Leafing through the pages of a freebie magazine recently, I happened across an advertisement for a designer handbag featuring black and white squares. Apparently, in the world of stylish accessories, checks are big news for autumn and winter 2020. What pitiful part-timers those fashionistas are! Checks are big news for BCA members all year, every year! Even in this weird Covid-19 age, when we’ve held no over the board tournaments, you’ve shown your mettle by giving check in correspondence games and by checking on your BCA friends to find out how they’re doing! You’ve also been checking out the opening traps and master games sent by Gerry Walsh to our email user group every single day since March! One might have thought he’d be flagging by now, but that’s absolutely not the case. He has even provided a master game especially for this gazette!

While there’s every reason to celebrate how members’ determination has overcome the obstacles presented by Covid-19, the committee is keenly aware that many of you would much prefer to meet in person over the course of our customary programme of events. Please do read the note from our Chairman, Norman Wragg, which explains the approach that’s been taken and invites you to give your opinions.

The Telephone Email Skype Summer Ladder tournament that was arranged to replace our usual over the board event concluded after four months of fearless chess and frantic rung switches! This issue contains a continuation of the tournament report in the August gazette. During the event, competitors found innovative new ways to play chess and produced some terrific games! It all went smoothly and our winners were announced with far less controversy than that which surrounded the FIDE Online Olympiad in which the Indian and Russian teams were both awarded Gold following a fiasco with internet connections failing part way through a match!

Staying with mainstream chess for a moment, this summer the English Chess Federation has introduced sweeping changes that affect the grading system. These are summarised in this issue and you can find out your new rating if you have one. Furthermore, associate member, Ben Graff, has employed his journalistic skill to produce an article about Braille chess for “Chess Magazine”! Read Mark Kirkham’s article to find out how to get your copy. Ben is not alone in having exercised his flair for writing. This gazette has not one, but two contributions in verse!

In this issue we are reminded that the clock is ticking for getting in your entries for the Annual Best Game competition. If some of your games aren’t up to scratch take a look at the article by our Coaching Officer to find out whether you can get help in improving your play! Meanwhile, our Membership Secretary introduces us to no fewer than six new members! Some of them are already playing in the 13^th BCA Email Tournament, which has a record number of entries this time. No doubt all the participants have some fantastic games in store for them!

Speaking of stores, are you avoiding them nowadays and doing your shopping online? If so, please follow our Treasurer’s advice on using the power of the internet to raise funds for the BCA. Each individual donation made by the retailers might only be pennies, but they will add up if more members join the schemes!

As for the checked designer handbag, in case you’re wondering, I can assure you I won’t be adding it to my wish list. Leaving aside the fact that the price tag is more than some BCA members will have paid for their first house, I didn’t find the bag appealing at all. The best place for black and white squares is definitely on a chess board. Besides, I’m already the proud owner of one the classiest bags in the known universe – a BCA logo one!

You may have noticed that this issue is a little slimmer than recent ones. If you’d like to have a plumper gazette in February, please send me your contributions by the end of December. Your games, BCA reminiscences or creative chess themed pieces are all welcome. I look forward to hearing from you!

Season’s greetings to all readers and very best wishes for your good health in the year to come. Let’s hope 2021 will be the year in which the world gets Covid-19 in check!

Julie Leonard

A Note from our Chairman

When I wrote my August note we were gradually easing out of the lockdown restrictions and things were looking reasonably optimistic. Sadly, this trend has not continued and we now have to face the prospect of a bumpy road for the next few months!

With this in mind the committee has taken the very difficult decision to postpone the AGM weekend, scheduled to take place at the Hallmark Hotel, Derby, in March 2021. Once again, the key factors informing our decision were the risks of using public transport, the difficulties for VI people to maintain social distancing in a hotel and the fact that a significant number of regular attendees are in the vulnerable group. We also had to act before we would have incurred substantial hotel penalty costs. Another factor has been the very real risk of future local lockdown restrictions that would have made the event impossible. We have informed the hotel of our decision and will be discussing options with them, our preference being a simple one year postponement to March/April 2022.

We on the committee are very conscious of having to make difficult and perhaps controversial decisions on your behalf. Please let us have your feedback so that we can judge whether we are getting the balance right in such decision making.

The committee has decided that we will most certainly go ahead with an AGM. We will give more details in the February Gazette but, as things look at the moment, it will be an online event via Zoom or similar platform that will allow members to dial into the meeting by telephone if they prefer this to going online. In addition, members would be able to let the committee have their views in advance of the meeting by telephone or in writing. We will set out the AGM agenda in the February Gazette.

We will also aim to run a five round telephone/Skype event during the original 19/21 March weekend to replace the AGM congress. Our thoughts at present are that the AGM itself would be held during a separate weekend.

So our next scheduled over the board event is a combined British Championship and Chairman’s Cup to be held at the Marsham Court Hotel, Bournemouth, in June 2021. We sincerely hope that this event can go ahead as planned.

In the meantime, I hope you and your families and friends all keep safe and well during the challenging times of the winter months.

Norman Wragg

Forthcoming Events

Dates for your diaries:

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we do not have any over the board events arranged for a few months. Looking further ahead, we have the following planned, so please note the dates and keep them free!

Sunday 6th June to Sunday 13th June 2021: Combined British Championship and Chairman’s Cup, in memory of Sheila and David Milsom at the Marsham Court Hotel, Bournemouth.

Friday 15^th to Sunday 17^th October 2021: International Autumn tournament at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate.

Sunday 30^thJanuary to Sunday 6th February 2022: The 28th Chess Theme Break at the Marsham Court Hotel, Bournemouth.

Tournament information and details of how to book will be published in future gazettes.

Millennium Club, the BCA’s monthly lottery

To take part in the monthly draw costs just £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 in the draw, make a payment to the BCA or set up a standing order then next year’s subs will not be forgotten.

Recent Millennium Club winners:

August: Chris Ross, number 81.

September: Denis Warren, number 1.

October: winner to be announced in the next gazette

Gill Smith, Treasurer

Treasurer’s Report

Recently we have received £6,000 in grants, with Linda taking over seamlessly from Julia’s work, maintaining our relationships with donors.

Large donations were received from the Michael Barnard Charitable Trust and the Geoff and Fiona Squire Foundation, both of whom have supported us with generous donations in the past.

As we have had to postpone so many of our events, our outgoings in the last financial year were much lower than usual.

Current state of finances – values at 25 September 2020.

Total funds, including bank accounts and investments, £94,982.

This includes funds held in bank accounts of £57,131.

Within these accounts we have restricted funds, given for specific purposes, of £5,613.

Also, some of these cash funds are held as credit for members after events were cancelled, £2,752 altogether. If the BCA holds some money on your behalf and you decide at any time that you would like it paid back then please let me know.

The value of our investments is £37,851.

We also have assets such as new chess sets and clocks and polo shirts. These have a value of £2,513.

Gill Smith, Treasurer

Membership Secretary’s Report

I am delighted to welcome three new life members to our association. They are Marilyn Bland from Texas, Olle Engström from Sweden and Bittor Ibanez from London.

We also have new members Adara Kabara from Chadwell Heath Essex and Simon Highsmith from Hornsey London joining for five years.

Estelita Clayton, AKA Nene, from Belper, Derbyshire has joined us for one year membership. Nene is very popular and helpful in the online Skype chess community so it is great to have her as a member of our association. It does seem that the Covid pandemic has helped to increase our membership as people have more free time on their hands to play the wonderful game of chess!

Mark Hague.

Correspondence Chess Director’s Report

The 45th Championship (2019-20) has finished. A big thank you to the group leaders who have shared the workload.

Entries to the 46th Championship, starting on 01 January 2021, are now being accepted, closing date 23 November 2020. Correspondence play can take place using a variety of methods, Braille, cassette, email, telephone, according to mutual agreement. For further information contact the Correspondence Chess Director, details as shown in list of Officers.

Updating the various events this time round is not possible. My main laptop with all relevant details on it is in need of repair. However the stop press section can report a very recent result in League Division 1.

Mark Hague 0 - 1 McElroy, Queen's Pawn, 29.

Anyone wishing to play a friendly game on the Ladder should contact myself, details as shown in list of Officers. Any friendly games played under correspondence conditions, such as by Braille, cassette, email, telephone, can qualify as a Friendly Ladder game. Please report such games and let your efforts be reflected in your accumulating score.

In closing, to those about to start a game: Break a peg!

Paul Benson

Easy Fundraising

If you are shopping online please remember that at no cost to you there are fundraising initiatives available to raise funds for the BCA. AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products and prices as Amazon.co.uk. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, 0.5% of the net purchase price is donated to your chosen charity. Another option, Give as you Live, allows you to shop with many different retailers and a percentage of the price is donated.

Gill Smith, Treasurer

Coaching Reminder

As our over-the-board events for this year have been cancelled or are under review and our means of playing chess have become somewhat altered in recent months, it seems a good opportunity to remind all UK-based members about our training scheme for anyone wishing to participate. Under this scheme each member is entitled to claim £120 a year to put towards the costs of online coaching on whichever platform is mutually suitable, or by phone if preferred.

In the past few months I have had a couple of recommendations in respect of coaches willing to take part in the scheme so if anyone is interested in taking up this opportunity I would be happy to hear from them. For the purposes of the scheme, the coaching year runs from 1st October to 30th September. Members can, of course, arrange to pay for extra lessons once their allocation has run out.

The financial help is offered specifically for coaching and not for provision of chess material. Again, any arrangement in respect of this is between student and coach.

If anyone is interested then please contact me. My address is at the front of this Gazette.

Voldi Gailans

BCA in ‘Chess Magazine’

Mark Kirkham writes:

Readers of the May gazette will recall the article on Family Stories and BCA Coincidences by associate member Ben Graff, so we already know what a fine writer he is. Over the summer, Ben was busy interviewing several BCA members in order to compile an article all about us. This will appear in the November issue of 'Chess Magazine'. Ben's article forms an overall impression of the BCA using our personal perspectives and experiences. For those of you who do not take the magazine, the full article will be published in the next issue of this gazette, but if you can't wait until then, what better time is there to sign up to receive 'Chess Magazine'. It can be obtained from me in MP3 format, or on cassette from Richard Harrington.

Those of us who contributed to Ben's article were lucky enough to get a sneak preview, and I can assure you it is well worth a read. I thought I knew my BCA history but I still learned plenty of things I didn't know.

I would like to sincerely thank Ben for all the research that went into the production of this article, and for providing us with some free publicity.

Ben Graff writes:

“It was wonderful to talk with Julie Leonard, Colin Chambers, Stan Lovell, Mark Kirkham and Jörgen Magnusson. I heard some fascinating stories, including one about a school bus driver acting as a chess teacher and another concerning the President of Austria! It was great to get a better feel for the history of the BCA and to learn about the thriving scene that exists today. I felt truly inspired and privileged to hear first-hand that chess has benefited BCA members in many different ways, both at and away from the board. I really hope the article in Chess Magazine will highlight the power chess has to bring people together. All who love the game have far more in common than whatever happens to make us different. Chess certainly has the capacity to inspire our imagination on the sixty-four squares and to create friendships which will endure long after the battle is done.”

David Hodgkins Memorial Annual Best Game Prize

With 2020 drawing to a close next month, please remember to submit your entries for the Annual Best Game prize before the 31^st of December! Members in the British Isles can enter games played in any BCA event or for a BCA team by sending them to a committee member in whichever format is easiest for you. Peter Gibbs is our judge this year. I understand he already has about a dozen games to consider, but he would welcome more! Peter will be making his selection early in the new year.

BCA TESSLa Tournament

Julie Leonard writes:

Readers of the August gazette will recall that the BCA Telephone Email Skype Summer Ladder tournament - TESSLa for short, got underway on the 23^rd of May. Players challenged each other for rungs on the ladder while at the same time accruing points from all their games.

After six weeks Colin Fisher was reigning at the top of the ladder and Malcolm Jones, who had previously occupied the top spot was trying to win it back from him! Anthony Borg, on Rung 2, was the highest placed player in the U100 section. Malcolm Jones was leading the points table closely followed by Colin Fisher and Stan Lovell. But the tournament had another eleven weeks to run so there was still everything to play for and lots of excitement to come!

By mid July Stan Lovell had climbed to Rung 12 and was neck and neck with Malcolm Jones on the points leader board with 38 points apiece. A week later, Colin Fisher had fought off the challenge from Malcolm Jones to retain his dominating position at the top of the ladder! Meanwhile, Malcolm had focused on increasing his score and re-established an outright lead on the points table. Roger Williams had successfully challenged Anthony Borg for Rung 2, becoming the highest placed U100 player on the ladder.

Elsewhere, a husband versus wife points challenge had been completed in the Elbourn household, with Tony beating Irene twice over the board. The couple was quick to deny rumours that Tony would have extra household chores to compensate! A socially distanced rung challenge had been played on a sunny afternoon in Eleanor Tew’s garden, with fellow York resident, Norman Andrews, emerging as the victor and moving up to Rung 15. Jermaine Raymond had successfully defended Rung 9 from a challenge by Alec Crombie and Alec in turn had defended Rung 15 from Philip Doyle. Voldi Gailans had seized Rung 10 from John Osborne and Michael Flood had likewise acquired Rung 21 from Tony Elbourn.

By the end of July, Malcolm Jones had accrued 56 points and tightened his grip on first place in the points table. He was six points clear of his nearest rival, Stan Lovell. Stan had moved up to Rung 4 on the ladder by defeating Irene Elbourn. Norman Wragg had deprived Lea Ryan of Rung 6 and lost no time in challenging Colin Fisher for the top rung of the ladder! Alec Crombie had taken Rung 13 from Eleanor Tew and Dan Rugman had defended Rung 16 from Colin Chambers. Michael Keating held on to Rung 23 despite the best efforts of Graham Lilley. Tony Lawton had fought off a challenge by Steve Thacker to remain on Rung 24.

Half way through August, after twelve weeks of ferocious combat, 119 challenges had been completed (74 rung challenges, 45 points only challenges) and 246 games had been played! Malcolm Jones remained top of the points leader board with a score of 70. At this stage he was 14 points ahead of Stan Lovell in second place. On the ladder, however, Stan had snatched Rung 3 from Malcolm! Jermaine Raymond had moved up to Rung 7 by defeating Anthony Borg. Colin Chambers had taken Rung 11 from John Osborne, while Alec Crombie was successful in challenging Irene Elbourn for Rung 12. And there were still five weeks to go!

By the end of August, after an impressive reign of nearly two months on the highest rung, Colin Fisher was dislodged after being beaten in a closely fought challenge by our Chairman, Norman Wragg. Meanwhile, former Chairman, Alec Crombie, had deprived Malcolm Jones of Rung 4 and instantly challenged Norman for the top of the ladder! Malcolm was still firmly in control of the points leader board though, with a score of 85. Stan Lovell was doing his best to keep up but the gap had widened to 16 points. John Ramm, who had entered the tournament significantly later than everyone else because he had only joined the BCA in June, had earned his first point! Sadly, due to a change in personal circumstances, Roger Williams felt compelled to withdraw from the event, relinquishing his place on Rung 2 to top seed John Gallagher.

Many other thrilling ladder challenges were concluded in the latter part of August as players realised that the end of the event was only about a month away! Stan Lovell was still clinging on to Rung 3 having fended off Anthony Borg. Eamonn Casey had snatched Rung 8 from Ed Pourtahmasbi and then defended it from Malcolm Jones. Norman Andrews had forced Voldi Gailans to give up Rung 10. Philip Doyle won his challenge against Irene Elbourn for Rung 13, while Randy Kruzeniski climbed to Rung 14 by defeating Lea Ryan. Mark Hague had beaten Ed Pourtahmasbi and advanced to Rung 18. Steve Thacker saw off Michael Flood to take control of Rung 21, then promptly won his next challenge as well to ascend to Rung 19. Tony Elbourn was upwardly mobile at the expense of Eleanor Tew, who had to hand over Rung 20. Meanwhile, Tony had beaten his wife Irene in a points challenge for a second time. Opinion was divided over whether this was a courageous move or a reckless one!

The start of September saw a technological advance when Voldi Gailans and Stan Lovell played a game on a new platform, namely Zoom! Thank goodness we didn’t know at the start of the event that platforms like WhatsApp and Zoom would be used. Imagine how tricky it would have been to incorporate letters like ‘W’ and ‘Z’ into the tournament name!

One week into September, it was all change at the top when Alec Crombie narrowly defeated Norman Wragg and took his place on the highest rung of the ladder! Whether by good fortune or superb planning, Stan Lovell was perfectly placed to challenge Alec for the top spot straight away! Stan had also moved up to just 10 points behind Malcolm Jones on the points leader board. Malcolm’s score had reached 90 and it seemed only a matter of time before he would reach a three figure total! Results were coming in thick and fast as players rushed to complete challenges in the final fortnight of the event. Randy Kruzeniski beat Anthony Borg, forcing him to surrender Rung 8. Many other rung challenges were successfully defended at this time and it began to feel as if the majority of players had found roughly their right level on the ladder. That didn’t stop people arranging hasty new challenges and doing their best to make further progress though!

The penultimate week of the competition saw Colin Chambers win Rung 6 from Jermaine Raymond and Michael Keating take Rung 19 from Tony Elbourn. Malcolm Jones made Randy Kruzeniski relinquish Rung 8.

During the final week, John Gallagher justified his place on Rung 2 by fending off challenges from both Colin Fisher and Malcolm Jones. Norman Andrews seized Rung 7 from Eamonn Casey and Graham Lilley climbed to Rung 15 by beating Dan Rugman. Further down the ladder Michael Flood took Rung 20 from Lea Ryan, Gill Smith snatched Rung 23 from Ed Pourtahmasbi and Richard Murphy defended his place on Rung 27 from a challenge by John Ramm.

With just a few days left to go, Malcolm Jones achieved his goal of getting a three-digit score! The tournament closed at midnight on Sunday 20^th September. Fellow controller Gerry Walsh and I were delighted that every single result had been agreed so there were no games to adjudicate. Sadly, my computer was suffering from extreme fatigue after such a marathon event, but a couple of days later power was restored and the winners were announced!

In the final hours of the event, Alec Crombie secured a draw and a win against Stan Lovell in the final ladder challenge for the highest rung so Alec remained at the top and became our TESSLa Ladder Champion! Malcolm Jones, who had been in the lead on the points table for most of the tournament, finished on 110 points and is our TESSLa Points Champion! On the ladder, the highest placed U100 player who had not already won a prize was Jermaine Raymond on Rung 10. On the points table the U100 player who had not already won a prize was Mark Hague, with a score of 56 (4^th place overall). Suitably engraved medals have been sent out to the four champions and we warmly congratulate them all!

In total during the event there were 119 Rung Challenges and 77 Points Only Challenges. 392 games were played. Some players only had a few challenges whereas others took on more than twenty. Some aimed to finish as high up on the ladder as they could and others preferred to focus on winning as many points as possible. It was fascinating to see how the different strategies played out!

Many competitors have thanked Gerry and me for running the event and said how much you enjoyed it. We're very grateful indeed for that feedback. We also enjoyed the TESSLa competition! However, it is the players themselves who really determine whether or not a tournament is successful and so we in turn thank each and every one of you for taking part in a spirit of friendly competition and embracing the concept of the TESSLa event even though it was a bit rough around the edges and at the outset we had no idea whether it was going to work at all! Your positive approach and kind cooperation made it an absolute pleasure to control the event.

Gerry and I send special thanks to all those who have kept time for other players in Skype matches, thereby aiding the smooth running of the tournament. Lea Ryan deserves a most particular mention because out of around 52 games that required timekeepers, she volunteered for at least 25 of them, which I’m sure everyone will agree is going above and beyond the call of duty! Thank you Lea! Rest assured that if we ever attempt an event that requires timekeepers in the future, measures will be put in place to ensure that this burden is shared more fairly.

Some players have commented that they’d met new people through TESSLa and were hoping to play more friendly games in future to keep the TESSLa spirit going! Please do consider including any such games in the Friendly Games Ladder by agreeing beforehand to notify Paul Benson of the result. See Paul’s Correspondence Chess Director’s report for more details. Also, don’t forget that any member who would like a friendly correspondence game but doesn’t have contact details for potential opponents can ask Paul to put them in touch with someone else who’s looking for a game!

Final Standings, in Ladder order, with U100 players indicated and scores given:

1 Alec Crombie 44

2 John Gallagher 43

3 Stan Lovell 97

4 Norman Wragg 32

5 Colin Fisher 54

6 Colin Chambers 32

7 Norman Andrews 38

8 Malcolm Jones U100 110

9 Eamonn Casey 30

10 Jermaine Raymond U100 41

11 Randy Kruzeniski 46

12 Philip Doyle 41

13 Anthony Borg U100 48

14 Voldi Gailans U100 52

15 Graham Lilley 19

16 John Osborne U100 28

17 Mark Hague U100 56

18 Stephen Thacker 68

19 Michael Keating U100 37

20 Michael Flood U100 40

21 Irene Elbourn U100 30

22 Tony Elbourn U100 30

23 Gill Smith U100 42

24 Dan Rugman U100 7

25 Eleanor Tew U100 12

26 Lea Ryan U100 19

27 Richard Murphy 8

28 Ed Pourtahmasbi U100 16

29 Tony Lawton U100 37

30 John Ramm U100 3

Now we have a couple of key games from the TESSLa event to enjoy.

First up is the second game of the deciding Rung Challenge in the TESSLa tournament. Alec Crombie and Stan Lovell played each other by email. Alec was on the top rung with Stan challenging. The first game had been drawn. This second game only concluded in the final days of the event, keeping us all on tenterhooks to see whether Stan would snatch the highest rung of the ladder or Alec would hold on to top spot.

Alec Crombie vs Stan Lovell

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. Nf3 e5 5. Bc4 h6 6. h3 c6 7. Bb3 Qc7 8. 0-0 Be7 9. Qd3 Nf8

10. Bd2 Ne6 11. Rf-e1 0-0 12. Ra-d1 exd4 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 Rd8 15. Bf4 Ne8 16. Qe3 Bf6

17. Qg3 Kh8 18. e4-e5 dxe5 19. Bxe5 Rxd1 20. Nxd1 Qe7 21. Bc3 Qf8 22 Bxf6 Nxf6 23. Qc7 Kg8

24. Re7 Nd5 25. Bxd5 cxd5 26. Qe5 Be6 27. Rxb7 Qd8 28. Nc3 d4 29. Nb5 d3 30. cxd3 Qxd3

31. Nc7 Rd8 32. Nxe6 1-0 Black resigns

Stan congratulated Alec on the game and on not being afraid of the Black Lion!

Finally, this is the favourite TESSLa game of our Points Champion, Malcolm Jones. It was against Randy Kruzeniski and was played by Skype in the last ten days of the TESSLa event, when Malcolm was getting close to reaching a three figure score. Malcolm says, “Randy played really well! I wanted to play the Black Lion but was forced to change my plan. I got there in the end!”

Randy Kruzeniski vs Malcolm Jones

1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Nbd7 4. Bd3 e5 5. dxe5 dxe5 6. e4 Be7 7. O-O h6 8. b3 g5 9. h3 c6 10. Bb2 Qc7

11. Nbd2 Bd6 12. Nc4 b5 13. Nxd6+ Qxd6 14. a3 g4 15. hxg4 Nxg4 16. Be2 Qxd1 17. Raxd1 f6 18. Rd6 Nf8

19. Nh4 h5 20. Rxc6 Bd7 21. Rc5 a6 22. Rd1 Rh7 23. Nf5 Ne6 24. Nd6+ Kf8 25. Rc3 Nd4 26. Bxg4 hxg4

27. Rd2 Ke7 28. Nb7 Rah8 29. f3 g3 White resigns 0-1

13th BCA Email Tournament

Philip Doyle and Eamonn Casey write:

Welcome to our 13th BCA email tournament! There are 25 participants on this occasion, a record entry. We have divided these into one division of five players, and five divisions with four players in each division, based on BCA grades, performance in previous email tournaments where applicable, and where possible, incorporated promotion and relegation. In Division 1 players will have two whites and two blacks, but because there are only four players in the other 5 divisions this is not possible, so half the players will have two whites, and the other half will have two blacks, dependent on the seeding.

Divisions 1, 3 and 5 will be controlled by Eamonn, and Divisions 2, 4 and 6 will be controlled by Philip. Let's hope that our largest ever entry proves to be our most enjoyable, and from a chess point of view, our most productive. Play started on Thursday 1st October and will finish up on Thursday 31st December.

Composition of Divisions and some early results are below.

Division 1: Peter Gibbs, Colin Chambers, Malola Prasath, Bill Armstrong, Philip Doyle.

Chambers drew with Doyle

Gibbs beat Chambers

Armstrong drew with Chambers

Division 2: Steve Burnell, Stephen Hilton, Norman Andrews, Malcolm Jones.

No results at the time of going to print.

Division 3: Philip Gordon, Eamonn Casey, Voldi Gailans, Gill Smith.

No results at the time of going to print.

Division 4: Steve Thacker, Tony Elbourn, Tony Lawton, Mike Flood.

Thacker lost to Flood

Division 5: Denis Warren, Anthony Borg, Donna Jodhan, Anton Emery.

Borg beat Jodhan

Division 6: Richard Harrington, Eleanor Tew, John Ramm, Marilyn Bland.

Tew lost to Ramm

A Master Game

Gerry Walsh continues to entertain members by sending daily emails to the user group. He has now moved on from opening traps to games between masters. This game, taken from 500 Master Games of Chess by Dr. S. Tartakower and J.Du Mont, has been sent in exclusively for the gazette for everyone to enjoy. It incorporates the added challenge of being written in English Descriptive notation!

White Nimzowitsch Black Tarrasch St. Petersburg 1914

1. P-Q4 P-Q4 2. N-KB3 P-QB4 3. P-B4 P-K3 4. P-K3

(One of the aspects of the Tarrasch Defence in which White reserves his decision to develop the QN at QB3 or eventually at Q2.)

4. ... N-KB3 5. B-Q3 N-B3

(He could gain a tempo by 5. ... QPxP, 6. BxP N-B3, etc but he prefers to maintain the pressure.)

6. O-O B-Q3

(More busy than 6. ... B-K2.)

7. P-QN3 O-O 8. B-N2 P-QN3

(Of little value at this stage would be 8. ... QPxP, 9. NPxP PxP 10. PxP and White's mobile centre would be a dangerous weapon.)

9. QN-Q2 B-N2 10. R-B1

(Although the QB file is important in the scheme of things, work on the K file by 10. Q-K2 with N-K5 is more pressing.)

10. ... Q-K2 11. BPxP

(If 11. QPxP, then 11. ... NPxP, with a well balanced game for Black, but not 11. ... BxP, 12. PxP NxP, 13. N-K4 etc. The most patient course is 11. Q-K2.)

11. ... KPxP 12. N-R4

(A provocative measure, comprising the loss of a pawn, in order to produce some weak points in the hostile K field. If 12. N-N5 PxP 13. PxP P-KR3, etc, or, in the quest of adventure 13. RxN BxR, 14. BxP B-K4, etc stopping his opponent's impetus.)

12. ... P-N3 13. N(R4)-B3 QR-Q1 14. PxP PxP 15. B-N5 N-K5 16. BxN BxB 17. Q-B2

(After 17. NxN PxN, 18. N-Q2 BxPch, 19. KxB Q-Q3ch, 20. K-N1 QxN, 21. QxQ RxQ, 22. RxP RxB, 23. RxB RxRP, and Black has won a pawn.)

17. ... NxN 18. NxN

(The guardian of the king's field leaves his post for a moment, assuming wrongly that 19 Q-B3 is a major threat. If 18. QxN then also 18. .... P-Q5, 19. PxP BxN, 20. PxB Q-R5 etc.)

18. ... P-Q5

(An unmasking advance.)

19. PxP

(Here 19. KR-K1 would soften but not eliminate the shock.)

19. ... BxPch

(The regulation sacrifice at KR7.)

20. KxB Q-R5ch 21. K-N1 BxP

(A complimentary sacrifice the king's field is entirely bare.)

22. P-B3

(For if 22. KxB Q-N5ch, followed by ... R-Q4 and ... R-R4 Mate.)

22. ... KR-K1

(A beautiful waiting move, cutting off the king's flight for if 22. ... Q-R8ch, 23. K-B2 Q-R7, 24. K-K1 etc, and if 22. ... Q-N6 23. N-K4.)

23. N-K4 Q-R8ch 24. K-B2 BxR 25. P-Q5

(A desperate resistance, if 25. RxB Q-R7ch, winning the queen, and if 25. N-B6ch K-B1, 26. NxR Q-N7ch etc.)

25. ... P-B4 26. Q-B3 Q-N7ch 27. K-K3 RxNch

(Mass production of sacrifices.)

28. PxR P-B5ch

(Magnificent, and leading to a beautiful mate, however there is a rigid mate in three by 28. ... Q-N6ch 29. K-Q2 Q-B7ch 30. K-Q1 Q-K7 Mate.)

29. KxP R-B1ch 30. K-K5 Q-R7ch 31. K-K6 R-K1ch 32. K-Q7 B-N4 Mate

ECF Ratings and Grades for BCA Members

There have been significant changes in the ECF system this year. They have moved from the three-digit grading system to a four-digit FIDE style rating. From now on, only the four-digit ratings will be used and they will be updated monthly instead of twice a year as was the case with the three-digit grades.

Many thanks to Dan Rugman for compiling the list of ECF Grades and Ratings for BCA members below. The four-digit ratings are from the October 2020 list. Three-digit grades are given in parentheses. Rapidplay ratings and grades are included for those who have them and are shown with an ‘R’ prefix. Every effort has been made to avoid errors or omissions but please do let the editor know if you spot any! Bear in mind though, that if you haven’t played a graded game in the last year you will probably not have a published rating or grade.

Andrews, Norman 1645 (126)

Armstrong, Bill 1750 (140)

Bailey, Steve 1180 (64)

Baxter, Colin 1548 (113)

Benson, Paul 1930 (164)

Blencowe, Ian 1623 (123) R1540 (R112)

Brown, Geoff 1900 (160) R1645 (R126)

Burnell, Steve 1818 (149)

Carr, Matthew 1705 (134) R1644 (R126)

Casey, Eamonn 1510 (108)

Chambers, Colin 1578 (117)

Chambers, Duncan 1668 (129)

Chapman, Gordon 1488 (105)

Clayton, David 1413 (95)

Cloudsdale, Peter 1833 (151) R1660 (R128)

Cole, Tristram 1803 (147)

Cuthbert, Jim 1090 (52)

Elbourn, Irene 708 (1)

Elbourn, Tony 1263 (75)

Flood, Mike 1015 (42)

Gailans, Voldi 1285 (78)

Gibbs, Peter 1960 (168)

Gordon, Phillip 1510 (108)

Graff, Ben 1833 (151) R1818 (R149)

Hague, Mark 1323 (83)

Harrington, Richard 708 (1)

Holtz, Steve 1233 (71)

Jenkins, John 1338 (85)

Khare, Shivank 1563 (115) R1615 (R122)

Khare, Shubhransh 843 (19)

Kirkham, Mark 1465 (102)

Lawton, Tony 1060 (48)

Lovell, Stan 1615 (122)

Mabbs, David R1998 (R173)

McElroy, Ernie 1593 (119)

Mills, David 1698 (133)

Murphy, Richard 1615 (122)

Osborne, John 1038 (45)

Phillips, George 1405 (94)

Phillips, Owen 1998 (173)

Pomeroy, Ray 1503 (107) R1330 (R84)

Pourtahmasbi, Ednun 738 (5)

Prasath, Malola 2103 (187)

Ross, Chris 2283 (211)

Rugman, Dan 1495 (106)

Ryan, Lea 828 (17)

Shimwell, Efe 1660 (128) R1555 (R114)

Smith, Gill 1083 (51)

Thacker, Stephen 1450 (100)

Walsh, Gerard 1585 (118)

Waters, Roger 1510 (108)

Whitehouse, Guy 1435 (98)

Wickett, Gary 1323 (83)

Willis, Graham 1713 (135)

Wragg, Norman 1713 (135)

Rhyme and Reason

A poem written by John Venables, about his friend, Tony Lawton:

Tony likes to play his chess,

But, yesterday got in a mess,

Against a player of similar rank,

His hopes of winning quickly sank.

He moved his pieces around the board,

Oft with a prayer to our Lord,

The rooks they tumbled from his grasp,

The Queen did nothing he did ask.

He kept his cool and did not show,

His anger slowly grow and grow,

Professional, stoic to the end,

He battled to defeat his friend.

But it was not to be his day,

The game refused to go his way,

For the end he did not have to wait,

"Tony Lawton that's CHECK MATE!”

Going to Pieces

A lockdown poem by Joan Shorrock:

Although I don't play chess, don't know a BISHOP from a ROOK.

What could I do to pass the time? I know, I'll cook.

I'm not a Mary Berry, that is another worry.

What am I going to make? A KING PAWN curry.

Whether we're ordinary people in our four walls unseen,

Or in our CASTLES and palaces, just like the QUEEN.

Whoever we are, wherever we live, I miss friends at BCA.

In social life at KNIGHT, or outings by day.

So don't be board or in pieces, we'll meet playing chess or not.

For friends and happy times we had, thanks a lot.

Gray Matter Test

These puzzles are selected by Graham Lilley 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.

August 2020 Puzzle

Glenn Gaasland vs Magnus Carlsen, Norway, 2001

2rr2k1/pb3pp1/4q2p/2pn4/2Q1P3/P4P2/1P3BPP/2KR2NR

White: King c1, Queen c4, Rooks d1 and h1, Bishop f2, Knight g1, Pawns a3, b2, e4, f3, g2 and h2

Black: king g8, queen e6, rooks c8 and d8, bishop b7, knight d5, pawns a7, c5, f7, g7 and h6

Black to move and win.

Solution: ...Ne3 Rxd8+ Rxd8 Qe2 Rd1+

November 2020 Puzzle

Christian Aarefjord vs Magnus Carlsen, Oslo, 2001

8/3R1p2/1p3k2/7b/2Pp3P/BP1K4/2P4r/8

White: King d3, Rook d7, Bishop a3, Pawns b3, c2, c4 and h4

Black: king f6, rook h2, bishop h5, pawns b6, d4 and f7

Black to move and win. The solution will appear in the February gazette.

Quote Unquote!

In response to the quotes in Hugo’s Belgian Assortment in the August gazette, Peter Gibbs asks:

May I submit the quote I coined some years ago having experienced the dangers in copying my opponent's moves. My quote therefore is "The quickest way to the cemetery is by symmetry".

Who was it who said "Knights on the rim are grim"?

Editor: If you have a favourite chess quote why not send it in for the February issue, especially if it’s one you’ve concocted yourself!

Personalia

On the 11^th of October BCA member Ed Green was living the high life in the skies over Northamptonshire! In his own words, he “threw himself out of a perfectly serviceable aeroplane” and did a tandem skydive from 10,000 feet. The jump was in aid of New College Worcester and Ed raised over £7000! You’ll be relieved to know that Ed landed safely so let’s congratulate him on his courage and his fine achievement!

Sadly, when we get back to playing over the board chess one of our four-legged friends will not be joining us. John Osborne’s guide dog, Bradley, seemingly couldn’t cope with the Covid-19 adjustments in his locality. Bradley also had some health issues and so the decision was taken to retire him. John tells me that Bradley could be quite a character at times and it’s obviously a tremendous blow to have to part from him in this way. We too will miss Bradley at BCA events, where he was always impeccably behaved. Fortunately, John has also had a happy occasion in his life lately as he and his wife, Miriam, celebrated their 20^th wedding anniversary on 21^st October. Belated congratulations from all your BCA friends!

Our delightful queen of the BCA raffle, Moira Whittle, had a difficult start to the year when she took a tumble and broke her arm back in February. I’m delighted to report that Moira’s injury has healed well and she is now looking forward to marking her 80^th birthday on the 16^th of November. Last year, Moira’s birthday coincided with the BCA Autumn Tournament and lots of us were able to wish her many happy returns in person. She told me what an enjoyable occasion that was for her and how much she has missed meeting up with BCA friends this year. She’s looking forward to the next get together, whenever that may be, so that she can start charming raffle money from us again – all in a good cause, of course! Alas, like many birthdays in 2020, this one is likely to be fairly quiet for Moira, so let’s all send warmest wishes for her special day!

Finally, our Coaching and Junior Development Officer, Voldi Gailans, also has an impending milestone birthday. He will turn 70 on the 2^nd of December! Voldi has been a stalwart member of the BCA for many decades. He is a true gentleman who embodies all that is best about our association. When playing chess, he is always magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat. He also does a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to promote Braille chess and this may have escaped the notice of some members. Voldi is truly passionate about our game and his enthusiasm is infectious. The number of people who’ve recently joined us as a result of Voldi’s coaching initiatives is proof of that! Even Covid-19 hasn’t deterred him. As I write he is planning to start chess tuition for a VI junior via Zoom! However, while some members might not be aware of what a fine ambassador the BCA has in Voldi, anyone lucky enough to have attended a BCA soirée will be in no doubt as to how much energy he generously expends for the enjoyment of others! From his thespian talents which have been put to good use on a murder mystery evening, to his rich singing voice, Voldi always delights his audience! So let’s give Voldi a special cheer and round of applause as he turns 70 years young next month! We know that Voldi’s family, including his wife Clare, daughters Geraldine and Natalie, and granddaughter Poppy, will make Voldi’s birthday as special as possible in this tricky pandemic year, but we hope that additional good wishes from many BCA friends will be a little bit of extra icing on Voldi’s cake!

Do let me know if you have any news for the next issue!

Julie Leonard