 |
 |
Chess congress gives
Witney club chance to shine
Wednesday 21st August 2013
|
 |
|
|
Witney Chess Club’s Marcus Harvey
is the top-rated under-18 in the
country. |
|
THE organisers of Witney’s
first weekend chess congress in October hope it
will further help to put the town on the chess
map and boost local businesses.
The event will be staged at Cokethorpe School,
near Ducklington, on Saturday, October 19, and Sunday, October 20.
Entries are already starting to come in.
Witney Chess Club’s own young
star Marcus Harvey, the top under-18 player in
the UK, has confirmed his appearance, and the
club’s top-rated player, Grandmaster Peter
Wells, is also hoping to enter.
THE organisers of Witney’s first weekend chess
congress in October hope it will further help to put the town on the
chess map and boost local businesses.
The event will be staged at Cokethorpe School,
near Ducklington, on Saturday, October 19, and Sunday, October 20.
Entries are already starting to come in.
More here | Enter the Witney
Congress |
Oxford Times article |
26.4.13 - Matt Rose writes about
Witney's league and cup double in the Oxford Times.
Oxfordshire soundly beat Bucks
By Matt Rose | Thursday
1st November 2012
Oxfordshire soundly beat
neighbours Buckinghamshire by 14-6 when the two
counties met in a Chiltern League open section
match last weekend.
The consensus after the match
was that the contest on board 2 was the pick of
the games - despite the fact that it ended -
perhaps prematurely - in a draw. The game
quickly became very exciting with neither side
flinching from the challenge.
White: Mike Truran (Oxfordshire)
Black: Philip Bonafont
(Buckinghamshire)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Well
OK, the opening is called the Queen’s Gambit -
so Philip accepts the pawn. Still, declining the
gambit with 2...e6 or 2...c6 are much more
popular alternatives.
3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 It’s
almost needless to say that 4.dxe5 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1
Nc6 6.f4 Bg4+ offers White very little.
4...exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6 6.0–0
Be6 7.Bb5 Bc5 8.Nbd2 To me, the dynamic
8.b4!? looks tempting. Then, if 8...Bb6, White
can continue in true gambit style with 9.a4 a5
10.bxa5 Rxa5 11.Nbd2 obtaining good
compensation.
8...Nge7 9.Nb3 Most
top players seem to play 9.Ng5 here - but even
then, Black seems fine after 9...Qd7 10.Nxe6
Qxe6 11.Nb3 Qd6 12.Bf4! Qxf4 13.Nxc5 0–0!
9...Bxb3 10.Qxb3 0–0
11.Bg5!? h6 12.Bh4 Bb6 13.Rac1 a6 14.Bxc6 bxc6
15.Rxc6!? A brave move that in effect offers
a piece sacrifices to open up the black king.
15...g5!? Equally
bravely, Philip accepts the challenge.
16.Rxh6 gxh4 17.Ng5!?
This is where it gets hard. There were several
tempting continuations for White and it’s not
clear which was best. 17.Nxh4 would be met as in
the game by 17...d3 and 17.Rxh4 by 17…Ng6 (here
17...d3 is no longer good because White has
18.Rg4+ Kh8 19.Ne5 with a very dangerous
attack.) 18.Rg4 Kh7 19.Ne5. It’s possible that
17.Rd1 may be best, bringing another piece into
the attack and stopping the annoying d3 idea.
17...d3! Essential and
multi-purpose - but primarily to stop the white
queen swinging across on the third rank.
18.Qd1 Qd4?! Better
was 18...Ng6! to answer 19.Qh5 with 19...Qf6!
defending though giving back an exchange to
20.Nh7.
19.Qh5 Threatening
20.Rg6+ and 21.Qh7 mate. 19...Qg7 20.Rh7 Qf6
21.e5! Qxe5 22.Rxf7 Qh8! It looks highly
unlikely that this defence will hold - but it
does!
23.Rh7 Qe5 24.Rf7 Qh8
25.Qxh8+ Mike goes for the win rather than
acquiesce to the draw by repetition.
25...Kxh8 26.Rxe7 Kg8?
Much better was 26...Rae8! when, of course,
27.Rd7? is met by 27...Rxf2!
27.Rd7 Rad8 28.Rxd8 Rxd8
29.Rd1 c5? An illogical move after which
Mike is close to winning; activating the rook
with 29...Re8 was clearly superior.
30.b3! d2?! 31.Nf3 Ba5
32.Kf1 h3!? 33.gxh3 Kg7 34.Ke2 Re8+ 35.Kf1
Anticipating a repetition and short of time, the
players agreed a draw here. This is
understandable after such a tough fight; but in
fact Mike might have played on with 35.Kd3! and
then after 35...Re1 36.Kc2 Re2 37.Nxd2 Rxf2
38.Kd3 Rxh2 39.Nc4 Bc7 40.Ke4 White has good
winning chances.
Original article here.
Thursday
4th October 2012
Witney's accolade is well deserved
The English Chess
Federations’ new Club of the Year is Witney
Chess Club.
It’s a well-deserved honour
to a club that has undergone a renaissance in
recent years and swept the board for Oxfordshire
top honours last season — winning both the 1st
division title and the Frank Wood Shield cup
competition.
Witney meet from 7.30pm on
Mondays and have a terrific venue: Ducklington
Village Hall.
New members are of course
especially welcome and the club has a thriving
junior section. Oxfordshire’s most promising
junior, Marcus Harvey, 16, is set to join the
club and take on some coaching duties.
Full article here.
Checkmate for group named top club in UK
1:00pm Saturday
15th September 2012
|
 |
|
|
Witney Chess Club player Joost Hoppe, in
red, makes his move |
|
A WITNEY chess group that was
on the brink of collapse seven ago has now been
named the top club in the UK.
Witney Chess Club had just a
handful of members and struggled to enter
competitions but now has a pool of 40 players,
many of them youngsters.
They have been named by the
English Chess Foundation, the body that oversees
chess in the UK, as the top club in the country.
The award follows the success
of their young players, who – after teaming up
with Cumnor Chess Club – won the junior national
league last year.
Mike Truran, the club
treasurer, said: “We are absolutely delighted.
“It gives confirmation that all the hard work we
have been trying to put in place is worth it and
is recognised by the English chess scene.”
Full story with additional pictures ...
Checkmate for group named top club in UK
Saturday, 15
September 2012
|
 |
|
|
Jake Holton |
|
A WITNEY chess group that was
on the brink of collapse seven ago has now been
named the top club in the UK.
| |
 |
|
Mike Truran |
Witney Chess Club had just a
handful of members and struggled to enter
competitions but now has a pool of 40 players,
many of them youngsters.
They have been named by the
English Chess Foundation, the body that oversees
chess in the UK, as the top club in the country.
The award follows the success
of their young players, who – after teaming up
with Cumnor Chess Club – won the junior national
league last year.
Mike Truran, the club
treasurer, said: “We are absolutely delighted.
“It gives confirmation that all the hard work we
have been trying to put in place is worth it and
is recognised by the English chess scene.”
More here ...
|
