Happy (and successful) New Year!

2015 is done and dusted. Hope you enjoyed it. The first club night will be 4th January (tomorrow). Hope to see you there. 

Meanwhile belated congratulations to the winner of our Christmas Cool Cup (Jamie Kearney) and the runners up Bob Wildig and Robbie Cockell - with apologies for the rather poor photos (mine).

Thank you to the 15 who turned up to play or just say hi, and special appreciation to Nigel Malka who ran the contest and also wore a festive hat.

 Malcolm was the only one to wear a festive jumper (perhaps he should have had bonus points for that?). 

Other questions ...  Where was Nalin?  How did Simon get into most of the photos? 


Onward into 2016 and good luck to anyone who has matches this week.

Congratulations to Rugby's Cup WINNERS!!!

Monday say Rugby A play in the final of the Coventry and District Chess League Divisional Cup. The match was on 'neutral ground' at Massey Ferguson club in Coventry. The game played against Newdigate and the result was a solid victory for Rugby's A Team, pictured (smiling) below. Congratulations champs.

Pictured L to R:  Jonathan, Simon (Captain), Nalin and Jamie

Warwickshire Chess Congress 2015

The Warwickshire Chess Congress will be held on Saturday 28^th Feb and Sunday 1^st March at the Trident Centre in Warwick.

More details and an entry form can be found at the tournament website: http://congress.warwickshirechess.org/

How to play for Squares and Space

Showing a recent game against Uni A. This games is full of strategic maneuvering followed by precise calculation. Enjoy.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Uni A vs Rugby A"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "AV Serra"]
[Black "N Kadodwala"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
%Orient=B
1. c4 g6 2. g3 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 {Going for a symmetrical english variation which
in this position causes black no problems.} 4. Bg2 d6 5. d3 Nc6 6. Rb1 {This
plan of Rb1, a3 with the insertion of d3 and d6 is harmless for black.} 6...
Nf6 7. a3 a5 {This stops b4 but gives white the b5 square which is hard to
utilise because white has spent 2 moves on Rb1 and a3.} 8. Nf3 Bd7 {Planning
Qc8, Bh3, h5 etc if white goes short.} 9. O-O Qc8 10. Na4 {Trying to tie black
down to the b6 weakness which is correct for white to do. The problem is that
black can defend very easily and naturally.} 10... Qc7 11. Qb3 {Misplaces
whites Queen.} 11... Ra6 {Odd rook move but it does get out of the white
bishops eye. The rook is misplaced though.} 12. Bf4 b6 13. Nc3 O-O {Happy to
castle now that there is no K-side attack} 14. Nb5 Qc8! {Quite proud of this
move in the game. It's natural to play to b8 or d8 to shore up weaknesses but
i see that my position can hold without the Queen.} 15. Rfe1 Ne8 {Heading
towards c7 to exchange whites strong knight.} 16. Nd2?! {I still don't
understand what this moves is trying to accomplish.} 16... Nd4 {White's last
move allowed this exchange and forces white to give it up or lose a pawn.}
17. Nxd4 cxd4 {Best recapture as now c5 is a potential outpost and restrains
white center pawns.} 18. Ne4 {Maybe going tfor a sac on d6 for 2 pawns which
didn't worry me since it would liven up the game. Comp says any sac is bad for
white anyway.} 18... Nc7 {Now heading for c5} 19. Qc2 {Trying to push b4
so...} 19... a4 20. Qc1 {Going for Bh6 which seems ok for black but I wanted
more so pushed back his awkwardly placed center pieces gaining a lot of K-side
space.} 20... f5 21. Ng5 h6 22. Nf3 g5 23. Bd2 Ne6 {Both white's bishops and
Knight are bottled up whilst blacks minor pieces are finding better and better
squares.} 24. h4? {A poor move allowing more K-side expansion.} 24... g4 25.
Nh2 Kh7 {Better than h5 keeping g5 under guard.} 26. Nxg4?? {No idea what he
was thinking. He said after the game that he felt that black's position was
just getting better and better which of course it was. Still Black defensive
task isn't terribly hard.} 26... fxg4 27. Be4+ Kg8 28. Bxh6 Bc6! {Trying to
force bishops off which gives black an easy life. If white doesn't want to
trade then he has to play his next...} 29. Bg6 {Which runs into black's next
which forces more trades.} 29... Rf6 30. h5 Be8! {White's choices are drop a
pawn and dark squared bishops off or save the pawn for more exchanges.} 31.
Bg5!? {Comp says both options are level but I would have saced the pawn. This
makes Blacks's life even easier.} 31... Nxg5 32. Qxg5 Bxg6 33. hxg6 Qf5!
{Stops all attacks dead because it forces a trade of Queens. The rest is GM
standard technique.} 34. Qxf5 Rxf5 35. Kg2 {White is trying to doube on the
h-file so black stops this} 35... Raa5 36. Rh1 Rh5 37. Rh4! {A good move from
white. Didn't see this OTB.} 37... Rag5 38. Rbh1 Rh8 {Black has managed to
shore up the h-file as well maintain pressure on the g6 pawn and defend his g4
pawn. Black cannot lose from here.} 39. f3 gxf3+ 40. exf3 Rxg6 41. Rxh8+ Bxh8
42. Rh5 Be5 {Stops the White rook playing havoc on the Q-side.} 43. g4 Rf6
{Gains full control over f4 which is key to black stopping counterplay.} 44.
Rh1 {Clearly hoping to effect a b3/b4 push but also ceding the h-file.} 44...
Kf7?! {Inaccurate, g7 was better.} 45. Rb1 Rh6 46. b4 {b3 is better as black
does not have to take which white missed.} 46... Rh2+ 47. Kg1 Rd2 {Easily
picking off weak pawns now with white's K+R passive, control of the 7th and a
centralised extra bishop. } 48. f4 {White thinks he has a tactical trick
but...} 48... Bxf4 49. Rf1 e5 {Protected and he's finally had enough.} 0-1

Chess and Cinema and Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)

Benedict Cumberbatch and The Imitation Game will turn chess geeks into heroes

Isn't it nice when chess makes the headlines? This is the title of a recent Radio Times article (link) trailing the connection of chess to computers via Alan Turing (as played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the new film the Imitation Game). The article is written by new English Chess Federation President Dominic Lawson so is more than usually insightful about the connection of the film themes to real chess history. 

The Imitation Game (certificate 12A) is released on 14 November, but leave 17 November free for another type of chess .... its the next CLUB NIGHT for RCC players. See you at the Workers Club.

Club nights - in any language

Image from Chess Network

Nights are colder so you want to stay indoors?
Nothing decent on the television?
The obvious solution is to play more chess! 

We are planning to make the blog (this website) a more active way of keeping in touch with each other and using it to people know what Rugby Chess Club is up to. If you add your email address in the right hand column you will receive email alerts when something new is posted here. (If you would like to start posting your games or ideas here yourself just ask - guest editors are very welcome).

NEW FEATURE: The Google translate button. (See right hand column).

NEXT CLUB NIGHT: Monday (3rd November 2014).

Hoping to have a good turnout on club nights in 2014/15. Hope to see you there.

2015 British Chess Championships - in our 'back yard'

The 2015 British Chess Championships will take place at the University of Warwick from 25 July to 8 August. (No excuses for not being there).

Apart from the main championship there are many competitions to suit all tastes including ones of varying length and catering for various grading bands. (Information on who can play is shown here). There will also be shopping and other draws for those who are in the vicinity ...

So, if you might want to play or watch then don't book your holiday in that period.

The website for more information is http://britishchesschampionships.co.uk/ (currently showing mostly information about the 2014 event - this will give you an idea of what you could be in for).  Note that there is a downloadable file about the 2015 tournament covering the accommodation options on campus here.

Maybe this would be a good opportunity to publicise the club? I would be up for making us a banner  to display if Nigel and Bob don't think that is too tacky :-)