2804), 20-year-old
sensation Magnus Carlsen, from Norway (2802) and
former world champion Vladimir Kramnik (2791).
The facilities for spectators
are excellent, with a giant screen showing each
day's four matches, which take place
simultaneously, above them in the main
auditorium of the Olympia Conference Centre.
In a separate room, there is
detailed analysis of each game by grandmasters
and international masters, in which the audience
are more than welcome to chip in with their own
suggestions.
The day I was there GM Daniel
King, IM Lawrence Trent were doing the analysis
- again very clear for the audience on a giant
screen - with GM John Nunn chipping in.
I witnessed an exciting win
by Michael Adams (Eng) against David Howell
(Eng), and a surprise win from Luke McShane
against Carlsen, the Norwegian getting himself
into all sorts of problems on the back rank.
Entry costs £10 and there is
much to see, in addition to the main matches,
with numerous other events, a simultaneous
involving Viktor Korchnoi, and of course
hundreds upon hundreds of chess books and other
memorabilia for perusal and on sale. The event
lasts until December 15th and I highly recommend
it, for anyone with an interest in the game. It
is fascinating to see the world's best players
in the flesh (Kramnik has such an air of
authority about him) and I'm already planning to
go back again one day next week.
06.12.2010 - Huzzah! We made a surplus of
£3.68 towards club funds!
More importantly, quizmaster
Alan Kennedy ensured that the evening went with
a swing, although the lack of sports questions
and general knowledge questions hampered the
style of some of us (Dave Hackett and me
respectively) - or are we just being bad losers?
My team was, however, able to boast a clean
sweep on naming all the streets on a Monopoly
board thanks to Jules Kennedy. A sign of a
mis-spent youth methinks. Faith Truran arranged
an ample supply of drinks (wine, soft drinks)
and nibbles, with a few wine bottles left over
which served as prizes for the winning team
(Mark Hannon, Ian Meyrick and Faith).
Fifteen courageous souls
braved the cold to attend - many thanks to you
all for your support.
Cowley Christmas Blitz
05.12.2010 -
The 2010
Cowley Christmas Blitz will be held on Monday 13
December
at Cowley Chess Club (at Rose Hill Methodist
Church in the Main Hall downstairs). All chess
players are welcome.
Asusual, there will
be ten games (five rounds playing games with
both colours). The
tournament winner may take either a cash prize
or one of the donated prizes from the table, and
there will be lots of other donated prizes of
books, etc., including grading prizes, prizes
for juniors in various age groups, for the best
slow starter, etc.
Further
donations of (non-alcoholic) prizes will be
gratefully received on the night.
Round 1 will
start at 7:15pm sharp. Players should register
by 7pm at the venue on the night if they haven't
registered their entry in advance, to enable
pairing cards to be written and the first round
draw to be completed promptly. Prizegiving will
be at approx 9:45pm. (It will be possible for
young juniors for whom a 9:45pm finish is too
late to play in either two rounds [8:05pm finish
approx.] or four rounds [8:55pm finish approx.]
if this is arranged in advance.)
Entry fee: £3, to
be paid when you arrive on the night. Proceeds
will go to the Lester Millin Memorial Fund. We
will also be glad to receive donations for the
Fund.
Please register your entry in advance if
possible
(it helps us to make a prompt start) by sending
an email to
blitz@cheekychess.org.uk
giving
the following information (or fill in a copy of
this form and hand it to Gerard O'Reilly):
Name:
Club:
Grade (Standard-play rather
than Rapidplay if you have one):
Age at 1st September 2010 if under 18:
Finally, if the entrant is a
junior who can play in only the first two (or
the first four) rounds, please specify which in
your email.
Advance registrations by
email can be accepted until 12 noon on Monday 13
December.
02.12.2010 - Just a reminder
about the forthcoming quiz evening on
Saturday evening 4 December.
The plan is to start at around 7.30 pm
with some drinks and nibbles, with Alan
Kennedy then leading us into a gentle
set of general knowledge quiz questions
to exercise the little grey cells and
closing with some more drinks.
There'll be a
small charge of £5 per person to cover
room hire and a modest contribution to
club funds. Drinks and nibbles will be
free (the village hall licence doesn't
allow us to charge for alcoholic
beverages).
We very much hope
that you can attend - it should be a
convivial and sociable evening, and you
can all laugh at me when I get grumpy
because I don't win. Please
bring spouses, partners, children
etc along - the more the merrier. We
promise no chess questions.
If you could give me
an idea before hand as to whether you
can attend that would be really helpful
in terms of planning the catering
arrangements.
We look forward to
seeing you there! Members from other
clubs are of course very welcome.
