Merry Christmas everyone

Weather and health permitting hoping to see some of you this evening at the Workers Club. Meanwhile here is a chess-related Christmas Card that I made using Taxedo incorporating the lyrics from Wizzard's 'I wish it could be Christmas every day'. Couldn't resist that chess piece template. :-)

At last!

Thanks John. Here's the game for anyone who's interested.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Divisional Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.12.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Andrew Turk"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bd6 4. Bc4 a6 5. a3 h6 6. O-O b5 7. Bd5 Rb8 8. b4
Nf6 9. d3 Ne7 10. Bb2 c6 11. Bb3 Bc7 12. d4 Ng6 13. Ne2 Nxe4 14. dxe5 Ng5 15.
Ng3 d5 16. exd6 Bxd6 17. Bxg7 Rh7 18. Re1+ Ne6 19. Nf5 Rxg7 20. Nxg7+ Kf8 21.
Nxe6+ fxe6 22. Bxe6 Qf6 23. Qxd6+ Ne7 24. Qxb8 Kg7 25. Bxc8 1-0

The move I took the longest over was 17)Bxg7. It was reminiscent of Michael Corleone in the restaurant scene from "The Godfather". I knew once I'd made that move, there was no going back!

Rugby C v Coventry C

Simon Turner 1- 0 Dave Filer
Darius Draskinis 0- 1 H Jones
John Hall 0.5- 0.5 Simon Weaver
Andrew Turk 1- 0 Trevor Beesley

So we won the Match 2.5 - 1.5
Darius had a won position, his opponent was ready to resign, played on, could have had a draw through repitition, played on and lost.....

Andrew won his first long play game and it was a cracker too; well done Andrew, this should fill you with confidence now!

The English defeated

This is the first (and only) time I tried using the English Opening. I felt I lost it from 4 ... D5 , which is a depressingly early time to be losing a game, because from then on I seemed to be on the defensive all the time. Obviously the English Opening is a tried and trusted beginning so I must assume operator error. Any help would therefore be greatly appreciated.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Coventry League"]
[Site "Rugby"]
[Date "2010.11.2"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Andrew Turk"]
[Black ""]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. d3 dxc4 6. dxc4 Qxd1+ 7. Nxd1 Nb4
8. Ne3 Bc5 9. Kd1 Ne4 10. Bg2 Nxf2+ 11. Kd2 Nxh1 12. Bxh1 Bxe3+ 13. Kd1 Bxc1
14. Kxc1 f6 15. a3 Nc6 16. Nd2 Be6 17. b4 O-O 18. e3 Rfd8 19. Kc2 Rd7 20. Rd1
Rad8 21. Be4 Kh8 22. c5 Bg4 0-1

Cov League tables at the half way point

An improvement for the A team after 0% in the first 3 matches !


Nice to see both teams doing well in Div 2.


Good luck D team for an upturn in your fortunes !

Classical Dutch but on the wrong side of the board?

Here is yet another Dutch defence with a twist as I was on the receiving side of it for once. It is also the game in which contains one of my best combinations spanning the entire board. From the Bh6 to the Ra8.

I have also tried to include a lot of comments so that hopefully players of any range can benefit.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Div Cup, Nuneaton B vs Rugby A"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.9.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "N Kadodwala"]
[Black "O Cosham"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "157"]
[BlackELO "144"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 {An unusual move for me lol} 1... e6 {and he plays my favourite move
against me!} 2. Nf3 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 7. Nc3 {so we
have a Classical Dutch position but with me conducting the white pieces
instead of the black pieces. } 7... Ne4 {A move I've never played myself but
white has to do something about that annoying knight.} 8. Qc2 {Applying more
pressure to the knight and trying to find out what he is going to do about
it.} 8... Nxc3 9. Qxc3 Bf6 {A good move by which I was 'out of book'. Black's
plan is simple... to play ...e5. I can't stop it but can counter with my own
pawn break - namely e4.} 10. Qc2 {To get out of the pin of the Bf6 and to
support my own e4 break.} 10... e5 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. e4 {And here it is. Both
sides have completed what they have set out to do but what now?} 12... fxe4!?
{More in spirit of Black's defence would have been 12...f4 with a pawn sac to
which he gets good attacking chances against my king.} 13. Nd2 e3?! {Fritz
likes this move but one which I cannot recommend as the e3 pawn keeps a black
knight out of d4. The reason black played it was to try and make his weakness
on e5 less vunerable.} 14. fxe3 Bg5? {This is a common idea in the classical
dutch but wrong in this position as white can can develop and protect the weak
e3 pawn easily.} 15. Rxf8+ {Trading rooks first is important as I can lure his
queen to a tempo development as we shall see.} 15... Qxf8 16. Ne4 {The knight
comes to a good outpost and uncovers the Bc1 to defend e3} 16... Bh6!? {Black
prefers to keep the pressure on the e3 pawn with the bishop but his only
developed piece (Bh6) cannot really do anything else as the rest of the game
shows.} 17. Bd2 {Developing not the Bc1 but the Ra1.} 17... Nc6 {A natural
square for the knight but as you can see its only sqaure it can go to is b4 so
as long as I keep an eye on that it shouldn't be a problem.} 18. Rf1
{Developing again with tempo against the queen.} 18... Qe7 19. Nc3! {The
knight was placed well on e4 but I thought it would be even better on d5.
Notice how weak black's center light squares are namely e4 and d5 and my
knight is taking massive advantage of this. This is a typical idea when
playing against an isolated pawn (e5).} 19... Be6 {Finally developing the Bc8
that is the only piece to defend these light squares.} 20. Nd5 Qd7? {A mistake
which is understandable because putting the queen on a light square can only
be a good thing to defend them? Right?} 21. Rf6!! {WRONG!! The only thing
wrong with the Qd7 is this. This is probably the best move I've ever come out
with yet I found it within 30 secs. The point is that it cannot be taken
without allowing a deadly knight fork at f6 and the threat is 22.Rxh6 gxh6
23.Nf6+ again winning the queen. } 21... Kh8 {However I did have to calculate
the follow up otherwise I would be forced to retreat my rook and would not have achieved anything
anything.} 22. Rxe6! {This is part of the combination to win a pawn. } 22...
Qxe6 23. Nxc7 {Notice how effective how annoying a centrally placed knight is.
From threantening to jump into f6 to striking c7.} 23... Qc8 24. Nxa8 {And
finally trading its life for the enemy rook.} 24... Qxa8 {So white has won a
pawn after all that. So what? You might ask. White's advantage is much more.
Blacks light squares are still weak and he has lost his light squared bishop.
Black's queen is on the worst square possible. So how to capitalise?
Infiltrate is the name of the game. Both whites bishops are nicely placed so I
need to improve my queen.} 25. Qf5 g6 26. Qd7 {Notice how whites queen has
imfiltrated beautifully using the weak light squares. } 26... Nd4 {Black is
desperate to get some play going for him however white does not have to
oblige.} 27. Qxb7 {Why not take another pawn and threatnen to trade queens,
without black will have no play whatsoever.} 27... Qf8 28. Qa8! {Forcing the
trade with which Oliver sighed with frustration at the sight of this move.}
28... Nc2?? {This does not help him at all and this bad move is a product of
the psychological blow he received from 27.Qa8.} 29. Qxf8+ {Trading queens
like planned.} 29... Bxf8 30. a3! {An important move to make to trap the
knight.} 30... Bc5 {Makes a threat.} 31. Kf2 {Defends the threat.} 31... Kg7
{They say in a bad position is impossible to make a good move.} 32. Be4 {And
Oliver resigns as he loses his knight. The game ends with the light squared
bishop taking advantage of weak light squares... the story of blacks life in
this game.} 1-0

If your wondering how the knight gets trapped then the analysis should help. It isn't hard but the key aspect is to keep taking squares away from the knight and drive it towards the edge of the board.

So after 32...Nc1 33. Bc3 with the threat of b4 winning a piece. A bishop move loses for example 33...Bd6 34.b4 Nb3 35.Bc2 trapping the knight. So black has to play 33...Nb3 34.Bc2 Nc1 35.Bd2 winning the knight so black has 2 possible knight moves which both lose.

The 1st is 35...Na1 (not a good place for a knight anyway) 36. Bd1 (or Ba4) followed by 37.b4 winning the knight.

The 2nd is 35...Nc1 36.Bd2 Na2 37. Bb1 (or Bb3) again winning the knight.

I hope everyone enjoyed the game in which I demonstrated, mainly to myself, that I can play main line openings and still get a good position. Please leave comments good or bad, unless your name is John Naylor lol.

Ed Goodwin v Bob Wildig

Our final First division game of the first half of the season ended in a good win for the A team and the following happened in the game between Bob Wildig and Ed Goodwin.
(Get it ?? Goodwin, Good win ...... Oh well...)

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov League "]
[Site "Div 1"]
[Date "2010.11.23"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ed Goodwin"]
[Black "Bob Wildig"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 Nbd7 6. Ng3 c5 7. d5 h5!? {I
have no idea whether or not this is a good or a bad move} 8. h4 Ne5 {But at
least e5 is now a secure square for the knight.} 9. Be2 a6 10. a3 Bg4 11. f3
Bd7 12. Be3 Qa5 13. Qd2 b5? {A bad move.} 14. cxb5 axb5 15. Rc1 {Instead White
should have played 15 Nxb5 Bxb5 16 Qxa5 Rxa5 17 Bd2 and Black will lose the
exchange for a pawn. However after 15 ... O-O 16 Qxa5 Rxa5 Black would have
had reasonable compensation for the pawn.} 15... b4 16. axb4 Qxb4 17. f4 Nc4
18. Bxc4 Qxc4 19. Nce2 Qb3 20. e5 Ng4 21. Bg1 O-O 22. Ne4 Ra6 23. Rh3 Qb8 24.
Rg3 Bf5 25. N2c3 Rb6 26. Na4 Bxe4 27. Nxb6 Qxb6 28. Qe2 Bxd5 29. Qd2 Be6 30.
exd6 exd6 31. Rd3 Re8 0-1

I look forward to Nalin playing better games in chess competition

Congratulations to Jamie Kearney

Now that Jamie is the joint under 12 Warwickshire Closed Champion there is even more reason to challenge him on the Rugby Junior Chess Club ladder, then after Christmas we should do well as a club when we enter the UK Chess Challenge.

I look forward to playing better games in chess competition

Lightning competition

This sounds like something Harry Potter might be interested in. Can anyone tell me more about this? Do I need to bring my wand?

It's week-end

What a lovely week-end!!

Statistics and Blog Analytics

John Naylor was pointing out a while ago that the number in the counter on the bottom page of this site is getting bigger and bigger. Its now over 7500. First of all this does NOT mean that we have 7500 users (unique users to use the jargon). Its counting page views, which may be repeat visits by the same people, and count several page views in one visit.

Last August I added some script to start collecting stats on site visits in a Google Analytics account. This is more detailed and accurate. Since then we have apparently had 242 'absolute unique visitors'. Which is many more than we have in our club. GA also shows where the 'traffic' comes from, and one of the spikes was caused by a reference from ecforum (English Chess Forum) where they were talking about setting up chess blogs and trading links (see here). WE GOT A MENTION ALONGSIDE SUSAN POLGAR'S BLOG. Thank you Michael Jones.

Want to know what he said about us? 'Rugby: http://rugbychessclub.blogspot.com/ Works pretty well, with several players making regular contributions.'

So ... besides being dead chuffed, I would like to see some contributions chaps. C'mon, I know that you can do it. If you are rusty meet me at the next social chess (6 December) and I will show you/remind you what you need to do.

And now a win !

Yes - the first team beat University A.
John Naylor won, Bob Wildig drew and Jonathan Cox won. Late replacement Paul Hardstaff fell victim to a fairly vicious attack but the fact he was deputising for Nalin was a help to the rest of us! Thanks Paul.

HOORAY - the first team got a point

All right then - hooray.

At last after a succession of losses the first team managed to get a point v Cov B in this weeks match. Nalin and Bob both drew and it was left to Jonathan to get a win against Mike Johnson which happened when a tricky attack finally undermined Mike's defences.

D Team does well ...

The D Team did well, with no losses. Jim won as Board 1, Chris won by default in Board 2 from a no show (she did some homework instead), Joe had a good draw on Board 3 and Rhys won his first ever match as Board 4.

I've noted this below. It was his longest ever match he says and although he was chewing his pen a time or two I think he did better than I would have. To prove it I played Gordon immediately afterwards and he thrashed me convincingly. A good win by the D team against a strong side.

Play Online Chess

[Event "CDCL Div 3 Match"]
[Site "Nuneaton"]
[Date "2010.10.26"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gordan Crump"]
[Black "Rhys Davies"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "70"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. Bb5 Bd7 8.
O-O Nxe5 9. Bxd7+ Kxd7 10. Nb5 Qb6 11. Nbd4 Nxf3+ 12. Nxf3 Rd8 13. Ne5+ Kc8
14. Nxf7 Nf6 15. Nxh8 Rxh8 16. c3 Rd8 17. b4 Bd6 18. Rb1 Bc7 19. Bg5 h6 20.
Bxf6 gxf6 21. Qf3 Qd6 22. g3 f5 23. Qe3 h5 24. h4 Bb6 25. Qg5 Rh8 26. Qf6 Bd8
27. Qxh8 f4 28. Kg2 Kb8 {Trying to get the King safe so not to worry about
him. } 29. Qxh5 a6 30. Qh6 Bc7 31. Kh3 fxg3 {Threatening mate if fxg} 32.
Qf8+?? {This was the big mistake move. } 32... Qxf8 33. fxg3 Qg8 34. Rf3 Ka7
35. b5 Qg6 36. Rb4 a5 37. Rg4 Qb1 38. Rg7 Qh1+ 39. Kg4 Bb6 40. Rff7 d4 41.
cxd4 Bxd4 42. Rg8 Qe4+ 43. Rf4 Qe5 44. Rc8 Qd5 45. a4 e5 46. Rff8 Qe6+ 47.
Kh5 Be3 48. Ra8+ Kb6 49. g4?? {This was an unfortunate move ...} 49... Qh6#
0-1

Cov League results

In the C team match Nigel Malka drew, Paul Hardstaff won and Malcolm Harding won ! Default on bottom due to late withdrawal.

So the C team won 2.5 - 1.5

In the A team match we lost to University B 1.5 - 2.5

Bob Wildig won, Jonathan Cox lost (trying too hard Jonathan !) Simon Turner drew, Olushola Borisade lost.

Div 3 Leamington League result.

The Rugby team made the long trip down to Chipping Camden on Monday (11th Oct). We lost the match despite strong games on all 3 boards. However the venue was quaint - a cottage belonging to the local church. The hosts were also hospitable; pouring us a cup of tea at the start of play. I like that!

A. Grimes 0.5 vs Roy Talbot 0.5
W. Langley 1 vs Jim MacDonald 0
W. Nash 1 vs Joe Oswell 0

Chipping Camden won 2.5 to 0.5

Div 2 result

The result between our 2 division 2 sides was as below :

Board 1. Jonathan Cox 0.5 - Nalin Kadodwala 0.5
Board 2. Simon Turner 1 Nigel Malka 0
Board 3. John Hall 1 Darius 0
Board 4. Josh Stehr 1 Andrew Turk 0

So the B team beat the C team 2.5 - 1.5

First CDCL outing for Rugby Team D ...

A triumph for new player Olushola Borusade (who won as Board 2), and a good night for Roy Talbot who drew (on Board 1). Not so pretty for Joe and Chris who both lost. Chris's loss is shown below. Advice on where she went wrong and how to avoid in future would be appreciated. It started so well ...

Play Online Chess

[Event "CDCL Division 3"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.10.5"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pegler (Rugby D)"]
[Black "Blunden (Coventry E)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "64"]
[BlackELO "46"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. g3 Bg4 4. Bg2 g6 5. O-O Bg7 {Feeling exposed so move to
protect centre pawn} 6. c3 Bxf3 {Well I am happy to exchange here.} 7. Bxf3
Qd7 {I can see that the queen could move in on me but had no idea of what
would happen ...} 8. Bf4 {Just to develop.} 8... Qf5 {Still can't work out the
plan. But I now have one of my own ...} 9. Qb3 b6 {Which he thwarts (sort
of).} 10. Bxc6+ {:-)} 10... Kd8 {Now, I can take the Rook but took a long time
contemplating e4 and that was probably a better move. Opnions please.} 11.
Bxa8 e6 12. e4 {What should I have done instead? Maybe Nd2 and then Nf3? }
12... Qh3 13. Nd2 Nf6 14. d5 Ng4 {That's it. I really am in touble now. } 15.
Nf3 {The only way to save myself from Qxh2++} 15... exd5 {He's closing in
...} 16. Bg5+ f6 17. Be3 h6 18. Qb5 dxe4 {How to stop him taking my
life-saving knight?} 19. Bxb6 {Desparate measures now, but still can't make
this work for me.} 19... axb6 20. Rfe1 exf3 {Okay, that's it. I resign.} 0-1

You can order pics from Rugby Advertiser ...

... including the group pics and various others that they did not use in spread.




group pic that they used on the inside page

group picture which they stuck on the back (Nalin suffers from an optical illusion here. He looks much taller in the other shots :-)).

How to find the others? Try this link (which takes you to the Search, put in 'chess Sep23' - without the quotes, to view our set). Worth doing as there are others there which show some chess in action and some nice individual shots.

If you _really_ like any you can order T-shirts and mugs for Christmas. For those who did not make it to the official photo shoot, the opportunity for online immortality is not lost. I plan on doing some player profiles for the new season, starting with some of those not pictured here. You have been warned ...

Div3 Leamington League match result

Rugby hosted the match vs Leamington C on Monday night (27 Sep):

Simon Turner 0.5 vs Jason Madden 0.5
Jon Hall 1 vs Guy Greenland 0
Joe Oswell 0 vs Peter Leggit 1

Match drawn: 1.5 to 1.5. A solid start to the season with a win & a draw in the first 2 ties - well done!

Well Done Chris

Well done Chris for the fantastic coverage of Rugby Chess Club in the Rugby Advertiser today. We may need to change venue to the Benn Hall soon :-)

Watch out for RCC pics in the Rugby Advertiser

Thanks to those of you who came along last week to be photographed for a peice about the Club in the Rugby Advertiser. Not everyone could make it, but we managed to field 16 players (past season and this season's hopefuls). Look out for the Rugby Advertiser on 30th Sept and you may well see someone you recognise :-)

Div3 Leamington League result

The first match of the season, on Sep 13th, produced a win for the travelling Rugby team. The home team were Kenilworth D:

Tony Pickering vs Nigel Malka 0-1
Chris Aldridge vs Simon Turner 0-1
Mike Whatson vs Jim MacDonald 1-0

Rugby won 2-1.

London Chess Classic - anyone going?

The 2nd London Chess Classic will be the strongest chess tournament ever to be held in Britain, with eight of the world’s best players playing from 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre. Junior attendance is free, adults are £10 for weekdays and £15 for weekend) - see http://www.londonchessclassic.com for schedule and info.

I went with Rhys last year and in addition to being SO CLOSE to the world champion players there were all sorts of demonstrations, commentaries and an open contest. Quite an experience and you got a neat lanyard thrown in :-)

John Hall is intending to attend this year and would be interested in knowing of others who intend to go along. Email him at johnhall@carricktravel.com.

Monday Social chess nights at the Rugby Workers Club

Because we have had difficulty with space at the LMRCA on Monday nights (we haven't been able to use the main hall anymore) the junior chess club is moving to the Rugby Workers Club in Oliver Street.

As you know the social chess nights we have had on Mondays at the LMRCA have fitted in very nicely with this. But it would be a shame not to continue linking the social chess nights with the junior chess night.

So I am suggesting to club members that for the benefit of us all we start using the Rugby Workers Club for our social chess in future starting from Monday 6 Sept. The start time is 7pm which is earlier than we could get at the LMRCA. (I am not masking any bookings for social chess at the LMRCA from hereon).

Please note that Cov League matches and Leamington League matches are all still at the LMRCA as before.

Here is a map which has already been set up elsewhere for the Rugby Workers club:

Map for the Rugby Workers club

(Beware : there is a slight error on their map - the club is on the other side of the road to that shown, on Oliver Street between Parnell Close and Bridget Street)

Essential information:
- The street is called Oliver Street and the postcode is CV21 2ET
- There is good parking all round the venue on its own ground.
- The door entry system is just like the LMRCA so you will need to press the bell and wait. (We are sorting out individual cards with the club staff at the moment)
if they wish.
- Nominal times are from 7.00 pm until 8.30 pm but the idea is for you to come and go at whatever time suits you.

And thats about it!
Looking forward to seeing you on Monday

Bob Wildig

Updates to clubs we visit information

There have been some minor changes to venues we go to (as away teams). I think these are just Kenilworth and Nuneaton (in the Leamington League)but have a look through the Leamington league website details provided on their website which is linked in.

Clubs we visit

Calendar now added - feedback please

I have now added a new function - the Calendar (see right hand colum). This is a Google public calendar and will allow any editor (captains, Bob, Sue and me for now) to add an event. I've added the first two of the ones from the Leamington League. I propose that we put all of the Rugby games up here and any tournaments or competitions that affects RCC. For now it includes RCC junior socials although Sue might like her own calendar on their blog.

If you use Google calendars for day to day scheduling this means that you can amalgamate these events into yours. Feedback and requests to become editors are welcome.

Leamington Chess League 2010/2011 Season

From Jim, here are the 2010/2011

Division 3: Rugby team fixtures:

Mon Sep 13 - Kenilworth D v Rugby
Mon Sep 27 - Rugby v Leamington C
Thu Oct 21 - Chipping Campden B v Rugby
Mon Oct 25 - Rugby v Solihull C
Mon Nov 08 - Rugby v Kenilworth C
Mon Nov 22 - Nuneaton v Rugby
Thu Dec 02 - Stratford B v Rugby
Mon Dec 06 - Rugby v Banbury C
Mon Jan 10 - Rugby v Nuneaton
Mon Jan 31 - Rugby v Stratford B
Mon Feb 07 - Rugby v Kenilworth D
Wed Mar 02 - Solihull C v Rugby
Mon Mar 21 - Kenilworth C v Rugby
Mon Mar 28 - Rugby v Chipping Campden B
Tue Apr 05 - Leamington C v Rugby
Tue Apr 12 - Banbury C v Rugby

Sorry its not a table, but when I have a mo I will look at doing a calendar for the site so we can show all things together.

Chris

Rugby makes the grade :-)

The gradings for Coventry and District Chess League are in. Check them out here.

And for a more complete view (Leamington and District and others too) check out the English Chess Federation site at http://grading.bcfservices.org.uk/ to search on individuals at our club or others. You can see all current Rugby Club ratings there using this link.

Updating my personal congrats on the basis of this:

Most promising newcomer, James Mendes - entering the CDL chart at #8 with 128 (0r 134 on the ECF site).

Most improved ratings (ECF site): Jon Cox (+13 pts), Malcolm Harding (+11 pts) and Roy Talbot (+10 pts).

Most improved (CDCL site): Simon Turner CDCL #7 (+50 pts), Jon Cox #3 and Nigel Malka #5 (+38 pts each) and Jo Oswell (+32 pts)

Apologies if I got any of this wrong, but looking like good news all round. Well done guys.

Chris

We won the cup too !

Its too much - the night before last we won the Cov League Cup - a magnificent game by John against Dave Ireland - you really have to post it John on here - it was quality chess. Nalin had a good game with Ed Goodwin which ended in a draw and I think Jonathan had the upper hand most of the way against Mike Johnson and took a draw to secure us the win on board count. I am not sure what to say about my game with Mark Page - I lost is the safe thing to say. (If I think its the right thing to do I might post it - its full of difficult awkward chess but I don't feel that it is a great game).

The Good, the Bad and the Unfortunate

Rugby A won there match 3-1 against Newdigate. Bob, Jonny and myself all won but unfortunately Martin had a winning position and then blundered. So Rugby A are through to the finals of the KO Cup against Coventry A who also got through I hear beating Rugby B. Not good news for us as we were looking forward to an all Rugby final.

I don't really know how Rugby C got on in the plate match so I will leave that post to someone else.

I'm going to do something different in my analysis in my game. Instead of giving lots of boring variations, I'm going to say what I was thinking in my head psychologically. I'm trying this new approach to see if people like it and also to demonstrate what went on in my head to make the game that bit more enjoyable. I will only know what you thought if you post comments so please do so.

Before I start with the game I know players never really know what to play or how to play against weak or weaker players than themselves. My advice is just to keep playing your moves because even if you know that they have made bad moves they don't need punishing straight away usually. Anyway I hope you enjoy the game.

If you flip the game twice then it will put the players on the right colours that they were playing.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Newdigate VS Rugby A (KO S/Finals)"]
[Site "Newdigate"]
[Date "2010.4.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "C Burton"]
[Black "N Kadodwala"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "U"]
[BlackELO "152"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. d4 {Very unusual to see this move at this level of play. Also he might be
an ok player because his ungrated rating could mean anything so just play my
moves.} 1... e6 2. Nf3 {Already doesn't know what to do because he doesn't
know what I'm going to do. Things are already going well in the fact that I'm
making him uncomfortable.} 2... f5 3. e3 {He is afraid of playing c4.} 3...
Nf6 4. Nbd2 {Ok. He's a colle player who plays solid non-aggressive chess...
excellent for me. If he doesn't want a fight then I'm going to force a fight.
Hence my next move.} 4... c5 {Strikes out against the centre and also exposes
what he is going to do about it.} 5. c3 {What a surprise. He defends.} 5...
Nc6 6. b3 {He's read something about this setup and hasn't read it very well
so lets gain more space in the centre.} 6... d5 7. Ba3 {The first active move
from him. Maybe he has realised that I'm just going to gain space. He is now
trying to stop my pieces from finding good posts.} 7... Qa5 8. Qc1?! {? Just
defending the bishop and hoping for a possible pawn fork on b4. It does
nothing this move. So lets carry on my my moves.} 8... Ne4 {I go active
myself stoping his threat with a counter threat on c3. My threat is more
dangerous as if the centre breaks open his badly placed pieces namely Ba3 and
Qc1 will become even more apparent. So he stops the threat...} 9. Nxe4 fxe4
{The f file opens for possible assaulting. Notice my position is just getting
better.} 10. Nd2 {Not a bad move as such but he is always going backwards and
never forwards. It is easy to see that the knight has no prospects. Time to
address my problems. The Ba3 is annoying but how to get rid of it. An easy
answer... don't castle kingside, lets go to the queenside with my king.}
10... cxd4 11. Bxf8 {He takes this chance to disrupt kingside castling.}
11... Rxf8 {My rook is obviosly nicely placed here on the semi open f file.}
12. cxd4? {Oh dear. It's only move 12 and look at white's position. No chance
for any activity. The Qc1 doesn't look right. The Nd2 is going nowhere. How
to add to my opponents misery? Time to activate my own pieces (Bc8 and
Ra8).} 12... e5! 13. dxe5 {What else can he do?} 13... Bg4! {DONT FORGET YOUR
PLANS. The idea of the e pawn push was to ACTIVATE my pieces remember not
give him counter play with 13...Nxe5 14 Qb2! This would clear the way for his
rook to come to c1 as well as threats down the a1-h8 diagonal.} 14. h3 {He is
desperate to castle and so wants his bishop on e2. But my previous move
stopped that. Hence he is trying to kick it away.} 14... Bh5 {Keeping up the
pressure on e2.} 15. g3? {I think this though is worse than a mistake. Just
look at that juicy hole on f3. Time to exploit.} 15... Bf3 16. Rh2 {If I'm
able to force my opponent to do this then clearly he's gone terribly wrong.}
16... O-O-O {The pin down the c file is only temporary but I do get my other
rook in to the game.} 17. Bg2 {He is weak on the light squares and to exploit
this it best to get rid of his main light squared defender... his bishop,
so...} 17... Bxg2 18. Rxg2 d4 {I push in the center now instead of ...Kb8 to
stop a possible Qb2 as before.} 19. Kf1 {He does need to get out of the
knight pin but my Rf8 is secretly smiling.} 19... Qxe5 20. Nc4 {His only good
piece is his knight but that is about the only good thing I can say for his
whole position.} 20... Qf5 {Remember the light squared weaknesses. What is he
trying to do? I have a centralised position against a randomly scattered
defence} 21. Qc2? {I really don't get this move at all. Maybe hoping for a
Queen exchange after a possible f4? My opponent is starting to dream.} 21...
Kb8 {Gets out of the pin so all my pieces are involved in the killing, sorry
I meant assault.} 22. Rd1 {Oh dear. I've given up putting question marks on
his moves now... I could either push the d pawn to get a passed pawn are go
for active piece play. I chose the latter.} 22... Nb4 23. Qd2 Nd3 {The Nd3 is
a monster and looking at the co-ordination of blacks pieces against f2, this
game might well be over soon. } 24. exd4 {What else can he do? Time to create
massive threats.} 24... Qxh3 {Only now do I take when all my pieces are
involved. Not before then.} 25. Ne3?? {He is still dreaming because he doesn't
see how I am to break through.} 25... Rxf2+ {But I do. He missed the fact
that the Rg2 is pinned so cannot help in protecting f2.} 26. Qxf2 Nxf2 27.
Kxf2 Rf8+ 28. Kg1 {Ok. So I have a won position but how to go about winning
it? I do not want to swap rooks off. I have to co-ordinate attacks on both
wings. The reason the queen is a powerful piece is her ability to double
attack and that is what I need to do. Also my e pawn could be come quite
strong if I get rid of a blockade on e3. } 28... Qh6 {Trying to centralise
her majesty as well as clear e3} 29. Re1 {He is still trying to cling on. The
d pawn looks like a nice target.} 29... Qd6 30. d5?? {Nc2 was much better but
I wasn't surprised by this move. } 30... Rf3 {Possible threats on g3 and e3
followed by a pin on c5 maybe?} 31. Kh2?? {Motivated by trying to protect
weaknesses. The ones I pointed out were g3 and e3. Two targets means a double
attack so here goes.} 31... Rxe3 32. Rxe3 Qh6+ {A lethel double attack which
wins the game as he resigns. } 0-1

As he resigned he said 'I think that's enough' which really shows the psychological stress he was under during the game.

Good luck (gulp) tonight ...

Adding my good luck wishes to Bob's and a little four leafed (virtual) token to help.

See the C team later.

Chris

(Pic from Flick, by cygnus921)

Good luck tomorrow

Good luck to A and B teams in the cup and to the C team in the plate

For those who look at the games and see gobbldegook ...

Well there could be two reasons ...

a) You don't know the first thing about chess, or (more likely at the moment)

b) You've hit a cross scripting modification error - effectively a barrier has been put in place to prevent a security risk. I can - it seems - re-post games to overcome this if I use a less recent IE browser on a different computer. But while I search for a more sustainable solution (and a way to get James' Lost Win to show properly) here is how to play through games that look like random code and won't play.

1. Click the VIEW PGN button - this displays the code, which is still there and still correct.
2. Select/copy the code.
3. Open the PGN viewer on the Cassia site
4. Click IMPORT PGN.
5. Paste the code into the window that appears and then IMPORT.

This works for everything _but_ that games of James' (which I am working on). I hope that this will sort itself out as this 'security fix' will cause grief for all sorts of sites. It will either get better or worse over the next few weeks and I will look for a different way of showing games when I have time. But Cassia has served us well, so hoping any new solution will be at least as good as that one.

Postal game Bradney v Wildig

Hi everyone - This is nothing to do with rugby Chess Club. There is a problem over a postal game I'm playing and this is to help show it to my opponent. I will delete as soon as I can.
Bob

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bradney"]
[Black "Wildig"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 d5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3
Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qc7 11. Bd3 e5 12. Qc2 Rd8 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. dxe5
Qxe5 15. f3 Bd7 16. a4 Rac8 17. Re1 c4 18. Bf1 Qa5 19. e4 b5 20. Be3 bxa4 21.
Bd4 Bb5 22. Qd2 Rc6 23. Qg5 h6 24. Qf5 Ne8

How to Unintentionally Sacrifice the Exchange and Win

Having previously thrown away a win against this opponent, it was satisfying to get revenge.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Plate Quarter-Final"]


%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. e3 c5 {I think I should have played Nf6 first.} 3. c3 Nc6 4. f4
{Good, bad, or merely OK? Looks wrong to me.} 4... Nf6 5. Bd3 cxd4 {Giving up
the tension...} 6. exd4 Bg4 7. Nf3 Ne4 {Wanted to play f6 to support e5.} 8.
Nbd2 Nxd2 9. Bxd2 e6 {Didn't think I could play f6 as White responds f5.} 10.
O-O Bd6 11. Qe1 O-O 12. Ne5 Bf5 13. Be2 {Bxf5 was much better.} 13... Qb6
{Sacrificing the exchange, accidentally. Although it actually works in my
favour.} 14. Nd7 Qxb2 15. Nxf8 Kxf8 {Even though I'm down the exchange, I
prefer my position. I have a pawn advantage, and his backward c-pawn on my
semi-open file is almost worthless. Both my good and bad bishops are active,
his bad bishop is inactive, his good bishop has no useful squares. His extra
rook isn't doing much, and my knight could be useful... } 16. Qc1 Qb6 17.
Be3 Rc8 18. Qd2 Na5 19. Bd3 {Misses...} 19... Nc4 20. Bxc4 Rxc4 21. Rf2 {?}
21... Qa5 22. Qb2 Qxc3 23. Qxc3 Rxc3 24. Re1 Rd3 {Slight mistake. Stronger
was 24...Ba3 as my bishops then prevent White's rooks from using the b and c
files at all.} 25. Rb2 b6 26. Rb3 {Drops another pawn.} 26... Rxb3 27. axb3
Bc2 28. Ra1 a5 29. g3 {?} 29... Bxb3 30. Rb1 a4 31. Bd2 b5 32. Bc3 Bc4 33.
Rb4 {After this move, my opponent says 'This will either be a great move, or
not'. It doesn't work. 33.Bb4 is better, but it loses too, I suppose.}
33... Bxb4 {I considered 33...a3, which is better, but I just wanted the
rook.} 34. Bxb4+ Ke8 35. Kf2 f6 36. Ke3 Kf7 37. h4 h6 38. h5 {Instead of this,
my opponent actually tries to play 38.g5. Moving a pawn from the 3rd rank to
the 5th rank is almost as good as trying to claim a stalemate when you're
about to get checkmated next move, which happened the last time we played this
team.} 38... f5 39. Kf3 Bb3 40. Ke2 Bc2 41. Ba3 Be4 42. Kf2 g6 43. hxg6+ Kxg6
44. Bb4 h5 {Making it hard for myself...} 45. Ba3 Kf7 46. Bb4 Ke8 47. Ba3 Kd7
48. Bb4 Kc6 49. Kg1 Kb6 50. Kh2 a3 51. Bxa3 Ka5 52. Bc1 b4 53. Kh3 b3 54. Kh4
Bf3 {Kb4 is better.} 55. Kg5 Kb4 56. Bb2 Kc4 57. Kf6 Kd3 58. Kxe6 Be4 59. Kf6
Kc2 60. Ba1 b2 61. Bxb2 Kxb2 62. Kg5 Kc3 63. Kxh5 Bf3+ 64. Kg5 Bg4 65. Kf6
Kxd4 66. Ke6 Ke4 67. Kf6 d4 68. Ke6 d3 69. Kf6 d2 70. Ke6 d1=Q 71. Kf6 Qd4+
72. Kg5 Qg7+ 73. Kh4 Qh6# 0-1

Two teams in the KO semis

The A team won convincingly enough against Cov D last night (12 moves by John Naylor!) apart from the player on board 2 who had a nightmare...but just escaped with a bit of dignity !
And the B team got through as well ....

Rugby "C" Results

Results of Tuesday 16/03/10 League Match - Nuneaton "D"

Board 1 James - Lost
Board 2 Roy - Win
Board 3 - Chris - Draw
Board 4 - Joe - Win

!!!!!!!!! We did it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing but true - Rugby won the Div 1 title last night for the first time in about 12/13 years. All the team played well. John - who may have had a win against Maurice Staples but agrred a draw, Jonathon Cox showed how strong he ahs become by beating Colin Green. And Nalin having played very well,slipped up but drew dispite being a Q for R down. My game is given below - I hope we get the other games on here lads, Bob

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "Nuneaton A v Rugby A"]
[Date "2010.3.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "A Patterson"]
[Black "R Wildig"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nd4 {I've
been told that I should have played g5 here but I couldn't figure what to do
about Nxg5 followed by Bxg5 and Qf3 or Nd5} 8. Nd5 g5 9. Nxd4 Bxd4 10. c3
Nxd5 11. Bxd5 Bb6 12. Bg3 Qf6?! {After his next move I felt I should have
played c6} 13. a4! c6 14. Bb3 {14 a5 might have had Black in difficulties}
14... Be6 15. a5 Bc7 16. h4 O-O-O 17. c4 {17 a6 looked strong} 17... a6 18.
Qd2 Kb8 19. Bd1 d5 20. cxd5 cxd5 21. Qe3 dxe4 22. dxe4 Qe7 23. Qc3 f6 24. f3
Bd6 25. O-O Bb4 26. Qc1 Rc8 {Obvious but may be better was 26...Rd2} 27. Qb1
Bc4 28. Rf2 Bc5 29. Kh2 Bxf2 {Rightly or wrongly Black spent the next few
moves worrying about parting with this Bishop} 30. Bxf2 gxh4? {A bad move -
the idea was to lure the bishop off the g1-a7 diagonal but all it does is
weaken the K side pawns} 31. Bxh4 Qd6 32. Ba4! Rhg8 33. Qg1 Be2 34. Qe3 Bb5
35. Bf2 Qd4 {Forced} 36. Qe1 Qxb2 37. Rb1 Qe2 38. Bxb5 Qxe1 39. Bxe1 axb5 40.
g4 h5 41. Kg3 hxg4 42. fxg4 Rc5 43. Bf2 Rc3+ 44. Kg2 Rxg4+ 45. Kf1 Rf3 46.
Rxb5 Rgf4 47. Rb2 Rxf2+ {After the Rooks came off Black won} 0-1

Chris takes a draw after a short but interesting game ,,,

Never been offered a draw before. Perhaps I could have played through and done better, but then again perhaps I could have played through and done worse. An unusually thoughtful game for me ...

Play Online Chess

[Event "CDCL League: Division 3"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.3.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Chris Pegler"]
[Black "Gordon Opie"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 h6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 c6 5. O-O Be7 6. c3 {Starting to think of
how to develop the other side.} 6... Bd7 7. b4 {Wishing to deter his black
bishop. Did consider Ne5 instead. This continued to be an option for quite a
while} 7... b6 8. Qd3 Nf6 9. Nbd2 {Thinking to protect e-pawn in advance to
e4.} 9... O-O 10. e4 Nh7 11. a4 {Aiming to threaten black bishop while
developing my bishop and linking the rooks.} 11... Ng5 {Not worried about an
exchange as there are lots of options to take back. } 12. b5 Nxf3+ {Could tske
back with any of three. Decide to use Knight.} 13. Nxf3 g5 14. e5 {Thinking to
deter the advance of his f-pawn but not anticipating ...} 14... f5 {So could
take him en passant which really helps him with mobilising black bishop and
helps me not at all.} 15. Ba3 {Threatening his black bishop and backed with a
rook.} 15... Bxa3 16. Rxa3 {Now I start thinking of advancing the c-pawn to
allow rook and queen to work together. But how to protect the c-pawn? Let's
see ...} 16... Be8 17. Nd2 {So c-pawn protected by knight.} 17... h5 {Thinking
through the comibinations I would really like to break this wall on at g5 to
allow access to black king.} 18. f4 {If he does not take plan is to reinforce
with the knight.} 18... gxf4 19. gxf4 {That creates a nice view for me. But I
have to be careful because he's eyeing me up too.} 19... Qe7 {Precautionary.}
20. c4 {To link up rook and queen as per the earlier plan.} 20... Qg7 21. Qg3
{Happy with a queen exchange. He offers a draw which I accept. Its been a nice
game and for me that is a fine result. My plan had I continued would be to
retake with rook after queen exchange and then move the knight to g5 and start
threatening some damage. } 1/2-1/2

Rugby "C" Results

Results of Tuesday 2/03/10 League Match - away to Cov.E
Board 1 James - Win
Board 2 Roy - Half
Board 3 Joe - Lost
Board 4 Sue - Win

Rugby " C" Results

Results of Tuesday 23/02/10 League Match - Away to Cov E
Board 1 - James - Lost
Board 2 - Roy - Win
Board 3 - Chris - Lost
board 4 - Joe - Draw

Fighting for the league title !

A good night for the first team on Tuesday!
There are/were 3 teams fighting for the Div 1 title Cov A, Nuneaton A and us. By beating Cov A 2.5 - 1.5 we put them out of the running and now we have a title decider against Nuneaton on March 16 at Nuneaton.

With 11 games played the points are
Nuneaton A 16
Rugby A 15
Cov A 14

So goal difference is irrelevant - we have to win, anything else and Nuneaton A win.

Well done on Tuesday to John - win v Dave Ireland, Jonathan win v Ed Goodwin, Nalin draw (after being on the back foot) v Bob Holmes. I lost again to Mark Page who is definitely my current nemesis, but I have to say he played well.

In the Div Cup Uni B are claiming the default but it doesn't make too much difference because again if we beat Uni A next week we win the Div cup award again.

Bob and a slightly younger version

Following one of the half term activities Bob took time out (well Chris forced him) to stand next to one of the exhibits in the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum. The exhibition is there until 14 March and features some of the old chess clocks and sets from the club (and one from Nigel Malka), the silver salver, the original of the photo at the top of this blog, some photos and other memorabilia from the Russian trip and other items. Not just Bob but Martin also appear in slightly younger form.

Rugby " C" Results

Results of Tuesday 16/02/10 League Match - Nuneaton E

Board 1 James - Win
Board 2 Roy - Win
Board 3 Chris - Win
Board 4 Sue - Lost

Thank you

Many thanks to all the Rugby Chess Club players who have helped with the junior chess events this week. We kicked off on Monday with our very own champion of Warwickshire becoming a radio star (for which I will be eternally grateful that I did not have to do it on my own) thank you John. Then in the evening we had quite a few junior players at our Monday social night at the Railway club. Thanks for all your support with Bob away in London. The aim now is to get junior players along on a regular basis so please come along on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of every month 7:30-8:30pm to pass on your knowledge to the next generation. On Wednesday morning we attracted about 20 children with their adults in Rugby Museum. Then on Thursday we had the fun day in Rugby Library with about 34 children and almost as many adults playing chess throughout the day. Thanks to Chris for organising all of this and we hope you boys are ready for lots of new players to join Rugby Chess Club! Best wishes. Sue

First team February.

The first team seems to be doing exactly the same in he second half of the season as it did in the first half.
Lost to Uni A (thats why we kept quiet)
Struggled to a draw with Uni B
Beat Coventry B 2.5 - 1.5
Beat Nuneaton B 3 - 1 last night. Good wins for Nalin and Jonathan. Dominoes noise put off John (and probably most of us to be truthful) so he drew and I drew after blundering.
All these results mirror what we did in the first half so we hope that we can compete for the League title by winning our last 2 games .... fingers crossed

At last a win on Board 3 for Chris

A very nice opponent and a slow moving (for me) game but a really interesting one. We got so absorbed around move 32 that I failed to spot that we both had ignored a discovered check on my King. Although the audience was holding its breath at that stage. It was an unusually reflective game for me. Perhaps I should take more time on my games and the results might improve. Very happy to have had my first win for the C team in Board 3 position. Now you guys can tell me how I (or he) could have played better.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby C Team home"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.2.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Laurie Wilson"]
[Black "Chris Pegler"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. c4 {Immediately I am on unfamiliar ground. Never played against this
before. Appear calm and play as usual ...} 1... Nf6 2. g3 {Hm. } 2... d5 3.
Bg2 {Its a Fianchetta - at least I know what one of those is about ...} 3...
Bf5 4. Nc3 {James says that this is the why of the c4 opening, to nt block in
the knight. } 4... c6 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 {Ouch. He's forked by bishop and
knight and I did not see it coming. } 6... Nxc3 {But I reckon I can get out of
trouble by threatening his queen.} 7. bxc3 Bg6 {Looking at this I think that
he is doing much better than me in the opening. } 8. Ne2 e5 {This is
deliberatly about stopping the knight moving forward to the fourth rank. } 9.
O-O Bd6 10. d4 {We are not into a struggle over the d5 pawn} 10... O-O 11. f4
f6 12. Qb3+ {I did not see that one coming. } 12... Bf7 {After I had moved I
realised that he has limited options for his queen. So he decides to at least
get a pawn ahead.} 13. Qxb7 Nd7 {At least I know to move my knight out of the
way so he can't take my rook as well. } 14. Qb2 Bc4 {Quite liked this pinning
of the knight onto the rook. Although I can see that his queen is already
protecting the knight. } 15. Qd2 {So I don't understand why he did this move.
But it did make me think that there was some plus in him being here so I would
try and move him on. } 15... Bxe2 16. Qxe2 {Like this. } 16... exd4 17. cxd4
{At this stage I feel, perhaps mistakenly, that although a pawn down I have a
position with potential. I've definitely been eying up the dark diagonal to
his king.} 17... Qb6 18. Be3 c5 19. d5 Qb4 20. Rab1 Qa3 21. Rb3 Qa5 {A lot of
my action is now around the c pawn. } 22. Rc1 Rab8 23. Rcb1 {Danger Will
Robinson!} 23... Nb6 {Blocks and also protects the c pawn if (when ) it
advances. Around this time I also realise that I have nicely positioned my
black bishop to guard both rooks. Which was trufully unintended. } 24. Qc2
Rfc8 25. Rb5 Qa6 {Don't quite like putting queen in a tight space like this
but seems the best option. } 26. Bf1 {Oh. So now i have to worry about the
queen if that rook moves. } 26... c4 {So let's block that particular danger.
} 27. a4 Nxa4 {I think that this was the first time that I felt that I might
have a genuine chance. } 28. Bxc4 {But I lose the c pawn that I have expended
so much effort on potecting. } 28... Nb6 29. Bxb6 axb6 {I think that this was
a good outcome for me.} 30. Qa2 {It's looking like an exchange of queens is
going to happen soon. } 30... Qa3 31. Qxa3 Bxa3 32. d6+ {What happens now is
that there is a discovered check which in the heat of the game neither of us
notice. Although our audience certainly does! What I did in the game was Bd6
(illegal) but we noticed it before we went any further and taking back moves I
then did a better move } 32... Rxc4 {Which is the better move and at least a
legal move. } 33. Rxb6 {Which unfortunately sets me up with } 33... Bc5+ 34.
Kg2 Bxb6 35. e5 {The next three moves are remembered rather than marked up. I
got rather excited and more than a little nervous. } 35... Kf7 {Moving the
king out seemed like good plan to stop his pawn run} 36. Kf3 {Marked as Kf2,
let's assume that it wasKf3 otherwise it would be another illegal move into
check. } 36... fxe5 37. fxe5 Ke6 {Aggressive king now. } 38. d7 Rd4 {He
resigns. } 0-1

Rugby Chess Players on Local radio

Sue Sanders and John Naylor are interviewed on local radio - listen again on iPlayer. Available til 5:02pm Monday 22nd February 2010.

Nice listening (its in the second half of the programme if you are in a hurry). I know that Sue was nervous but she has a very nice radio voice. :-)

Rugby does well at Warwickshire Championships 2010

Congratulations to John Naylor (Rugby A) who won the Warwickshire Open Chess Congress this weekend (played over 13-14 Feb at Knowle), and James Mendes (Rugby C) who took third place in the U125 section. Nalin and Jon Cox (also Rugby A) took part but did not take prizes this year. It would be interesting to see some of these games on here (hint).

Well done Rugby! Do we now have to call John 'The Champ'?

Rugby "C" Results

Results of Tuesday 2/02/10 League Match-Home to Cov.G

Board 1 James - Draw
Board 2 Roy - Win
Board 3 Joe - Lost
Board 4 Sue - Lost

A Lost Win

I was happy to get this draw, until Fritz mentioned I'd missed a win. I might have preferred blissful ignorance...

Play Online Chess

[Event "Plate Quarter-Final"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.2.2"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J Mendes"]
[Black "H Jones"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "126"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. e3 c5 {I think I should have played Nf6 first.} 3. c3 Nc6 4. f4
{Good, bad, or merely OK? Looks wrong to me.} 4... Nf6 5. Bd3 cxd4 {Giving up
the tension...} 6. exd4 Bg4 7. Nf3 Ne4 {Wanted to play f6 to support e5.} 8.
Nbd2 Nxd2 9. Bxd2 e6 {Didn't think I could play f6 as White responds f5.} 10.
O-O Bd6 11. Qe1 O-O 12. Ne5 Bf5 13. Be2 {Bxf5 was much better.} 13... Qb6
{Sacrificing the exchange, accidentally. Although it actually works in my
favour.} 14. Nd7 Qxb2 15. Nxf8 Kxf8 {Even though I'm down the exchange, I
prefer my position. I have a pawn advantage, and his backward c-pawn on my
semi-open file is almost worthless. Both my good and bad bishops are active,
his bad bishop is inactive, his good bishop has no useful squares. His extra
rook isn't doing much, and my knight could be useful... } 16. Qc1 Qb6 17. Be3
Rc8 18. Qd2 Na5 19. Bd3 {Misses...} 19... Nc4 20. Bxc4 Rxc4 21. Rf2 {?} 21...
Qa5 22. Qb2 Qxc3 23. Qxc3 Rxc3 24. Re1 Rd3 {Slight mistake. Stronger was
24...Ba3 as my bishops then prevent White's rooks from using the b and c
files at all.} 25. Rb2 b6 26. Rb3 {Drops another pawn.} 26... Rxb3 27. axb3
Bc2 28. Ra1 a5 29. g3 {?} 29... Bxb3 30. Rb1 a4 31. Bd2 b5 32. Bc3 Bc4 33.
Rb4 {After this move, my opponent says 'This will either be a great move, or
not'. It doesn't work. 33.Bb4 is better, but it loses too, I suppose.} 33...
Bxb4 {I considered 33...a3, which is better, but I just wanted the rook.}
34. Bxb4+ Ke8 35. Kf2 f6 36. Ke3 Kf7 37. h4 h6 38. h5 {Instead of this, my
opponent actually tries to play 38.g5. Moving a pawn from the 3rd rank to the
5th rank is almost as good as trying to claim a stalemate when you're about
to get checkmated next move, which happened the last time we played this
team.} 38... f5 39. Kf3 Bb3 40. Ke2 Bc2 41. Ba3 Be4 42. Kf2 g6 43. hxg6+ Kxg6
44. Bb4 h5 {Making it hard for myself...} 45. Ba3 Kf7 46. Bb4 Ke8 47. Ba3 Kd7
48. Bb4 Kc6 49. Kg1 Kb6 50. Kh2 a3 51. Bxa3 Ka5 52. Bc1 b4 53. Kh3 b3 54. Kh4
Bf3 {Kb4 is better.} 55. Kg5 Kb4 56. Bb2 Kc4 57. Kf6 Kd3 58. Kxe6 Be4 59. Kf6
Kc2 60. Ba1 b2 61. Bxb2 Kxb2 62. Kg5 Kc3 63. Kxh5 Bf3+ 64. Kg5 Bg4 65. Kf6
Kxd4 66. Ke6 Ke4 67. Kf6 d4 68. Ke6 d3 69. Kf6 d2 70. Ke6 d1=Q 71. Kf6 Qd4+
72. Kg5 Qg7+ 73. Kh4 Qh6# 1/2-1/2

Rugby"C" Results

Results of Tuesday 26/01/10 Match - Away to Cov. E

Board 1 James - Win
Board 2 Roy - Win
Board 3 Chris - Lost
Board 4 Joe -Lost

A scary game

After the first teams bad result against University A the previous week we fared only marginally better this week. However scraped a draw courtesy of this not very well played game (by both players)

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov Chess League Div 1"]
[Site "University B v Rugby A"]
[Date "2010.1.26"]
[Round "?"]
[White "E Lutton"]
[Black "R Wildig"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Be7 5. Bd3 O-O 6. h4 {Why didn't this type
of move happen in Capablanca's day? It'll be a while before I am convinced its
right.} 6... c5 7. c3 b6 8. Ne5 Bb7 9. Nd2 Ne4 10. g4 f6 11. Nef3 Nd7 12. Qc2
c4? {A bad move - the typical result off spending a long time thinking about
something else and then rejecting it.The right course was to select that
alternative as follows12.. cxd4 13 exd4 e5 14 dxe5 fxe5 15 Bxe5 Nxe5 16 Nxe5
Bc5! and Black has a lot of threats against whites poorly defended K
position.} 13. Be2? {Black is lucky, Nxc4 wins a pawn for nothing.} 13... b5
14. Rh2 {White ahs understandable worries about the long White sqaured
diagonal.} 14... a5 {Turns out unsuccessfully. The pawn is needed to look
after the p onb5} 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Nd2 f5 17. a4! Bd5 18. axb5 Nb6 19. b3
{Black is struggling now to hold the Q side} 19... Qc8 20. bxc4 Nxc4 21. gxf5
exf5 22. Qb3 {Looks risky but seems ok} 22... Nb6 23. c4 Bf7 {Black has lost a
pawn and must play actively not to be overwhelmed by the 3 passed pawns.} 24.
Kd1 {Something like Qc2 and then c5 looks much better. Both sides were
starting to get short of time.} 24... Qd7 25. h5?! Rfc8 {Black is back in the
game now.} 26. Rc1 a4 {No time to waste} 27. Qb2 a3 28. Qa1 Bb4 {Getting the
black squared bishop behind the pawns in case of c5 boxing it in} 29. d5 Na4
30. Be5 Nb2+ 31. Bxb2 axb2 32. Qxb2 Ba3 33. Qe5 Bxc1 34. Rg2 Bxd5 35. Kxc1
Be6 36. h6 g6 {By this time Blacks big disadvantage on the clock had become a
reasonable advantage} 37. Kb1 Qe7 38. Qb2 Ra4 39. Bh5 {Last throw of the
dice} 39... Rb4 40. Nb3 Bxc4 41. Bxg6 Rxb3 42. Bxf5+ Kf8 43. Qxb3 Bxb3 44.
Bxc8 Qc5 0-1

Pegler - Sweatman revisited (and same result as previously)

I was playing Paul Sweatman, who I last played in my second game of the season (13th October). The same result, but a much better game from me. Until I got to move 27. I may be improving in my openings and middle game, but my endgame still requires a lot of attention.

Play Online Chess

[Event "CDCLLeague, Division 3"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.1.26"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Chris Pegler"]
[Black "Paul Sweatman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 Bf5 {Considered Bf4, but pressed on with fiancetta}
4. Bg2 Be4 {Hm.Pinsmy knight on the bishop.} 5. O-O Bxf3 {Not sure why he does
this. Should have asked. Or one of you can tell me. } 6. Bxf3 e6 7. Bf4 Bd6
{Thought that if I took him he would take back with queen and that would then
be in a good position so moved in closer to protect bishop with dpawn and fork
bishop and knight. } 8. Be5 Bxe5 {He takes me anyway.} 9. dxe5 {And I take
back and threaten knight.} 9... Nfd7 {Which moves here and stays here -
blocking in the queen - for some time.} 10. Bxd5 {This wasa risky move and all
about advancing the pawn and a threat on the rook. I reckoned he would take
it. I thought long and hard but did it anyway. Craving excitement? } 10...
exd5 {He did take it.} 11. Qxd5 {Now queen threatens rook (potentially)and
more importantly protects pawn.} 11... c6 {Attacks queen and counters threat
to rook. } 12. Qd6 Qe7 {He's fed up by now and wants to swap or see me off? If
I had swapped it would have removed chance of him castling as he would have
had to take back with king. But e pawn would have been dead.} 13. f4 {To
protect d pawn } 13... Qxd6 14. exd6 O-O 15. Nc3 Nf6 {Nice move which stops me
developing Knight to e4} 16. Rad1 Nbd7 17. e4 h6 18. e5 Ng4 {The knight on g4
now threatens to fork rooks on e3.} 19. Rfe1 {To prevent that.} 19... Rae8
20. h3 {Spot that this has nowhere safe to retreat to.} 20... Ngxe5 21. fxe5
Re6 {Threatening to double up, so...} 22. b4 Rfe8 {Now is doubled up.} 23. b5
Rxe5 24. Kf2 {Decide to move king into action. } 24... Rxe1 25. Rxe1 Rxe1 26.
Kxe1 {At this stage its looking not bad. But what to do now?} 26... f5 27.
Kf2 Kf7 28. bxc6 bxc6 29. Na4 Ke6 30. c4 Kxd6 {Finally gets to remove this
nuisance pawn. } 31. Kf3 a6 32. Nc5 Ne5+ 33. Kf4 Nxc4 34. g4 fxg4 35. Ne4+
Ke6 36. hxg4 g5+ 37. Kg3 Ke5 38. Nc5 a5 39. a4 Nb6 40. Nd3+ Kd5 41. Nb2 Kd4
42. Kf3 c5 43. Ke2 c4 44. Kd2 c3+ {Enough is enough. I resign. An enjoyable
game which showed how I really need a better idea about endgames. } 0-1

Hope to do better next time but really quite pleased with how I did here. This is of course the cue for John and Nalin and Jon to pile in and tell me all about glaring errors and missed opportunities. But whatever they say it was an enjoyable game and a nice bloke.

Valentine Chess

Well if you have nothing else to do on Valentine's Day you could consider a spot of competitive chess. The Warwickshire Open Chess Congress is taking place at Knowle.

There are U125, U150, U175 and Open sections, adults and juniors. I hear that Nalin won the U125 last year so RCC has a reputation to uphold!

Still time to enter. The website link above links to downloadable application forms.

Rugby "C" Results

Results of Tuesday 19/01/10 Match-away to Uni E

Board 1 James - Win
Board 2 Roy - Win
Board 3 Joe - Lost
Board 4 Sue - Lost

Two Games for the Price of One

Last week's game that I didn't put up.

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.1.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "James"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3 5. bxc3 Nxe4 6. Qe2 d5 7. d3 Nxc3
8. Qxe5+ Qe7 9. Qxe7+ Kxe7 10. Bb2 Nb5 11. Bxg7 Re8 12. Be2 f6 {12...Rg8 wins
the g2 pawn, but I preferred to keep the bishop off the long diagonal.} 13.
O-O?? {Castling can leave pieces hanging...} 13... Kf7 {Discovered attack with
the king.} 14. Rae1 Kxg7 15. Nh4? Nxa3 16. Bh5 Rxe1 17. Rxe1 Nxc2 18. Rc1 Kh6
19. Bf3 Nd4 20. Bd1 c6 {I still haven't developed those three queenside
pieces...} 21. Kf1 Bf5 22. Nxf5+ Nxf5 23. g4 Nd4 24. h4 Nd7 25. Kg2 Re8 {Claim
those open files...} 26. f4 b5 27. g5+ fxg5 28. fxg5+ Kg6 29. Bg4 Re7 30. Rf1
a5 {Here my opponent gracefully resigned as the passed pawns are unstoppable.
} 0-1

This week's game that I hesitated to put up.

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.1.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "James"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "70"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. e3 b5 6. a4 Bd7 {6...b4 is a
better way to continue.} 7. axb5 cxb5 8. Ne5 a6 9. Qf3 Ra7 10. Nd5 {OK, so
this isn't a particularly strong move against best play...} 10... Nxd5?? {My
evil move pays dividends...} 11. Qxf7# 1-0

Where did it all go wrong again???

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby C v Uni E"]
[Site "Warwick University"]
[Date "19.01.2010"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Arvind"]
[Black "Sue"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. f4 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. e5 Nh5 6. Nf3 d6 7. g4 Bxg4 8.
exd6 Qxd6 9. Nb5 Qb4+ 10. c3 Qa5 11. b4 Qb6 12. Be2 Bf5 13. Ne5 Nc6 14. Nxc6
bxc6 15. Na3 Be4 16. Rg1 Rfd8 17. Nc4 Qb7 18. Bxh5 Qb5 19. Qe2 gxh5 20. Qxe4
Qxc4 21. Qg2 21... Qxc3+ 22. Kf1 Qxd4 23. Bd2 Qxf4+ 24. Ke1 Qg4 25.
Qxg4 hxg4 26. Rxg4 f6 27. h4 h5 28. Rg3 Rab8 29. Bc3 e5 30. Ke2 Kf7 31. Rag1
Rg8 32. a4 f5 33. Rg5 Bf6 34. Rxg8 Rxg8 35. Rf1 e4 36. Rxf5 Rg3 37. Rxf6+ Ke7
38. Rxc6 Kd7 39. b5 a6 40. Be5 Rg2+ 41. Ke3 Ra2 42. Rxa6 c6 43. bxc6+ Ke6 44.
Kxe4 Re2+ 45. Kf4 Rxe5 46. c7+ Kd5 47. Ra5+ Kd6 48. Rxe5 Kxc7 49. Rxh5 1-0

Chess events in Rugby Feb/March 2010

In addition to all the matches and serious chess playing we are now in the build up to the annual Rugby Schools Chess Championship. The 34th! This will take place on 7th March and links to further information about this (posters and entry forms to download) are available on the Rugby Junior Chess blog. Please pass on this information if you know junior players who might like to register for the event.

As part of the build up to the event we planned to put on something in Rugby Central Library. This has rather grown from the original plan. There will be an exhibition in the Museum during most of February/March. (Tuesday, 2nd Feb to Sunday 14th March - NOTE, not open on Mondays!).

In addition there will be art and crafts events in the Art Gallery during half term week (15-19 Feb) and a hunt for chess peices hidden within exhibits across the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum during that week. The organiser will be interested in anyone coming along and playing with the chess set which will be left out on display for that purpose. So you could even be a living exhibit.

Downstairs in the Library there will be various events on the 18th Feb (again during half term week). Bring this one to the attention of any junior players that you know as we will be setting up a playing area from 11-6.30pm so that players who want to try their hand at the tournament can get some practice against other junior players. Again see on the Rugby Junior Chess blog for posters/programme and information on how to win a chocolate chess set in a competition organised by Sue Sanders.

If you have any free time over half-term week and would like to take part in these events then please contact Chris. Or come say hello to Bob, Sue, Jon and Chris as they act as junior chess marshalls on the 18th. (There will be one of those big chess sets to tempt you to get hands on!)

Bring child/children if you have them, or come on your own just to marvel at it all.

Finally, a game worthy of publishing

Play Online Chess

[Event "Coventry League Div 2"]
[Site "Rugby"]
[Date "2010.1.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "L Whelan, Newdigate"]
[Black "S Turner, Rugby B"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{598MB, Fritz11.ctg, JUMBO4} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Be2
Nbd7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O e5 8. d5 Nc5 9. Nd2 a5 10. b3 Bh6 11. Qc2 Bg4 12. Bxg4
Nxg4 13. Nf3 Bxc1 14. Rfxc1 f5 15. a3 fxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Rf4 18. Qe2
e4 19. h3 exf3 20. Qe6+ Kg7 21. g3 Rf5 22. Qe4 Ne5 23. Rc3 Qg5 24. Ra2 Raf8
25. Kh2 Rf4 26. Qe1 h5 27. Re3 h4 28. Qg1 hxg3+ 29. fxg3 Ng4+ 30. Kh1 f2 31.
* {598MB, Fritz11.ctg, JUMBO4} 31... c4 32. Nf6 Nc3 33. g6 e4 34. d6 d4 35.
Bg7 Be2 36. Nbd7 Nf3 37. O-O O-O 38. e5 d5 39. Nc5 Nd2 40. a5 b3 41. Bh6 Qc2
42. Bg4 Bxg4 43. Nxg4 Nf3 44. Bxc1 Rfxc1 45. f5 a3 46. fxe4 Nxe4 47. Nxe4
Qxe4 48. Rf4 Qe2 49. e4 h3 50. exf3 Qe6+ 51. Kg7 g3 52. Rf5 Qe4 53. Ne5 Rc3
54. Qg5 Ra2 55. Raf8 Kh2 56. Rf4 Qe1 57. h5 Re3 58. h4 Qg1 59. hxg3+ fxg3 60.
Ng4+ Kh1 61. f2 *

A rare game for Rugby by Nigel Stanley

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby B v Warwick University C"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.12.8"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nigel Stanley"]
[Black "L. Barkauskas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "138"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8.
cxd4 Qb6 9. Nb3? {Standard opening play up to now (French Defence, Tarrasch
Variation) but here I should have played Nf3 instead of Nb3. If White has
already castled, Nb3 is good (the idea is for the queenside rook to move to c1
then c3 and help in a kingside attack), but here, white has not yet castled.
Black should now play a5, with a view to a4, and if white plays a4, Bb4+ puts
white in trouble. Fortunately my opponent missed this, and within a move I
was safe.} 9... Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Be3 f6 {Black should really play f6
earlier , e.g. around move 8. White wants to hold the pawn on e5, to keep the
black knight off f6, but white cannot play f4 yet because the pawn on d4 would
be pinned to the bishop on e3.} 12. Rc1 fxe5 13. dxe5 Qd8 14. f4 Nb6 {Black's
kingside knight has now moved to b6, leaving a weakness on h7 which White is
ready to attack. Black fails to spot the danger.} 15. Ned4 {Nd4 releases the
White queen to move to h5 to attack h7.} 15... Bd7? 16. Qh5 {Black is now in
serious trouble. Perhaps Rf5 is the best defence, but Black will still lose
from now on.} 16... g6 17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. Qxg6+ Kh8 19. Rf3 Bh4 20. Rh3 Qe7
21. Bf2 {Not 21.g3, because White wants to keep open the 3rd rank, to allow
the queenside rook into the attack. Bf2 opens up the 3rd rank.} 21... Qg7
22. Rxh4+ Kg8 23. Qh5 {Threatening Rg4. It is important for White to keep the
queens on the board rather than exchange them, as the Black queen is very
exposed and can be pinned to the king with a white rook.} 23... Be8 24. Qe2
Nd8 25. Rg4 Bg6 26. Rc3 Rc8 27. Rcg3 Kf7 28. f5 exf5 29. Nxf5 Qh8 {Qh7 was
slightly better, but Black is lost anyway.} 30. Nd6+ {Black resigns.} 1-0

Rugby Avertiser has a Chess Column!

Well its a sort of one-off this week as Zoe, their sports editor kindly placed an article about the photo of 1910 with the names of those photographed. It includes the date of the 34th junior tournament, mentions the website - so eyes are on you, behave sensibly please! - it does not mention that we are currently heading Div 1 with the A-team, but we are so that's a good start to 2010.

Those who know me will be mildly amused to see that I have a formal title in this article 'Rugby Chess Club Publicity Officer' (probably better than the informal one of web mistress?) and I am Mr C Peglar. For those who have not met me the Chris is short for Christine and I am one of the two female members of the Club. The other being Sue Sanders. Yes, the 2010 club photo would look a little different :-)

After sending the info to the Advertiser someone pointed out that there was a 1911 census site online. I could locate some people on that who might be those in the photo. So back row looks like Stanley Watts GIBSON, (1876), Patrick Charles LITTLEJOHN (1895) - so c.15 when this was taken!, Barnabas SPRUCE (1896), DELANY (not found), William Avron WALES (b. 1891 so c.19 years), SOMERFORD - no record, Percival Bailey CLARKE (1871), BALLARD - no record.

Front row: George Hill ADCOCK (1871), Charles SNEWING (1853), TURNER, GOODE COLEMAN and WRIGHT relatively common names in Rugby so several options, no male DRAKE found and no record of SWAIN. So this suggests an age range of 15-57 at that time.

This photo and others from the RCC Russia trip in the 1980s, ones of Bob (and others) looking very young, a selection of chess sets and clocks from RCC and members' personal collections with the silver salver and photo will be on display in the Art Gallery and Museum from early Feb to around mid-March (exact dates to be confirmed).

NOTE: Non-RCC members cannot comment or post to this blog. So if you are not one of our members but have some information for us (you know some of the history of this photo or the club) then please could you email me or the Club Secretary, Bob Wildig. We will try to include this information in the exhibition if we have time/space.

Snowed off

The A and B team cup matches were snowed off this week. In fact it was all sorted out by the B team when - while cancelling their own match - generously cancelled the A team match as well as we were playing in the same place! (Seriously thats fine! and saved us contacting our opponents)

Feeling competitive?

The Coventry and District Chess League have been underwhelmed (seriously underwhelmed) by the entries to the Individual contests this year. So in a goodwill gesture they have extended the deadline for entries. This is now 12th January 2010. So still time to put your name forward.

The information is at the Coventry site - link. There are tropies for 1600+ (no upper limit) and 160 and below, 140 and below, 120 and below, and U18 (on 30th Sept 2009). Free to enter

E-Mail Individual Competitions Secretary for more information or tel. 01926 855467

It can't go ahead if there are insufficent entries.

Walnuts and Turkey cassarol to all

Hi All and Happy New Year to you - as Chris said hope you all enjoyed yourselves over the season. Hopefully the lousy weather will go by the time we have to start playing again - which of course is only days away... There seems to be a revolution going on which is poing to propel Nalin to the top - all I can say to that is 'Have some of our left over Brussels Sprouts !'