The Gazette
August 2024
Registered Charity Number 263049
Bringing Chess to Visually Impaired People.
BCA Website Address: www.braillechess.org.uk
Email: info@braillechess.org.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrailleChess
BCA User Group: BrailleChess@groups.io
To contact a member of the
committee, please see the Braille Chess Association’s website where there is a
facility for sending a message.
Honorary
Members
Christine and Norman Andrews, Hazel and Steve Burnell, Colin Chambers, Alec Crombie, Celia Gibbs, Julie Leonard, Stan Lovell, Mike Murphy, Richard Murphy, Joan Shorrock, Gill Smith, Gerry Walsh, Roger Waters, Norman Wragg.
Trustees
Bill Armstrong, Abi Baker, Tristram Cole, John Fullwood, Mark Kirkham, Julie Leonard, Gerry Walsh, Guy Whitehouse, Gary Wickett.
Note: The views expressed in the Gazette do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the BCA, nor those of the editor.
CONTENTS
Correspondence
Chess Director’s Report
Millennium
Club, the BCA’s monthly lottery
David
Hodgkins Memorial Annual Best Game Competition
White
Plays First - And Should Win
2024
IBCA Individual European Championship, Ploesti, Romania
2024
BCA British Championship, Harrogate
Games
from the 2024 BCA British Championship
This summer Olly
and I went on a walking holiday in Provence.
Neither of us had visited that part of France before so we were looking
forward to exploring scenic countryside, walking through vineyards and
discovering picturesque villages perched on hilltops. The beauty of the area surpassed our
expectations, as did the delicious food and wine! When the end of our holiday drew near my only
regret was not to have witnessed the famous lavender fields in full flourish. It was a little too early in the season. On our last day, we found a field of barely
open lavender, giving the merest suggestion of the majestic swathes of purply
blue blooms that would follow after a
few more days of Provençale sunshine. It
was better than nothing. We took mediocre
photos and headed home.
On returning,
I went straight to the greenhouse, to see how the plants had fared in our
absence. Imagine my surprise at seeing
the lavender in our very own back garden already blooming vividly! There must be a moral in that story. Something about striving in vain to find
something you didn’t realise was under your nose all the time?
Chess
can be like that too. Your pieces are well
placed, your opponent is looking vulnerable, every instinct is crying out that
there’s a winning move on the board, but you just can’t find it. At least not until after the game, when it
becomes totally obvious! Fortunately,
there are also occasions when players do spot those crucial, beautiful moves
during play and I’m delighted to say that this gazette is packed with fine
games from our 20th Email Tournament, our 2024 British Championship and the
2024 IBCA European Individual Championship!
Also
in these pages, Publicity Officer, Abi, tells us about her work to raise the
profile of our association so that VI people don’t struggle to find us. Judging by the number of new members in
Gary’s Membership Secretary’s report, her methods are working! You can also read about how some Braille
chess books were salvaged in Bradford and which members ventured to London in
the rain in search of ChessFest.
In
this issue you can read exciting news from Guy and the Equipment Subcommittee,
which could mean that adapted chess sets will become easier to source in
future. In addition, there are all the
regular officers’ reports and of course details of our Forthcoming Events so
you can track down our tournaments for many months to come.
The
lavender episode left me feeling rather foolish, so I’m determined to learn a
lesson from it. Lasker famously said,
“When you see a good move, look for a better one!” From now on, if I find good lavender I’ll
look for better. What’s more, I’ll know
where to find it!
Please
send me your contributions for the November issue by the
30th of September.
Julie Leonard
Booking
Conditions and Procedures
All bookings must be made through the named event organiser or via an online form on the BCA website.
See https://braillechess.org.uk/events/event-forms
The organiser will confirm the amount to be paid to the BCA and will notify the Treasurer to expect this payment from the entrant. Only when full payment has been received will the booking be complete.
When booking, please supply the organiser with the following:
1.
Name/names
of everyone the booking is for.
2.
Dates
of arrival and departure.
3.
Room
type (single/double/twin/accessible room).
4.
If
you will be bringing a guide dog.
5.
Any
special dietary requirements.
6.
Any
special requests: For example, a preference for a bath or shower or a need for
a walk-in shower; a preference to be near the lift or stairs; a need for
support in case of a fire alarm at night.
7.
Consent
for your name, dates booked, room type and any special requirements to be sent
to the hotel.
8.
Whether
you require a Braille, print or large print event programme. (The programme will
be emailed to all participants for whom an email address is held.)
9.
An
emergency contact number. This is
important as otherwise it puts a great responsibility on the organiser if an emergency arises. The organiser will
keep this information confidential and destroy it after the event.
If you are taking part in the chess, please also give:
10. Consent for your
forename, surname, club, results and gender to be sent to the ECF for rating
purposes.
11.
The
section you would prefer to play in if you are under the rating limit for the
Challengers.
If you have any queries about the hotel or the tournament please contact the event organiser, not the Treasurer.
Blind and partially sighted UK residents under the age of 25 receive free entry and free accommodation when playing in BCA events. In appropriate circumstances, free accommodation is also available to a parent or guardian accompanying a junior.
Visually impaired UK residents in their first year of membership receive their first BCA weekend event free or £100 reduction in the cost of a week-long event. They may also be accompanied by a guide or companion who will receive the same concession. For a first event we ask for payment in advance and we then make a refund at or after the event.
The Treasurer will acknowledge receipt of your payment and let the organiser know. You may pay in either of these ways:
Cheques payable to Braille Chess Association should be sent to the Treasurer.
Online or telephone payments may be made to:
Account name: Braille Chess Association, sort code: 40 52 40, account number: 00082456.
If you pay by direct payment you should inform the Treasurer when the payment has been made.
Bookings accepted after the closing date are at the discretion of the organiser and are subject to a £10 late booking supplement for each person.
Bookings can only be cancelled and payments refunded within the time limit set in the conditions by the hotels. Members may consider it advisable to take out holiday insurance to cover themselves.
The BCA reserves the right to exclude from its events anyone whose behaviour towards participants and tournament organisers was unacceptable or who is currently serving a time ban for cheating.
Friday 18th to Sunday 20th October 2024: International Autumn Tournament
This year's International Autumn Tournament will be held at the Kents Hill Park Hotel and Conference Centre in Milton Keynes. The hotel is situated in a very quiet area of Milton Keynes on the edge of an extensive area of parkland. It is comprised of a number of separate buildings connected by covered walkways. The buildings are named after birds. The main building contains the reception area, and the dining room on the ground floor. On the first floor is the bar. BCA will occupy the ground floor bedrooms of the Lapwing building, which is about 50 yards from the main building. The chess room will be on the ground floor of the Nightingale building, again about 50 yards from the main building but in the opposite direction from Lapwing. Kents Hill Park has a leisure Centre, which has a gym, an indoor swimming pool, a spa pool, a steam room and a sauna. The hotel is just a short taxi ride from Milton Keynes railway station.
The format will be a five round Swiss tournament. If there are sufficient entries there will be two sections, an Open and a Challengers for those rated under 1450. When making your booking, please state the section you wish to play in. If you do not state a preference, it will be assumed you wish to enter the section according to your rating. Both tournaments are open to blind and partially sighted players and to associate members of the BCA. The tournament entry fee is £12, regardless of which section you enter. Note: A £2 increase to our entry fees was approved at a committee meeting in April. This is the first increase since 2001 and takes effect from the start of the BCA’s financial year in October 2024.
The rate of play is likely to be 90 minutes for each player for all moves. Any player can request a half point bye in any one of the first four rounds or a delay in the start of their game in round 1 of 30 minutes. Likely start times for the rounds are 20.00 on the Friday evening, 09.45 and 14.15 on the Saturday and 09.45 and 14.00 on the Sunday.
Prices at this hotel are significantly lower than we paid at last year's venue. The cost for dinner, bed and breakfast for BCA members and associate members per night is: for a single room, £57; for a twin/double room £50 per person. Bookings can be made via the appropriate online form on https://braillechess.org.uk/events/event-forms or by contacting the organiser. Payment for all accommodation (including Sunday if required), together with the entry fee should be sent to the Treasurer, Tristram Cole. The closing date for entries is 26th August. Please send any queries about the event to John Fullwood.
Saturday
25th January to Saturday 1st February 2025 – The 31st Chess Theme Break
The 31st Chess Theme Break will be held at the Lauriston Hotel, 6-12 Knightstone Road, Weston-super-Mare BS23 2AN. This year’s event was also held there, and it was found to be very convenient, with exceptionally friendly and helpful staff. The hotel is in an excellent location, one mile from Weston-super-Mare railway station, a short walk from the seafront and the town centre shops. Beds and bowls are provided for guide dogs. The hotel also offers a dogfood service by prior arrangement, to save owners having to transport it themselves. During the winter, dogs are allowed to run on the nearby beach.
It is anticipated that the week will closely follow the tried and trusted programme developed by Peter and Celia Gibbs over many years. It will include coaching provided by more experienced BCA members, a tournament and many social events. Please refer to Stan’s report on the 30th Chess Theme Break in this gazette to get a flavour of what the week entails. Alternatively, get in touch with the organiser, Julie Leonard, to find out more.
All members and any visually impaired person who wishes to learn chess or improve their chess can take part. Any member with a rating of about 1400 or higher who would like to assist with the coaching would also be most welcome, as would anyone seeking a winter break with BCA friends.
For members, the cost of dinner, bed and breakfast for the week is £420 per person in a single room or sharing a double or twin room, and £455 per person for single occupancy of a double or twin room. The cost of individual nights for any member not staying the whole week is £60 per person in a single room or sharing, and £65 per person for single occupancy. With all these prices, an increased members’ discount of £15 per person per night has already been taken off and so no reimbursements will be made for accommodation after the event. If there is sufficient interest it may be possible to arrange an excursion for the free day at an additional cost.
Grants of £10 per session are available to all members who coach others and to all visually impaired members who receive coaching, up to a maximum of £60 per person. These grants will be paid after the event.
Bookings can be made via the appropriate online form on https://braillechess.org.uk/events/event-forms or by contacting Julie Leonard. Please say whether you’re attending as a trainee, a coach or a non-chess person. The closing date is 30th November 2024. Early booking is advised, especially if you’d like a single room or a room with a bath as there are limited numbers of these. Rooms are allocated on a first come first served basis and are only reserved when the BCA has received your payment. Payments made to the BCA are refundable until the money is forwarded to the hotel, which will be in the first half of December. No refunds are possible after that time and therefore we strongly advise members to take out holiday insurance.
Dates
for your 2025 Diary
The next BCA AGM Weekend Congress will be held at the Leicester Hilton hotel from 14th to 16th March 2025.
The next Chairman’s Cup will be held at the Marsham Court Hotel, Bournemouth, from 19th to 26th July 2025.
More details will be in the November gazette.
A note from your Congress Support Officer, Tony Elbourn:
If you would like to participate in any mainstream competitions, then why not make use of the Congress Support Scheme? It's designed to help BCA members meet the costs of entering mainstream congresses. The expenses that can be claimed are travel, accommodation and the entry fee, or just the entry fee itself. It's open to all members who have played in a BCA event over the past year and who have not also received international funding. All we ask for is a little feedback on the congress in which they have taken part.
If you are considering entering a mainstream event you may well find yourself in good company as some of them are popular with BCA members. In order to make a claim there are three simple steps:-
1. Contact the Congress Support Officer at least one week prior to the event. Retrospective claims will not normally be accepted. (See list of officers for Tony’s contact details.) Please contact him either by telephone or email giving full details of the event in which you wish to compete.
2. Send a receipt or proof of expenditure to the Treasurer on return from the congress. Claims can include entry fee, accommodation, travel and any other reasonable expenses. The Congress Support Scheme does not cover claims for insurance.
3. Provide feedback on the event to the Congress Support Officer. This does not need to be formal and will be stored as an anonymous record for our database. It may benefit other BCA members thinking of attending the same event in the future.
Please note that, in the spirit of the Congress Support Scheme, failure to complete all the above steps may mean that we cannot guarantee that your claim will be processed successfully, as the scheme is subject to available funds (the year referred to is the BCA’s operating year starting on 1st October and ending on 30th September). Contact details for the Congress Support Officer and the Treasurer are in the list of officers.
If you are mainly a “home player” and have been wondering whether to take part in a local tournament and would like to find out more about playing competitively then why not join the BCA in one of its competitions, or you may recently have become V.I. in which case you can find out about the equipment we use and that you will still be able to play competitively. Our competitions are run in exactly the same way as a “mainstream” congress. If it is your first time as a competitive player then you can take part in the Challengers section which, in spite of its name, will give you some good games. If you are concerned about the expense of joining a mainstream congress, then you will have taken the first step to obtaining “Congress Support” from the BCA.
Guy Whitehouse has compiled the following
list of mainstream tournaments that are “All Under One Roof” i.e. the
accommodation and chess playing room are in the same hotel.
2nd Riviera Congress, 31st August – 6th September 2024, TLH Carlton
Hotel, Torquay.
There’s a seven-round FIDE rated Open
and there are two five-round ECF Swiss tournaments. The morning Swiss event has a U1900 and a
U1700 section, while the afternoon event has a U1800 and a U1600 section. For more details contact the organiser John Constable.
3rd Cornwall Autumn Congress, 20th to 22nd September 2024, Queen's
Hotel, The Promenade, Penzance
A five round Swiss with three sections
- Open, U1850 and U1550. For more
details contact Mrs Rebecca Gardiner.
Web:
https://www.cornwallchess.org.uk/congress/autumn/autumn-2024.shtml
25th Fareham Congress, 11th-13th October, Lysses
House Hotel, Fareham
This is put on by Castle Chess, perhaps
their longest running congress. There
are three sections: an Open including a Premier U-2001, a Major U-1901
including an Intermediate U1701, and a Minor U1601 including a Challengers
U-1401. The organisers are Tony Corfe.
2nd Weymouth Chess 4U Congress, 18th-20th October, Best Western Hotel
Rembrandt, Weymouth
There’s an Open, a U1850 and a U1550. For more details contact the organiser Mrs
Rebecca Gardiner. (Note: This event
clashes with our Autumn Tournament!)
Torquay FIDE Congress, 25th-27th October, Hampton by Hilton Hotel, the
Terrace, Torquay
The top three sections, all of the FIDE rated, are an Open, a Major U1900 and a
Minor U1700. There’s an ECF rated
Amateur U-1400 section as well. The
organiser is Adam Raoof.
Hampshire Chess Congress, 1st-3rd November, Lysses
House Hotel
There’s an Open which is FIDE and ECF rated,
a Major U1800 and a Minor U1600 which are ECF rated. Request an entry form by contact the
organiser, Miss Gillian Moore.
56th Torbay Chess Congress, 8th-10th November, TLH Toorak Hotel, Torquay
The Open is FIDE and ECF rated. The others are ECF rated: a Major U1950, an
Intermediate U1750 and a Foundation U-1500. For more details contact the organiser Paul Brooks. To enquire about entering contact Phil
McConnell.
Hello everybody, this is my first
report as your new treasurer. I took
over from Gill Smith in March and since then have been working with her and the
rest of the committee to ensure a smooth handover. I want to start by thanking her not just for
all the years of work she has done for the BCA, but for the helpful advice she
continues to give. I will try to live up
to her example.
Since the last gazette our fundraiser
Carl Concannon has helped raise over £18,000 for which we continue to be very
grateful.
If you are shopping online, please
consider using Give As You Live which raises funds
with many different retailers at no cost to you. Simply search for “give as you live online”,
sign up and choose the BCA as the charity you are supporting.
If anyone has any questions relating
to these or other related matters, please get in touch via the Officers’
Contact Details. I look forward to
working with you and hope to continue to see some of you in future tournaments.
Tris Cole
Gary
Wickett writes:
Before
we kick off, let me start with a correction from my last report; a real-life
case of Chinese Whispers caused by a small typo, a spellcheck and Google. My apologies to Joe Paton, who actually lives in Rochford, Essex not Richmond.
Well,
may I say since the last Gazette we’ve had a whopping 14 new members join. This has nothing to do with me I hasten to
add; it’s all down to people like Abi and her incredible work as Publicity
Officer; Olly and the wonders he has done with our website, such as the
creation of the new application form; Julie and the work she has done and
continues to do with setting up our Facebook page and other social media; and
all you fantastic stalwarts who run VI chess clubs across the country; not to
mention those of you who continue to spread the good news of the BCA across the
globe. A big thank you to you all!
Due
to the high number of new members, I have had to carry forward the two most
recent recruits to the November Gazette.
The
first three members to whom I wish to extend a very warm welcome have joined as
VI Life members.
Let
me start by introducing Ben Fletcher-Harris from Sheffield, who some of you may
have met at our recent event in Harrogate.
What an inspirational guy! Ben is
happy for me to mention that he has Type 1 Usher’s Syndrome and relies on
British Sign Language or written text to communicate. Ben is the captain of his local chess
club. As he and his wife have a child of
five and is in full-time employment, Ben wasn’t
certain when he would be able to attend his next tournament, but assures me
once he retires he will come to every event going.
Khanh
Nguyen lives in Switzerland and has joined as he wishes to come over and play
in our events. We are so privileged that
our overseas members are happy to make these huge journeys to our tournaments.
Again,
over the border but not quite so far, Susan Hughes lives in Newport,
Wales. Susan is still at the learning
stage but is extremely keen and plans to come to the Chess Theme Break in
Weston.
I
now would like to extend a very warm welcome to those who have joined as five year VI members.
Penny
Uglow is from Harrogate and initially joined in order to
buy an adapted set so she could play with her fully sighted son, Alfie. As she lived only walking distance from the
Old Swan, I encouraged her to sign Alfie up as an Associate Junior and for them
both to enter the British. Although
Penny felt too nervous to play, she came to the Old Swan each day so her son
could play.
Tony
Cashion lives in Strood, Kent. After
working in the financial markets and now retired, he is keen to find a new
pastime and chess seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
Julian
Llewellyn lives in London and joined after meeting Ian
Blencowe at the Cotswold Chess Congress in Gloucester. Julian plays in congresses all over the
country and has a rating of over 1800.
Paul
Iwala lives in Peterborough and has recently set up a
VI chess club.
Michael
Carey has rejoined after many years and merely lives a few doors away from Paul
Iwala.
Chris
Abbott is from Worthing, West Sussex and is a retired priest.
Before
we move on to our two new junior members, we have one more overseas member.
Let
me extend a very warm welcome to Kerryann Ifill from Barbados. Kerryann tells me she is quite new to chess
and has recently joined a small VI chess club in Barbados.
As previously
mentioned, let me extend a very warm welcome to our two new Junior members.
Anastasija
Lindberg is 19 years old and lives in Uxbridge, West London. She has recently bought an adapted set so her
dad can teach her how to play.
Finally,
Alfie Uglow is 16 and has joined as an Associate Junior. Sadly, after winning his game in the fourth
round at the British, he had to pull out due to not feeling well. He had earned 1.5 points from four rounds.
It
is now my sad duty to report two deaths, the first of which we’ve only recently
learned about and so it didn’t make the May Gazette.
Gordon
Cantrill passed on 17 February aged 94.
Sadly, I didn’t know Gordon as I don’t think he attended any of our
events. However, Gordon had been a Life
Associate Member since 2003. His family
have also told us that his coffin was draped with the RAF flag. RIP.
Some
of you will have met James Shimwell, father of
Efe. It is with great sadness that I have to report that James passed on
31 May. Our thoughts are with Efe, Sema
and family. RIP.
47th
BCA CORRESPONDENCE Championship 2023-24
Premier - Group Leader Paul Benson
Whitehouse 0.5 - 0.5 Phillips, King's Indian Attack, 40.
Final scores (all out of 4 games):
Philip Doyle 3, George Phillips 3, Alec Crombie 2, Guy Whitehouse 1.5, Malcolm Jones 0.5.
Philip Doyle and George Phillips have jointly finished top of the Championship, tie-breaks needed. The tying players drew their personal encounter, their results against the other Premier players were the same. Consequently, the tie-breaks cannot separate them. Congratulations to both Philip Doyle and George Phillips on becoming joint League Champions.
Challengers - Group Leader Paul Benson
Final scores (all out of 4 games):
Voldi Gailans 3, Mike Flood 2.5, Eric Gallacher 2.5, Maria Dod 2, Eleanor Tew 0.
BCA
LEAGUE 2024-25
Division 1 - Group Leader Paul Benson
Scores: Glenn Crawford 3 out of 4, Alec Crombie 2.5 out of 3, George Phillips 2 out of 3, Malcolm Jones 1 out of 4, Voldi Gailans 0.5 out of 4.
Division 2 - Group Leader Paul Benson
Flood 0 - 1 Bland, Ruy Lopez, 12.
Bland 1 - 0 Tew, London, 27.
Scores:
Marilyn Bland 3 out of 3, Eric Gallacher 2.5 out of 3, Mike Flood 2.5 out of 4, Maria Dod 1 out of 4, Eleanor Tew 0 out of 4.
In closing, to those about to start a game: Break a peg!
Paul Benson
To take part in our monthly draw costs
£12 per number per year. You may have as
many numbers as you like at £12 each.
Every month a lucky winner receives £35.
If you wish to take part, please make a payment to the BCA and inform
the Treasurer.
Recent Millennium Club winners:
April - Bittor Ibanez, number 29
May - Celia Gibbs, number 68
June - Barbara & Colin Chambers, number
51
One person responded to the plea in
the May gazette for more members to buy numbers. If you haven’t already done so, please do
consider joining the Millennium Club. It
only costs £1 per month and is a great way of giving a little back to our
wonderful association! Contact me for more
details.
Tris Cole, Treasurer
Every year BCA members and associate members are invited to submit a game for entry into the David Hodgkins Memorial Best Game Competition. Now that the BCA British Championship has taken place, and the 2024 Summer Cup is underway, I thought this might be a good opportunity to remind everyone to submit their games.
Any competitive game which is played in a BCA event – over-the-board, by email or remotely, or by a BCA member representing the BCA in an overseas event is eligible. All games published in the BCA Gazette will automatically be considered if they meet the eligibility criteria. The competition is open to members (including overseas members) and all associate members.
Our judge for 2024 is Norman Wragg, who is eagerly awaiting your games. Please send them to me to forward to him. You can send them by email. Alternatively, I am happy to receive games in Braille or over the phone.
Steve Burnell – Coordinator
Gerry Walsh’s monthly “How Good Is Your
Chess?” training, held over Zoom, continues to grow in popularity! Students are taken through the opening moves
of a game, then asked to predict the succeeding moves for one side or the
other. Points are given to those who guess
correctly, and sometimes fewer points are given for other moves. Recordings of recent sessions are available for
anyone interested in finding out more.
The sessions are very informal, the points
awarded are subsidiary to the main objective, which is to provide instruction,
to give us an opportunity to work together as a group to find solutions and to
enjoy some very exciting chess. For
those not used to solving chess problems it is a wonderful way to start, and an
encouragement to become involved by suggesting moves at each stage of the game.
There is no criticism of individuals'
suggestions, and anyone is free to suggest any possible move. I highly recommend these sessions to players
of all standards!
At the end of each month, I will send a note
to the user group, reminding everyone of the next session and asking for names
of those interested in taking part. (Please
email the Gazette Editor or Audio Librarian if you have not yet joined the user
group and would like to do so.) I will
then liaise with the group and Gerry to find a suitable day. For those not familiar with Zoom, help is
available, either for accessing the sessions on a PC or an iPhone.
Please contact me if you have any questions
regarding the sessions.
Voldi Gailans
RECENT SESSIONS
Friday 26th April:
GM Boris Gelfand v GM Stefan Kindermann,
Grunfeld, Dortmund 1990
Bill Armstrong scored a massive 42 points! Other scores were Gill Smith and Steve Bailey
28, Mark Hague 25, Richard Harrington 23, Tony Elbourn
20, Eleanor Tew 14 and Abi Baker 10.
Wednesday 29th May:
GM Vassily Ivanchuk
v IM Juan Pomes Marcet, Dutch Defence, Terrassa 1991
This time the honours went to Steve Bailey,
who accrued an extremely impressive 42 points! Other scores were Stan Lovell 33, Mark Hague
31, Eleanor Tew 27, Irene Elbourn 26, Gill Smith 24, Tony
Elbourn 23, Voldi Gailans 21 and Nene Clayton 18.
Sunday 23rd June (face to face
in Harrogate):
GM Mickey Adams (England) v GM Alexei Shirov (Latvia), Sicilian Defence, Biel 1991. We were guessing Black's moves.
Points were won as follows:
Olle Engström 27, Brandan Read 23, Gary Wickett
and Ian Blencowe 22, Norman Andrews 14 and Gill Smith 13.
As this session took place in person at the
BCA Championship in Harrogate, prizes were awarded to the highest scorer from
the Open section and the highest scorer from the Challengers. Olle and Gary were the lucky recipients! Well done everybody!
Editor’s note: Grateful thanks
to Gerry Walsh and Mark Hague for supplying information about recent sessions.
Eamonn Casey and Philip Doyle write:
Our 20th BCA Email tournament has reached its conclusion. Congratulations are due to the winners of all four divisions, and especially our Division 1 Champion, Bill Armstrong, who has retained his title. A special mention too to newcomer, Brandan Read, who achieved a perfect score in Division 2. Voldi Gailans topped Division 3 and we had a three-way tie in Division 4 between Tony Lawton, Tony Elbourn and Gill Smith. We would like to commend the participants on the standard of the game scores sent to us. This and the sporting nature of the Tournament makes our task a lot easier.
Our next email tournament is due to commence on 1st October 2024, so look out for the announcement on the email user group around the 2nd week of September. Please spread the word among your chess playing friends, as we are always on the lookout for new participants. Below find the final results and games, and also a wrap up of the standings.
Division 1:
Chambers drew with Burnell
Doyle drew with Chambers
Chambers lost to Armstrong
Armstrong drew with Burnell
Burnell drew with Doyle
Doyle drew with Armstrong
Final standings: Armstrong 2, Burnell 1.5, Doyle 1.5, Chambers 1.
Division 2:
Jones lost to Murphy
Fullwood drew with Jones
Murphy lost to Read
Jones lost to Read
Fullwood lost to Murphy
Read beat Fullwood
Final standings: Read 3, Murphy 2, Fullwood and Jones 0.5.
Division 3:
Gailans beat Flood
Flood beat Ramm
Ramm drew with Gailans
Bland beat Ramm
Gailans beat Bland
Bland beat Flood
Final standings: Gailans 2.5, Bland 2, Flood 1, Ramm 0.5
Division 4:
Smith beat Lawton
Elbourn beat Smith
Elbourn beat Harrington
Harrington lost to Smith
Lawton beat Harrington
Lawton beat Elbourn
Final standings: Smith, Elbourn and Lawton 2, Harrington 0
Editor’s note: I asked Philip,
Bill and Brandan each to choose their favourite game from the event for the
gazette. Bill wrote an article about his
game, which is coming up next. Philip
and Brandan’s picks are as follows:
Philip: The best game from Division 2 I believe involved our newcomer Brandan Read. He seems to be a good addition to the BCA and hopefully will take part in some of the OTB tournaments. The game has a nice ending.
Richard Murphy v Brandan Read, French Defence
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. 0-0 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Re1 Nf6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. Rxe3 0-0 10. Nbd2 d6
11. Rc1 Nbd7 12. c3 Nc5 13. Bc2 Rc8 14. Qe1 Ng4 15. Re2 Qc7 16. e5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 dxe5 18. Rxe5 Rfd8
19. Re3 Rd6 20. Rh3 h6 21. Nf3 Nd3 22. Bxd3 Rxd3 23. Rg3 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Rcd8 25. Qe4 Rd1+ 26. Rxd1 Rxd1+
27. Kg2 Rd2 28. Qe3 Rxb2 29. Qxh6 Qxg3+ 30. White resigns.
Brandan’s choice: Norman Andrews v Brandan Read, St George Defence
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. Nbd2 Bb7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nf6 7. O-O Nc6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nb3 Bd6 10. h3 h6
11. Be3 Qc7 12. Nbd2 g5 13. g4 Bf4 14. Bxf4 Qxf4 15. Qe2 h5 16. Qe3 hxg4 17. Qxf4 gxf4 18. hxg4 Nxg4
19. Be2 Ke7 20. Ne1 Nce5 21. Bxg4 Nxg4 22. f3 Ne3 23. Rf2 Rag8+ 24. Ng2 Rh3 25. Nf1 f5 26. Nd2 fxe4
27. fxe4 Bxe4 28. Nxe4 f3 29. Nd2 fxg2 White resigns.
This was the view of Weaver Adams (1901-1963), an American chess theoretician. He published a book entitled White to play and win. He also believed passionately in the power of the Vienna Game. 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 against which he believed Black should lose.
Adams theory was based on his faith in the lasting power conferred on White by virtue of having the first move. When I recently met the Vienna Game in a correspondence game against Colin Chambers, I replied 2. … Bc5 and play went as follows: 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. f4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nd4
In 1923, Rubinstein, a leading player in his era, reached this position from a Kings Gambit opening. Confronted by the threats Nxf3 and Nxc2+, Rubinstein answered with a counter threat 9. Qg3 attacking g7 and thus having an advantage well worth letting Black win the exchange by checking on c2 and taking the Rook on a1. (If Black tries 9… Nh5, 10 Qg4 looks adequate)
The Rubinstein v Hromadka game is worth following for some of the tactics involved. Rubinstein chose 9. Qg3 Qe7 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. Kd1 c6 12. a4 Rg8 13. Rf1 h6 14. Ne2 0-0-0 15. Nxd4 Bxd4 16. c3 Bb6 17. a5 Bc7 18. Be3 Kb8 19. Kc2 Ka8 20. Rf3 Nd5 (Hromadka is clearly not a novice, the tactics following the possible error, 21 exd5, would favour Black). Rubinstein wisely chose 21. Bg1 Nf4 22. Qf2 Bb8 23. g3 Nxh3 If you can predict Rubinstein’s next two moves, you are tactically very talented. The first is easy: 24. Rxf7 Qd6. Move 25. Qb6 is brilliant. If …. axb6 26. axb6+ Ba7 27. Raxa7+ Kb8 28. Rfxb7+ Kc8 29. Ba6 and Black is doomed. And of course, Rubinstein also threatens Qxb7 mate.
Hromadka played 25. ... Rd7 26. Bc5 Rxf7 27. Bxd6 Rf2+ 28. Qxf2 Nxf2 29. Bc5 and Hromadka resigned in a position where Re8 might give him survival chances. Surely 29. Bxg8 is a simpler win for White.
Be that as it may, I am glad I was not facing Rubinstein.
Back to Chambers v Armstrong move 9. Colin decided on a more cautious approach and defended c2 by 9. Qd1 c6 10. a3 d5 and Black now has the initiative. 11. exd5 cxd5 12. Ba2 e4 13. dxe4 Nxe4 which significantly now allows Black to play Qh4+. 14 Nxe4 dxe4 and White’s position is now perilous. Anything other than h4 allows the lethal Queen check. White could try 15. Be3 Qh4+ 16. Bf2 Nf3+ 17. Qxf3 exf3 18. Bxh4 fxg2 and Black wins.
Counterattack by 15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Qh5+ g6 17. Qxc5 Rac8 gives Black a powerful attack. Colin selected 15. c3 Qh4+ 16. Kf1 Nf5. Here 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 allows White a check Qd5+ and Qxc5. But in this line 17 …. Kf8 avoids any counter play and White resigned.
The significance of this game is that in Division One of the correspondence chess tournament organised by Eamonn Casey and Philip Doyle, there were four players: Myself, Colin Chambers, Steve Burnell and Philip Doyle. Of the six games five ended as draws and the above game was the exception. It allowed me to retain the title in this competition by reaching 2 points from my three games.
Some stories have a moral. With five draws and a win for Black, our six games don’t support the Adams theory. The single win does support his view that initiative is important. The Rubinstein game demonstrates just how much skill you sometimes need to keep the initiative.
Bill Armstrong.
Julie Leonard writes:
The 2024 BCA Summer Cup officially kicked off on the 13th of July, though in fact the R1 pairings were sent on the 10th of July. This was helpful as several participants had holiday plans for part of the R1 fortnight, so a slightly early start made it easier for opponents to find mutually convenient dates to play their games.
This year we have twenty-four members from a total of six countries taking part. We’re delighted to welcome Paul Inglis to his first ever BCA event! It’s great to have Philip Doyle, Ben Fletcher-Harris and Brandan Read taking part in the Summer Cup for the first time. We’re also pleased to welcome Olivier Deville, a new member who joined so recently that he hasn’t even been mentioned in Gary’s Membership Secretary’s report yet!
For the first time, a majority of Summer Cup participants have ECF Online Ratings so we’re using them for seeding. These ratings are often significantly higher than OTB ratings so for this event the Challengers’ cutoff will be 1700. The tournament is being played in one group, but there will be a Challengers’ winner and also, because the majority of female participants were in favour of it, there will be a Ladies’ Trophy.
This is a five round Swiss event, with two weeks allowed for each of the rounds. A further report will be in the November gazette. The Round 1 pairings are as follows:
1 Stan Lovell 2034 v Norman Wragg 1747
2 Mark Hague 1738 v Olivier Deville (France) 2000E
3 Steve Burnell 1995 v Gill Smith 1682
4 Teresa Codina (Spain) 1665 v Steve Bailey 1990E
5 Brandan Read 1970E v Lea Ryan 1537
6 John Ramm 1534 v Philip Doyle (Ireland) 1950E
7 Eamonn Casey (Ireland) 1887 v Abi Baker 1516
8 Ben Fletcher-Harris 1394 v Malcolm Jones 1800
9 Neda Koohnavard 1799 v Paul Inglis 1000E
10 Richard Harrington 1386 v Paul Baldwin 1770
11 Mahendra Galani (Austria) 1759 v Voldi Gailans 1339
12 Marilyn Bland (USA) 1476 v Half Point Bye
13 Eleanor Tew 1284 v Half Point
Bye
Gary Hogan writes:
After my amazing visit to Rhodes, I was invited to compete in the IBCA individual European Championships in Ploesti, Romania. This time, after discussing it with my wife Alyona, we decided that she would come too, along with my 4 year old daughter Natasha. They both like to be around the people in the BCA community and they were looking forward to meeting the other competitors from around Europe and possibly their families too. We hadn't really heard of Ploesti before, after a few Google searches there didn't seem to be much to do during the day for tourists, and with the coast being 6 hours away by public transport, it looked like Alyona and Natasha would be visiting Bucharest a lot, as it was only an hour away. Owen Phillips would be coaching me again. I was really happy to have Owen's support as he helped me a lot in Rhodes and had been giving me advice regularly since then.
We decided to travel away earlier so I could see Bucharest too. It was a beautiful European capital with more tourists than I expected, plus the weather was gorgeous, 38 degrees! We spent the day exploring the Old Town and stayed until late evening for the fountain and light show! We were really impressed with the massive plumes of water fired into the air in time to the music.
The next day was the start of the chess and I met Owen for breakfast at our hotel in Ploesti. I was drawn as black against Frank Schellmann, a CM from Germany. Owen told me that he had been rated a lot higher than his current 1973 and was a very strong opponent. He played the Caro Kann advance variation and I responded with 3 ... c5, he played 4. dcx5 which I was sort of expecting. I had been practicing some of these lines and found that after the opening, even being down a pawn, I wasn't in a bad position. I wanted to fianchetto on the kingside and get my bishop on a strong diagonal, but he pushed h4 and then brought his queen over which forced a series of trades and I won the pawn back with an even position. I managed to get a knight on a central outpost and had an idea to take a pawn with the knight then when he took back with the queen I would then pin it to the king with a bishop protected by my rook, at the moment this idea didn't work due to an intermezzo move that would take the bishop, stop the plan and I would be down a piece. However, a few moves later, I thought the time was right, so I took the pawn and then suddenly realised that I had moved my rook earlier and therefore the plan didn't work! I couldn't recover from losing my knight and I lost soon afterwards. When analysing with Owen afterwards we realised that I would have been in a very good position if I had played 28. ... Qh2 instead, which I did contemplate but I was too determined to carry out my flawed plan! I realised I needed to take my time and concentrate harder.
I played Oliver Deville of France in my second game, also a good player. I played the Jobava London and realised after 5 of his moves, he had made 4 pawn moves. I remembered watching a Judith Polgar video saying too many pawn moves in the opening needs to be punished. I sacrificed a pawn g2 with the move 8. e5 in order to open up the position and stop him from castling, I think it definitely put him on the back foot, however, he defended against my attacks well. He offered a draw and I accepted as I couldn't see a way through.
In Round 3 I was black again, this time against Slovenian Gregor Cizman. He played a London against me, I was expecting him to play 5. Bxd6 from what he had played previously and I had spent a lot of planning time deciding on whether to take with 5. ... cxd6 or 5. ... Qxd6. In the end it didn't matter as he didn't take. We played a lot of standard London moves and as we traded pieces the match edged closer to a draw. He offered a draw once and I declined, to try to go for a win, but a few moves later, he offered again and this time I accepted.
In round 4 I played another experienced German player, Dieter Riegler 1858 who had also been a lot higher rated in the past. I played the Jobava London again and I felt like he knew exactly how to play against it. I played 6. Bd3 which I think was a mistake and put me on the back foot, I had to try to defend d4 and move my bishop back to e3 to do this, a few moves later I moved the same bishop again to protect e5. I think these three bishop moves, all before castling, lost me tempi and my opponent pressed his advantage to have a rook against my bishop with better pawns. I had no option but to resign.
I faced Monica de Fazio in round 5 who played a Catalan against me, unfortunately for her, she allowed me to take a pawn with 10. ... cxd4 and then when her knight was under attack, she attacked mine. I managed to find an intermezzo move that threatened her queen and got my knight out of danger allowing me to take her knight on the next move. She resigned shortly afterwards. A win on the board at last and a score of 2/5.
I drew Romanian Vasile Carapit in round 6, again I played a Jobava and he played 2. ... f5 which I hadn't really seen before. I had an idea to play 5. g4 like in the Manhattan Gambit and get a good position if he takes. He didn't take so I took on f5 and opened up the g file. I had plans to attack on the g and h files but he castled long and my rooks we sort of out of position. On move 14, with an equal position he offered me a draw in German. I would have accepted but I didn't hear properly and didn't understand. We played on and I couldn't defend against a strong attack with my rooks out of position. He asked the Romanian coach to translate after the game and wanted to know why I didn't take a draw!
I really needed a win and played Nathan van Melle in round 7, he was my third German opponent, a young player who was very bright. We played the Caro Kann Tartakower Variation. In these lines I like to put my knight on f8 and attack the kingside but Nathan pushed his pawns in the centre early which meant I couldn't develop as I wanted. I managed to centralise my rooks and it was quite even until Nathan brought his rook forward to d5, I pushed his queen back and got my knight on a good outpost on d3. His knight was unprotected and I managed to fork the knight and threaten checkmate on h2 with a Queen/Bishop battery, this won his knight and a few moves later he resigned. When analysing the game I had an accuracy of 95% which I was very pleased with!
In round 8 I played Croatian, Miroslav Madjeric, whom I had beaten last year in Rhodes. I played a Jobava again and with the game being very even after the opening Miroslav offered me a draw. I declined but I was thinking about the first game when I was in a good position for a draw and round 6 when I hadn't realised I had been offered a draw. I lost on both occasions. I didn't want this to happen again so when he offered a second time I accepted. 3.5/8 going into my last game.
I played Alaettin Gundogmus of the Netherlands in the final game. I knew he played d4 and I had been discussing with Owen the best way to play against this. Owen suggested I play an Albin Countergambit, I had played it before when I first started playing chess during lockdown so I decided I would surprise my opponent with it. I studied the different variations after 3. dxe5 all day but during the game Allaettin played 3. cxd5 which I wasn't ready for at all. I didn't play it well. I should have traded my pawn on e5 but ended up losing it a few moves later when I could no longer defend it. Alaettin pushed forward and it seemed he was in a very dominant position after 15 moves. I offered a draw thinking that maybe it was my only chance to get something out of the game and he accepted. Looking back at the analysis the advantage was around 2.5 to White so maybe it was a good decision.
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. My wife and daughter had a brilliant time in Romania. They went to Bucharest a few times, visiting a sensory museum and many parks. They also went on the train to Brasov, a city 3 hours away in the mountains. They said it was beautiful and Alyona wants us to go back to visit this city someday.
We had an amazing time in Romania, I'd like to thank the Romanian organisers and the BCA for sending me there!
Game 1 - Frank Schellmann 1973 Germany v Gary Hogan 1776 UK
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. c3 e6 7. Be3 Nge7 8. Nbd2 g6 9. Qa4 Bxf3
10. Nxf3 Bg7 11. h4 Qd7 12. Qf4 h5 13. Bb5 Qc7 14. O-O-O Nf5 15. g4 hxg4 16. Qxg4 Nxe3 17. fxe3 Bxe5
18. h5 gxh5 19. Rxh5 Rxh5 20. Qxh5 Bf6 21. Nd4 Ke7 22. Rf1 Rg8 23. Qf3 Rg6 24. Qe2 Ne5 25. b4 a6
26. Ba4 Nc4 27. Bc2 Rh6 28. Qf3 Nxe3 29. Qxe3 Rh2 30. Nf5+ Kf8 31. Nd6 Qe7 32. Qg3 Re2 33. Rg1 1-0
Game 2 - Gary Hogan 1776 UK v Olivier Deville 1859 France
1. d4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Bf4 a6 5. Qd2 b5 6. h4 h6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. e5 Bxg2 9. Rh2 Bb7 10. e6 fxe6
11. Bxg6+ Kd7 12. Qe3 Qf8 13. O-O-O Nf6 14. Re1 Qg8 15. f3 Nd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Be4 Qf7
18. Ne2 Nc6 19. c3 Rhf8 20. Bxh6 Bxh6 21. Qxh6 Bxe4 22. fxe4 Qf3 23. Ng1 Qg3 24. Rhe2 Rh8 25. Qd2
1/2 - 1/2
Game 3 - Gregor Cizman 1662 Slovenia v Gary Hogan 1776 UK
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. c3 Bd6 5. e3 O-O 6. Nbd2 c5 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. O-O b6
10. Re1 cxd4 11. exd4 a5 12. Qe2 Bb7 13. Ne5 Rfc8 14. h3 Nf8 15. a3 Rab8 16. Bb5 N8d7 17. Rac1 Qe7
18. Ndf3 Nf8 19. Rcd1 Ne4 20. Nd2 Nd6 21. Bd3 Rc7 22. Rc1 Ba8 23. Nb3 Rbc8 24. Nd2 Rb8 25. Nb3 Rbc8
26. Nd2 Qe8 27. Nb3 Qa4 28. Bc2 Qe8 29. Bd3 Nc4 30. Na1 a4 31. Nxc4 dxc4 32. Bb1 Qc6 33. Be4 1/2 - 1/2
Game 4 - Gary Hogan 1776 UK v Dieter Riegler 1858 Germany
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 cxd4 5. exd4 a6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. Be3 e6 9. a3 Rc8 10. h3 Bh5
11. g4 Bg6 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. Bf4 Qc7 15. Qe2 Qb6 16. Bc1 Be7 17. O-O Nc5 18. Be3 Qc7
19. Rfc1 Qd8 20. b4 Bxd3 21. cxd3 Nb3 22. Rab1 Nxc1 23. Rxc1 O-O 24. d4 a5 25. Qb5 axb4 26. axb4 Rc7
27. Kg2 Qc8 28. Bd2 Rc4 29. Na2 Rxc1 30. Nxc1 Qc2 31. Qd3 Rc8 32. Kf3 Bxb4 33. Qxc2 Rxc2
34. Bxb4 Rxc1 35. Bc5 0-1
Game 5 - Monica de Fazio unrated Italy v Gary Hogan 1776 UK
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 c5 5. c4 b6 6. Nc3 Bb7 7. b3 Nc6 8. O-O Be7 9. Bf4 O-O 10. Qc2 cxd4
11. cxd5 Nb4 12. Qd2 dxc3 13. Qxc3 Nfxd5 14. Qd2 Nxf4 15. Qxf4 Nd5 16. Qc4 Rc8 17. Qd4 Bf6 0-1
Round 6 - Gary Hogan 1776 UK v Vasile Carapit 1764 Romania
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 f5 3. Bf4 c6 4. e3 e6 5. g4 Bd6 6. Bxd6 Qxd6 7. gxf5 exf5 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Bd3 Be6
10. Qe2 Nbd7 11. O-O-O O-O-O 12. Rdg1 g6 13. Ng5 Rde8 14. f4 c5 15. dxc5 Qxc5 16. Na4 Qa5 17. Nc3 d4
18. Nxe6 Rxe6 19. Bb5 dxc3 20. Qc4+ Kd8 21. Bxd7 cxb2+ 22. Kb1 Kxd7 23. Rd1+ Ke7 24. Rd3 Rc6
25. Qb3 Qc7 26. Rhd1 Rc8 27. R1d2 Ne4 28. Rd7+ Qxd7 29. Rxd7+ Kxd7 30. Qf7+ Kd6 31. Kxb2 Rxc2+
32. Kb3 R8c3+ 33. Ka4 Rc4+ 34. Kb3 Nc5+ 35. Ka3 Ra4# 0-1
Game 7 - Nathan van Melle 1665 Germany v Gary Hogan 1776 UK
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. Bc4 Bd6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Be3 Re8 9. O-O Bg4
10. h3 Bh5 11. d5 Qc7 12. Be2 Nd7 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Nd4 Bg6 15. Bd3 Rad8 16. Bxg6 hxg6 17. c3 f5
18. Qc2 Qb7 19. Rad1 Ne5 20. Rfe1 c5 21. Qb3 Qe7 22. Nb5 Bb8 23. Rd5 c4 24. Qd1 Nd3 25. Rxd8 Rxd8
26. Re2 Qe5 0-1
I cannot find the last 2 games unfortunately.
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. 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, 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
Game selected by Bill Armstrong:
The most striking feature of this year’s championship was the age range of the top three seeds. 1 Brandan Read 21, 2 Stan Lovell 89 and 3 Bill Armstrong 83. Because Stan and Brandan drew in round 4, but Stan lost to Bill in round 5, Bill v Brandan in round 6 was a crucial game.
Round 6: Bill Armstrong v Brandan Read - Notes by Bill
1. e4 e6 2. d3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 f5 Attacking too early perhaps.
5. Ne2 Nf6 6. Nd2 d6 Overlooking White’s response.
7. Nf4 Qe7 8. 0-0 fxe4 9. Re1 With Black’s pawn on e4 securely pinned White has a clear advantage.
9. … Nbd7 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bxe4 12. Rxe4 Nc5 13. Re1 g5 14. Nd5 Qf7 15. Bxg5 Preventing queenside castling and preparing for his next move.
15. … Kd7 16. Nf6+ Kc6 At the board, this bold route to safety proved difficult to refute. I had expected Kc8 when White has good winning lines.
17. b4 Nd7 18. c4 Nxf6 19. Qf3+ d5 20. cxd5+ exd5 21. Rac1+ Kb7 22. Qxf6 Qxf6 23. Bxf6 Bxb4 (23. … Rg8 is better)
24. Bxh8 Bxe1 25. Be5 c6 26. Rxe1 Re8 27. Bc3 Rxe1 28. Bxe1 The extra piece and kingside pawn majority give White the win.
Game selected by Mark Kirkham:
Despite ending up with second place, I got off to a rather unconvincing start with the following game. Tony hung in there for more than four hours in a game where the momentum kept shifting. Not wishing to ruin my chances of success after just one round, I spent too much time pondering over some tricky and critical calculations in the middlegame. I later saw that I had a winning line but didn't have the nerve to go through with it at the time.
Round 1: Tony Lawton v Mark Kirkham
1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Nc3 c6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. a3 h6 8. Bf4 Be7 9. Rc1 O-O 10. e3 Re8
11. Bd3 Nh5 12. Bg3 Ndf6 13. Ne2 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Qa5+ 15. Kf1 Bd6 16. Qc2 Bd7 17. Nf4 Ng4
18. Bh7+ Kf8 19. Nh4 Bxf4 20. gxf4 Qd8 21. Bf5 Nf6 22. g4 Bxf5 23. Qxf5 Qd7 24. g5 Qxf5 25. Nxf5 hxg5
26. Rh8+ Ng8 27. fxg5 g6 28. Nh6 Kg7 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. Kg2 Ne7 31. Rh7+ Ke6 32. Rch1 Rf8 33. f4 Rf7
34. R7h6 Rg8 35. Rf1 Nf5 36. Rh3 Rff8 37. Rfh1 Ng7 38. Kg3 Nh5+ 39. Kg4 Rf5 40. Re1 Rff8 41. Rf1 Rf5
And with less than twenty minutes left on my clock to try and convert the position, and communication posing something of a challenge for both players, I felt the time was right to offer a draw. Tony accepted with grace, and we agreed what a fine game it had been.
Game selected by Ian Blencowe:
Round 3: Ian Blencowe v Mark Kirkham
1. d4 e6 2. c3 Nf6 3. Bf4 d6 4. e3 Be7 5. Qc2 Nh5 6. Bg3 d5 7. Be2 Nf6 8. Nf3 c5 9. Nbd2 Nc6
10. Ne5 Qb6 11. Ndf3 Nd7 12. Nxc6 Qxc6 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 0-0 15. Bd3 h6 16. h4 Bd7 17. h5 cxd4
18. exd4 Bd6 19. Bxd6 Qxd6 20. Qe2 Rfe8 21. 0-0-0 Qf4+ 22. Qd2 Qxd2+ 23. Kxd2 Ba4 24. Rde1 f6
25. Bg6 Re7 26. Re3 Be8 27. Bxe8 Raxe8 28. f4 Kf7 29. g4 b5 30. Ra1 Rb8 31. b4 Rc8 32. a4 a6
33. axb5 axb5 34. Ra5 Rb8 35. Re1 Rc7 36. Rea1 Rbc8 37. Ra7 Kf8 38. Rxc7 Rxc7 39. Ra6 Ke7
40. Kc2 Rb7 (draw offered) 41. Kb2 Rb8 42. f5 e5 43. dxe5 fxe5 44. Re6+ Kf7 45. Rxe5 Rd8 46. Kc2 Kf6
47. Re6+ Kf7 48. Kd3 Rc8 49. Rd6 Rc4 50. Rxd5 Rxg4 51. Rxb5 Rg5 52. Ke4 Rxh5 53. Kf4 Rh4+
54. Kg3 Rc4 55. Rc5 Rxc5 56. bxc5 Ke7 57. Kg4 Kd7 58. Kh5 Kc6 59. Kg6 Kxc5 60. Kxg7 h5 61. f6 h4
62. f7 h3 63. f8=Q+ Kd5 64. Qh8 Black resigns.
Game selected by Brandan Read:
Round 1: George Phillips v Brandan Read (Hippopotamus attack/shy attack)
1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 c5 3. b3 e5 4. Bb2 Nc6 5. d3 Nf6 6. Nd2 Be7 7. e3 Be6 8. Ne2 Qc7 9. h3 O-O-O 10. c4 d4
11. e4 h5 12. f4 g6 13. fxe5 Nxe5 14. Nf3 Qa5+ 15. Qd2 Nxd3+ 16. Kd1 Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Nxb2
18. Rab1 Nxe4+ 19. Kc2 d3+ 20. Kxb2 dxe2 21. Rbe1 Nf2 22. Rh2 Nd3+ 23. White resigns.
Game selected by Stan Lovell:
Round 4: Stan Lovell v Brandan Read (Old Benoni)
In this game I played our new member, Brandan Read. Brandan had a good first BCA tournament and he is likely to become prominent in our events.
1. d4 c5 I have always found it difficult playing against the Old Benoni and its variants.
2. d5 Nf6 3. Nc3 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. e4 Nbd7 6. Bf4 Bg7 7. Qd2 0-0 8. Bh6 a6 9. a4 Qb6 10. Bxg7 Kxg7
11. b3 Qb4 12. Bd3 Ng4 13. Nb1 a5 14. 0-0 Nde5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Qxb4 axb4 17. Be2 f5 18. f4 Nd7
19. Nd2 Nb6 20. Bf3 fxe4 21. Bxe4 Bf5 22. Rad1 Bxe4 23. Nxe4 Rf5 24. c4 bxc3 25. Nxc3 c4 26. g4 Rf7
27. Rb1 cxb3 28. Rxb3 Nc4 29. Rxb7 Raf8 30. Rc7 Rxf4 31. Rxe7+ Kh6 32. Rxf4 Rxf4 33. Re4 Kg5
34. h3 Rxe4 35. Nxe4+ Kf4 36. Nf6 h6 37. Kf2 Ke5 38. Ng8 h5 39. gxh5 gxh5 40. Kf3 Kxd5 41. Nf6+ Ke5
42. Nxh5 d5 43. Nf4 d4 44. Nd3+ Kf5 45. h4 Nd2+ 46. Ke2 Nc4 47. h5 Kg5 48. Nc5
After the game Tristram Cole pointed out White should have played Nf4 at this point. This protects the h Pawn, and the Knight cannot be captured, as this would allow the Pawn to run for a Queen. This would also tie the Black King down to preventing the Pawn from Queening and allow the White King freedom to go for the d Pawn. I don't have sufficient skills to be able to predict the final result. However, the analysis I have done suggests the game would still be drawn.
48. … Kxh5 49. Kd3 Nb2+ 50. Kxd4 Nxa4 Draw, as White does not have sufficient mating material.
Game selected by Voldi Gailans:
Round 4: Voldi Gailans v Dan Rugman
1. c4 b6 2. e4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 Bb7 5. Nge2 d6 6. g3 Nd7 7. Bg2 e6 8. 0-0 Ne7 9. Be3 h6 10. f4 f5
11. Qd2 Nf6 12. d5 Qd7 13. Rad1 exd5 14. cxd5 fxe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 0-0-0 17. Nc3 Kb8
18. Bg2 Bxc3 19. Qxc3 Rhf8 20. Rfe1 Rfe8 21. Bf2 Ng8 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Re1 Rxe1 24. Qxe1 Nf6
25. Qe6 Qxe6 26. dxe6 Kc8 27. Bxb7 Kxb7 28. Bd4 Ne8 29. g4 c5 30. Bh8 Kc7 31. f5 gxf5 32. gxf5 Kd8
33. f6 Nxf6 34 Bxf6+ Ke8 35. Kf2 d5 36. Ke3 d4+ 37. Ke4 h5 38. h4 Kf8 39. b3 a6 40. a4 a5
41. Bd8 Black resigns.
Game selected by Gill Smith:
Round 3: Ben Fletcher-Harris v Gill Smith
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. e5 Ng4 5. Qe2 f6 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. h3 Nh6 8. exf6 gxf6 9. d3 Nf7
10. Na3 Bg7 11. Nc4 O-O 12. O-O d6 13. Re1 Re8 14. Be3 Ba6 15. Qd2 Bxc4 16. dxc4 Rb8 17. b3 e5
18. Rad1 e4 19. Nh2 f5 20. Qe2 Qc7 21. Qh5 Qd7 22. Bxc5 Re5 23. Bd4 Ra5 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. a4 Re5
26. Qh4 Re6 27. Qf4 Rf6 28. Nf1 c5 29. Ne3 Re8 30. Rd5 Re5 31. Red1 a5 32. Rxe5 Nxe5 33. Qg5+ Ng6
34. Nd5 Rf7 35. Ne3 h6 36. Qh5 Nf4 37. Qh4 Ng6 38. Qg3 f4 39. Rxd6 Qxd6 40. Nf5+ Rxf5
41. White resigns.
Game selected by Ben Fletcher-Harris (It’s his first game in a BCA tournament):
Round 1: Stan Lovell v Ben Fletcher-Harris
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3
It transposed to the Jobava London system. My priority was to stop Stan from putting his bishop or knight on b5 because my c7 square would be vulnerable.
4. ... cxd4 5. exd4 a6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. Be2 h6
I decided to go for e6, however before doing that, I wanted to make sure that my light bishop has an escape square if it is attacked by their knight.
9. O-O e6 10. Re1 Bd6 11. Be3 O-O 12. h3 Bf5 13. a3 Qc7
Development has been completed, so I started to look to build threats. Qc7 comes with two threats: attack their king with Bh2 and create a battery down the semi-open c file.
14. Qd2 Rfc8 15. Bd1 Na5
I saw that White's b pawn was pinned defending their knight, which gave me an opportunity to reposition my knight to c4!
16. Re2 Nc4 17. Qc1 Nxb2 18. Nxd5
When I calculated Nxb2, I didn't calculate Nxd5 so I had to do more calculations and found the following moves...
18. ... Nxd5 19. Qxb2 Nxe3 20. fxe3 Qc3 21. Qc1 Rc4
I felt I was winning, I was building more attacks and threats.
22. a4 Rac8 23. Nd2 R4c6 24. e4 Qxd4+ 25. Kh1 Bc5
A game changing move. I saw that I could checkmate White with Qg1 after Bc5. In my calculations, I saw that White couldn't block my queen from getting to the g1 square without losing material.
26. Nf3
But ... I didn't see Nf3! This did two things: Firstly, it defends the g1 square and secondly it attacks my queen. Now I had to save my queen and lose my bishop. I was quite devastated at this point! How did I miss Nf3?!
26. ... Qf6 27. exf5 Qxf5 28. Qb2 Rb6 29. Qe5 Qxe5 30. Nxe5 Bd4
After losing my bishop, I noticed that I was still up two pawns, however I didn't have enough time on the clock for a potentially long endgame. So I knew I was lost. My following moves were whatever came to my mind first.
31. Rc1 Rb2 32. Re4 Bxe5 33. Rxe5 Ra2 34. Re4 f5 35. Rb4 a5 36. Rd4 e5 37. Rd7 Rxa4 38. c4 Raxc4 39. Bb3 A lovely skewer by Stan to win the game. 1-0
Graham Lilley’s family has very kindly donated some DVDs that belonged to Graham. These are available to members on a first come first served basis. The titles are:
Hiarcs 13 - chess program by Mark Uniacke (Fritz by ChessBase)
Houdini 6 standard. (Fritz by ChessBase)
Chessbase 15
Rybka4 - Computer Chess World Champion. (ChessBase)
Fritz by ChessBase 13
Deep Fritz by ChessBase 13
There are also some Kurzweil discs, which don’t seem to be connected with chess. Please contact me if you’re interested in any of the above.
Julie Leonard
Abi Baker writes:
Earlier this year, I was contacted by Amelia Hilton, a Content Producer at RNIB Connect Radio. She was interested in interviewing one of our members about the BCA, the different ways in which we play chess, the background of our association and why chess is a great sport for VI people. As your Publicity Officer, this was too good an opportunity to miss! Amelia interviewed me and produced a podcast which went live in April.
Not prepared to leave it at that, Amelia was interested in the social events that we hold at tournaments, particularly the murder mysteries. Julie Leonard was interviewed about these, resulting in a second podcast.
By then, Amelia had really latched on to the idea of interviewing more BCA members about their lives and what chess has come to mean to them. The next podcast was one focusing on Gary Hogan’s sight loss journey, how he found chess and where it has taken him. A podcast featuring Voldi Gailans is expected to go live in late July or early August and there are possibly more in the pipeline by Stan Lovell and Brandan Read.
I would like to thank everyone who has spoken to Amelia as it’s great to be able to let RNIB Connect listeners know about so many different aspects of the BCA! At the moment, Amelia seems keen to interview more of us, so please get in touch if you’d like to volunteer!
Links to podcasts that are already live:
https://audioboom.com/posts/8494572-tips-for-hosting-accessible-murder-mystery-parties-with-the-bca
https://audioboom.com/posts/8530137-gary-hogan-on-changing-career-after-sight-loss
ChessFest is the UK's largest chess event! It’s aimed at anyone who loves chess or wants to learn to play the game. This year it took place in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 7th July 2024, and it was completely free!
Several BCA members went along. Abi Baker and Ian Blencowe played a game against each other and publicised the BCA by displaying our banner and distributing business cards. Neda Koohnavard was also there, enjoying performances of “living chess” i.e. 32 professional actors taking on the role of the chess pieces on a giant board. Neda also played some games against other attendees. Sadly, the day was marred by heavy rain, but by all accounts, it was still a fun day out!
Thank you to the three members who went along to show other players how VI people play chess. It’s all great publicity! Perhaps next year more members will be able to attend!
Many readers will already have heard of English chess prodigy, Bodhana Sivanandan, from Harrow, who made headlines when she was crowned best female player at the European blitz chess championships in Croatia in December 2023, at the age of eight! She defeated an IM, drew with a GM and scored an impressive 8.5 out of 13 overall. Bodhana began playing chess during the pandemic when she was five. Now nine, later this year, she will travel to Hungary as part of the England Women's Team at the Chess Olympiad, becoming the youngest person ever to represent England internationally in any sport!
In April of this year, Nigerian chess champion Tunde Onakoya broke the chess marathon record by playing chess nonstop for more than 58 hours! The event took place in Times Square, New York, and supporters from the city’s Nigerian community were there in force to encourage him with helpings of their national dish, jollof rice, and Nigerian music. Tunde, who says that chess saved him from overwhelming poverty as a child growing up in Lagos slums, hopes to have raised a million U.S. dollars for charity to support chess education for disadvantaged children.
Back in February, we were notified that some Braille chess books belonging to a VI resource centre in Bradford were no longer wanted. If they couldn’t find anyone to take them off their hands fast, the books would be destroyed! Naturally, we wanted to rescue these important volumes, but without any members close by, it wasn’t clear how we could collect them and transport them to safety quickly enough.
Gerry Walsh had the fantastic idea of contacting a chess club in the area. Quite by chance, he picked South Bradford Chess Club, which turned out to be the one that our late member, Steve Brown, had played for. Steve had been very highly thought of at his local club and was still remembered there. From the moment Gerry contacted David Barlow at the South Bradford club, he was extremely keen to help. He immediately collected the books – several boxes full – and kept them for us. On hearing that we would be in Harrogate this summer, he offered to deliver the books to us there and this is indeed what happened. We are hugely indebted to David for rescuing this treasure trove of Braille chess literature for BCA members!
The Braille is in very good condition. The notation used is English Descriptive. Gerry is storing the books for us, and they are available to members, for free or for a small donation if desired, on a first come first served basis. The titles that are available are:
Botvinnik’s Best Games 1947 – 1970, by Mikhail Botvinnik (4 volumes)
Improve Your Chess Fast, by Alberic O’Kelly de Galway (2 volumes)
Rules of Chess, Revised and Compiled by W. B. Tattersall (1 pamphlet)
The Pocket Guide to the Chess Openings, by R. C. Griffith and H. Golumbek (2 volumes)
Championship Chess, by Philip W. Sergeant (3 volumes)
100 Soviet Chess Miniatures, selected and annotated by P. H. Clarke (3 volumes)
Please let Gerry or me know if you’re interested!
Julie Leonard
Although we did have a committee
meeting in April, most of it was taken up with background matters which
wouldn’t be considered of interest to the general membership. We did decide to spend some ring-fenced funds
on ordering some DGT Echo clocks at a reduced rate of 60 Euros per clock. The IBCA had negotiated this deal for member
organisations. We’re very grateful to
the Geoff and Fiona Squire Foundation, who gave us a very generous grant of £5K
to be spent on chess equipment, and this seemed an excellent way to start
spending the money. After some
discussion we concluded we should buy ten which could be bought by members and
five which would be retained for BCA purposes, e.g. back up clocks at
tournaments.
I was led to believe by DGT that the process would be straightforward as they would deal with the paperwork. In the event Tristram, Gill and I experienced real difficulties having to deal with customs and imports at UPS. We got no advice on how to fill out documentation. I’m not even sure that the documentation we did fill out and send back was even necessary. Well, in any event, one way or another, we got the parcel released and the clocks are now sitting in my house. Never again!
On the issue of chess sets, Steve Bailey’s friend has adapted some peg-based sets and made them magnetic. They’ve received positive feedback, and we’ll probably get some more adapted. We haven’t fixed the price of these sets yet.
Phill Clayton has also said he’d like to develop a set using 3d-printing methods. We’ll keep members posted on further developments regarding this project.
In the meantime, we haven’t given up on the idea of peg-based sets. At the time of writing Chess Baron have received a new batch of adapted sets, four small (10-inch) and thirteen large (13-inch).
Guy Whitehouse, Chair of Equipment Subcommittee
The committee has been contacted by
an Italian manufacturer, wishing to publicise their “Tabutronic
Tactum” chessboards, which they claim are the world's
first and only electronic chessboards for VI people. The design allows VI people to play chess on
online websites using a real wooden pegged chessboard. It is a sophisticated electronic board with
piece detection as well as USB and Bluetooth interfaces to the world of digital
chess. Connecting to chess websites such
as Lichess or chess.com is said to be extremely
simple. There are two sizes: 25mm
squares and 35mm squares. To find out
more, go to the manufacturer’s website www.tabutronic.com.
The committee is including this piece on the Tabutronic Tactum boards to keep you up to date with technological developments in the VI chess world. At 300 Euros for a standard board and bearing in mind our bitter experience with the customs paperwork for DGT clocks, we have no current plans to supply these sets to members. We have not assessed these sets in any way and recommend that anyone considering buying one does their own research.
Please join me in congratulating our former champion, Paul Benson, who will be 70 years old on the 6th of August! Sadly, Paul hasn’t been able to attend our over the board events recently, but he continues to support the BCA with his important work as Correspondence Chess Director. For those who haven’t met Paul, he is a very highly regarded player, who until recently contributed detailed chess articles to the Gazette. These have no doubt helped many to improve their game! We still get occasional glimpses of Paul’s keen sense of humour on the email user group, which is always good to see. Paul, we wish you a very happy birthday and many happy returns!
Colin Fisher, a regular participant in the Summer Cup, entered this year’s competition but sadly had to withdraw as he had injured his hand and cannot use his tactile chess set at the moment. I know we’ll all wish Colin a speedy recovery and a successful return to the board!
Personalia aims to mark important events in the lives of members and send appropriate greetings. If you have some news you would like to share in this way, please get in touch!
Julie Leonard
These puzzles are selected by Mark Hague from the website http://www.wtharvey.com, which contains many puzzles that challenge you to find a win from a position in a real game.
May 2024 Puzzle
Magnus Carlsen vs Sergey Karjakin, New York, 2016
2R5/4bppk/1p1p4/5R1P/4PQ2/5P2/r4q1P/7K
White: King h1, Queen f4, Rooks c8 and f5, pawns e4, f3 h2 and h5.
Black: King h7, Queen f2, Rook a2, Bishop e7, pawns b6, d6, f7, and g7.
White mates in 2 moves.
Solution: 1. Qh6+ then either Kxh6 2. Rh8 # or gxh6 2. Rxf7#
August 2024 Puzzle
Magnus Carlsen vs Viswanathan Anand, Stavanger, 2019
1Q6/3q1r2/2pP3R/4kp1p/4p1pP/4P3/5PP1/6K1
White: King g1, Queen b8, Rook h6, pawns d6, e3, f2, g2 and h4
Black: King e5, Queen d7, Rook f7, pawns c6, e4, f5, g4, and h5
White mates in 2. Can you spot the 2 Queen moves for the mate?
The solution will be in the November Gazette.
Mark Hague