Nallin is our leader

Happy Christmas and new year everyone lets hope that we all continue enjoying the season in the new year and see some match reports from bob, although i think bob is a bit wary about putting anything up now after he has finally recognized that the almighty powerful Nalin is our leader! Happy new year everyone

K O Cup Round 1- Rugby C- At Home 15/12/09

Board 1 James - Lost - An Unusual Result
Board 2 Roy - Lost - Oh! that Bishop
Board 3 Chris - Lost - A Brave Fight
Board 4 joe - lost - Will he ever learn

John's strange game with no name ...

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

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{This was a very strange game at the start against againnst a player who i
rate highly but has been out from playing like myself also he has been in the
pub trade so has to be a nice guy! } 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 {all of
this is normal but err help dont know it ! ... so} 4. Be2 {a wimps move but
not so bad - just allows black an easier route to equality} 4... Bxe2 5. Qxe2
Qxd5 6. Nf3 e6 7. Nc3 Qh5 {in this position qb5+ is known to be ok for white
but nothing special} 8. Nb5 {was trying to make my opponent in a position when
he was on his own - i think this is not a good move but randomizes the
position to be enough so that we just play a game when none of us know what is
going on and can play fisher chess!} 8... Bb4+ 9. c3 Ba5 10. b4 Bb6 11. a4 a6
12. Na3 O-O 13. Nc4 {here i am worried that my stupid pawn moves will be
exploited by black freeing himself with e6-e5 and thought that i was worse}
13... Nbd7 14. Bg5 Nd5 15. Nxb6 N5xb6 16. O-O Rfe8 {e5 might be threatened
again!} 17. Qe4 c6 18. a5 Nc4 19. Qd3 b5 20. axb6 Ndxb6 21. Rfe1 Qg6 22. Qe2
a5 {my opponent seems to have achieved some pretty knights that control a lot
of squares . they look good but serve no purpose on the kingside although this
position is still unclear} 23. bxa5 Rxa5 24. Rxa5 Nxa5 25. Bf4 {this move
prepares a shift in the direction of the game which i had planned (hoped )
would happen!} 25... Nac4 26. Nh4 Qf6 27. Qg4 {suddenly black needs to be
careful 28 bg5 is threatened trapping the queen} 27... Qe7 28. Bh6 g6 29. Nf3
Ra8 30. h4 Ra5 {a very good defensive move defending laterally a lot of
players would not find this} 31. Bg5 Qf8 32. Ne5 f5? {probably the losin move
blacks q side is not as secure as it looks} 33. Qd1 Qd6 34. Nxc4 Nxc4 35. Qb3
{resigns as 35... qd5 - then 36 qb8+ kf7 37qb7+ kg8 38 bf6 will decide the
game}

another good night for the 1st team

Play Online Chess

[Event "k.o cup vs nuneaton"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.12.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "C Green"]
[Black "j Naylor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8.
Bxc6 bxc6 9. O-O Bc5 10. f3 Ng5 11. f4 Ne4 12. Be3 Bb6 {All of this is theory
so far and i had the same position against Dave Ireland of coventry a few
matches back where 13 f5 was played} 13. c3 c5 14. Nb3 Ba4 {a very odd looking
move as it allows whites next but i was trying to mix things up} 15. Qg4 Qd7
16. Qxd7+? {This move i had not even considered as black is better developed
and has the 2 bishops. i was expecting f5 to which i was going to play
h7-h5and then if qg4-h3 i was going to play o-o-o with a messy position}
16... Bxd7 17. Rd1 c4 {the b2 pawn is weak} 18. Nd4 O-O 19. h3 Ba4 {the bishop
goes to this strange looking square again but the point is to win the weak b2
pawn} 20. Rf1 Rab8! 21. Nf5?! {here i think colin had to play 21 nd2 nxd2 22
bxd2 bxd4+ 23 cxd4 rxb2 24 Bc3 and bite the bullet although i suspect this
endgame is winning for black} 21... Bxe3+ 22. Nxe3 Rxb2 23. Nxd5 Rd8 {the game
is pretty much over now as white is not developed and his pieces are not ever
going to be coordinated} 24. Ne7+ Kf8 25. Nf5 Bc6 26. Nd4 Bb7 27. Nf3 Ng3 28.
Re1 Ne2+ 29. Kf2 Nxf4+ 30. Kg3 Ne2+ {to get past the time control} 31. Kh4
Nf4 32. Kg3 Nxg2 {and white resigned as there are 2 many threats} 0-1

Rugby "C " Results

Results of Tuesday 08/12/09 match - at home


Board 1 James - Win
Board 2 Roy - Draw
Board 3 Chris - Oh Dear
Board 4 Joe - As Usual

Game - 8/12/09

Another uninspiring title but 'Amazing Game' is a bit of a stretch. My opponent as White lost the initiative early on. Afterward, he said he'd played 1.d4 as players at our level are less comfortable with it. This viewpoint is fine, but a plan after 1.d4 would have helped. I wasn't just going to resign. I don't think 2.f4 counts as a sound plan.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby C v Coventry F"]
[Site "Home"]
[Date "2009.12.8"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J. Mendes"]
[Black "C. Marstow"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. d4 d5 2. f4?! {Dubious.} 2... Nc6 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. e3 Qd6 {Ignoring the rule
about early Queen development, but White can't attack her there; I needed to
strengthen e5 for the eventual pawn push; and it enables castling long.} 5.
Nbd2 f6 {Temporarily hems in the Knight but again it's needed for e7-e5.} 6.
h3 Bd7 {6...Bf5 or Bh5 is met with 7.g4 losing tempo.} 7. c3 {This seems
aimless. 7.c4 is better. } 7... e5 {The point of all my moves so far.} 8.
Qe2 e4 {Chases the Knight to inactive squares, and closes the centre denying
White space.} 9. Nh4? {Hangs the Knight by allowing 9...g5. 9.Ng1 or Nh2 are
the only choices.} 9... O-O-O {Didn't want to play 9...g5 immediately, as
10.Qh5+ dislodges the King and prevents castling. 9...0-0-0 is a risk though,
as 10.g4 creates an escape square for the Knight. Considering White played
9.Nh4? in the first place, I guessed he wouldn't actually play 10.g4.} 10.
Nb3 {The gamble pays off, as White still fails to see the threat to his
Knight.} 10... g5 {And my King is tucked away.} 11. Nf5?! {11.Qf2, Qh5, or Nf3
at least allow White to recoup a pawn.} 11... Bxf5 12. g4 Be6 {Chose this over
12...Bd7 as I want the Bishop aimed at h5 for a potential pawn break there,
and Be8 clogs up the back rank as opposed to Bf7.} 13. f5 {Opens up the b8-h2
diagonal for my Queen, which now has a route to his King.} 13... Bf7 14. Nc5
{Too late for the sacrifice (14.Nc5 ... 15.Nxb7 Kxb7 16.Qb5+) because of...}
14... Qg3+ {Discovered attack with check.} 15. Kd2 Bxc5 16. dxc5 {Doubles the
pawns, and half opens the d-file containing my Rook and his King. Might cause
problems for White later...} 16... h5 17. Bg2 {Defends his Rook in case the
h-file opens.} 17... Nge7 {Wanting to align my Rooks on the h-file.} 18. b4
{The c5 pawn is not at risk yet.} 18... Qe5 {Not the best move against
accurate play, but the c3 pawn is pinned to the undefended Rook, leaving the
b4 pawn essentially undefended.} 19. Bb2 {Now the pawn is pinned to the
undefended Bishop.} 19... Nxb4 {Another speculative move (18...Qe5) pays
off.} 20. Rhc1 Nd3 {Triple fork.} 21. Rc2 Nxc5 {Not 21...Nxb2 22.Rxb2 as I
don't want White to start aligning pieces on the half open b-file.} 22. Kd1
{Who knows?} 22... Na4 {Threatens the Bishop, which doesn't really follow the
logic of not capturing it last move.} 23. Qb5 Be8 {X-ray defence.} 24. Qb4
hxg4 25. c4 {Discovered attack that only loses the pawn to...} 25... dxc4+
{Discovered check.} 26. Ke2 c3 {I want to start simplifying.} 27. Bxc3 Qb5+
{Forces Queen exchange. } 28. Kf2 Qxb4 29. Bxb4 Nxf5 30. Bxe4 g3+ 31. Kf3?
{Bad square for the King.} 31... Bh5+ 32. Kg2 {Only legal move yet the one
square White doesn't want his King.} 32... Nxe3+ {White's forked.} 33. Kxg3
Nxc2 {Maybe 33...Rd4 was better, but I wanted the Rook.} 34. Bxc2 Nb6 35. Rf1
Nd5 36. Be4?? Nxb4 37. Rxf6 Rhe8 38. Bf5+ Kb8 39. Rh6 Re3+ 40. Kf2 Re2+ {Just
hoping he'd retreat to the back rank allowing the coup de grace.} 41. Kg3
{Decides to make life difficult.} 41... Re3+ 42. Kf2 Rf3+ 43. Kg2 Rxf5
{43...Rd2+ doesn't lead to mate, so I decided to simplify again.} 44. Rxh5 c5
{Couldn't be bothered to mate with what I had, so decided to walk the pawn to
promotion.} 45. Kg3 c4 46. Kg4 Rf4+ {Decided to simplify again.} 47. Kxg5
Rd5+ 48. Kxf4 Rxh5 {White finally resigns.} 0-1

Cox vs Cramp, 8th Dec 2009

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[Event "Cov leage Div cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.12.8"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jonathan Cox"]
[Black "Gordon Cramp"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "147"]
[BlackELO "47"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bb4+?! {Highly unusual Bc5 is better}
5. c3 Bc5 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bc4 Qf6 8. O-O d5? {My opponent said he didnt like
double pawns. Probably better that than losing a pawn} 9. exd5 Qd6 {If he
takes pawn then i will take back with queen and fork bishop and rook} 10.
dxc6 Qxd1 {If queen takes pawn then i can either play the straight forward bd5
skewering his queen to the rook or I was tempted with qe2+ just to see if he
saw that i could play bb5 pinning his queen. Must admit was losing abit of
respect with my opponent's play} 11. Rxd1 Bd6?! {Should develop. Don't see the
point} 12. Nd2 Nf6 13. Re1+! {This check causes problems. His pieces will get
tied up or his king will be misplaced} 13... Be7 14. Nf3 Kf8? {No comment}
15. Ng5 Be6 16. Rxe6! {Forces simplifications as pawn takes rook allows me to
take with knight with check followed by taking on c7 where i at the very least
come away with an extra couple of pawn} 16... Rd8? {Decides to lose a piece
instead} 17. Re1 h5?? {hmmm} 18. Nxf7 Ke8? {rook needs protection} 19. Nxh8
Rd6 20. Ng6 Rxc6?? 21. Bb5 {ouch} 21... Kd8 22. Bxc6 Bc5 23. Bg5 a5 {letting
me win straightaway} 24. Re8# {Oh by the way, i think we should start a blog
on quotes of the season. Nalin has got a couple that i can think of and my
opponent came up with a corker yesterday. He said (when he looked at my grade
and his own), "Let's see how many moves i can survive" Really says it all}
1-0

Chris plays Board 3 (and loses quite rapidly)

Not a good start as I arrived late for the game, to find that I had been 'promoted' by Captain Joe to Board 3. (Not sure that I am ready to leave the security of board 4 yet).

I was pleased with myself up to move 7, but missed a couple of opportunities and made life hard for myself from 14 on by moving my queen into a spot where she could do me no good. I also neglected to anticipate the threat of the two rooks lining up. So lessons learned here. Jon Cox went through it afterwards and pointed out some ways to improve but happy to receive advice from others also.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Divisional Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.12.8"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ravi Sian"]
[Black "Chris Pegler"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. h3 {Hm. Wonder what this is about?} 4...
Bf5 5. a3 {And on the other side too. } 5... e6 6. Bg5 {He's pinning my knight
...} 6... Be7 {So bishop breaks the pin} 7. e3 Ne4 {Threatens knight and
bishop with the idea that if knight takes then pawn will take back and eye up
the other knight while the bishops square off. } 8. h4 Bxg5 9. hxg5 {This now
opens up the h file for his rook. } 9... Nxg5 10. Bb5 {Now that is annoying
...} 10... O-O 11. Rh5 Nxf3+ {This was a missed opportunity. As Jon Cox
pointed out Bg4 would have been a much better move. I agree. Part of the
problem was that I missed that he could take with the queen as well as the
pawn. } 12. Qxf3 {which he now does. } 12... Ne7 13. O-O-O c6 {I am for some
reason looking to developing my queen on the queen side of the board when I
should be worrying about his two rooks. Although this does ...} 14. Bd3 {chase
back his queen. } 14... Qa5 {This was my worst move I reckon. It effectively
takes my queen out for the rest of the game. } 15. Bxf5 exf5 {Could have taken
with the knight and still had that defended? Would that have been better?}
16. Rdh1 h6 {With the two rooks lined up this looks like my 'only move' says
Cox.} 17. Qg3 g6 {Ng6 would have been better (again says Cox and he is right
isn't he?)} 18. Rxh6 g5 {Now this was according to my chess mentor Cox the
'wrong move'. It was around here that my opponent suggested that the
honourable thing is sometimes to resign. Ever stubbon I press on. } 19. Qxg5+
Ng6 20. Qf6 Qd8 {At last my queen returns. But far too late ...} 21. Rh8+
Nxh8 22. Qxh8# {Now I think that he could have done that part quicker. But
then it was not a perfect game from either side. } 1-0

Putting tables into the blog - we now know how!

This is part of the occasional 'how to' instructions series. So ignore it if you are only here for the chess.

Put simply ... Blogger (the blog software) automatically puts space before any table that you post into it. Lots of space. See this blog for a demonstration..

The same blog suggests a solution (avert eyes at this point if not teccie). This is that you insert a small piece of CSS code at the top of the post:

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none }</style>

and use the div tag to reference it, so

<div class="nobrtable">

Post your table here -------------------

</div>


Problem sorted. This means in plainspeak that we could post tables of results if we wanted to. It does however require some trickery ...

We won the team lightning !

Another pretty decent night for the club on Tuesday - we won the team lightning!
Rugby 30 points
Cov A 25.5 points
Uni 19 points (approx)
Cov B 8 points (approx)
The team was John Naylor, Bob Wildig, Martin Wilson, Jonathan Cox, Nalin Kadodwala, ANO, John Kennedy (loaned to us by Cov) - 7 players.
Everyone played well at the horribly quick 10 seconds per move but in particlar Nalin had a clean sweep and probably John Kennedy as well.

So first trophy of the season for us - will there be any others ????

Nalin's back with his usual sacrifices!

Thank you to all who were concerned about me being ill but I'm almost 100% better now so thank you. Also, I would like to add that anyone would be lucky to spend an hour with me so keep plugging away at John's puzzle lol! I found it amusing when we met up with bob and people in the merchant and bob was asking seriously if I was ok about the amount of comments being made against myself. Of course I had to reply that I was losing sleep over it and that I had been psycologically damaged!!!

On all 3 games the names are the wrong way round. To repeat, I was Black in all games.

Anyway, 3 games to go through including the sacrificial double piece win and a rather cunning queen trap. All 3 games are Dutch Defences where I am black. Enjoy...

Play Online Chess

[Event "RugbyA vs CovA"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.11.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "E.Goodwin"]
[Black "Nalin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "156"]
[BlackELO "152"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 7. b4!?
{An interesting move which aims to gain queenside space before committing
white's queenside pieces.} 7... a5?! {The right idea but not in the most
accurate order. First should come 7....Ne4,to stop Nc3, then a5.} 8. b5 Ne4
9. Qc2?! {9:a4 was better here as now black can play 9:....a4 himself (even
though he doesn't)} 9... c6 10. a4 Bf6 11. Bb2 Nd7? {First mistake of the game
committed my me (what a surprise lol). The knight gets in the way of
everything and leaves c6 vunerable.} 12. Nbd2 d5 13. bxc6 bxc6 14. cxd5 cxd5
{This is the point of white's play. Black would have loved to play 14:....exd5
but cannot because his c6 pawn would drop.} 15. Ne5? {Not a great move as the
pawn on e5 cannot do much.} 15... Bxe5 16. dxe5 Ba6 17. Nxe4 fxe4 18. Bh3 Re8
19. Bd4 {White's dark squared bishop has found a good square BUT it cannot do
anything useful from this square.} 19... Bc4 {Here I offered a draw but my
opponent carried on playing without saying anything to me. I thought he took
it as an insult!!} 20. Qd2 Qc7 {I offered a draw again here and he happy shook
hands with me. (yes in a gay way before I get flooded with comments lol) My
guess was that he simply did not here me the first time around.} 1/2-1/2

The position at this point is very equal. Black's play is probably easier to play but that's about it. On to the exciting games now...

Play Online Chess

[Event "RugbyA vs NuneatonA"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.11.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "M.Probert"]
[Black "Nalin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "163"]
[BlackELO "152"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. d4 e6 2. g3 f5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 d6 7. Nc3 Qe8
{Swinging the queen over to the kingside} 8. Qc2 Qg6 {8....Qh5 was a
bit better. But the idea behing the move played was to control e4.} 9. b3 Ne4
10. Bb2 Bf6 11. e3 Nc6 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. Nd2 d5 {The only way to defend e4.}
14. a3! {Stopping any ...Nb4 ideas for good.} 14... Bg5 {Putting pressure on
e3 in case white wants to play f3.} 15. b4 {White is clearly better here as
Black's queenside is getting overrun. However I saw at this point that my c
pawn would be weak and I saw a cunning queen trap here...} 15... Rf7
{Protecting my c pawn. } 16. b5 {Kicking my knight to expose Black's c pawn.}
16... Ne7 {Purposefully blocking my rook's protection of c7 to lure the trap.
The point is given time Black would like to play c6 himself and hold
thequeenside together but White does not give him time to do so, so black has
to defend tactically.} 17. cxd5 exd5 18. Qxc7?? {A natural enough move but
loses to... } 18... Nc6!! {This is the position that Black saw in advance from
playing ....Rf7! I had to make sure that ther was no eascape for the queen in
my head.} 19. Qxf7+ Qxf7 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Rac1 Ba6 22. Rfe1 Bb5 23. f4?
{A mistake. White should try to open up the position for his pieces. Not
close it.} 23... Bd8 24. Nb3 Bb6 25. Rc3 Rb8 26. Ra1 Bc4 27. Bc1 Qh5 {The game
is not over though until Black finds a good way to get into White's
position. This move is trying to invade to e2.} 28. Bd2 Bxb3 29. Rxb3 Qe2 {The
queen gets there but cannot do anything useful here.} 30. Bb4 Bd8 31. Bf1 {The
queen gets kicked back.} 31... Qg4 32. Rb2 a5 33. Be2?? {This does not look a
bad move but as you will see the rest of the moves a forced leading to a Black
win meaning this has to be the wrong move.} 33... Qc8 {The queen has decided
to invade on the queeenside afterall!} 34. Bc3 {Forced.} 34... Rxb2 35. Bxb2
{Forced.} 35... Qb7 36. Bc1 {Forced again as 36.Rb1 loses to
36....Qb3 followed my 37....Qc2 with too many double attacks.} 36... Qb3
{White is paralysed.} 37. Kf2? {37.a4 woul dhave put a little fight but the
games now ends very quickly because White cannot move and Black gets his final
bishop into the attack.} 37... a4 38. Kg1 Ba5 {The bishop comes and so
White resigns.} 0-1

That was the queen trap and to finish is the ridiculously stupid double piece sac which shouldn't work, BUT DOES!!!!

Play Online Chess

[Event "CovB vs RugbyA"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.10.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "D.Filer"]
[Black "Nalin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "133"]
[BlackELO "152"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O {After watching the other
games this must totally normal by now but...} 6. e4?! {...is the right idea
but White is not well deveoped enough to open up the position yet.} 6... fxe4
7. Nxe4 d5 8. Nxf6+ Bxf6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Ne2 c6?! {Not a bad move but
10....Bg4 stright away was better taking advantage of the exposed White
king.} 11. O-O Bg4 12. Qd3? {An awful move which drops the d pawn.} 12...
Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Bxd4 14. Bf4 Qf6 15. Rae1! {A good move trying to create threats
and ignoring his own b pawn.} 15... Nd7 16. Qe7 Rae8?? {This is where the
fireworks start. Black wrongly thinks that the coming combination will lead to
a win. } 17. Qxd7 Bxf2+ 18. Kxf2! {This is the move a I thought White couldn't
make.} 18... Qd4+ 19. Kf3 {Notice that 19.Re3?? Would lose to 19....Qxe3
mate!} 19... Re4 {Piling the pressure on the center and kingside. White cannot
take it owing to 20.dxe4+ discovering an attack on White's queen.} 20. Kg4!
{White again makes the best defensive move bringing the f1 rook into play.}
20... h5+ {Why not give away another pawn I thought.} 21. Kxh5 g6+ {And i
offer another. } 22. Kg4!? {Taking the pawn would win. White had 20 mins left
on his clock compared to my 5 so he should have taken the time to calculate
the pawn capture.} 22... Qe5! {This is probably my only good move in the whole
game as it forces White to find the only move to take the win. This is a good
time stop and try and find Whites only move. } 23. Kf3?? {Fortunately for me
Dave didn't find it. Blacks last threat was 23...Qh5 mate and the only defense
was 23.h4!! which stops all of Blacks attack. The move played leads to a mate
in two.} 23... Rfxf4+ 24. gxf4 {Forced.} 24... Qxf4# {A harsh mate as Black
has pretty much sacrificed everything!! } 0-1

Even if I lost this game, it was without doubt the most enjoyable high intensity match that I've played with a lot of people watching the game.

Feel free to post comments on any of the games and tell me how good I am LOL!!

And now its over to Nigel ...

From Nigel Malka here is a game from Rugby B. Nice to see something from them up here. From Nigel's comment elsewhere:

Rugby B Chess team on the 24 Nov were away to Nuneaton C and from previous years we knew it was going to be a difficult game for us to get a result. With 5 regular member John was rested. The first game to finish was Malcolm Harding on board 4, he only seemed to have sat down when he gave me a thumbs up and we were one up. Both Jim MDonald on board 3 and then Simon Turner on board 2 lost so with a very even game I felt we had lost the match. However with time against him a poor move allowed Nigel Malka to push home an advantage and our borad one got the win so it ended with a good draw for the team.

Note: Anyone who is interested in knowing how to do this - or even more advanced stuff - and who has some free time on the 30th Nov evening should check out Bob's recent email. Sue has set us up with four computers to try some things out and Sue and I will be on hand to answer all your blogging queries. Sorry for that interruption, back to the chess ...

Play Online Chess

[Event "Nuneaton C v Rugby B"]
[Site "Nuneaton "]
[Date "2009.11.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rugby - Nigel Malka"]
[Black "Nuneaton - H Phillps"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. c4 d5 2. cxd5 Nf6 3. g3 Nxd5 4. Bg2 e6 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Be7 7. Qa4+ c6
8. Ba3 O-O 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nf3 Nd7 11. O-O Nf6 12. Ne5 Nd5 13. Qc2 f6 14.
Nd3 e5 15. c4 Nc7 16. Rab1 Ne6 17. e3 Rd8 18. Ne1 Nc5 19. Nf3 Be6 20. d4 exd4
21. exd4 Na6 22. Rfe1 Qf7 23. Bf1 Rab8 24. a3 Bg4 25. Rb3 Bxf3 26. Rxf3 Rxd4
27. Rfe3 Nc5 28. Qf5 b6 29. Re7 Qg6 30. Qxg6 hxg6 31. Rxa7 Rd7 32. Rxd7 Nxd7
33. Re7 Ne5 34. f4 Nf3+ 35. Kf2 Nd2 36. Bd3 f5 37. Ke3 Ne4 38. Bxe4 fxe4 39.
Kxe4 Ra8 40. Re6 Rxa3 41. Rxc6 Rc3 42. Kd4 Rc2 43. h4 b5 44. cxb5 0-1

Similar sort of start to James game

I don't seem to be able to get the players right here. Anyway O Cosham is White and R Wildig is Black !

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov League Div 1"]
[Site "Nuneaton B v Rugby A"]
[Date "2009.11.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "R Wildig"]
[Black "O Cosham"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. c4 {Oliver is a very old friend of mine and these days we talk more about
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire than we do about chess !} 1... e5 2. g3
Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 {Black had decided to play in a sharper way than his usual style
....} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc3 Nb6 {The key move
for Black to take away Whites option of playing d4 which will free his game.
the problems for Black are the same as those in James Mendes game the same
night.} 9. b3 {Taking the natural diagional from his Q. Better was Be3} 9...
Be6 10. Bb2 f6 {Making a strongpoint on e5 and taking g5 from Whites knights}
11. Rc1 Qe8 {Black was afraid of 12 Nb5 Rc8 13 Rxc6 (although he would have
been ok). If White had chosen 12 Nb5 Blacks move would have been Qd7 and he
wouldn't have to worry about a knight landing on c5 for a few moves.} 12. Ne4
Rd8 13. Nc5 Bc8 {This is a fairly standard technique. Black has ducked Whites
punches.} 14. Qc2 Nb4 15. Qb1 Rd5 {The Nc5 must be driven away asap} 16. Ne4
c5! {With a big sigh of relief. Now White can never play d4 (and live)} 17.
Nc3 Rd8 18. Ne4 Nd7 {The two pawns e5 and c5 are key to Blacks position and
must be preserved at all costs.} 19. Nfd2 Nc6 20. Nf3 {White has little to
do} 20... b6 21. Rfe1 Ndb8 {Getting the Knight out of the way.} 22. Nc3 f5
23. Ba1 Qh5 24. Qb2 Bf6 {A poor move as the threats on the long diagonal
against g7 weren't that strong. Bklack should have considered Rd6 or Rf6} 25.
Qb1 Kh8 {Avoiding future B checks on d5.} 26. Nd1 Nd4 27. Nxd4 exd4 28. Nb2
{Too slow, Whites pieces are in the wrong part of the board.} 28... f4 29.
Nc4 Bh3 30. Nd2 fxg3 31. fxg3 {hxg3 had to be played} 31... Bg5 32. Rcd1 Be3+
33. Kh1 Bxg2+ {After Rf2+ and Qxh2 it is mate.} 0-1

Game from 24th Nov

An interesting enough opening but a blunder cut short the rest of the game. I think John spotted a way for me to improve in the first few moves though. (Just realised I put the names the wrong way round, I'm playing Black.)

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "Nuneaton"]
[Date "2009.11.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J.Mendes"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. e4 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. Ne2 Bc5 8.
Nbc3 Be6 9. d4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bxd4 12. cxd4 Qc7 13. O-O O-O 14.
Bf4 Qd7 15. a3 Bd5 16. f3 Nc6 17. Be3 Rad8 18. Rb1 Bc4 19. f4?! {This wasn't a
mistake by my opponent, but giving up the Rook seems weak to me.} 19... Bxf1
20. Rxb7?? {This, however, was a mistake. He said he forgot my knight was
there. The rest of the game is straightforward now.} 20... Qxb7 21. Qxf1 Qb3
22. Qf2 Qd1+ 23. Bf1 Nxd4 24. Kg2 Qc2 25. Bxd4 Qe4+ {As he can't hold on to
the Bishop my opponent resigns here.} 0-1

Nuneaton B (McConnell) v Rugby A (Cox), 24th November 2009

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov League - Nuneaton B v Rugby A"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.11.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "P McConnell"]
[Black "J Cox"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8.
dxc5 Bxc5 9. e4 e5 10. exd5 Qxd5 11. Qc2 Bg4 12. Ng5 h6 13. Nge4 Nxe4 14.
Bxe4 Qd7 15. Nf3 Rae8 16. Rd1 Qc8 17. Rd5?! {This move is the start of all his
problems. F5 is a big threat} 17... Bb6 18. Qe2?? {My opponent was apparently
wary of Nb4, the knight can be taken though as queen is protected. White had
to stop F5 at all costs and the only move to stop that completely is Nh4
although black is still having fun!} 18... f5! {Now white's position is
falling apart} 19. Qc4 Qe6?! {Taking the bishop is simpler as the discovered
check can be blocked by queen or bishop} 20. Bc2 e4 21. Nd4 Nxd4 22. cxd4?
{Last chance for white to hang on. He needed to take with the rook and settle
for being an exchange down instead of a piece.} 22... Rc8! {This move forces a
win of a piece} 23. Re5 {The other try is Qb3 but then i would take the bishop
with my rook and the queen can't take my rook and defend his own rook at the
same time} 23... Qxc4 24. Bb3 Bxd4 25. Re7 Rf7 26. Re8+ Rf8 27. Rxf8+ Kxf8
28. Bxc4 Rxc4 {Now the win is easy} 29. h3 Bh5 30. Kf1 Rc2 31. Be3 Bxe3 32.
fxe3 Ke7 33. Rb1 Bf7 34. a3 Bc4+ 35. Kg1 Bd3 36. b4 Rxg2+! {A nice way to
finish the game} 37. Kxg2 Bxb1 {Well sue/chris i have finally post a game on
the blog... happy now? lol} 0-1

How did I miss my chance to checkmate? I need new glasses!

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.11.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gordon Cramp"]
[Black "Sue Sanders"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 Nf6 {I begin the King's Indian Defence as recommended by John Hall. It
gave me confidence and gained me a time advantage} 2. Nc3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4.
Be2 O-O 5. d3 d6 6. O-O e5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Qc1 Bg4 10. Ne1 Bxe2 11.
Nxe2 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bxh6 Qh4 14. Bg5 Qh5 15. Nf3 f6 16. Ng3 Qg4 17. Bd2
Nd4 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Bh6 Qh4 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Ne2 Rh8 22. h3 Rae8 23. Qd2
g5 24. f3 Re3 25. Rae1 c5 26. Qa5 g4 27. fxg4 Rxh3 {Nalin was in my head
telling me to sacrifice my rook} 28. gxh3 Qxh3 29. Rf2 {Now it was past my
bedtime!} 29... Qxg4+ 30. Rg2 b6 31. Rxg4+ Kf7 32. Qxa7+ Ke6 33. Nf4+ Kf5 34.
Nxd5 Kxg4 35. Qg7+ {It is all over! I resigned and my opponent was very gracious.} 1-0

Hi everyone I am hoping to do a weekly puzzle for our club - the winner gets to have an hour with our celebrity Nalin!

Play Online Chess

[Event "weekly puzzle"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5k2/5n1p/p5p1/2rR2Pn/2p3KP/2N2N2/P4P2/8 b KQkq - 0 1"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
{how can black gain some material from this position? answers next week!

Interesting Chess Video ....

John spotted this on the coventry league site and it is a quite fascinating video about the way chess players think.

SOMEONE KEEP NALIN QUIET!!

Play Online Chess

[Event "cov league division 1"]
[Site "rugby A v coventry A"]
[Date "2009.11.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "d ireland"]
[Black "j naylor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8.
Nxd4 Bd7 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. f3 Ng5 11. f4 Ne4 12. Be3 Bb6 13. f5?! {all of this
is theory until this very aggressive move. unfortunately for dave it turns out
to be inaccurate as he is not fully developed yet.} 13... c5 14. e6 cxd4 15.
exd7+ Qxd7 16. Bxd4 {if i now play o-o i was worried that he would be close
to equality hence the next move.} 16... Qb5! {the idea is that white cannot
play bxb6 due to qxb6 + kh1 and nf2+ winning an exchange. also black threatens
qxb2} 17. b3 O-O 18. c3 c5 19. Be5 Rfe8 20. c4 {if qxd5 then c4+ winning the
queen} 20... dxc4 21. Qd5 {dave overlooks the following tactic which ends the
game} 21... cxb3 22. Qxe4 c4+ 0-1

Good night for us this week

The first team played well on Tuesday. Martin Wilson took advantage of some indifferent play by Dave Filer and won fairly quickly. I'm not sure Dave was exactly with it - early on after we started he came and sat down to continue playing against me at about move 10 !!!! Both I and my real opponent were a bit startled by this. I looked at Dave and said "Why are you sitting there?!" He got up in confusion. Oh well. I had a good start against Mark Page who has outplayed me a couple of times recently, so was pleased to have the edge. I would put the game on here but it contains an opening novelty which I want to use again and I don't want potential opponents seeing it. Anyway I offered a draw when I was still slightly better seeing that both Nalin and John Naylor were doing well. Nalin drew with Ed Goodwin - a good result against an experienced opponent and then John proceeded to outplay Dave Ireland - should see that tonight when we get to the Merchants!

So the C team drew - well done - I think Joe just missed out on a win, but I don't know what happened with the B team ???????

London Chess Classic 2009, London Olympia, 8-15 December

Taken from The London Chess Classic 2009 website 'this will be the highest level tournament in London for 25 years and will be the first in a series of events designed to increase enthusiasm for chess in the UK and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities. It is also our objective to bring the world championship to London in the Olympic year 2012.'

English grandmasters; Nigel Short, Michael Adams, Luke McShane and David Howell will be pitched against a world class field that includes a former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and 18 year old Magnus Carlsen ranked world number one (since 15 Nov). One of China's finest players; Ni Hua and the US Champion Hikaru Nakamura, complete the field. For more info read their profiles.

There will be live commentary from Grandmasters and spectators will be able to play tournament or informal games all day. For more information visit the site.

Sounds impressive doesn't it?

Game from 17 Nov 09

A few mistakes by both players in this game. The highlight for me was near the end when my opponent started to get rattled by the level of noise in the pavilion. He decided to launch a piece of tissue at his teammate who was sitting in the corner, going over his game with John Naylor. Of course, Sod's law meant the tissue landed straight on John's head! Like a gentleman, John chose to ignore it, as I tried not to burst out laughing.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby C, Board 2"]
[Site "Bowls Pavilion"]
[Date "2009.11.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J. Mendes"]
[Black "C. Marstow"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 {Better perhaps was 5.e4 Nb6
6.d5.} 5... Nxc3 6. bxc3 f6 7. Bf4 e6 8. e4 Bd6 9. e5 fxe5 10. dxe5 Be7 11.
Qxd8+ Nxd8 12. Rd1 O-O 13. Bg5 Bxg5 14. Nxg5 Nc6 15. Nf3 b6 16. Bc4 Na5 17.
Bb3 c5 18. Rd6 c4 19. Ba4 Nb7 20. Rc6 Nc5 21. Bc2 Nd3+? {21...Bb7 22.Rc7 Bxf3
23.gxf3 Rxf3 wins a pawn for Black.} 22. Bxd3 cxd3 23. Rd6 Ba6 24. Kd2 Bc4
25. a3 Rad8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Nd4 Rf8 28. Rf1 Rf4 29. g3 Rf7 30. f4 g6 31.
Nf3 a5 32. Ne1 Rd7 33. Rf3 Rd5 34. Nxd3 Bb5 35. Kc2 Ba4+ 36. Kb2 Bc6 37. Re3
Bb5 38. Kc2 Ba4+ 39. Kd2 Rb5? {Not a good square for the Rook.} 40. Re4 Bb3
41. Nc1? {41.c4 Rc5 42.Nxc5 bxc5 wins the Rook for the Knight.} 41... Bd5 42.
c4 Rb2+ 43. Kc3 Rb1 44. cxd5 Rxc1+ 45. Kb2 Rc5 46. dxe6 Rb5+ 47. Kc3 a4? 48.
Rxa4 {Here my opponent offered me a draw... Though as he started talking I
assumed he was resigning and offered him my hand. I quickly withdrew the hand
when I realised what he said!} 48... Rc5+ 49. Kd4 Rc8 50. Rb4 Rb8 51. Kd5
Rd8+ 52. Kc6 Rb8 53. Rxb6 Rxb6+ 54. Kxb6 {This time he did resign as the
a-pawn has a clear run.} 1-0

First team Tues 10 Nov

The first team didn't quite get the win it wanted on Tuesday, drawing 2-2 against Nuneaton A.
Things looked good when Nalin trapped Mark Proberts Queen to win Q+P for R+N and he made no mistake bringing home the win. John Naylor went a pawn ahead in his game with Maurice Staples and I found some good early pressure against Colin Green. Jonathoan Cox was level against v d Westhuizen. However I spent too long trying to get through in my game and I suddenly realised that Black was counterattacking and one slip and the game would be gone so I allowed a 3 fold repetition for a draw. John also couldn't quite get any further in his game drawing so we were 2-1 up. Jonathan ended up in a K+P endgame which should probably have been drawn but an unpleasant little tactic meant that his king had to to look after 2 well separated passed pawns while his opponents K had only to look after one, so he sadly lost.
No second team on Tuesday and I'm not sure how the thirds got on although I know Sue lost narrowly being the exchange down in the endgame. Thats the sort of game to learn from, Sue!

Latest news and Individual Competition info on CDCL site

Liam, the webmaster for the CDCL site has been busy and posted an October update telling you which team is in the lead in the league (not Rugby I'm afraid) and the Divisional Cup (Rugby A, wow!!!!) also giving links to local websites which include analysis of games. This blog (well done folks) gets special mention, as does a site by Coventry player Mike Donnelly which I was not previously aware of and have added to our side links.

If you are thinking of taking part in the CDCL individual competitions it might be worth checking out the recent changes to the Individual Competitions page too. Notably the shift of the Barry Ades Trophy grade range from 100 to 120 and below. The Barnacle (U-18s) may run this year, but there is some discussion on-going about who can enter - whether you have to be playing in the league or not. Deadline for entries is 24th November, so quite soon.

I can't say anything about the games this week because I wasn't there. But I understand Nalin had a good game. I look forward to seeing that one and others some time. Especially now that our site has been singled out for its analysis (hint).

Game from 27 Oct match

Jonathon Cox also played Jim Dixon on 27 October and won quite quickly then by a similar K side attack to last weeks game.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov Div1 Cuo"]
[Site "Cov Chess B v Rugby A"]
[Date "2009.10.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J Cox"]
[Black "J Dixon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7. O-O Ngf6
8. Nxf6+ Nxf6 9. c3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 c6 11. Re1 Be7 12. Bf4 Nd5 13. Bg3 Nf6 14.
Be5 O-O 15. Qh3 h6 16. Re3 Nh7 17. f4 Kh8 18. Qxh6 1-0

More games from 3rd November

Herewith a clinical display from John Naylor as he seizes on an unintentional early lapse by his opponent.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov Chess B v Rugby"]
[Site "Div 1 league"]
[Date "2009.11.3"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J. Naylor"]
[Black "C. Pickering"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 Bd6 {A slip of the hand, Black didn't
intend to do this. Instead he meant to play 4...f5 getting s Dutch
/Stonewall} 5. e4 Ne7 6. e5 Bc7 {Now White gains a big space advantage and
Black struggles to find a good spot for his King.} 7. Bd3 Nd7 8. O-O h6 9.
Bd2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nb6 11. Bd3 Nbd5 12. Ne4 {Avoiding exchanges and threatening
the K side as well as d6} 12... b6 13. Rc1 Bb7 14. b4 Qd7 15. a4 Rc8 {Whites
last 2 moves have discouraged Black from Q-side castling} 16. Qe2 Ng6 17. g3
Ke7 18. h4 Rhd8 19. h5 Nf8 20. Nh4 Ke8 21. Qg4 f5 22. exf6 Nxf6 23. Nxf6+
gxf6 24. Bxh6 Qxd4 25. Bg6+ Ke7 26. Be4 Bd6 27. Rfd1 {Now the d-file is under
fire as well as g7. Blacks King cannot survive this for much longer.} 27...
Qxb4 28. Qg7+ Ke8 29. Bg6+ Nxg6 30. hxg6 Rc7 31. Qxf6 Re7 32. g7 Kd7 {Blacks
position is in freefall now.} 33. Ng6 Kc8 34. Nxe7+ Bxe7 35. Rxd8+ 1-0

And a good win from Jonathan who beat the same opponent a week earlier.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov Chess Div 1"]
[Site "Cov Chess B v Rugby "]
[Date "2009.11.3"]
[Round "?"]
[White "J. Dixon"]
[Black "J. Cox"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 Bd6 6. O-O Nc6 7. c3 {Not the
best but White was worried by Nb4} 7... O-O 8. Bb2 Re8 9. Nbd2 cxd4 10. exd4
e5! {The resulting position is good for Black but it still takes a bit of
nerve to accept the isolated QP.} 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Rxe5 13. Nf3 Rh5 14.
h3? {S mistake which Black seizes on straightaway.} 14... Bxh3! 15. gxh3 Qd7!
{There is little White can do here. The attempt to keep out Black by 16.h4
fails after Qg4+ 17.Kh1 Qh3+ 18.Kg1 Rxh4! and its mate on either h2 or h1. }

Malcolm's game from 3rd Nov (Div 2)

Malcolm won on Tuesday (as Bob mentioned in his post), so check it out here (full details now included).

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov Chess D v Rugby B, Board 4"]
[Site "CDCL League Div 2"]
[Date "20009.10.3"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Trevor Beesley"]
[Black "Malcolm Harding"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. h3 Nf6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bc4 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 h6 9. Be3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Kh7 11. Bd3 Qc8 12. f3 Nc6 13. Nce2 Ne5 14. Rac1
d5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. b3 Bxh3 17. Nf4 Nxf4 18. Bxf4 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 e5 20. Bh2
exd4 21. gxh3 Qxh3 22. Rf2 Rfe8 23. Qc4 Qd7 24. Rd1 Rac8 25. Qf1 Rc3 26. Bf4
Qf5 27. Bd2 Rxc2 28. Re1 Be5 29. Qg2 Re6 30. f4 Bd6 31. Rc1 d3 32. Kf1 Bc5
33. Re1 Bxf2 34. Rxe6 Qxe6 35. Qxf2 Qh3+ 36. Ke1 Qh1+ 37. Qf1 Qxf1+ 38. Kxf1
0-1

Matches Cov Chess 3 Nov

The first team did well with John Naylor winning convincingly, my game is given below - also a win and Jonathan had another quick win which we will try and get on the blog asap. Sadly Martin resigned when he lost a rook admitting that he had forgotten that Knights can move backwards !

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov Chess B v Rugby A"]
[Site "League Div 1"]
[Date "20009.10.3"]
[Round "?"]
[White "P. Wood"]
[Black "R.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. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5 dxe5 8.
Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bg5 Re8 10. Bxf6 {White normally plays 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.cxd5 c6
here with a level game.} 10... Bxf6 11. Nd5 Bd8 12. Rd1 c6 13. Nc3 Bc7 14.
O-O Nd7 15. b4 a5 16. b5 Nc5 17. Ne1 h5 {Black wanted to avoid 17 ...Ne6 18
Bg4} 18. Nd3 Ne6 19. Rb1 Nd4 20. b6 Bd6 21. Rfd1 {Not seeing Blacks threat}
21... Bb4 22. Nxb4 axb4 23. Rxb4 Ra3 {There is no satisfactory answer to the
threat of Rxc3 followed by Nxe2 ch.} 24. Nb1 Nxe2+ 25. Kf1 Rxa2 26. Nd2 Nd4
27. f3 Be6 28. h3 Rea8 29. g4 hxg4 30. hxg4 Rc2 31. g5 Raa2 0-1

The B team did well too, winning 2.5 1.5 also against Cov Chess. I saw Nigel and Malcolm won their games - not sure about where the half came from.

C team lost but it was good that James Mendes returned to his winning ways. Chris Pegler took her game down to an ending where she was the exchange down. This is the normal 'grind' of chess, Chris, so hope you didn't find it too difficult!

First team 27th Oct

Back after a few days hol and the first team clearly did better without me !
The results were
Coventry B Rugby

C Pickering 0 1 J Naylor
R Holmes 1/2 1/2 M A Wilson
J Dixon 0 1 J Cox
D Filer 0 1 N Kadodwala

1/2 3 1/2

We looked at the games the other night and they were all fairly straightforward apart from the second half of Nalins game! (Nalin - you don't have to surrender a couple of Bishops just because you've won a pawn - it doesn't work like that! Glad I wasn't aspectator !)
Oddly enough we are playing the same opponents at the same venue this week ...

Oddl

Team Three at Massey F (27th Oct)

The third team (Roy, James, Joe and Chris) played in the second round of the Divisional Cup at Massey Ferguson Social Club. Our worthy opponents were Coventry Chess, including nine year old Rajan who made Chris really work for her win. You can see this below - with apologies for losing the way in the notation at the end. (Click through to move 16 and see whether you can guess what happened next move.)

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov Divisional Cup, Div 3"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.10.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rajan Parekh"]
[Black "Chris Pegler"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 g6 5. Bxc6 bxc6 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. Nf3 d5 8.
e5 Ng4 9. h3 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Qxe5+ 11. Be3 d4 12. O-O dxe3 13. fxe3 Bd6 14. Rf4
Qxe3+ 15. Rf2 Bc5 16. Qe2 O-O {Ah yes. This would be castling instead of
taking the Queen on e2. WHAT a good idea!} 17. Qxe3 Bxe3 18. Nc3 Bxf2+ 19.
Kxf2 Rb8 20. b3 Rb4 21. a3 Rf4+ 22. Kg1 Bf5 23. Ne2 Rh4 24. a4 Re8 25. Ng3
Bxh3 {Kamikaze move but I had been obsessing about this one for some reason
...} 26. gxh3 Rxh3 27. Ne4 Rf3 28. Kg2 Rf5 29. b4 c5 {The notation is a bit
strange around here but the next move is bxc so this must be what
happened???} 30. bxc5 c6 31. Nd6 {A nice little fork from Rajan. But I have a
plan ...} 31... Re2+ 32. Kg1 Rd5 33. Ne4 Rxc2 34. Re1 g5 {About time to
develop pawns} 35. d4 Rf5 36. Ng3 Rd5 37. Nh5 {I can see a sneak attack coming
so I move the King} 37... Kf8 38. Rd1 g4 39. Nf6 h5 40. Nxd5 cxd5 41. Kf1 a5
42. Ke1 Ke7 43. Rd3 h4 44. Re3+ Kd7 45. Re5 g3 46. Rxd5+ Ke6 47. Re5+ Kf6 48.
Rh5 g2 49. Kd1 Rc4 50. Kd2 g1=Q {The notation gets even more strange after
this but Black mated at around move 56. If Rajan is reading this and sees some
strange moves that he did not recognise then let me know and I will amend.
Good enjoyable game. } 0-1

Sad to say this was our only win of the evening. James concluded his winning streak with his first loss this season - on time after a tough game. Thanks to Joe for organising us all and for transport. We will be back at the same location next Tuesday and hoping to do better.

second team 20 Oct v Uni 'C'

Even with the first board defaulted to Rugby we knew it would be difficult to gain a good result from the game, Simon Turner, John Hall and Jim McDonald all played well giving their opponents something to think about but positions and the lack of minor errors gave the Uni team the edge making the final resul 1-3.

Hail the heroes at Blogger (and heroines too!)

This is off the subject of chess for a moment so if you really can't stand computers of the internet look away ... (but then you probably would not be reading this message either :-)).

This morning the blog was not working. In fact all sorts of blogger blogs were not working for something like 30 minutes. It will happen from time to time. If it happens to you do not panic. The best thing to do is go away for a while and come back later when its fixed. The good thing about blogger is that it has a lot of people using it. So if you get a message that says its not working and giving you a code then putting this into a Google search will probably bring you to a solution or - as happened this morning - a whole mass of people with the same problem. Which at least tells you its not just you with problems. Check out this discussion if you want to see just how busy Blogger is when things go wrong - talk about work pressure ...

The problem was fixed within an hour. Bearing in mind that this is a free service and I suspect that the someones fixing it were working in the middle of the night that is impressive. So this service (these blogs) are hosted on a free service, but its an impressive one with some excellent customer care. Better by far than some of the other services I pay for.

Sue's first game: where did it all go wrong?

This game ended after two hours with my king trapped on h1 by a queen on h8 and a rook on f2 but my brain was scrambled by then so I'm not sure how it happened :-(

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.10.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sue"]
[Black "Henry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Bd6 5. d3 O-O 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. c3 b5 8.
Qb3 a6 9. a4 Na5 10. Qc2 c6 11. b4 Nb7 12. e4 g6 13. e5 Be7 14. exf6 Bxf6 15.
Re1 d4 16. c4 c5 17. Rb1 e5 18. Ne4 bxc4 19. Qxc4 Re8 20. bxc5 Be6 21. Qb4
Ra7 22. Bh6 a5 0-1

Oct 20 First team

No glory for us last night losing 0.5 - 3.5 to Uni A !

Nalin should have won, Jonathan was slightly on top but fell away at the end, and Bob fell into the following rather clever trap. Only Martin came away with anything - a draw. Oh well wait till the away match!

Although this is a loss - its a neat game with a nice combination by White.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Cov League Div 1"]
[Site "Rugby A v University A"]
[Date "2009.10.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "V. Vas"]
[Black "R. Wildig"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]


1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {This suggests a quiet game is in store ...} 3...
exd5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Bg5 Bg4 {Black also considered Nc6
here but the option of being able to choose between Nc6 and Nbd7 seemd more
attractive} 8. Nbd2 Re8 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. c3 Bh5 11. Qc2 Bg6 12. Bxg6 hxg6
13. Re2 {White has played very quietly but now the threats developing on the e file
mean that Black has to do something immediate to relieve the increasing
pressure. Ne4 doesnt seem to work so ..} 13... Bd6 14. Rae1 Rxe2 15. Rxe2
Qf8 16. Ne5 Nb6 17. Re3 Re8? {Not seeing the coming combination. Black was
hoping for either Rf3 Re6 or Ndf3 Ne4. The correct idea here looks like Nfd7
when Whites pieces have no targets and Black may be getting a slight
advantage.} 18. Bxf6! gxf6 19. Nxg6! {An excellent combination to which there
is no answer} 19... Rxe3 {Of course fxg6 Qxg6 is hopeless.} 20. Nxf8 Re1+ 21.
Nf1 Kxf8 22. Qd2 {White has Q+P for R+B but more importantly Blacks King is
exposed and his pieces are not coordinated. After a further 8 or 9 moves of
desperately trying to create Q side counterplay he resigned} 0-1

Advice please ...

I played a charming student last night who comprehensively slaughtered me. But it did have some interesting moments. I've put up here the position going into black's move 11. (This is something you can do in the PGN editor if you choose manual set up and clear the board and then set out the peices).

I played d6, a wasted move disregarding the threat of Ne5. Could I have done something more promising with this? Its the sort of position that I always seem to play badly ...

Play Online Chess

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jonny Sherwood"]
[Black "Chris Pegler"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2rk1/ppppqpbp/6p1/4P3/1n1n1P2/2NPN3/PPP3PP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 1"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor

Leamington match 19/10/9

A lesson in chess for the whole Rugby team from our home match with the Daventry team.
1, Nigel Malka, 2, Simon Turner and 3, John Hall all lost

Nigel moved too quickly and didn't see the the danger till too late and this time it was position that he lost and 20 moves later he suffered for it.
Simon again made a move and didn'y see the danger to his queen,
John had the most even game and it was all down to a pawn ending, looked like a draw but a race offen doesn't end in a draw.

A good win according to Bob

This was played a week after a horrible loss, albeit against a very very strong player, so I felt like I needed confidence and most importantly a win. In this game black comes up with a lot of tactics but his general plan was not great. I apologise for the unusual opening but you will be surprised at what bad moves and plans decent players will come up with when faced with unexpected moves! Onto the game...

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby A vs Uni B"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.10.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nalin"]
[Black "David O'Neill"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "152"]
[BlackELO "127"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 {Black has played the so called 'From's
Gambit'. The idea is to develop quickly and create mate threats against white.
White does have to be careful, but if he avoids the tricks and traps, then
white should be a clear pawn up. At the moment black is threatning to win the
game immediately with 4:...Qh4+ 5:g3, Bxg3+ 6:hxg3,Qxg3 mate.} 4. Nf3
{Develops and stops the mate threat.} 4... Bg4 {Not the best move but renewing
the threat.} 5. e4 {A move which achievies a lot. It stops the threat, gains
space and develops.} 5... Nf6 6. d3 O-O?! {A move without a plan because now
black misses out on a potential kingside pawn storm.} 7. Be3 Re8 {Blacks
threat now is to play a knight to d5 as my e pawn is pinned.} 8. Nc3 {Controls
d5 AND DEVELOPS!} 8... c6 9. Qd2 {Importantly protecting the bishop and giving
myself options of castling queenside.} 9... Qa5 10. Be2 Nbd7 {After only 10
moves my opponent had taken 45 mins. Why? Because he cannot see anyway through
whites strong center.} 11. O-O {I could have castled long but this is best as
now black does not have an attack against my king. Notice that if i did indeed
go long then black does have an attack based on b5 and a pawnstorm.} 11...
Qh5 {Another threat directed towards h2} 12. Bf4 {Trying to get rid of his
'good' bishop and stopping his attack once and for all.} 12... Qc5+ {For what
it is worth Fritz doesn't mind this move but it does force white to play a
move he wants to play anyway AND achieves the bishop exchange.} 13. d4 Bxf4
14. Qxf4 Qh5 15. e5 Nd5 16. Nxd5 cxd5 17. h3 Bxf3?! {The bishop absolutely had
to go back to e6 to defend the weaknesses of d5 and f7. After this moves white
has a won game as the d5 pawn will also fall.} 18. Bxf3 Qg6 19. Bxd5 Re7 {to
defend f7 and hoping to bring the other rook to f8 to add more support to the
f7 square. At this point I notice a possible double attack on e7 and h7 by
pointing my queen on h4.} 20. Be4 {gaining a tempo by forcing the queen to
move while eyeing h7.} 20... Qe6 21. Bf5 {to gain time again kicking the queen
and forcing it away from defending the rook on e7.} 21... Qc6 22. Qh4 {The
aforementioned double attack only adds to blacks troubles.} 22... Ree8 {Played
so the king can escape via e7.} 23. Qxh7+ Kf8 24. Bg6! {Exploiting the
weakness of f7 and the pin along the f-file.} 24... f6 25. Qh8+ Ke7 26. Qxg7+
Ke6? {The other king move to d8 also obvious loses but allows a mate-in-one.}
27. Qf7# {Ironically it's black king that was more vunerable than whites.}
1-0

Tuesday 13th matches

A team, A good win from Nalin (but you just have to get these wins higher up the board order now!), I played poorly and lost , Martin Wilson looked to have a pretty good game early on, was a pawn up, but his opponent found som king side counterplay and the game was drawn.
Jonathon drew his match - I saw it as I left - cliff hanging stuff - and they agreed a draw due to mutual panic. They measured the amount of time left and Jonathon had 8 seconds left and his opponent 7 seconds.
great time handling guys !
Anyway - match result Rugby A 2 Uni B 2

B team ????
C team, I think we lost 1-3 but congratultions to James Mendes on keeping his 100% score !

New Coventry Chess Club site

New websites for local chess clubs are springing up all over. The CDCL flags up that Coventry Chess Club now has a new site.



The web address (URL) is http://coventrychessclub.yolasite.com/ if you want to check it out. They have a 'Trainng' section (links to chess quizzes). Perhaps something we could look into? Its possible to make some using the PGN editor (see Instructions link in RHS colum of this webspage).

You will see I am not mentioning my game last night ... which was unmentionable. :-(

Leamington League Team in Chipping Camden (8th Oct results)

Sorry I originally put this message in the comments section of a previous post.....


Leamington League Div3
Away vs Chipping Camden
08 Oct 09.

Rugby team: Jim MacDonald Roy Talbot and Joe Oswell

Rugby lost 2-1.

Thanks to Roy & Joe for turning-out as CCamden takes an hour+ to get there!!

Leamngton League (12th Oct)

Leamington League Div 3
Home to Kenilworth C
12 October

Rugby won 2.5 to 0.5. Simon Turner & Jim MacDonald won; John Hall drew. Simon's game finished at 22:30!

A steady start to the season, with 2 wins & 2 losses.

The third team

Still not sure of the result as I haven't been able to contact Joe.
But anyway it was at least a draw because although Raj was defaulted, James Mendes won on top and - absolutely brilliantly - in her first game in the league the provider of our new blog - Chris Pegler - won. Even though as she says it was against someone else relatively new, it's still a great achievement! So (although she is a bit shy over it) I thought we ought to put the game in our blog. After all Chris they won't come every week !

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby C v Nuneaton"]
[Site "Div 3 Cup"]
[Date "2009.10.6"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Chris P"]
[Black "Andrew M"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 Bg4 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Ne5 Qd6 6. Nxg4 Nxg4 7. Bf4 {Now
feeling a little vulnerable so attacking bishop} 7... Qf6 {He shifts position
to attach bishop and pawn but both are fortunately defended. } 8. O-O Qxd4
{If I take his queen he will take back with knight and have a pawn and threat
next time. } 9. Nc3 {Let's move a knight instead and head for c7} 9... e6
{Defends d5 pawn and opens up path for bishop.} 10. Nb5 {I continue with my
plan and also threaten his queen} 10... Qxd1 {So he initiates a swop} 11.
Raxd1 O-O-O {And castles. Which foils my optimistic plan. I then develop an
alternative plan which I have not thought through. } 12. Bxc7 {If I take c7
then he cannot take back with King so I should be able to take Rook next
go?} 12... Rd7 {Hm. Perhaps there was something wrong with that plan?} 13.
Bf4 Bc5 {Hm. How much trouble will Knight and Bishop attacking f2 cause? }
14. e4 {I have half an idea here but not sure what it is yet. Something about
a Rook exchange?} 14... Nxf2 {My mental maths goes 3+3 trade for a Rook (5) =
good. } 15. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 16. Kxf2 dxe4 {Not sure what was on his mind. Except
perhaps my undefended Rook? But now I've moved the King I won't be in check
if he takes it. And I have a plan to make sure that he can't take it yet
anyhow ...} 17. Nd6+ Kd8 {Avoiding discovered check (and me taking undefended
Rook if he moved to b8} 18. Nxf7+ {But it hardly helps because I've now
forked King and Rook. } 18... Kc8 19. Rxd7 {Might as well swop Rooks now. }
19... Kxd7 20. Nxh8 Ke7 {His King is still game for a fight but the game is
going my way. } 21. Bxe4 {And this is more luck that judgement.} 21... Kf8
{Trying to block in Knight} 22. Bxh7 {Foiled. Black resigns.} 1-0

Second team games

The first week (Sept 29th) the B team did brilliantly against Newdigate winning 3.5 - 0.5
Nigel drew, Simon Turner, John Hall and Jim McDonald all won !

Obviously they they don't want to scare the opposition too much at the moment so last night they eased up by losing 1-3.
I'm not sure if this is double bluff or not because it was against Newdigate again !!!!!

Nigel drew, John Hall lost, Jim McDonald drew, and Pradip Shah (after starting well) lost.

First matches of the season

As you all know we had our first matches of the season last night (Well not quite - Nigels team couldn't wait and had to start last week !).
I don't yet know the results for the B and C teams but the A team managed a draw - Jonathon and Martin both drawing and (sadly) Nalin losing. Anyway to keep things level I managed to squeeze out a win in the following game.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Rugby v Cov Chess A"]
[Site "Div 1 Cup"]
[Date "2009.10.6"]
[Round "?"]
[White "D. Ireland"]
[Black "R. Wildig"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. e4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 exd5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxd5 6. Bc4 Nxc3 7. bxc3
Qf6 8. Nf3 Bd6 9. Qe2+ Qe7 10. Qxe7+ Bxe7 11. O-O O-O 12. Ne5 Nd7 13. f4 Nxe5
14. fxe5 Be6 15. Bb3 c5 16. Ba3 Rfe8 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Rad1 Rad8 19. d4 cxd4
20. Bxe7 Rxe7 21. Rxd4 Rxd4 22. cxd4 Rc7 23. Rb1 b6 24. Rb2 Kf7 25. Kf2 Rc3
26. Rd2 Ke7 27. h3 Ra3 28. Ke2 Kd7 29. Rc2 Rg3 30. Ke1 Rd3 31. Rf2 Ke7 32.
Rd2 Rxd2 33. Kxd2 Kd7 34. Kc3 Kc6 35. Kc4 a6 36. g3 g6 37. g4 {The game post
mortem decided that although this was a mistake it didn't affect the outcome
of the game} 37... g5 38. a3 h6 39. Kc3 Kd5 40. Kd3 b5 41. Kc3 a5 0-1

2009/10 Fixtures (Coventry League)

The Coventry Chess site has now added in fixture lists at:

Division 1

Division 2

Division 3

Divisional Cup fixtures and results link

Also info on Individual competitions and gradings - so you can see how well you did last year and how well the people you are about to play did.

Worth revisiting the Coventry League website from time to time as lots is being added.

Putting names to faces

The picture at the top of the page shows members of Rugby Chess Club 99 years ago. You can't read the names on this so here they are - copied from the original by Bob.

Back row (L to R)
SW Gibson PC Littlejohn B Spruce OG Delany WA Wales H Somerford PB Clarke RE Ballard

Front row
GH Adcock C Snewing E Turner AJ Goode AL Coleman A White T Drake RP Swain

It might be interesting to know more about some of these past RCC players as we approach the 100th anniversary of this photo (dated 1910).

Other chess sites for inspiration - and just being nosy!

We are not the only club around here with a website. Some are much more elaborate and extensive than ours. If you are curious look at ...

Daventry Chess Club

Kenilworth Chess Club

Leamington Chess Club

Nuneaton Chess Club

Olton Chess Club

Shirley and Lucas Chess Club did have its own domain 'Shirleychess.co.uk' which looks like it has now lapsed so all I can find is a page on the club at Wythall Community Centre where it meets.

Solihull chess club - which seems to bring up an ad for Laser Eye Surgery as well as the website.

Stratford Chess Club

University of Warwick Chess Club

Not local (or pretty) but pretty extensive is the Exeter Chess Club site - note the use of RSS feeds. (A bit beyond me at the moment but I hope to get there eventually).

If this looks useful info for the real RCC site - or you know other links to add to it - add links/comments below.

Ta.

Lots to see and do at CDCL site

The Coventry and District Chess League website has a whole load of changes (treats) in store. Not only does the Rugby blog get a mention, but there is also a new style PGN web editor for recording games, records of games from the 1st and 2nd Coventry International, CDCL games and the recent British Chess Championship, a try out of an analysis tool and a link through to the ECF grading database. There is a link to a webform for result reporting that looks easy to use.

The instructions for submitting PGN games to CDCL in this blog will still work (after I have edited them a bit), but you might wish to try out the new editor as well (or instead). Liam Whelan who has worked on this tells me that one of the main reasons for changing PGN editors is to allow the use of Nimzowitch's recommendation of two board analysis. This editor simplifies the way annotations and variations are added to the PGN which also can be used for chess puzzles. (Not sure what all that means but sounds serious and impressive).

Hint: If you put a game into the CDCL database and then want to refer to it here please give the game number as well as the weblink - e.g. 'Game 265 http://www.coventrychess.co.uk/0049.htm - which happens to be from the British Chess Championships. The link is a link to all the games within that set in number order (not searchable).

I remember when the club went to the Soviet Union...

Thats all for now - but we also have a load of stuff from when we visited the Soviet Union in 1983.

You didn't know we went there ....... You didn't know ..... Unbelievable

Oh well, we will put together all the stuff to do with that trip and publish it but that will take a little while !

Memorabilia - 3

The box and the salver in one picture

Memorabilia - 2

The club championship salver - which has been intermittently in use since about 1907

Club memorabilia - 1

The club box - dating from 1877

(ok - its only a box, but its a very fine box !)

Postcodes of clubs we visit

This has been updated following changes over the past year or so!
From the Leamington League site I quote:

"Chipping Campden have reverted to the Little Glebe and their club night is Monday,
Kenilworth are now at the Clarendon Arms (see above) and their club night is also Monday,
Daventry are at the 101 Inn, 101 Warwick Street, Daventry and their club night is still Wednesday,
and Nuneaton are now at the Coton Liberal Club, 52 Henry Street, Nuneaton, and their club night is Monday."

On closer investigation some of these are not real changes. The Kenilworth and Nuneaton changes look real enough though.

Fuller information at

Leamington Chess League Club details

Banbury OX16 5NA
The Old Reindeer Inn, Parson's Street, Banbury, 01295 264031

Chipping Campden GL55
Little Glebe, Cidermill Lane, 01386 840676

Daventry NN11 4AJ
101 Inn, 101 Warwick Street, 01327 703741

Kenilworth CV8 2GF
The Clarendon Arms, 44, Castle Hill, Kenilworth CV8 1NB

Leamington CV32 5HE
The Home Guard Club, 4 Portland Street, 01926 425912

Nuneaton (Leamington league only)CV11 5SQ
Coton Liberal Club, 52 Henry Street, Nuneaton

Olton B11 2EX
Tyseley Working Men's Club, Warwick Road, 0121 7060377

Shirley and Lucas B47 6LZ
Wythall Community Association & Club, Wythal House, Silver Street, 01564 823281

Solihull B91 3JY
The Blossomfield Club Ltd, The Wardens, Widney Lane, 0121 705 3254

Solihull Checkmates CV35 8AU
Sandbarn Farm, Snitterfield Rd, Hampton Lucy, 01789 470975

Stratford CV37 6DT
The Royal British Legion Club 29 Bull Street 01789 297619

COVENTRY LEAGUE
Coventry Chess CV5 7NL
Broad La Coventry, West Midlands, 024 76421199

Nuneaton CV11 5LR (Cov league only)
Bentley Road Sports and Social Club, 23 Bentley Road, 024 7638 6747

Newdigate CV12 0JP
Newdigate Sports and Social Club, Smorrall Lane Bedworth, 024 76366004

University of Warwick CV4 7AL
Humanities building O43 and O44 (as last year)
2 Gibbet Hill Rd 024 76523523

About the Rugby Chess Club blogs

A blog (weblog) is a type of webpage that is particularly easy to set up and use. They present posts (i.e. entries) in reverse chronological order (latest at the top). This makes them a good choice for a website that is offering news, as the most recent content is always the first that you see. Blogs also automatically archive what has been posted, and allow searching within the blog - so going back and finding something is also easy.

The official RCC blog have been set up so that it can be viewed by anyone. The address (or URL) is rugbychessclub.blogspot.com. You can go there any time that you want to check information (we will add links and hints as we get going) and to see what the latest news is. Some emails from the club may in future include links to parts of the blog. Just click to go there. If you want to add content yourself (e.g. match reports), or comment on anyone else's content this is easy to do - directions are given in the blog (see INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE). But will need to sign in and that means becoming a member of the blog. Email Bob Wildig or Chris Pegler to be added to the membershp list.

We have set up two blogs, each with a different address. Think of these as the 'real' blog, or official site - Rugby Chess Club blog and the test blog (RailwayChess)where we can play around and try things out without other people reading over our shoulder. You will be invited to join both blogs (if you ask to become a member) and there are links from one to the other. But they are separate blogs so you will receive two invitations to join a blog (please respond to both even though they look like they are the same). The blogs themselves look slightly different so you should not get confused between them - the test blog will always look a bit messier than the real one.

Blogs like these (hosted by Blogger) are simple to use. That is their great strength. The down side is that they do not do all things equally well, especially when they are free-of-charge (as Blogger is). This need not be a problem. Much of the time as we can ‘embed’ or link to content made elsewhere. There is a lot of chess content to choose from as you will see. If you spot anything that would be good to share on the blog then become a member, post about it and/or link to it. Having lots of us adding a little will build a great blog.

Commenting in the blog

There are two easy ways to add content to a blog - 'commenting' and 'posting'. The 'posts' are the date-ordered entries that make up the main content of the blog. The comments are shown below the posting, these are (ideally) about that particular post.

So if you want to extend the conversation around a post - add some extra information (e.g. a link), or offer some feedback, then commenting is a good way to do this. That way the comment stays with the post that it refers to, rather than getting added at the top of the blog as a new post.

Beneath each post there is a link to access the comments (e.g. '2 comments'). Click on this link to view the comments or to add your own comment. You can add a comment to this or other advice messages to let me know if this advice helps, or not.

GENERAL NOTE: Both the RCC blogs have been set up so that only 'blog members' can post or comment on the blogs. You have to sign in to post or comment.