The Gazette
November 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
Games from the 3rd BCA Summer Cup
Annual Award in Memory of Graham Lilley
Quotes from Vincent’s letters were also exhibited. One that struck a chord with me was, “Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.” How true this is of so many aspects of life - art, careers, science and of course chess. Nobody likes being defeated but still, life goes on, and in this gazette there are fine examples of those who brush off their losses, knowing that a new game, like a fresh canvas, brings opportunities to triumph.
Also in this issue, our Membership Secretary reports another hugely successful quarter in terms of new members. What better expression of support could there be than to join our ranks! Members of all ages, visually impaired or associate, new to chess or with experience, all add to the rich palette of BCA life and are welcome.
The Secretary’s report tells of recent activities and policy changes. The Committee has drawn the conclusion that updates are needed to our constitution, the very frame within which we operate. It is a somewhat abstract read, but you are encouraged to consider the proposals ahead of next year’s AGM so draft motions are in this gazette.
Also in these pages you can read that How Good is Your Chess continues to make a favourable impression on members. Steve Burnell reminds us that the 2024 Best Game Competition closes at the stroke of midnight on the 31st of December. Our Treasurer gives a financial update and announces Millennium Club winners. Paul Benson is accepting entries to the 48th BCA Correspondence Championship. We celebrate with our members who have been recognised by the ECF for their contributions to chess. There is an almost surreal Grandmaster miniature sent in by Owen Phillips and many games from the winners of this year’s Summer Cup. Mark Hague challenges us with a mate-in-two puzzle. If you can’t solve it on your first try, remember Vincent’s words and don’t quit!
Of course, for a lucky few it appears that their achievements come “easely”! Alec Crombie’s literary success continues to mount and you can read about his latest novel in these pages. There is also an announcement of an exciting new award in memory of Graham Lilley, whose chess accomplishments seemed effortless.
Please let me have articles for the February gazette by the end of December. Season’s greetings to all readers!
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.
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 the May 2024 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. (At the time of writing there are only six single rooms left.) 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.
Friday 14th March to Sunday 16th March 2025: AGM Weekend Chess Congress
This will be held at The Hilton Leicester Hotel, Leicester. The AGM will take place at 20.15 on Saturday evening, 15th March. We shall also aim to enable members to join in via an online platform if they prefer.
This is our second year with the hotel after positive reviews from all last year. The hotel has a fitness centre and swimming pool. It is located about 4 or 5 miles from Leicester Railway Station and close to junction 21 of the M1 for anyone travelling by car. There is a lot of green space around the hotel which should make it very suitable for guide dog owners. It is also within easy walking distance of Fosse Park Shopping Centre.
We are hoping there will be enough entries to hold two five round Swiss tournaments – an Open and a Challengers for those whose rating or estimated rating is 1450 or below. Both are open to blind and partially sighted players and to associate members of the BCA. The entry fee for each tournament is £12. Please state when booking which tournament you would like to enter – subject to eligibility.
Rooms will be available on the Friday afternoon from 15.00 with dinner that evening at 18.00. Likely start times for the five games are 20.00 on the Friday evening, 09.45 and 14.00 on the Saturday and 09.45 and 14.00 on the Sunday, but these times might need to be changed depending on discussions with the hotel. 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.
Any enquiries about the Hotel or the tournament should be sent to John Osborne or Phil Rafferty.
To enter, please either send your accommodation requirements to John or Phil, with a copy to our Treasurer Tristram Cole, or complete the online form (https://braillechess.org.uk/events/event-forms). The closing date for entries is Friday 31st January 2025.
The cost of dinner, bed and breakfast for members and associate members is £70 per person per night in a single room and £60 per person per night in a double or twin room. This is also the cost for those wishing to stay Sunday night. For example, 3 nights in a single room is 3 times £70 and if playing chess, add the £12 entry fee, making £222. Please send full payment for your entry fee and accommodation to Tristram by the closing date.
Please send any resolutions or other items for inclusion on the AGM agenda to Guy Whitehouse by the end of December. Also, let Guy know if you are planning to join the AGM online or attend the AGM without staying at the hotel so that we can let you have the AGM papers.
Saturday 19th to Saturday 26th July 2025: Chairman’s Cup
This will take place at the Marsham Court Hotel, Bournemouth, which has proved to be a very popular venue for some of our recent events. It is very friendly and comfortable, and we have use of an outdoor heated pool. The parking and green areas are also very good.
The tournament will be a seven round Swiss, with the first round taking place on the evening of the day of arrival and subsequent rounds starting in the morning. Eligibility criteria for this event will be confirmed in the February 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.
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 contacting the organiser, Miss Gillian Moore.
56th Torbay Chess Congress, 8th-10th November 2024, 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
Shropshire Chess Congress, 3rd - 5th January 2025, Wrekin Housing Group, Colliers Way, Telford. Although this isn’t strictly speaking a hotel, the tournament does seem to be being held in one building and there is an on-sight catering team providing all meals. There are four sections: an Open, a Major U1900, an Intermediate U1700 and a Minor U1500. Contact Phil Love or Chris Lewis.
7th Somerset New Year Chess Congress, 11th – 12th January 2025, Walton Park Hotel, Clevedon
Five round seeded Swiss tournament with three sections: U2050, U1750, U1550. Online entry form here; https://www.cognitoforms.com/chess4u1/_7thsomersetnewyearcongress2/
Website: https://www.cornwallchess.org.uk/congress/somerset/somerset.shtml
Or email Rebecca & Colin Gardiner.
Sligo Chess Tournament, 31st January – 2nd February 2025, Diamond Coast Hotel, Enniscrone, Ireland.
Rather than being mutually exclusive, the rating bands for the four sections overlap with one another: There’s a Master greater than 1900, a Championship between 1600-2000, a Major between 1100 and 1700 and a Challenger for those under 1200. Contact Sandra Woods or Craig Dubose.
6th Simon Bartlett Memorial Congress, 28th February – 2nd March 2025, TLH Toorak Hotel, Torquay
Five round Swiss, Open, U1975, U1750, U1600. Guaranteed prize fund £3200
Online entry: https://congress.org.uk/congress/471/home Website: http://www.budechess.co.uk/
Organiser John Constable.
48th East Devon Chess Congress, 21st – 23rd March 2025, Mercure Exeter Rougemont Hotel, Exeter
Full details will be released via the website: https://eastdevonchesscongress.com
Organiser, Tim Paulden.
We held a committee meeting on 14th September. Here are some of the main points.
By the time you read this work will be underway preparing our annual submission to the Charity Commission. That means getting our accounts checked and certified and writing our trustees’ annual report. It’s one of the busier times of year for certain committee members!
We’re preparing motions to amend the constitution which will be presented to next year’s AGM. They are designed to clarify which committee members should be trustees, to bring the clauses governing subscriptions into line with current practice and to allow associate members who are trustees to vote on constitutional changes at an AGM. Please read the draft constitutional changes in this gazette and contact Bill with any comments or queries.
Our fundraiser is doing well. However rising costs mean that entering teams into international events will be difficult. Significant amounts of the money raised are spoken for almost before they’re raised, and rising hotel costs in the UK mean we are spending more on subsidising members participating in our own domestic tournament programme. This absolutely does not mean we will no longer be sending representatives to individual events. Gary Hogan’s performance in Romania was very encouraging and we are hoping to send representatives to the IBCA’s Women’s and Junior championships. We are also looking into what would be involved if we were to commit to hosting the Six Nations.
Our website goes from strength to strength. Members are increasingly taking advantage of online entry booking forms for our events. People have also used our membership application form to join the association. Information gathered from those filling out the application form indicates word of mouth and internet searches are the primary means of people finding out about the association. We have taken the opportunity to promote the association by other means; for example, we participated in a Chess Fest held in Trafalgar Square in July.
A book will be recorded and added to the audio library. This is likely to be “The Chess Players Bible” by James Eade and Al Lawrence. Hugh Lawson, who records extracts from Chess Magazine, will be reading the book for us. We’ll let members know when the recording of the book has been completed and added to the library catalogue.
Steve Bailey has a friend who has converted some peg-based sets to be magnetic ones. We have decided we cannot make it a default policy to convert every peg-based set we buy into a magnetic one. Those wishing to have their set converted should contact Steve for further details, including cost.
The next Chess Theme Break, the 31st, will be the last one that Julie organises. I’m sure you’ll all agree she’s done an extraordinary job, especially when you bear in mind all the other work she does for the BCA (gazette editor, tournament arbiter etc). The current thinking is that it would be better if a group of people organised the event for a couple of years, then another group took over, before handing on to others. Let us know if you’re interested in helping out with what is a very popular part of our annual programme.
We’ve harmonised wording relating to when a parent or guardian accompanying a visually impaired member of Junior BCA can receive free accommodation in our junior and expenses policies and our welcome leaflet. The new policy is that a parent or guardian accompanying a junior under the age of 18 gets free accommodation. There is a feeling amongst some members of the committee that 25 years old is too high for someone to be regarded as a junior, but we aren’t planning to propose changes on this at next year’s AGM.
Finally, we’re changing the policy regarding the subsidy new members get for their first event. They will have two nights’ accommodation refunded, but on condition that they play for the whole tournament.
Guy Whitehouse.
The Committee is planning to put several constitutional changes to next year’s AGM. Members are encouraged to read the draft proposals below. If you have any queries or comments, please contact our Chairman or any other Committee member.
MOTION 1: Subscriptions
Background to the motion:
Some years ago, the Committee introduced a five-year subscription as a way of reducing the workload of the Membership Secretary and offering better value to members. The option has proved popular, and we currently have more than fifty five-year members.
A few years ago, the Committee overhauled the way in which membership data is held so that it became feasible for members to have individual subscription expiry dates instead of all subscriptions expiring at the end of the BCA financial year. We moved to this practice because it is fairer to new annual and five-year members if they all get exactly 12 months or five years for their initial subscription fee. This also removes the need to offer reduced price subscriptions for those joining halfway through our financial year and spreads the renewal workload of the Membership Secretary and Treasurer more evenly throughout the year.
The Committee considers that the changes made in respect of five-year subscriptions and individual expiry dates have been successful, and feels that the time is right to update the Constitution accordingly.
Therefore, the Committee proposes a three-part motion, to be voted on as a single entity. See Parts A, B and C below:
PART A. Clause 3 MEMBERSHIP
That the first paragraph of Clause 3 of the Constitution shall be changed from
“Membership of the Association shall be open to any blind or partially sighted person on application to the Secretary and, subject to Clauses 5, 5B and 6 below, on payment of the first annual subscription, or appropriate proportion thereof, to the Treasurer.”
To:
“Membership of the Association for one year, five years, or the member's lifetime, shall be open to any blind or partially sighted person on application to the Membership Secretary and, subject to Clauses 5A, 5B and 6 below, on payment of the appropriate subscription to the Treasurer.”
Summary of proposed changes to Clause 3:
• The three subscription types have been included for clarity.
• Prospective members should apply to the Membership Secretary (not the Secretary).
• Membership is subject to Clause 5A (there is no Clause 5) which deals with LIFE MEMBERSHIP, Clause 5B JUNIOR MEMBERSHIP and Clause 6 HONORARY MEMBERSHIP.
• It is no longer possible, or necessary, to pay for a proportion of a first annual subscription.
PART B. Clause 5A LIFE MEMBERSHIP
That Clause 5A of the Constitution shall be amended from
“Any member or associate member shall, on payment to the Treasurer of the life membership subscription, become a life member of the Association.
The life membership subscription shall be an amount equivalent to ten times the annual subscription for the year of application, or such other amount as may be determined by resolution of a General Meeting of the Association.
In the event of a life member resigning from the Association no part of the life membership subscription shall be repayable.”
To
“Any member or associate member shall, on payment to the Treasurer of the life membership subscription, become a life member of the Association.
In the event of a life member resigning from the Association no part of the life membership subscription shall be repayable.”
Summary of proposed changes to Clause 5A:
• The middle paragraph has been removed. The setting of the life membership subscription will henceforth be dealt with in Clause 9, as detailed in part C of this motion.
PART C. Clause 9 SUBSCRIPTIONS
That Clause 9 of the Constitution shall be changed in its entirety from:
“The annual subscription shall be fixed by a simple majority of those present and voting at an Annual General Meeting. The subscription rates so fixed shall become payable on 1st October in each year.
If a member, an associate member, or Affiliated Club, other than a life member, life associate member, junior member, or an honorary member, has not paid the appropriate annual subscription within a period of two months after the date on which it became due the Committee may terminate his/her/Club membership after giving that member 28 days’ notice in writing of its intention to do so.
A person applying for membership, associate membership or Affiliated Club membership, after 31st March in any year shall pay half of the current annual subscription to cover his/her/Club membership until 30th September in that year.”
To:
“The annual, five-yearly and lifetime subscription fees shall be fixed by a simple majority of those present and voting at an Annual General Meeting. The subscription rates so fixed shall become payable on the expiry of a member’s previous subscription, or when a new or lapsed member wishes to join the Association.
If a member, an associate member, or Affiliated Club, (other than a life member, life associate member, junior member, or an honorary member) has not paid the appropriate current renewal subscription within a period of two months after the date on which their membership expired, the Committee may terminate that person's or club’s membership after giving that member 28 days’ notice in writing of its intention to do so.”
Summary of proposed changes to Clause 9:
• In addition to the subscription fee for annual members, fees for five-year and lifetime members will be fixed at an AGM as described in Clause 9.
• Fees become payable when a previous subscription expires or when joining instead of on 1st October.
• In the second paragraph, “has not paid the appropriate annual subscription” has been changed to “has not paid the appropriate current renewal subscription” and various other tweaks have been made to the wording and punctuation for clarity.
• It is no longer possible, or necessary, for a member, associate member or Affiliated Club to pay for half of a first annual subscription.
MOTION 2: Breaking the Assumption that All Committee Members Must be Trustees
Background to the motion:
Historically, members of the Committee have also become Trustees of the BCA. However, in recent years a few members have stood for Committee posts on the understanding that, if elected, they did not wish to be a Trustee. If this trend continues, the number of Trustees may become inadvisably small. The proposed changes will allow greater flexibility in terms of appointing Trustees so we can continue to ensure that the running of the Association is in a sufficient number of safe pairs of hands.
Clause 8 is currently as follows:
“8. COMMITTEE:-
The Officers together shall constitute the Committee, which shall meet from time to time for the purpose of discussing the affairs of the Association, and carrying out its policy in accordance with the Objects set out in Clause 2 above, and any resolution passed by a General Meeting.
The Committee shall have the power to co-opt, and to appoint Sub-committees for the purpose of discharging any of its functions.
It may, for any specific purpose, request any member of the Association to attend any of its Meetings.
The Committee shall take decisions by a simple majority of those members present and voting at a Meeting, and in the event of there being an equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote.
In the interval between Meetings of the Committee, the Secretary may, where a decision is urgently required on any matter, seek the views of all members of the Committee, and may act in accordance with the views expressed by the majority. The action of the Secretary in any such case shall be endorsed by, and be recorded in the Minutes of, the next Meeting of the Committee.
All those attending a Meeting of the Committee shall be reimbursed in respect of expenses reasonably incurred by them in travelling to and returning from the place at which the Meeting is held.
A quorum of the Committee shall be four.” (End of existing Clause 8.)
The Committee proposes the following motion:
That Clause 8 of the Constitution shall be renumbered “8.1 COMMITTEE” and that a new clause shall be added immediately after it as follows:
“8.2 TRUSTEES
When the AGM has appointed a new Committee the tenure of existing Trustees shall cease and each member of the new Committee who is eligible according to the Charity Commission rules and is aged 18 or over shall have the right to become a Trustee.
The new Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer would be expected to become Trustees; other Committee members would have the option of becoming trustees or declining that role.
The new Trustees should elect a Chair of Trustees and a correspondent to the Charity Commission. If some members of the newly elected Committee have declined the role of being a Trustee, the new Trustees may decide to invite up to three non-committee members to become Trustees but the total number of Trustees should not exceed the number of Committee posts elected by the AGM. The total number of Trustees shall not be lower than four, or the minimum number of Trustees recommended by the Charity Commission if it is greater than four.
All the new Trustees should continue to act as Trustees until the next AGM has elected the members of a new BCA Committee. The Trustees may choose to hold a meeting if circumstances arise that cause them to deem it necessary. A quorum for a meeting of Trustees shall be four.
Notwithstanding the normal rules of tenure, a Trustee may cease to hold the status of Trustee if at a Trustees' meeting a two-thirds majority of the Trustees at the meeting support a motion that he or she relinquishing his or her role as a Trustee would be in the Association's best interests.”
MOTION 3: Allow Associate Trustees to Vote on Constitutional Changes
Background to the motion:
AGM alterations to the Constitution are usually matters to enable the BCA to run more smoothly and currently, only full members can vote on them. Associate members are at present excluded from such votes even if they are Trustees.
The Committee feels it is insensitive to exclude any Trustee who has served a year in the administration of the charity from voting on constitutional matters at the AGM. All our Trustees, whether full or associate members, are required to act in the best interests of the Association at all times.
Therefore, the Committee proposes the following motion:
That the first paragraph of Clause 16 AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION shall be changed from:
“This Constitution may be amended by a resolution passed by a vote of those members, other than associate members, present at a General Meeting.”
To:
“This Constitution may be amended by a resolution passed by a vote of those members present and voting at a General Meeting, including all currently serving Trustees whether full or associate members but excluding associate members who are not serving as Trustees.”
Note that the second and final paragraph of Clause 16 AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION shall remain unchanged:
“The vote must be at least two-thirds of those present and voting in favour of the resolution before it can be presented to the Charity Commissioners for ratification.”
Has now been in this role for 6 months and the transfer from the previous long-serving treasurer Gill Smith is going smoothly. All the members of the current Committee have been very welcoming to their newest recruit, and Gill herself continues to provide helpful support. As we move into our new financial year the charity's financial situation remains very positive.
This is partly due to the work of our fundraiser Carl Concannon who since the last gazette has helped raise over £14,000 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 seeing some of you in upcoming tournaments.
Tris Cole
Gary Wickett writes:
I opened my May report by celebrating the fact that we had had a whopping 14 new members join. I am pleased to say that since then we’ve had another 14 new members added to our numbers. I am especially delighted to say that five of these have joined as VI Juniors. For decades we have struggled to come up with ideas to encourage VI Juniors to join our association, and it now seems that thanks to all the wonderful work that Abi, Julie, Voldi, John Osborne and many others are doing, including publicity from the RNIB and of course good old Google, the revival we had hoped for is here!
Let me start therefore by offering a very warm welcome to our five new VI Juniors.
Bella Kneebone is 18 years old and lives in Uckfield, East Sussex. Bella has recently learned chess at a chess club in Worthing run by our very own John Osborne.
Abdallah Altaf is also 18 and lives in Croydon. He is new to chess but has joined a remote learning group run by our Coaching Coordinator, Gerry Walsh.
Branden Fox is 23 and lives in Hereford, where he is a student studying Business and Accessible Technology. Branden is also new to chess and is also being taught by Gerry.
Harvey Dyer is 23 and lives in Gloucester. He enjoys fishing and carpentry and has recently got back into chess.
Aloysius Costa, who at the time of writing is our newest member, is also 23 and is from Wembley. He has recently returned to chess after not playing for many years.
Let me now extend a very warm welcome to our other four new VI members, who have all taken out Life Membership.
Jay Patel is from Harrow. Jay has also joined as one of our chess newbies. It is great to welcome people of all standards, and I am especially heartened when people take the plunge in joining, who may never have experienced the pleasure of pushing a pawn or skewering a queen.
Catherine Turner is from Colchester and has rejoined after taking a short time away from chess. Catherine is an ex-student of New College Worcester, and I can say that I really enjoyed a marathon game of five hours with her over the phone.
Irene Hampton is from Canada. It is great that we have so many overseas members, including five from Canada, and with the advent of the internet and social media, our overseas members can be very much a part of the BCA, even if the miles make it difficult to attend our OTB events, which of course you are always more than welcome to attend.
Our last VI member probably needs little introduction as he is already well known to many on the User Group or who have played in the French Skype tournaments he runs. Let me extend a very warm welcome cross the pond to Oliver Deville.
Finally, let me offer a very warm welcome to our five new Associate members, who all have at least one thing in common: they are all associated with chess giants.
Some of you may have met Ronnie and Ginette Hogan as they came along to the International Autumn Tournament in Milton Keynes. Ronnie and Ginette have taken out one year’s membership and are the proud parents of Gary Hogan, who most of you will remember did extremely well in the Individual IBCA Championship in Romania.
Rosie Irwin is from Sheffield and has joined as a five-year Associate Member. Once again, some of you may have met Rosie in Milton Keynes as she attended the tournament with our chess superstar, Chris Ross. Good to have you back Chris!
Finally, let me extend a very warm welcome to Jonathan and Maria Lilley, who have both taken out Associate life membership. Jon and Maria have joined as they wanted to support the BCA in memory of Jon’s chess legend brother, Graham Lilley. Some of you may have met Jon and Maria in Harrogate, where the British BCA Championship was held in Graham’s name.
Before closing, let me first of all say how much I have enjoyed being Membership Secretary once again. Unfortunately, however, due to work commitments I will be standing down at the next AGM in March. I consider Membership Secretary to be the best job on the Committee as you’re often the first point of contact for new members and it is so rewarding to hopefully make them feel welcome and begin a long and happy journey of chess and forming new friendships. I can vouch that the Committee are a wonderful supportive team, and we all help each other. So even if you’ve never done any type of committee work before but would like to give it a try; please do not hesitate to give me a call or speak to any member of the Committee.
Entries to the 48th BCA Correspondence Championship 2025-26, starting on 1st January 2025, are now being accepted, closing date 23rd November 2024.
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.
Anyone seeking an opponent for a couple of friendly correspondence games should contact myself, details given in list of Officers.
47th BCA Correspondence Championship 2023-24
Premier - Group Leader Paul Benson
Final scores: Philip Doyle 3-4, George Phillips 3, Alec Crombie 2, Guy Whitehouse 1.5, Malcolm Jones 0.5.
Challengers - Group Leader Paul Benson
Final scores: Voldi Gailans 3-4, 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 3-4, Alec Crombie 2.5-3, George Phillips 2-3, Malcolm Jones 1-4, Voldi Gailans 0.5-4.
Division 2 - Group Leader Paul Benson
Scores: Marilyn Bland 3-3, Eric Gallacher 2.5-3, Mike Flood 2.5-4, Maria Dod 1-4, Eleanor Tew 0-4.
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:
July – Colin & Barbara Chambers with number 51
August - Tony Lawton with number 29
September - Hazel Burnell with number 56
A new number has been allocated to Caroline Crombie. Thank you Caroline!
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. In 2024 we have already held 3 OTB tournaments, our Summer Cup, Correspondence tournament, and one email tournament with another well under way. By the time you read this gazette, our OTB Autumn Tournament will also have taken place. I thought this would be a good time to remind everyone to submit their games for 2024.
Any competitive game which is played in a BCA event, or by a BCA member representing the BCA in an overseas event is eligible. All games published in The Gazette will automatically be considered. The competition is open to members (including overseas members) and associate members.
Our judge for 2024, Norman Wragg, is eagerly awaiting your entries. Please send your games to me by the end of the year to forward to him.
I’m pleased to say that one of our newer members, Gary Hogan, has agreed to be the judge for 2025. Gary has played in several of our OTB tournaments and represented the BCA in two important international events. He is looking forward to receiving your games next year.
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 online on a PC or an iPhone. It is also possible to dial in to the Zoom meeting from any phone.
Please email me or call Gerry Walsh if you have any questions regarding the sessions.
Voldi Gailans
RECENT SESSIONS
Wednesday 31st July:
GM Mikhail Botvinnik v GM Samuel Reshevsky, Nimzo-Indian Defence, World Championship, Moscow 1948
We were delighted to welcome Vienna based Mahendra Galani to his first session! He was scoring well until he had to leave. Austria is an hour ahead of the UK. Scores for people who stayed until the end were as follows:
In joint first place were Mark Hague and Voldi Gailans on 18, then Eleanor Tew on 16, Abi Baker on 14, Gill Smith on 12 and Nene Clayton on 11.
Friday 30th August:
GM Milan Vukic v GM Mihai Suba, Hedgehog Defence, Vinkovci (Croatia) 1977
This time, we welcomed new member Irene Hampton, all the way from Canada, to her first session. Many of the moves took people by surprise as they weren’t at all obvious, but even so some impressive scores were achieved:
Mark Hague 22, Voldi Gailans 18,
Abi Baker and John Ramm 17, Bill Armstrong 16, Stan Lovell 14, Eleanor Tew 13,
Gill Smith 12, Irene Hampton and Nene Clayton 9.
Wednesday 25th September:
GM Alexander Khalifman v GM Michael Adams, Bogo-Indian Defence, Groningen 1990
Ten players took part in this exciting and high-scoring session. The final scores were:
Steve Bailey 49, Lea Ryan 40, Gill Smith 36, Irene Elbourn and Mark Hague 33, Richard Harrington 32, Abi Baker 28, Nene Clayton 27, Tony Elbourn 26 and Bittor Ibanez 15. (Bittor had been doing well, but he stumbled on one move that carried a hefty penalty. Everyone sympathised, but Bittor took it in good spirit, as always!)
Eamonn Casey and Philip Doyle write:
Welcome to our 21st BCA email tournament. There are 17 participants on this occasion. We have divided these into four divisions, with 5 players in Division 1 and 4 players each in the remaining 3 divisions, based on BCA ratings, performance in previous email tournaments where applicable, and where possible, incorporated promotion and relegation.
Because there are five players in Division 1, each player will have two whites and two blacks. As Divisions 2 to 4 have four players, half the players will have two whites, and half the players will have two blacks, dependent on the seeding. Players in Division 1 will play 4 games, whereas those in the remaining three divisions will play 3 games. Divisions 1 and 3 will be controlled by Eamonn, and Divisions 2 and 4 will be controlled by Philip. Play started on Tuesday 1st October and the tournament finishes on Tuesday 31st December.
The composition of the divisions is as follows:
Division 1: Bill Armstrong, Steve Burnell, Philip Doyle, Brandan Read, Richard Murphy.
Division 2: John Fullwood, Eamonn Casey, Malcolm Jones, Voldi Gailans.
Division 3: Marilyn Bland, Mike Flood, Tony Elbourn, Gill Smith.
Division 4: John Ramm, Tony Lawton, Donna Jodhan, Maria Dod.
The results will be in the February 2025 gazette!
Julie Leonard writes:
The BCA Summer Cup is a five round Swiss event, with games played remotely and two weeks allowed for each round. After experimenting with various formats for remote events during the Covid pandemic, we settled on this one in 2022 and the Summer Cup has now become an established event in the BCA calendar.
The 2024 BCA Summer Cup officially kicked off on the 13th of July. Twenty-four members from six countries took part. We were delighted to welcome Paul Inglis to his first ever BCA event! It was also great to have Olivier Deville (France), Philip Doyle (Ireland), Ben Fletcher-Harris and Brandan Read taking part in the Summer Cup for the first time. Games were played on Zoom, Skype, Lichess and over the telephone.
For the first time, a majority of Summer Cup participants had ECF Online Ratings so the arbiters (Gerry Walsh and I) used them for seeding. These ratings are often significantly higher than OTB ratings so for this event the Challengers’ cutoff was 1700. The tournament was played in one group. There was also an integrated Ladies’ tournament because a majority of the female participants were in favour of having one.
Round 1 results went largely according to seeding, but the game between Neda Koohnavard and Paul Inglis ended in stalemate, and Ben Fletcher-Harris managed a win against Malcolm Jones, giving Ben an early sole lead in the Challengers section. Marilyn Bland (USA) and Eleanor Tew took half point byes due to other commitments during the R1 fortnight.
In Round 2, Philip toppled number one seed, Stan Lovell, in an exciting game and advanced to two points. Joining Philip on two points were Eamonn Casey (Ireland) with a win over Olivier; Steve Burnell with a win over Paul Baldwin; and Brandan Read, with a win over Ben. Paul Inglis won his game against Teresa Codina (Spain) giving him 1.5 points and sole lead of the Challengers section, having overtaken Ben. Richard Harrington faced Norman Wragg, his second top half seed of the event, and Norman was victorious. Sadly, illness compelled Eleanor to concede her game against Neda, giving Neda 1.5 points and the lead in the Ladies’ section.
Round 3 results strongly favoured Black with no fewer than nine black wins on the twelve boards! Eleanor was well again but faced Norman and was defeated. On the top two boards, Philip and Brandan emerged victorious and took joint lead of the Open on three points apiece. Paul Inglis drew with Steve Bailey. Ben avenged a defeat in Harrogate earlier in the summer by beating Stan, meaning that Ben had drawn level with Paul Inglis in joint lead of the Challengers section on 2 points. They were closely followed by Lea Ryan on 1.5, following her win over John Ramm. Neda beat Mahendra Galani (Austria) and advanced to 2.5, increasing her lead in the Ladies’ section to a full point. Meanwhile, Gill Smith and Teresa both notched up their first points in this event.
Joint leaders Philip and Brandan faced each other in Round 4. Brandan won this critical game, and his next nearest rival, Neda, lost to Eamonn, meaning that Brandan was now a point clear of the pack. Despite the loss, Neda remained the leader of the Ladies’ section because Lea was also defeated. Challengers’ hopefuls, Paul Inglis and Ben had mixed fortunes with Ben losing to Steve Bailey, and Paul beating Malcolm to take sole lead of the section once again. Voldi Gailans achieved an impressive draw against Stan, which could indicate that the work Voldi is doing on his game, aided by a coach, is paying off! Mark Hague notched up his second win of the tournament, while Abi Baker and John Ramm both got off the mark with wins.
In the final round, Brandan scored another full point, this time against Steve Bailey, to finish on a perfect score of five points from five games! Congratulations to Brandan, who will receive a trophy. Steve Burnell beat Paul Inglis to finish outright second.
Ben beat Mark and drew level with Paul Inglis at the top of the Challengers section on three points. Honours are shared, so congratulations to them both, but Paul wins the trophy on tie-break. (It’s his first ever trophy, he tells me! For the second time this year Ben narrowly missed out on a trophy by tie-break, but I have a feeling it won't be too long before he wins one.)
Teresa beat Voldi and Neda suffered a defeat at the hands of Olivier, meaning that Teresa and Neda tied at the top of the Ladies’ section on 2.5 points. Once again, congratulations to them both! Neda has the strongest tie-break score and wins the trophy.
Bittor Ibanez has been working hard, collating all the games from the event. When the file is ready it will be emailed to the competitors. If anyone else would like a copy, please let me know. We're all very grateful to Bittor for his painstaking work!
Next, a special shout out for Voldi, who has been setting up Zoom sessions for many of the games, and also for the timekeepers: Voldi and Stan who each timed 5 games; Philip who timed 4; Eamonn, Gill, Lea and Malcolm who each timed 3 games; Mark, Norman and Steve Burnell who each timed a couple of games; and Brandan and Mahendra who timed one game each. Without the assistance of these kind volunteers, it would be impossible to run this event.
Once again, all the competitors have been wonderful, always keeping to the friendly spirit of this event. Gerry and I thank each and every one of them for this! Based on the continued success of the Summer Cup, the committee has already decided there will be a 4th one next year. If you took part this time, we hope to have you back again in 2025. If you didn't play this time why not give it a go next year!
Final scores and placings
1st with 5 points Brandan Read
2nd with 4 points Steve Burnell
Joint 3rd with 3.5 points Philip Doyle, Eamonn Casey, Olivier Deville and Paul Baldwin
On 3 points Steve Bailey, Paul Inglis, Ben Fletcher-Harris and Norman Wragg
On 2.5 points Neda Koohnavard, Mahendra Galani, Stan Lovell and Teresa Codina
On 2 points Malcolm Jones, Mark Hague, Marilyn Bland and Abi Baker
On 1.5 points Lea Ryan, Voldi Gailans, Gill Smith and Eleanor Tew
On 1 point John Ramm
On 0 points Richard Harrington
The winner of the Open section and the joint winners of the Challengers and Ladies’ sections were all asked to select their favourite game for publication in the Gazette.
The following game was chosen by both Ben Fletcher-Harris (joint winner of the Challengers section) and Brandan Read (Open winner)! Ben said:
“My favourite game from the competition, funnily enough, has to be the one where I got absolutely hammered by Brandan. I had always wanted to experience the ‘Tal effect’ and Brandan certainly gave me that experience with his two gambits early in our game. I never had a game anything like it. I walked away feeling quite inspired!”
Ben Fletcher-Harris v Brandan Read, R2, played on 28/07/2024 on Lichess.
ECO C40, Latvian Gambit: Mlotkowski Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nc3 fxe4 4. Nxe4 d5 5. Ng3 e4 6. Nd4 Nf6 7. Bb5+ c6 8. Ba4 Bc5 9. Nb3 Bxf2+
10. Kxf2 Ng4+ 11. Ke1 O-O 12. Rf1 Rxf1+ 13. Nxf1 Qf6 14. Qe2 b5 15. Bxb5 cxb5 16. d3 Nc6
17. dxe4 dxe4 18. c3 Nce5 19. Nc5 Bf5 20. Be3 Rc8 21. Qxb5 Qh4+ 22. Kd2 Nxe3 23. Nxe3 Qf2+
White Resigns
Paul Inglis (joint winner of the Challengers section) writes:
I’ve been a member of the BCA for several years now, but I hadn’t played against a human opponent until April this year. Until then I had only read a few books and played the occasional game against the computer.
Then I was introduced to Lichess and finally played against my first human opponent. A fellow BCA member. The adrenaline rush I felt in that first game against a real human opponent was amazing, and that really got me hooked on playing chess even though I’d lost in 23 moves.
I was encouraged by the same BCA member to enter the Summer Cup this year, and I’m really glad I did, as I had a blast.
I had no expectations as a novice with less three months under my belt at the start of the event. All I wanted to do was play chess and enjoy the experience. As things turned out Caïssa was watching over me and a bit of luck was on my side with this tournament.
As I had somehow won the Challengers Trophy, Julie asked me to pick a game for the gazette. The game I’ve chosen was my last game in the tournament against Steve Burnell who as you all know is a seasoned player and a tough opponent to beat. I lost the game, but I had a great time playing against Steve, and hope for a rematch one day.
I’ve played through all my games from the Summer Cup to look at where I made mistakes and hopefully learn from them. In this particular game, as black, I should have been more cautious considering who my opponent was. Develop my pieces, setup a pawn structure, put the king to safety. But instead, I started chasing Steve’s black square bishop around kingside. Why? I have no idea, as it wasn’t threatening anything.
But on move 8. … Nh5 I threatened to capture his bishop, and he moved it to safety with 9. Bg3. Then I captured his bishop with 9. … Nxg3, which opened the h-file for his rook. Fortunately for me he castled on move 19. What I should have done is left my knight on f6 and castled on move 8. That would have been a smarter move.
It wasn’t the end of the world at that point but when I put my second knight on f6 I should have left it there, but I didn’t. At that point things started to come apart for me after move 10. … h6 followed by 13. … Nh7. From then on, I was on the defensive for the rest of the game. It’s amazing that I even got to an endgame. It’s a lesson I have hopefully learnt the hard way.
I really enjoyed playing in the Summer Cup and all the games I had with all my opponents. It was nice to get to know some members of the BCA. Hopefully, we’ll all get to play again next year, which I’m already looking forward to, and hopefully, I won’t be making these novice mistakes like I did this year. Well, at least I’ll try not to.
Steve Burnell v Paul Inglis, R5, played on 09/09/2024 on Lichess,
ECO D10, Slav Defense: Exchange Variation
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Nbd7 7. e3 Be7 8. Bd3 Nh5 9. Bg3 Nxg3
10. hxg3 h6 11. Rc1 Nf6 12. Ne5 O-O 13. g4 Nh7 14. Qc2 Ng5 15. f4 f6 16. Ng6 Re8 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7
18. fxg5 fxg5 19. O-O Rf8 20. Rxf8+ Kxf8 21. Rf1+ Ke8 22. Bg6+ Kd8 23. Qf2 Kc7 24. Qf7 Qxf7
25. Rxf7+ Bd7 26. Rxg7 Rh8 27. Rh7 Rxh7 28. Bxh7 b5 29. a3 a5 30. Kf2 b4 31. axb4 axb4 32. Na2 b3
33. Nc3 Kb6 34. Bd3 Kc6 35. Bb5+ Kd6 36. Bxd7 Kxd7 37. Kf3 Kc6 38. e4 dxe4+ 39. Kxe4 Kd6
40. Ne2 Ke7 41. Ke5 Kf7 42. Nc1 Ke7 43. Nxb3 Kd7 44. Nc5+ Kc6 45. Kxe6 Kb5 46. Nd3 Kc4 47. b4 Kxd3
48. b5 Kxd4 49. b6 Ke4 50. b7 Kf4 51. b8=Q+ Kxg4 52. Qb7 h5 53. Qf3+ Kh4 54. Qh3# 1-0
Neda Koohnavard (joint winner of the Ladies section) chose her win over Mahendra Galani.
Mahendra Galani v Neda Koohnavard, R3, played on 20/08/2024 via Skype. Stan Lovell was their timekeeper.
1. d4 c6 2. Nd2 e6 3. e4 Bb4 4. c3 Ba5 5. Nc4 Bc7 6. Nf3 d5 7. Ncd2 dxe4 8. Nxe4 Nd7 9. Bd3 h6
10. Be3 Ngf6 11. Nfd2 e5 12. Qc2 Qe7 13. b4 Ng4 14. Nf1 O-O 15. Neg3 Nxe3 16. Nxe3 a6 17. Bh7+ Kh8
18. Be4 Nf6 19. Bf3 exd4 20. cxd4 Qxb4+ 21. Qd2 Ba5 22. Rd1 Qa4 23. O O Bxd2 24. Rxd2 Rd8
25. d5 Nxd5 26. Rfd1 Be6 27. Ne4 Qa5 28. Nc4 Qb4 29. Be2 Rab8 30. Rb1 Qxb1+ 31. Rd1 Qxe4
White resigned
Teresa Codina, (joint winner of the Ladies section) chose her drawn game against Gill Smith, saying, “It is interesting because in the end we both ended with Kings and perhaps we still have to learn a little more about the endgames.”
Gill Smith v Teresa Codina, R4, played on 02/09/2024 on Lichess, ECO D05, Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bd3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nbd2 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. Re1 cxd4 9. cxd4 Qb6
10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 f5 13. Bd3 Nxd4 14. Be3 Bc5 15. Rb1 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Bxe3
17. fxe3 Bd7 18. Bc4 Be8 19. b3 Bf7 20. Rbc1 Rad8 21. h3 h6 22. Kh1 Qd6 23. Rcd1 Qb8 24. Rxd8 Rxd8
25. Qe2 a6 26. a4 b6 27. e4 fxe4 28. Qxe4 Qc8 29. Qg4 Kh7 30. Qe4+ g6 31. Rf1 Rd7 32. Bxe6 Bxe6
33. Qxe6 Qc7 34. Kg1 Re7 35. Qd5 Qc5+ 36. Qxc5 bxc5 37. Rd1 Kg7 38. Rd5 Rc7 39. Kf2 Kf6
40. Rd6+ Kf7 41. Rxa6 h5 42. Kg3 g5 43. h4 gxh4+ 44. Kxh4 Rb7 45. Kxh5 Rxb3 46. Ra7+ Ke6
47. Kg4 Rb4+ 48. Kf3 c4 49. Ke2 Kd5 50. Kd2 Rb2+ 51. Kc3 Rxg2 52. Ra5+ Kc6 53. Kxc4 Kb6
54. Rb5+ Kc6 55. a5 Rc2+ 56. Kb4 Rb2+ 57. Kc4 Ra2 58. Rc5+ Kb7 59. Rb5+ Ka6 60. Kc5 Rxa5
61. Rxa5+ Kxa5 1/2-1/2
Finally, the very last game from the tournament. Timekeeper Philip Doyle described it as “Last but by no means least!” When Gerry and I played through it we both agreed it deserved a place in the Gazette.
Paul Baldwin v Mahendra Galani, R5, played on 26/09/2024 via Zoom
1. e4 d6 2. Nc3 e5 3. d4 Nd7 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Nxd4 Be7 6. Nf5 Bf6 7. Nd5 c6 8. Nxd6+ Kf8 9. Nxf6 Ngxf6
10. Nxc8 Rxc8 11. Qd6+ Kg8 12. f3 Ne8 13. Qg3 Qa5+ 14. Bd2 Qb6 15. 0-0-0 Nc5 16. Bc4 a5 17. Qf4 Rc7
18. Bxa5 Qxa5 19. Rd8 Re7 20. Qxf7+ Black resigned 1-0
On behalf of the committee, our Chairman, Bill Armstrong, nominated Voldi Gailans for the 2024 ECF Contribution to Accessible Chess award in recognition of his tremendous contribution to enabling and encouraging visually impaired people to play chess. In March, Voldi stepped down from the BCA committee, where he had served for a decade, often holding two posts concurrently as well as being a highly respected trustee. The committee felt it was a good time to celebrate his work. The citation mentions:
· Voldi’s passionate advocacy for VI chess and how he always puts his words into action.
· The leaflet that Voldi wrote to explain to VI beginners how blind and partially sighted people play chess.
· The two long books that Voldi recorded for our Audio Library.
· The club for VI players that Voldi rain in Bromley-by-Bow, resulting in new members for the BCA.
· The way Voldi welcomes new members by offering them friendly games and matching them with coaches.
· The OTB BCA tournaments that Voldi has organised.
· The monthly “How Good is Your Chess” sessions that Voldi arranges.
· The advice Voldi has given to a group of VI chess players in Oxford who hope to set up their own club.
· The coaching that Voldi offers to VI beginners.
· Voldi’s loyal support of the BCA for more than 40 years.
· Voldi’s participation in mainstream events, where he is an excellent ambassador for VI chess.
Voldi is so modest about his achievements that he is the very last person to consider himself deserving of an award. However, from the list above, it is evident that such a huge amount of work should be recognised. The committee is delighted to announce that the nomination was successful. Congratulations to Voldi! The award will be presented at the International Autumn Tournament in Milton Keynes.
Congratulations also to BCA associate member and arbiter, James Connors, who won the 2024 ECF award for Online Chess Contribution of the Year! James was nominated by Peter Hornsby, the Founder and Tournament Director of the World Chess League, who mentioned that James had demonstrated outstanding dedication to chess for universities. James set up the UK Universities League single handedly, on his own initiative. He is now the sole organiser, running several divisions across academic years. James has trialled the use of new online platforms and has arranged commentary, making tournaments more exciting to follow. At Reading University, James set up friendlies against teams from around the world and managed the alumni team in the World Chess League.
James was astonished to have won an award. He said, “It came as a wonderful surprise, particularly as I hadn't been told I'd been nominated until I got the call from the ECF Awards Chair to say I'd won!”
Jon and Maria Lilley (Graham's brother and sister-in-law) have very kindly sponsored this award, which will run for three years. Their intention is to keep the memory of Graham alive for a little longer at the BCA by rewarding an upcoming chess maestro. We are very grateful to them!
For those members who didn’t have the chance to meet Graham, he was a former UK VI champion who represented us countless times in international events spanning more than three decades. He was very well liked and hugely respected as a skilled and tenacious chess player who also showed great determination in life generally. In particular, his loud and infectious laugh won him many friends at home and around the world.
The winner of the Graham Lilley Award will be determined each August, the month in which Graham had his birthday, starting in 2025. Visually impaired UK members who have played in at least one BCA rated OTB tournament during the prior 12 months are eligible for the award. The winner will be the player whose ECF Standard OTB rating has increased the most since the previous August. He or she will receive an engraved medal and a prize of £50. In the event of a tie, the money will be shared, and each winner will receive a medal. Wherever possible, prizes will be awarded at BCA OTB tournaments.
Here are the August 2024 ECF Ratings for BCA members. The ECF publishes Standard (S), Rapidplay (R) and Blitz (B) ratings for both Over the Board (OTB) and Online (OL) chess, provided a person has played enough games in each category. I’ve chosen to publish the August 2024 ECF Ratings so that visually impaired UK members with a Standard OTB rating will know their starting point for the Graham Lilley Award mentioned above.
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 rated game recently you will probably not have a published rating.
Andrews, Norman OTB S 1504, OL S 1709
Armstrong, Bill OTB S 1648
Bailey, Steve OTB S 1224, OL S 1942
Baker, Abi OTB S 1063, OL S 1510
Baldwin, Paul OL S 1751
Bland, Marilyn OL S 1476
Blencowe, Ian OTB S 1536, OTB R 1511
Borg, Anthony OL S 1803
Brown, Geoff OTB S 1734, OTB R 1658, OL S 1747, OL R 1834
Burnell, Steve OTB S 1814, OL S 2002
Carr, Matthew OTB S 1763, OTB R 1647, OTB B 1647, OL R 1700
Casey, Eamonn OTB S 1505, OL S 1897
Chambers, Colin OTB S 1525
Chambers, Duncan OTB S 1677, OL S 1607
Chapman, Gordon OTB S 1444
Cholij, Mark OTB S 976
Clayton, David OTB S 1423
Clayton, Estelita OL S 1750
Cloudsdale, Peter OTB S 1823
Codina, Teresa OTB S 1221, OL S 1651
Cole, Tristram OTB S 1850
Connors, James OTB S 1719, OTB R 1680, OTB B 1594
Cuthbert, Jim OTB S 1049
Deville, Olivier OL S 1808
Dickinson, Peter OTB S 1596
Doyle, Philip OL S 2062
Elbourn, Irene OTB S 682
Elbourn, Tony OTB S 1338, OL S 1824
Engstrom, Olle OTB S 1500, OL S 1908
Fisher, Colin OL S 1920
Fletcher-Harris, Ben OTB S 1398, OTB R 1453, OL S 1411
Fullwood, John OTB S 1260, OL S 1698
Gailans, Voldi OTB S 1326, OL S 1337
Galani, Mahendra OTB S 1340, OL S 1761
Gordon, Philip OTB S 1471
Graff, Ben OTB S 1759, OTB R 1776, OTB B 1695, OL R 1646, OL B 1737
Hague, Mark OTB S 1344, OL S 1734
Harrington, Richard OTB S 660, OL S 1384
Highsmith, Simon OTB S 1234, OL S 1698
Hogan, Gary OTB S 1710, OTB R 1336, OL S 1555
Hristov Zhelyazkov, Aleksandar OTB R 684
Hristov Zhelyazkov, Andrey OTB R 461
Ibanez, Bittor OTB S 1290, OTB R 1069, OL S 1711
Inglis, Paul OL S 1800
Irwin, Rosie OTB S 1266, OTB R 1324
Jenkins, John OTB S 1352
Jones, Malcolm OTB S 1231, OL S 1785
Kalumba, Lukwesa Matapo OL S 1630
Khare, Shubhransh OTB S 1157, OTB R 1364
Kirkham, Mark OTB S 1511, OTB R 1526, OL S 1498
Koohnavard, Neda OTB S 1245, OL S 1799
Lawton, Tony OTB S 1092, OL S 1665
Levens, David OTB S 1726, OTB R 1694
Llewellyn, Julian OTB S 1862, OTB R 1703
Lovell, Stan OTB S 1607, OL S 2028
Mabbs, David OTB B 1768
Murphy, Richard OTB S 1550, OL S 1925
Musson, Tim OL S 1665
Osborne, John OTB S 1105
Phillips, George OTB S 1421
Phillips, Owen OTB S 1944, OTB R 1917, OL S 1959, OL R 1840, OL B 1706
Prasath, Malola OTB S 2010, OTB R 2044, OTB B 1989
Rafferty, Phil OTB S 937
Ramm, John OL S 1529
Read, Brandan OTB S 1698, OTB R 1452, OL S 1850
Ross, Chris OTB S 2220, OL S 2193
Rugman, Dan OTB S 1359, OL S 1702
Ryan, Lea OTB S 857, OL S 1534
Shimwell, Efe OTB S 1663, OTB R 1577
Smith, Gill OTB S 1134, OL S 1679
Soszynski, Marek OTB S 1827, OTB R 1816, OL R 1754
Tew, Eleanor OTB S 693, OL S 1284
Tinti, Jacopo OL S 1743
Uglow, Alfie OTB S 1395
Walsh, Gerard OTB S 1598
Waters, Roger OTB S 1573, OTB R 1447
Whitehouse, Guy OTB S 1652
Wickett, Gary OTB S 1353, OL S 1588
Willis, Graham OTB S 1695
Wragg, Norman OTB S 1679, OL S 1740
Congratulations to Alec Crombie on his new novel, “At the Sign of the Phoenix"! His publisher writes:
“Alexander Crombie weaves pathos, romance and high drama into this his 4th novel, which once again is set amidst the fogs and the challenges of post-war Britain. While paying tribute to the victims and survivors of an historic event, he explores what it is like to be two of those survivors. Along the way trauma and tragedy are surmounted by courage and joy.”
The novel can be purchased online on the following sites.
Paperback: https://tslbooks.uk/product/at-the-sign-of-the-phoenix-alexander-crombie
Electronic: https://www.lulu.com/shop/alexander-crombie/at-the-sign-of-the-phoenix/ebook/product-e7r788y.html
Alec advises:
“From the get-go I've been concerned about accessibility of the electronic versions of my books. My son has found it easy, downloading to his smart phone via Apple Books app. Yet I can see that it may not be so easy for we hard-of-seeing, so my researches show that NVDA is likely to be a friendlier engine than JAWS for example.”
In July, Bittor Ibanez went to a Summer Community Fun Day organised by a local church in Finsbury Park, London. Bittor persuaded the organisers to give him a stand where he could teach chess. At first, they thought he was joking but he went along, armed with various chess boards and a clock, and taught chess to anyone who was interested. He also enjoyed eating barbecued jerk chicken with rice and listening to live music! Bittor says, “I take any opportunity to spread the love of chess and show how blind people play chess.”
Joan Shorrock sends the following message to her friends in the BCA:
“I’m sorry I can’t be with everybody at the Autumn Tournament in Milton Keynes. I’m having trouble getting around. I hope to be able to join you at an event again soon!”
On the 29th of December, the BCA’s longest serving arbiter will be celebrating a milestone birthday. Yes, Gerry Walsh will be turning 80! Gerry has been a loyal friend to the association and to many of its members for more than four decades. He not only controls tournaments, but also runs “How Good is Your Chess”, arranges coaching for members and serves on our committee as a trustee. When it comes to helping the BCA his energy and enthusiasm is limitless. Please join me in congratulating Gerry and wishing him many happy returns!
Julie Leonard
Thanks to Owen Phillips for sending in this Lichess game for the gazette. Owen says “White supposedly beats the From Gambit these days but I’m not so sure based on this sparkler!”
Brainlag_19 (2064) v hubertor (1995), 2024.09.18, Rated blitz game on Lichess
ECO A02: Bird Opening: From's Gambit
1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. exd6 Bxd6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 Ng4 6. Bg5 f6 7. Bh4 Ne3 8. Qd3 Qe7 9. Nc3 Bf5
10. Qd2 Nxc2+ 11. Kd1 Ne3+ 12. Ke1 Bf4 13. g4 Nc2+ 14. Kd1 Bxd2 15. gxf5 Nxa1 16. Kxd2 Qb4
17. Kc1 c5 18. e3 Nc6 19. Bb5 cxd4 20. exd4 O-O 21. Bd3 Nxd4 22. Nxd4 Qxd4 23. Be1 Qxd3
Thanks to Owen Phillips for sending in this rapidplay grandmaster game, which is just nine moves long!
GM Fabiano Caruana (2763) v GM Alireza Firouzja (2873), 2024.07.19, Chess.com Division I (1)
1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Bg4 4. Ne5 Bf5 5. Qb3 Qb6 6. cxd5 Qxb3 7. axb3 Be4 8. dxc6 Bxh1
9. Rxa7 Black resigns.
If 9. ... Rxa7 10. c7 and Black cannot stop the pawn.
If 9. ... Nxc6 10. Rxa8+ Nd8 11. Rxd8+ Kxd8 12. Nxf7+ Ke8 13. Nxh8 g6 14. f3 Bg7 15. Nxg6 hxg6
16. Kf2 Bd4+ 17. e3 Bb6 18. Be2 Black cannot save his bishop on h1 after White plays Kg1 next move.
If 9. ... Bxc6 10. Rxa8 e6 11. Rxb8+ Ke7 12. Nxc6 bxc6 White is a bishop and two pawns up.
August 2024 Puzzle
This puzzle was 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.
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?
Solution: 1. Qb2+ Kd5 (the only move for Black) 2. Qd4 mate
November 2024 Puzzle
The following is from Bill Harvey's mate in 2 collection. White mates in 2, also I would think that Black's disastrous last move was probably Bishop takes the white Queen on d1 after White had just played the surprising move Knight takes e5!
Henry Buckle vs NN, London, 1840
r2qkb1r/pp2nppp/3p4/2pNN1B1/2BnP3/3P4/PPP2PPP/R2bK2R
White: King e1, Rooks a1 and h1, Bishops c4 and g5, Knights d5 and e5, pawns a2, b2, c2, d3, e4, f2, g2 and h2.
Black: King e8, Queen d8, Rooks a8 and h8, Bishops d1 and f8, Knights e7, and d4, pawns a7, b7, c5, d6, f7, g7 and h7.
The solution will be in the February 2025 Gazette.
Mark Hague
Editor’s Note: Erratum
No doubt many readers of the Braille and printed August gazettes will have spotted the typo in the answer to the May 2024 Puzzle. Black's second response was given as gxf7, but it should have been gxh6.
The mistake was entirely my own. Apologies to everyone, especially Mark! I hope my error did not spoil people's enjoyment of the puzzle. Many thanks to Richard Murphy, who noticed the typo while recording the puzzle for the audio gazette.