From Saturday 25th January to Saturday 1st February 2025, over thirty BCA members gathered at the Lauriston Hotel, Weston-super-Mare for the 31st Chess Theme Break.  It’s a very popular event as it combines a holiday with chess coaching, a tournament and a variety of evening entertainment.  We had twelve chess trainees, eight coaches and twelve friends and organisers.  We welcomed new trainees Mark Noble, Susan Hughes and John Ramm, as well as new coach Tris Cole, to their first Chess Theme Break.  Other chess coaches were Bill Armstrong, Colin Chambers, Stan Lovell, John Jenkins, Richard Murphy, George Phillips, and Gerry Walsh.  The coaches were all BCA members who had come along as volunteers to help others improve their game. The first three days were reserved for coaching, with two hour sessions every morning and afternoon.   Sometimes the training took place in small groups.  For those with less experience, one to one training was arranged.

As always, Gerry’s “How Good is Your Chess?” sessions were very popular!

After all that coaching everyone needed a breather, so the Wednesday was a free day.  Many people took the opportunity to join an excursion to The Helicopter Museum, where we were divided into small groups and were taken around the large number of helicopters by a volunteer.  The tour was a tactile one, especially for visually impaired visitors, and even included the chance to sit in the pilot’s seat and get to grips with the controls!

Earlier in the week we had a group lunch in a local café.

Guide dog owners made the most of the nearby beach!

On Thursday morning we were visited by Steve Yabsley of BBC Radio Bristol, who interviewed many of the coaches and trainees to find out more about the Braille Chess Association and our activities.  Steve was given a Chess Theme Break hat as a souvenir!

Thursday also saw a resumption of chess activities, with the first two rounds of a mini time-handicap tournament for the trainees in the morning.  If two players are of roughly equal playing strength they get half an hour each on their clocks.  If one player is significantly stronger than the other the hour is divided in favour of the weaker player.  This means everyone has a chance to win and there were some exciting games!

There was then a pause in the tournament to accommodate a simultaneous display by members of the Weston chess club in the afternoon.  BCA members performed better than they had done in the year before!  John Ramm won his game against Alex Keen, Gary Wickett drew with Malcolm Dinham, and Tony Lawton drew with Kerry Kyriacou.  More importantly, we enjoyed seeing our friends from Weston chess club again this year!

The tournament was completed on Friday, with Lea Ryan emerging as the winner with an impressive score of 4 out of 5!   That evening, Lea was presented with a trophy.

In the evenings we had music, dancing, a quiz, a murder mystery and a “Call My Bluff” style word game.  Freya and Gill Smith organised a very successful raffle, which raised £171 for BCA funds.  We rounded off the week with a traditional BCA Soirée, compèred by Lea Ryan!

All in all, it was a great week and people are already looking forward to the 32nd Chess Theme Break in 2026!

From 25th January to 1st February 2025, the BCA was in Weston-super-Mare for our Chess Theme Break. Members who are stronger players coached those with less experience. We also had a tournament and a few games against members of Weston Chess Club. Everyone enjoyed their chess immensely! The audio in this clip is from BBC Radio Bristol, who sent Steve Yabsley along to find out how VI people play chess. The images in the clip are photos taken by members during the week.

Thanks to BBC Radio Bristol for coming to meet us and to all the members who sent in photos!

In October thirty-eight BCA members travelled to Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, Milton Keynes for our 2024 Autumn Tournament.  It was a new venue for us!

This time we did not have any visitors from overseas, but we were pleased to welcome Joe Paton to his first BCA event.  He did not take part in the tournament but had a friendly game with Clare Gailans.  Perhaps we might see them in a tournament soon.

It was good to have Chris Ross taking part in the tournament after a few years’ absence.  We had 22 participants, and everybody played in the one section.  Here is the list of players with ratings from the beginning of October.

Chris Ross 2220, Owen Phillips 1944, Tristram Cole 1850, James Connors 1719, Gary Hogan 1710, Brandan Read 1698, Bill Armstrong 1637, Stan Lovell 1607, George Phillips 1421, Dan Rugman 1359, Mark Hague 1344, Voldi Gailans 1316, John Fullwood 1260, Neda Koohnavard 1245, Stephen Bailey 1224, Gill Smith 1134, John Osborne 1105, Tony Lawton 1092, Abi Baker 1063, Philip Rafferty 937, Lea Ryan 857, Richard Harrington 660.

In Round one on Friday evening the results were as you would expect from players’ published ratings.  Rounds 2 and 3 were held on Saturday morning and afternoon respectively, after which we had the following standings.  Tris was leading with 3 points.  4 players were on 2.5 points, Chris, Owen, James and Gary.  On 2 points were Bill, Brandan and Neda.

After dinner on Saturday evening, we all met up again in the chess room.  We also celebrated Neda’s engagement, with her wedding coming up the very next month.  She kindly brought a couple of tubs of chocolates to share.  We then had the draw for the raffle which was organised by Julie and Pat.  Their hard work raised £200.  A musical soirée followed with Julie Leonard and Steve each playing guitar, Julie on vocals, and the audience also in fine voice for several of the songs.  Joe was persuaded to sing too, and Tessa Fullwood recited a couple of poems.

On Sunday morning, organised by Tessa and Julie, 10 people went on a visit to Bletchley Park which was a short drive away, while chess players fought their way through the 4th chess round.  After round 4, the fight for the top positions then looked like this. Chris and James were both on 3.5 points, Tris and Owen were on 3 points and 6 players were on 2.5, Gary, Brandan, Bill, Stan, Neda and Gill.

Then the 5th and final round had Chris playing James and Owen played Tris, and all those with 2.5 points were in a group of 3 games.

Final standings and prize winners.

Chris beat James so finished on 4.5 points.  Many congratulations to Chris for being the outright victor and winner of the Open Trophy and the top prize money.

Owen and Tris drew their game so finished with 3.5, along with James.  Also, Gary beat Stan, Brandan beat Gill and Neda beat Bill so Gary, Brandan and Neda also had 3.5 points.  This meant 6 players shared second place.  (Sadly, Gary was unable to stay for the prize giving.)

Neda won the Challengers section, as top player with a grade under 1450 and she was presented with a trophy and prize money.

Dan finished on 3 points and was placed 2nd in the Challengers.

On 2.5 points were Bill, Stan, Gill, Mark, George, Steve and Voldi.

Gill, Mark, George, Steve and Voldi were joint 3rd in the Challengers, and Gill won Rating Prize A.

John, Tony and Phil ended on 2 points and Phil won Rating Prize B.

Lea, Abi and John had 1 point and Richard was on 0.

Congratulations to all the prize winners.

The weekend was complete with a short soirée on the Sunday evening, this time held in the bar as there were very few hotel guests apart from our party.  Musical talent was provided by Julie, Steve, Richard Murphy, Joe, Clare and Owen, and Lea had us in stitches with her standup routine.

A big thank you to John and Tessa Fullwood for their work researching hotels and organising our event at Kents Hill Park.  We are grateful to Matthew Carr and David Clayton who were our arbiters and Richard Murphy who was our steward.  Thank you to everyone who helped out behind the scenes and everyone who attended, you made it another successful BCA event.

Compiled using excerpts from Gill Smith’s report for the BCA Gazette.

 

The BCA Summer Cup is a five round Swiss event, with games played remotely and two weeks allowed for each round.  After experimenting with various formats for remote events during the Covid pandemic, we settled on this one in 2022 and the Summer Cup has now become an established event in the BCA calendar.

The 2024 BCA Summer Cup officially kicked off on the 13^th of July.  Twenty-four members from six countries took part.  We were delighted to welcome Paul Inglis to his first ever BCA event!  It was also great to have Olivier Deville (France), Philip Doyle (Ireland), Ben Fletcher-Harris and Brandan Read taking part in the Summer Cup for the first time.  Games were played on Zoom, Skype, Lichess and over the telephone.  The tournament was run as a single group.  There was also an integrated Ladies’ tournament because a majority of the female participants were in favour of having one.

Congratulations to Brandan Read (Weston-super-Mare), who achieved a perfect score of five points from five games!  He was awarded a trophy by Summer Cup arbiter, Julie Leonard, at our Autumn Tournament in Milton Keynes.

In the Challengers section, Ben Fletcher-Harris (Sheffield) and Paul Inglis (Isle of Man) were neck and neck throughout the event.  In the end they tied on 3 points and Paul won the trophy on tie-break.  (We hope to have an opportunity to present Paul’s trophy to him in the not too distant future!)

In the Ladies section, Neda Koohnavard (Erith) won with 2.5 points.  Neda received her trophy from Summer Cup arbiter, Gerry Walsh, at our Autumn Tournament in Milton Keynes.

In addition to the arbiters, special thanks go to Voldi Gailans who set up Zoom sessions for many of the games, to Bittor Ibanez who compiled a database of games from the event, to all those who volunteered as timekeepers and to each and every competitor for always keeping to the friendly spirit of this event!

Final scores and placings

1st with 5 points Brandan Read

2nd with 4 points Steve Burnell

Joint 3rd with 3.5 points Philip Doyle, Eamonn Casey, Olivier Deville and Paul Baldwin

On 3 points Steve Bailey, Paul Inglis, Ben Fletcher-Harris and Norman Wragg

On 2.5 points Neda Koohnavard, Mahendra Galani, Stan Lovell and Teresa Codina

On 2 points Malcolm Jones, Mark Hague, Marilyn Bland and Abi Baker

On 1.5 points Lea Ryan, Voldi Gailans, Gill Smith and Eleanor Tew

On 1 point John Ramm

On 0 points Richard Harrington

Many congratulations to Voldi Gailans for winning the 2024 ECF Award for Contribution to Accessible Chess!  At our recent weekend congress in Milton Keynes, Voldi (left) was presented with his ECF trophy by BCA Chairman, Bill Armstrong, who had submitted the nomination in favour of Voldi.  There was huge applause from all present, and Voldi was too overcome with emotion to make a speech!

This year’s BCA British Championship was held from the 22nd to the 29th of June at The Old Swan, a familiar venue to the BCA for some time now.  The BCA is very grateful for the generous support of The Sylvia and Colin Shepherd Charitable Trust, who very kindly gave a donation towards the cost of this tournament.

Steve and Hazel Burnell were the organisers and their customary efficiency ensured that everything possible was done to facilitate a well-run and successful event. Unfortunately, Steve and Hazel were unable to attend and were greatly missed by us all. Gill Smith and Tanvi Muir kindly took over as organisers and did a wonderful job, liaising with staff and ensuring that we were all looked after during our stay.
We were blessed with some excellent weather on most of the days we were there and there were plenty of seats and tables out at the front of the hotel and the staff were extremely helpful in showing us to the seating area and around the hotel generally. This was supplemented by our usual sighted helpers in our party, whose assistance was invaluable to us all.

The food was good and the hotel comfortable and the timetable ran smoothly as service at mealtimes was generally very good.
Several events were organised to supplement the chess activities: Gerry Walsh organised a How Good is Your Chess session, attended by six people; a party of sixteen or so visited a nearby brewery which, as well as providing an interesting insight into beer production, offered generous samples to our visitors, some of these finding their way into a selection of raffle prizes and were no doubt enjoyed by the lucky winners. The raffle itself, organised by Celia Gibbs, took place after the prize-giving on our last evening.

Gill smith organised a “Call My Bluff” session on the Tuesday evening and our usual soirée took place on Wednesday, compered for the first time by Frank Kirkham, with our usual band of musicians, Tanvi, Thuy Mallalieu, Gary Wickett and Julie Leonard, with vocals by Brandan Read, a new member, taking part in his first BCA event as top seed.

On Thursday evening Tristram Cole, who acted as steward for the tournament, organised a quiz which was well attended. After the prize-giving and raffle on our last evening we had a singsong and the highlight was our rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which we all sang for Graham Lilley, in whose memory this tournament took place. We were delighted to have with us for the last two days Jon and Maria Lilley, Graham’s brother and his wife and it was fitting that they should witness the singing of the anthem of Graham’s football team, Liverpool.

We were also very pleased to have Norman and Pauline Wragg staying with us for most of the week. Although Norman wasn’t playing on this occasion it was good to have him and Pauline with us. Steve Gibson of English Deaf Chess popped in during the week. In addition, we had a visit from IM Chris Baker, a long-time friend of the BCA, who was with us at Hastings in 1982 when we held the IBCA World Championship in this country. Chris was accompanied by his other half, Julie. On the Tuesday evening, Chris presented Bill with his trophy for winning Division 1 of the 2024 BCA Spring Email tournament.

Also joining us for a couple of nights was Olly Leonard, who celebrated his birthday on the Wednesday. This was one of three birthdays during the week, with Olle Engström from Sweden already having had his birthday on the Sunday and Dan Rugman following up with his on the Friday.

The tournament started on Saturday evening after dinner. Seventeen players took part although, of course, not everyone played in all the rounds due to byes, either requested or enforced.
In addition to Brandan, Ben Fletcher-Harris and Alfie Uglow were also first-time participants in BCA events and all three were welcomed by us all.

Round 1 went according to seedings, apart from a creditable result for Tony Lawton, who drew with Mark Kirkham.
In round 2 Ian Blencowe managed a draw against Brandan Read, our top seed. At this point Bill Armstrong had a perfect score, with Brandan and Stan a half a point behind.
In round 3 Dan Rugman drew with Norman Andrews, with a 130 point rating difference in favour of Norman, and Gill Smith beat Ben Fletcher-Harris, and here Gill was rated almost 200 points lower than Ben. Bill Armstrong was top of the tree with Ian Blencowe on 2.5, followed by six players on 2 points.
In Round 4, Alfie Uglow scored his first BCA win, beating Tony Lawton. Bill re-established his lead over the rest of the field with a victory against Ian, and the results of the rest of the chasing pack were as expected.
At this point, unfortunately, Alfie had to withdraw from the tournament due to illness. Julie wished him a speedy recovery on behalf of us all.
Round 5 saw a decisive win for Bill over Stan, giving Bill a clear lead.
In round 6, Bill beat Brandan to clinch the title of BCA British Champion for the fifth time!
At this point Ben Fletcher-Harris on 3 points was ahead in the Challengers’, followed by Tony Lawton, Gill Smith and Voldi Gailans on 2.5.
In the last round Mark Kirkham gained a good draw against Bill, with a 100 points rating difference in Bill’s favour, leaving Mark in second place.
In the Challengers’, Voldi Gailans, Ben Fletcher-Harris and Gill Smith finished on 3.5, with Voldi winning the Challengers’ Trophy, The Graham Lilley Cup, on tie-break.

Final Scores were:-
6 points: Bill Armstrong BCA British Champion and winner of the Graham Lilley Cup for the Open section.
5 points: Mark Kirkham 2nd in the Open.
4.5 points: Brandan Read, Ian Blencowe and Stan Lovell. All joint 3rd in the Open, with Ian picking up Rating Prize A.
4 points: Richard Murphy, who won an extra prize that cascaded down from the score group above.
3.5 points: Norman Andrews, Olle Engström (SWE) together with the three joint winners of the Challengers’ section, Voldi Gailans, Gill Smith and Ben Fletcher- Harris.
3 points: John Jenkins and Tony Lawton. Tony won Rating Prize B.
2.5 points: George Phillips.
2 points: Dan Rugman.
1.5 points: Alfie Uglow and Abi Baker.

In conclusion, I would like to thank, on behalf of all who attended this event, Steve and Hazel Burnell for the huge amount of work in organising this event, Gill Smith and Tanvi Muir for standing in at the last minute to keep things running smoothly, Celia Gibbs for all her work in organising the raffle, which raised the splendid sum of £205, all those who ran our entertainment, Richard Murphy for organising the brewery trip, Julie Leonard for her tireless work not only controlling the tournament, but organising the soirée and also keeping everyone informed of the round-by-round results. Particular thanks too to Gerry Walsh who, as always, was an excellent Chief Arbiter who, along with Julie and our steward, Tristram Cole, ensured that the event ran smoothly and was most enjoyable. Thanks to you all!
Voldi Gailans

Gary Hogan was selected to represent the UK at the IBCA Individual European Championship in Ploesti, Romania, from the 15th to the 25th of June 2024.  He travelled out early with his wife Alyona and daughter Natasha, and together they enjoyed visiting Bucharest before travelling on to the tournament venue, where they met Gary’s coach, Owen Phillips.

The line-up for this event was even stronger than that faced by Gary at the IBCA World Individual Championship in Rhodes last year!  Drawn against Frank Schellmann, a CM from Germany, in round 1, Gary mistimed his attack, with inevitable consequences.  In round 2 Gary faced Oliver Deville of France, and sacrificed a pawn for an attack.  However, Olivier defended well and they settled on a draw.  It must have been a relief for Gary to get off the mark in this elite VI chess tournament!  Round 3 saw Gary progress to a full point with a draw against Slovenian Gregor Cizman.  In round 4 Gary was up against Dieter Riegler, another very strong German player.  Gary admits to misplaying the opening slightly and losing tempi as a result.  His hugely experienced opponent was able to capitalise on that, eventually leaving Gary with no option but to resign.  It was in round 5 that Gary notched up his first win!  He played Monica de Fazio of Italy and found an intermezzo move that won a knight.  Tragically, in round 6, Gary missed the offer of a draw from Romanian Vasile Carapit due to a misunderstanding.  They played on and Gary lost.  Gary’s round 7 opponent was another German – a young, rapidly improving player.  Gary found a move that forked an unprotected knight while at the same time threatening checkmate and went on to win!  There was a sense of déjà vu for Gary in round 8, when he was drawn against Croatian, Miroslav Madjeric, whom he had beaten last year in Rhodes.  This time Gary played safe and accepted his opponent’s second offer of a draw, after coming out of the opening very even.  Gary’s final opponent was Alaettin Gundogmus of the Netherlands.  Gary spent hours preparing the Albin Countergambit, but Alaettin played a variation that Gary wasn’t ready for.  When Alaettin offered a draw, Gary felt that his own position was inferior so he accepted.

Gary writes, “I was fairly content with 4/9 although I had hoped for better and I was disappointed that I only won two games.  I finished 47/63, one place above my starting position of 48th.  We had an amazing time in Romania, I’d like to thank the Romanian organisers and the BCA for sending me there!”

The BCA is very proud of Gary’s achievement in this tough tournament!

Gary at the start of a game

 

This tournament was held in memory of Peter Gibbs, who passed away last summer.   It was fitting that the event took place in Leicestershire – the county in which Peter had lived for many years.  Celia Gibbs joined us for the weekend.

The exact venue was the Leicester Hilton Hotel and this was the first event that the association had organised there.  People found their rooms very spacious and comfortable, with the added convenience of the whole group getting ground floor rooms.  If anyone was unsure of their route to the playing room, which was also on the ground floor, help was never far away!  The food was excellent and, for those who had some free time, there was a swimming pool and a gym.  The playing room was well lit and comfortable.

On Saturday lunchtime we had a visit from Nene Clayton, who usually only plays in our online or email events.  Members very much enjoyed meeting her in person!  She received a huge round of applause when she was presented with two trophies that she’d won in the 2023 Remote Summer Cup.  To her surprise, there was more to come!  Norman Andrews, who had judged the 2023 Annual Best Game Competition, announced that he had selected one of Nene’s games as the winning entry!

Our AGM was held on the Saturday evening.  Some very longstanding committee members stood down from their posts and were warmly thanked for all their hard work and dedication.  Gill Smith stood down as Treasurer after a massive 15 years on the committee.  Steve Burnell stood down as Chair of the Tournament Subcommittee. Steve and Hazel Burnell also retired as tournament organisers.  Voldi Gailans stood down as Coaching Officer and Junior Development Officer.

Also at the AGM, Colin Chambers was elected an Honorary Life Member of the association in recognition of his international performances dating back to 1972 and more recently, his ‘Radio Cheltenham’ emails that keep people informed about goings on in the BCA and give us a real sense of community.

There had been some unexpected results in the first three rounds of the tournament.  So by the start of round 4 the only players on three points from three rounds were George Phillips and Steve Burnell.  They played each other and Steve won, leaving him in sole lead of the tournament.  Malcolm Jones was leading in the Challengers’ group (under 1300) with 2.5 points.  With one more game to go, there was everything to play for.

In the final round, Steve Burnell faced our current BCA Champion, Stan Lovell.  Despite Stan’s best efforts, Steve Burnell completed his clean sweep!  Malcolm Jones, however, was beaten by Voldi Gailans, who was having a great tournament.  John Fullwood and Bittor Ibanez overtook Malcolm to finish joint top of the Challengers.

The final standings were as follows: –

In first place with a perfect score of 5 points was Steve Burnell, who won the Peter Gibbs Memorial Open trophy.

In second place with 4 points: Voldi Gailans

In third place with 3.5 points: George Phillips

On three points were: Bittor Ibanez and John Fullwood, who finished joint first in the Challengers section, with Bittor winning the Peter Gibbs Memorial Challengers trophy on tie-break.  Also on three points: Richard Murphy, Stan Lovell, Bill Armstrong.

In third place in the Challengers with 2.5 points: Malcolm Jones.

On two points were: John Osborne, Tony Lawton, Gill Smith, who shared Grading Prize A.  Also on two points: Simon Highsmith, Steve Bailey, Colin Chambers.

On one point were: Richard Harrington and Phil Rafferty, who shared Grading Prize B.

Many congratulations to all the prize winners!

The BCA would like to thank:

• Phil Rafferty and John Osborne for their hard work in finding the hotel and organising a very successful tournament.
• Arbiters, James Connors and Gerry Walsh who kept everybody under control
• Steward, Norman Andrews, who always helped when required.

Here’s a game from the winner of the Peter Gibbs Memorial Trophy, Steve Burnell.

Steve writes:

After four rounds I had four points, with my nearest rivals a full point behind.  For the last round I had black against Stan Lovell, who was clearly going to go all out for a win.  This was reflected in Stan’s opening play which promised an entertaining and exciting game.  Pushing the King’s side pawns forward so quickly always looks rather intimidating for the opponent, but the downside of this approach is that the pawns can be rather vulnerable to attack.  This proved to be the case on move 17 when White’s f5 pawn was captured and much of the pressure was taken out of the pawn push.  During the remainder of the game, other pawns also proved vulnerable to capture with no real compensation for White.

Event: BCA AGM Congress, Leicester, Round 5, 17th March 2024, Stan Lovell v Steve Burnell

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c6  4. e3 Bf5  5. f3 e6  6. g4 Bg6  7. h4 h6  8. Bd3 Bxd3  9. Qxd3 Bd6  10. Nge2 Bxf4
2. exf4 Nbd7 12. O-O-O Qc7 13. g5 Nh5  14. f5 Nf4  15. Qe3 Nxe2+  16. Qxe2 Qf4+  17. Kb1 Qxf5
3. Rdg1 h5 19. Nd1 O-O-O 20. Ne3 Qf4  21. Rd1 Nb6  22. Ng2 Qd6  23. Rd3 Nc4  24. Rb3 Qc7  25. g6 Rde8
4. Qd3 fxg6 27. Ne3 Nxe3 28. Qxe3 Rhf8  29. Ra3 a6  30. Rh3 Rf4  31. Qe1 Rxd4  32. Re3 e5  33. c3 Rf4
5. Rh2 Qd7 35. Rhe2 Qf5+ 36. Kc1 Rxf3  37. Rxf3 Qxf3  38. Kc2 Qf5+  39. Kb3 e4  40. Rf2 Qe6  0-1

BCA Publicity Officer, Abi Baker, recently interviewed three people who were at the 30th Chess Theme Break.  Eleanor Tew and Irene Elbourn had attended as trainees and Tony Elbourn had volunteered as a coach.  Play the video below to find out what they thought about the week!

The BCA is very grateful to Freya Smith for filming and editing this video!

 

 

In January 2024 members gathered at the Lauriston Hotel in Weston-super-Mare for our 30th Chess Theme Break! There was a drinks reception to celebrate three decades of this remarkable event and we were joined by Councillor Ciaran Cronnelly, the Mayor of the town. It was wonderful that Celia Gibbs, who ran the Chess Theme Break for 27 years with her late husband, Peter, was with us too, as well as Stan Lovell, who together with his late wife, Jan, came up with the original idea for the Chess Theme Break. Freya Smith designed a bespoke Chess Theme Break logo and had a batch of beanie hats made for the occasion. They were very popular!

After all the celebrations on the first evening, players quickly got down to the main business of the week – the coaching! The seven coaches were all BCA members who had given up their time to help the ten trainees. Coaching took place in small groups and occasionally one to one. There was always a happy buzz of chess chat when the coaching sessions were on!

There were plenty of social activities during the 30th Chess Theme Break. For many, the highlight was a coach trip to Thatchers Cider for a talk and tasting. We also enjoyed lunch out at a local café. In the evenings there was a quiz, a murder mystery, a word game, music and dancing. Never a dull moment!

The chess activities were also many and varied. Three members of Weston Chess Club came along to challenge our trainees in mini simuls. Our guys managed one draw to save the BCA from a whitewashing but everyone enjoyed the afternoon. It’s always great to make new chess friends! We also had How Good is Your Chess sessions and talks on the History of Chess.

The final chess activity in Weston was the tournament. Nine of the trainees competed. Congratulations to Bittor Ibanez, who won with a perfect score! The Peter & Celia Gibbs Award 2024 was presented to Bittor by Celia herself.

Freya Smith’s raffle raised £123 for BCA funds. There were more prizes than people who’d bought tickets! Finally we had a traditional BCA soirée – music, singing, jokes and poetry readings, all by the members for the members! It rounded off a great week in Weston, enjoyed by all!

Excerpts from a report written by James Connors

A year on from the BCA’s 90th anniversary, it was a warm welcome back to Solihull with 21 players and three guide dogs prepared to occupy the chess room and battle it out over five rounds at the board across the weekend.  We also welcomed many other attendees – families and friends of players from near and far.

Once again, there was both an Open and Challengers’ trophy but these were merged into a single section. And with a classic pairing of Gerry and Julie as arbiters, and Richard Murphy lined up as steward, we all looked in safe hands!

Round 1 took place on the Friday night, so very understandably, a few players took a half point bye having made long journeys. As is often the case with a Swiss round 1, there were some quite large rating gaps between players, but many games were still very competitive. In the end though, each result went the expected way.

Roll on Saturday morning and Round 2 certainly made things more interesting. With a handful of interesting draws, several of the higher seeded players found themselves already trailing. After an impressive draw from Ian Blencowe against the significantly higher rated Tristram Cole, only Owen Phillips, Gary Hogan, Norman Wragg and I made it through to 2/2. Meanwhile, in the Challengers’ section, Gill Smith secured an impressive victory over John Fullwood.

Round 3 on Saturday afternoon then saw no end to the excitement, with Owen defeating Norman to lead the pack on 3/3 while Tristram kept pace with a win to move back to 2.5/3. Ian Blencowe’s flying start was held back by a draw in a strong effort by Olle Engstrom from Sweden, despite Ian receiving the downfloat. Meanwhile, in the Challengers’ section, Mark Hague impressed with a win over George Phillips to move to 2/3 and was joined by Mahendra Galani from Austria who defeated Gill to also move to 2/3. Saturday’s round ended with a very intricate and chaotic position between Gary Hogan and James descending into a time scramble, with James finding a trick to join Owen as leader with 3/3.

After an evening of Gary Hogan regaling us with a fascinating account of his experiences in Rhodes, followed by time to catch up with old friends and a good night’s rest, Sunday morning came around. Number 1 seed, Owen and number 5 James remained the only perfect scorers and were of course paired on board 1, with Owen taking the white pieces. An interesting game followed, which ended in a draw. Meanwhile, across the rest of the pairings, Tristram caught back up with the leaders with a win over Bill Armstrong, after safely navigating a challenging endgame, and Ian Blencowe continued an impressive streak of results after a draw with Norman Wragg. In the meantime, Colin Chambers continued to mark an impressive return to BCA chess after recovering from surgery over the summer with a win, as well as a win for Olle Engstrom to take them both to 2.5/4. In the Challengers’ section, all results went as expected and Mark, Mahendra, John Fullwood and Malcolm Jones all went into the final round tied at the top on 2/4.

Round 5 came about after an exciting but tiring weekend in the chess room, and perhaps expectedly, several quick draws were agreed including between Tristram and Owen leaving them on 4 points apiece to watch as James blundered a rook in ten moves out of the opening against Ian Blencowe. And despite James clawing back to a losing but tricky Rook vs Knight endgame that lasted nearly 90 minutes, Ian found the correct sequence with his rook in the end to continue an impressive weekend of results and move to 3.5/5. He was also joined by Gary Hogan who between the three of them, shared 3rd place. Owen and Tristram were both crowned winners but by tie break, Owen took the trophy for the Open section.

In the Challengers’, of the four leaders, only Mark Hague secured a win in the final round, leading to himself being crowned as Challengers’ Champion with 3/5. Mark was delighted because he’d never won a BCA trophy before!

Many people stayed for the Sunday night. In the evening there was an impromptu soirée with music, singing and jokes. The contributions included a Russian song and poem by Natasha Hogan, aged 3, who was supported by her mum, Alyona.

The weekend saw an absolutely outstanding set of chess matches once again plus good food and lots of fun socialising! And a great deal of thanks was owed to Richard, Gerry and Julie for all of their hard work too in the chess room as well as to Freya for raising £160 with the raffle and all the others who helped across the weekend. But most importantly, thanks must go to John Fullwood, who put in a great deal of organisational work to make the weekend a great success and a pleasure to attend!

Here are the final placings and prize winners!

On 4 points: Owen Phillips and Tristram Cole. They finished joint 1st/2nd in the Open and Owen won the Open trophy on tie-break.

On 3.5 points: James Connors, Gary Hogan and Ian Blencowe. James and Gary each got a share of 3rd prize in the Open and Ian won Grading Prize A which was of higher value. Ian’s portion of 3rd prize was cascaded down to the next score group.

On 3 points Norman Wragg, Bill Armstrong, Colin Chambers, Olle Engstrom (Sweden) and Mark Hague. Norman, Bill and Colin shared Ian’s portion of 3rd prize. Olle won Grading Prize B, which was of higher value. Mark won first prize in the Challengers, again of higher value, and also received the Challengers trophy.

On 2.5 points George Phillips, Abi Baker and John Fullwood. Abi and John shared 2nd/3rd prizes in the Challengers.

On 2 points Mahendra Galani (Austria), Malcolm Jones, Gill Smith, John Osborne and Tony Lawton. Gill, John and Tony shared Grading Prize C.

On 1.5 points Gary Wickett

On 1 point Phil Rafferty, who won Grading Prize D

On 0.5 point Lea Ryan

Congratulations to all the prize winners!

Gary Hogan writes:

A few months after surprisingly finishing joint second with Steve Burnell in my first tournament in Harrogate, April 2023, I received an email inviting me to represent the BCA at the 2023 IBCA World Individual Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired from 8th – 18th October 2023, Rhodes, Greece. I obviously jumped at the chance! Although nervous, I was determined to do everything I could to improve and to represent the BCA in the best way possible.

Owen Phillips offered to be my coach and I eagerly accepted. We had had a really interesting draw in Harrogate, where Owen had won the tournament, and I was looking forward to learning all I could from him. Owen was a very keen coach and we were in contact almost every day. I also played a lot of puzzles on chess.com and watched YouTube videos from Gotham Chess and John Bartholomew. I entered a rapid play tournament in Greater Manchester but it was too much too soon. I scored a draw and five losses from six games and learned that I had to be mentally tougher. But it was a good learning experience and I felt I had prepared as well as I could before the tournament.

My first game was against a very strong Spanish opponent. I played the London and lost a pawn early on, followed by another. I think I was slightly outclassed by a player who Owen thought was underrated. My second game was against a player from Moldova. I played a Benoni which was equal until I made a blunder which lost a whole rook and after that I couldn’t recover. I couldn’t get away with lapses in concentration like that at this level.

In round 3 I had white against a Dutch player.  I felt I was under a lot of pressure but saw an intermezzo check to gain a pawn.  Eventually my opponent resigned and I notched up my first point!

My round 4 opponent was Josef Polnar of the Czech Republic – see photo above.  I felt I came out the opening on top with my bishops on long diagonals pointing at my opponent’s king. My pawn on e4 was getting in the way but if I could just push the pawn, the position would open up to my advantage. However, I overlooked a pawn as my mind was focused on the attack.  When my attack fizzled out, my opponent was a pawn up and pushed his pawn majority to win the game.  From this game I learned that even when attacking I must still guard pawns that may appear insignificant at the time but ultimately can win the game.

In round 5 I faced a player from Uzbekistan.  The game was a Benoni and I had white.  Remembering opening principles, I thought I didn’t have enough influence in the centre so I activated my bishop on b2.  After the opening I found myself in a decent position but my opponent had a strong knight on e5 and I was struggling to dislodge it.  My opponent found a strong check and I felt like I was defending for my life!  But shortly afterwards my rook was in a strong position and my opponent was vulnerable on the back rank. I infiltrate to hunt down the enemy king, while ensuring that I was safe from checks, and my opponent resigned just before mate.

Round 6 brought another Dutch opponent.  The game was a King’s Indian, which my coach and I had prepared for.  However, after an unexpected move from my opponent, I took about 30 mins for the next move, thinking my queen was trapped. I emerged a knight down, but my opponent’s rook was still ineffective on h1 so I got my pieces out quickly and attacked.  From nowhere I was suddenly in a much better position. However, I only had 6 minutes left on the clock and my opponent offered me a draw. I looked at the whole game instead of assessing the current position and for most of the game I had been losing so a draw seemed like a good result, especially considering how little time I had left. I took the draw.  Five minutes later I thought “What have I done?”. I feel I should have carried on and pressed for the win. It wasn’t certain but I was in a good position. I will put that down to inexperience. (My first OTB game was in Feb 2023).

Here is my round 7 game: Gary Hogan v Miroslav Madjeric (Croatia)
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c6 3. e3 Bf5 4. c4 e6
The London System. My opponent’s bishop is outside the pawn chain and I thought I would go for the weak b7 pawn with my queen.
5. Qb3 Qb6
Black offered an exchange of queens to defend his pawn but I knew that in these positions it’s advantageous to make your opponent initiate the trade so I pushed c5 more or less forcing it.
6. c5 Qxb3 7. axb3 Nd7 8. Nc3 Ngf6
On these occasions the “London Bishop” on f4 becomes very strong. I created a retreat for my bishop, if required, and pushed the b-pawn. I became aware of this type of play only a few months ago, when I played a friendly against one of our best players on a normal club night in Witney. I played as black and he absolutely strangled me. I couldn’t move any of my pieces! Afterwards he explained how to play the position and I went straight home to study it. This was how I played my round 7 game.
9. h3 Be7 10. Nf3 O-O 11. b4 Ne4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Nd2 Nf6 14. b5 h6 15. bxc6 bxc6 16. Ba6 Rac8
Black blundered the exchange in an already weak position. A White win was only a matter of time and focus.
17. Bxc8 Rxc8 18. O-O Bd3 19. Rfd1 a6 20. Ra3 Be2 21. Re1 Bb5 22. Nb1 g5 23. Bh2 Bd8 24. Nc3 Bc4 25. b3 Bd3 26. Rd1 Bb5 27. Nxb5 axb5 28. Rda1 Ne4 29. Ra8 Resigns.
I was feeling confident after this game.

In the penultimate round I had black and faced a Finnish opponent who opened with e4 as I thought he might.  I had been studying the Caro Kann the night before and most of the morning. I was thinking it may turn into a Panov attack or a Tartakower defence.  Early in the game I felt that my only real option was to trade knights, queens then bishops. Later on, trying to get an advantage in the endgame, I focused on taking a Black kingside pawn and it became a pawn race.  I had less than two minutes for the last twenty moves and after four hours of play I was struggling to call out the moves in German, write them down, decide what I wanted to move and ensure I wasn’t making a mistake. This was my first OTB time scramble. My heart was beating 100 mph and my hands were shaking!  With two connected pawns on the third rank, protected by a rook, I was sure I was going to win but my nerves got the better of me. Without thinking clearly, I pushed my pawns, calculating that, after promotion, my rook and new queen would be defending each other. They weren’t! I was devastated. A win would have put me on 4.5 points going into the last game and I threw it away. In the end I thought that I can only learn from this and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Costly lesson though!

In the final round I had black again and was up against a Lithuanian opponent. Owen and I decided I would play the Hippopotamus opening. I hadn’t even heard of it before the morning of the game but it is relatively simple to learn with clear plans and ideas, so I was happy to give it a go. My opponent played the London System and once he had castled, I started moving my pawns and pieces towards his king.  I felt I had a better position and hoped to pile on the pressure. In retrospect I think I should have moved some more pieces closer to the action sooner, as ultimately what had looked like a good attack lost its potency.  The position was quite equal, although I would say my opponent’s pieces were more active. I offered a draw and my opponent accepted so I finished on four points from nine games, in joint 48th place in a field of 82 players from 29 countries around the world.  The event was won by Polish GM Marcin Tazbir with an unbeaten 8 points.

Looking back at my performance I am proud of what I achieved. I let my inexperience show on at least three occasions and I hope I won’t be making those kinds of mistakes in the future. I really enjoyed my time in Greece. The tournament organisers, hotel staff and other competitors contributed greatly to an amazing experience. Finally, I would like to thank Owen Phillips who taught me so much during my time out there. He was also terrific company, and we had a great time away from the chess board, especially during the closing ceremony when we could relax with a few well-earned Cuba Libres.

The aim of the Summer Cup is to help BCA members keep their chess skills sharp from the comfort of their own homes over the summer months.  It’s an ideal event for people who cannot attend our OTB tournaments for one reason or another!  In this five round Swiss tournament, two weeks are allowed for each round. Games were played on a date arranged by the players, using a mutually agreed platform such as Skype, telephone, Lichess, Zoom or WhatsApp. Usually, there was also a timekeeper to operate the clock. Half point byes were available but not a single one was requested, which goes to show how keen the participants were to play all five games!

The initial lineup for the 2023 Remote Summer Cup comprised of twenty-four entrants, including eight lady players and seven participants from overseas. Round 1 kicked off on the 29th of July. Most games went according to seeding but there were a couple of unexpected results with Nene Clayton and Neda Koohnavard both holding their higher rated opponents to draws. Already they were joint leaders in the U1300 section and the Ladies’ section!

All Round 2 games were decisive and only Steve Burnell, Stan Lovell, Paul Baldwin, Colin Fisher and Mark Hague were on maximum scores. Nene and Neda remained just half a point behind the frontrunners.

Round 3 saw Steve Burnell and Stan Lovell emerge as joint leaders on three points apiece. Nene and Neda both won their games too, staying neck and neck in the U1300 section and the Ladies’ section.

The crucial clashes between Stan and Steve on board 1 and Neda and Nene on board 2 took place in Round 4. Stan managed to win and take sole lead, but the ladies drew their game and joined Steve Burnell, Norman Wragg and Colin Fisher on three points.

In the final round, Stan was drawn against Colin Fisher. Could Stan win and achieve a perfect score, or draw to finish outright first? Meanwhile, Nene and Neda were up against formidable opponents Norman Wragg and Steve Burnell respectively. It was a nail-biting finish! Colin managed to beat Stan and joined him on 4 points. Then Nene also moved up to 4 points by winning her game against Norman. The next day, Neda drew with Steve Burnell, meaning that for the first time in this event she slipped just behind Nene.

Congratulations to Stan, Colin and Nene for finishing joint first! The Open trophy goes to Stan on tie-break. The U1300 and Ladies Trophies go to Nene. Colin didn’t feel bad about not getting a trophy – he said he was just delighted to be among the joint winners! The full list of final scores is as follows:

On 4 points Stan Lovell, Colin Fisher and Nene Clayton.

On 3.5 points Steve Burnell, Paul Baldwin, Neda Koohnavard and Olle Engstrom (Sweden).

On 3 points Norman Wragg, Voldi Gailans, Eamonn Casey (Ireland) and Anthony Borg (Malta).

On 2.5 points Mark Hague.

On 2 points Mahendra Galani (Austria), Tony Lawton, Teresa Codina (Spain), Bittor Ibanez, Malcolm Jones, John Ramm and Abi Baker.

On 1.5 points Lukwesa Matapo Kalumba (Zambia) and Gill Smith.

On 1 point Eleanor Tew and Lea Ryan (withdrawn).

On 0.5 point Marilyn Bland (USA).

We are grateful to Bittor Ibanez for collating all the 2023 Summer Cup games. You can view them by selecting the file below or download them by using the download option below.

Braille Chess Association – Chairman’s Cup

The BCA held a tournament in the Marsham Court Hotel from Saturday 15th July to Friday 22nd July.  23 players took part, most of them visually impaired.  During the week, 7 rounds of chess were played and in the evenings the group enjoyed entertainment such as a quiz, some music and a murder mystery.

The tournament and entertainments were organised by John Jenkins of Highcliffe and he took part in the chess along with local Steve Bailey of Poole.

18 other players travelled to Bournemouth from around the UK and they were joined by players from Vienna, Barcelona and Sweden.

The tournament was officially opened by the Mayor of Bournemouth, Councillor Anne Filer, and Martin Simons gave a challenge in a 16 board simultaneous, finishing on 12.5 points.

The Chairman’s Cup was won by Ian Blencowe (Gloucester) with a score of 5.5 from 7. Stan Lovell (Scarborough) was second with 5 points and so remains our Visually Impaired Champion.  Neda Koohnavard (London) was the top placed player with a rating under 1300 and she also won the ladies cup, she scored 4.5.

The rail strikes meant that half of our party left a day early on Friday 21^st and so a “soirée” of musical talents was held on Thursday afternoon with a much smaller soirée held on Friday night.

We hope to return to Bournemouth again in the future.

 

Members gathered at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate for our AGM Weekend Congress from the 14^th to the 16^th of April, 2023.  We held our AGM on the Saturday evening.  It was our first hybrid meeting, with members attending online as well as in person.  The Annual Best Game Trophy for 2022 was presented to Steve Burnell.  Richard Harrington received a thank you gift for many years of service as Periodicals Distributor.  Norman Wragg stood down from the committee after serving for eight years as Secretary, followed by eleven years as Chairman.  The meeting voted that he should receive Honorary Life Membership.  Former Champion, Bill Armstrong was elected as our new Chairman.

There was also a five round Swiss tournament held over the weekend.  Thirteen players competed in the Open section and ten in the Challengers.

The Open was particularly closely contested.  After five rounds only 2 points separated the leader from the lowest scorers!  New member Gary Hogan impressed everyone by finishing joint second with former champion Steve Burnell.  The first prize was won by associate member Owen Phillips.  The complete scores were as follows:

1st on 4 points Owen Phillips

=2nd on 3.5 points Steve Burnell and Gary Hogan

On 2.5 points Norman Andrews, Ian Blencowe, Colin Chambers, Mark Kirkham, George Phillips and Guy Whitehouse.  Norman, Ian and Colin shared Grading Prize A, while Mark, George and Guy shared Grading Prize B.

On 2 points Bill Armstrong, Stan Lovell, Richard Murphy and Gary Wickett

In the Challengers section, Bittor Ibanez was a man with a mission!  Having narrowly missed out on winning a trophy at our Autumn Tournament, he was determined to do better this time and he succeeded in winning all of his games!  New associate member, Mark Cholij, also put in a good performance and won a grading prize in his first competitive event.  The complete scores were as follows:

1st with a perfect score of 5 points Bittor Ibanez

2nd on 3.5 points Gill Smith

=3rd on 3 points John Osborne and Phil Rafferty

On 2.5 points John Fullwood, Tony Lawton and Abi Baker.  Tony and Abi shared Grading Prize A.

On 2 points Mark Cholij, who won Grading Prize B.

On 1 point Richard Harrington and Eleanor Tew.

At the prizegiving, everyone expressed their gratitude to Steve and Hazel Burnell for organising such a great weekend.  Thanks were also offered to arbiters Matthew Carr and David Clayton, and steward Tristram Cole for running the tournament so smoothly.

 

 

In October 2022 we celebrated our 90th anniversary of our chess association.  The centre piece of our weekend was the anniversary but there was also competitive chess that needs reporting.

We had a wonderful turnout of 27 players with Olle Engström (Sweden), Eamonn Casey (Ireland).  Neda Koohnavard (Iran) and Bittor Ibanez (Spain) making both sections of our tournament international events.

The Open event was enriched by several players who qualified for the Challengers but opted to play in the Open event.  The Open attracted our reigning champion, Stan Lovell, and three former champions so they were facing five rounds where they could expect strong opposition in several games.  Some had misgivings about their decision but these were groundless fears.  (e.g. Gary Wickett shared second place on 3.5 and all gave performances that justified their choice.  Mark Hague did less well than Gary but in our game, he launched a ferocious attack against my king and he did not deserve to lose.)

White Mark Hague Black Bill Armstrong

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6  4. Bf4 Bg7  5. Be2 0-0  6. Qd2 Nc6  7. h4 Nxd4  8. 0-0-0 Nxe2+       9. Ngxe2 h5
2. f3 Kh7 11. g4 Rh8 12. gxh5 Nxh5  13. Rdg1 Nxf4  14. Nxf4 e5  15. Nfd5 c6  16. Ne3 Bh6  17. Kb1 Qf6
3. Qf2 Be6 19. Ng4 Bxg4 20. Rxg4 Bf4  21. Ne2 Kg7  22. h5 g5  23. Nxf4 exf4  24. Qh4 Kh6  Intending Qe5 and f6 with a safe position for Black’s king and a slight plus in the ending but still with a lot to do for a win.

Here Mark placed the Black king on h7 and chose his next moves on the basis of that placement of pieces.

25. Rxg5 Qxg5 26. Qxg5 Kxg5 White now discovered Black’s King had been misplaced on his board and resigned.  Black gained a full point without really deserving it.

The Open event was won by Steve Burnell with 4.5 from 5 games, demonstrating that he deserved the grade that made him the top seed.  The drawn game was in round 4 and was published in the November edition of Chess magazine.

White Steve Burnell   Black Bill Armstrong

1. d4 d6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6  4. e4 Bg7  5. Be2 O-O  6. Bg5 Nc6 7. h3 a6  8. a4 a5  9. Nf3 h6  10. Be3 Nb4
2. O-O c6 12. Ne1 e5 13. d5 Ne8  14. Qd2 Kh7  15. f4 f5 16. exf5 Bxf5  17. fxe5 dxe5  18. Rd1 Qc8
3. dxc6 Qxc6 20. Nd5 Nxd5 21. Qxd5 Be4  22. Qxc6 Rxf1+  23. Kxf1 Bxc6  24. b3 Nf6  25. Nc2 Ne4
4. Bd3 Rf8+ 27. Kg1 Nc3 28. Rd2 e4  29. Bf1 Be5  30. Bd4 Bxd4+  31. Rxd4 and offered a draw which Black happily accepted .1/2-1/2

Despite the absence of those who usually star in the Challengers Section, the event was still highly competitive.  The winner was the steadily improving Simon Highsmith with 4.5 points.

For the record, the scores and prizes were as follows.

OPEN

4.5 Steve Burnell 1st

3.5 James Connors and Gary Wickett =2nd

3 Bill Armstrong, Stan Lovell, Norman Andrews and Eamonn Casey

2.5 Olle Engström, Colin Chambers and George Phillips (Olle and George shared Grading Prize A)

1.5 Mark Hague

1 Malcolm Jones, Voldi Gailans and Tony Elbourn (all three shared Grading Prize B)

CHALLENGERS

4.5 Simon Highsmith 1st

3.5 Neda Koohnavard and John Fullwood =2nd

3 Bittor Ibanez, John Osborne, Gill Smith and Steve Bailey (John and Gill shared Grading Prize A)

2.5 Jim Cuthbert and Abi Baker

2 Phil Rafferty and Richard Harrington (shared Grading Prize B)

1.5 Lea Ryan

1 Irene Elbourn

The chess took precedence on Friday evening and in the mornings and afternoons of Saturday and Sunday. But on Saturday and Sunday evenings the focus was much more on the Association celebrating its anniversary.

More than fifty of us gathered on Saturday to celebrate the 90 years of its existence.  We welcomed Nigel Towers, the ECF Director of Home Chess as our special guest.  Our gathering included relatives of David Hodgkins family and six of the seven surviving members of an elite group, the honorary life members Stan Lovell and Alec Crombie, Peter and Celia Gibbs, Gerry Walsh and Julie Leonard.  The missing honoured member, Julia Scott, prevented from attending by failing health was sadly missed.  I know that everyone values the immense contribution her work as a fund raiser has made to us reaching our 90th anniversary.

It was great to have those six whose past and present efforts have created or continued the traditions of the thriving community of visually impaired chess players, our BCA.

Covid struck a mighty blow to many aspects of social life and chess did not escape this.  But the BCA has come through that.  Stan, Alec and currently Norman Wragg have built on the foundations of the 1932 initiative, have guided our association through some tricky times and established traditions of two weekend tournaments each year, and two seven day events, the Championship and the Chairman’s Cup.  Of recent years, Gerry and Julie have been the main figures controlling these and it was fitting that they took charge with their usual efficiency of the chess part of the celebration.  Peter and Celia Gibbs created and developed the theme break week and by the time you read this, the continuation at Weston super Mare will have taken place under new guidance.  Yet another role for Julie Leonard.

All these events and activities would be impossible without a lot of background organisation which often goes unnoticed when it goes as smoothly as the 90th anniversary celebration did under the control of people such as Steve and Hazel Burnell.  I still remember with pleasure the Harrogate championship where they organised such a wonderful variety of non-chess activities.  The advance preparation for the celebration would have impressed any wedding planner.  We had our seating plan, our individual menu choices and even our selected beverage for the toast all recorded in advance and delivered as planned.  It went like clockwork but if you imagine the scope for chaos, then you appreciate the importance of their efforts.

Here it is worth mentioning the willingness of the hotel staff to give assistance and the good quality of the hotel food and amenities – apart from a two- hour interlude just before the celebration dinner when the hotel lift was not functioning properly.  Fortunately, the problem was solved quickly but I guess the organisers were temporarily worried.

Another group, at this weekend represented by Norman Andrews, Gill Smith, and Richard Murphy, (but which includes also Roger Waters, Christine Andrews and Mike Murphy) are the sighted volunteers who make almost everything run smoothly and, when they don’t run as they should, are quick to sort things out.  The six people just mentioned and Hazel and Steve Burnell were all honoured by the award of honorary life memberships at a soirée which followed the celebration dinner.

Joan Shorrock founded the tradition of soirée at seven-day events and should have been with us to also receive honorary life membership.  Again, ill health prevented her attendance but such has been her success the soirée went ahead even though a weekend leaves limited time for artistic collaboration pre performance.

In Joan’s absence, Julie stepped into the role of organiser and, in addition to her own musical contribution, acted as continuity announcer.  What a great variety of talents were on display!  I chose “continuity announcer” because the soirées always remind me of sitting with a radio and flicking between various channels.  Radio 3 could have a professional violinist Abi Baker showing her versatility by playing a piano piece by Liszt.  Classic FM might happily present Guy Whitehouse with his flute solo piece.  While Radio 1 and 2 might offer Richard Harrington’s Elvis tribute, Stan Lovell’s lively piano playing or Gary Wickett and friends rendering yet another aspect of the musical range of BCA talents.  Not to be left out, Radio 4 could carry Tessa Fullwood’s soirée debut with three poem selections and Julie’s musical item whose chess references might just be wasted on the majority of Radio 1 devotees.  One voice which would not sound out of place on a BBC broadcast will be familiar to those who receive the audio version of the Gazette.  Janet Hempson achieved another step in soirée progress by making a much appreciated and specially recorded contribution to our celebratory soirée without coming to Solihull.

Perhaps because it was a special weekend event, a larger than usual number stayed for the Sunday evening meal.  This provided me with a lasting memory of the event.  It was a very convivial occasion.  It was not just a group of chess players marking an anniversary of their association.  It was a group of friends sharing memories of the past, some of which were tinged with sadness, and creating new happy memories for the future.  The dominant note of that Sunday evening was of happiness and laughter, especially from a riotous group crucial to the soirée performances.  I will spare their blushes by using only that general label.

If anyone questioned the chance of the BCA reaching its centenary, a recording of the joyous sound of hilarity on Sunday evening would dismiss any doubt completely.

Our 90th anniversary was a significant landmark well celebrated.

Bill Armstrong