The
Gazette
November
2025
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 go to the
Contact page on the Braille Chess Association’s website.
https://braillechess.org.uk/contacts
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
Voldi Gailans (Chair of Trustees), Bill Armstrong, Abi Baker, Tristram Cole, John Fullwood, Gary Hogan, Mark Kirkham, Julie Leonard, Brandan Read, Gerry Walsh, Guy Whitehouse.
Note: The views expressed in the Gazette do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the BCA, nor those of the editor.
CONTENTS
Millennium
Club, the BCA’s monthly lottery
Annual
Award in Memory of Graham Lilley
2025
David Hodgkins Memorial Annual Best Game Competition
Correspondence
Chess Including the Transatlantic Challenge
Always
Look on the Bright Side
Senior
Championships, Back Then and Now
IBCA
World Individual Championship, Rzeszow, Poland
Games
from the 4th BCA Summer Cup
Reading
Chess ebooks with Forward Chess
Hastings
1895 Brilliancy Prize – The Mate in 10
While viewing coverage, it struck me that chess and conkers are quite alike in some ways! It’s one against one, with each taking turns to play. Great accuracy and focus are required. Chess has special names for moves like castling or en passant; in conkers there’s a down shot, a 45-degree backhander, a chop or an American sidewinder. Stewards scrutinise play to see that strict rules are followed. Both games have been rocked by cheating scandals. One has chestnuts, the other has chess nuts. And of course, everyone wants to conquer their opponent!
This gazette is packed with games containing lethal knock out blows dealt with split second timing. You’ll be shattered after playing through them all, so if you need a break try cracking Mark’s puzzle! The suspense is over as we reveal who earned a walloping rating gain to win the Graham Lilley Award! You can also learn who struck lucky in the Millennium Club draw and how to help at ChessFest, smack in the middle of summer 2026. Strings were pulled to squash an extra remote event into our calendar – see Forthcoming Events. It’s sure to be a hit!
I’d already decided on a conkers theme for this editorial, when I read that since 1965 the World Conker Championships have raised over £485,000 for charities for blind people. What a smashing coincidence!
Please
let me have articles for the February gazette by the end of December. With winter festivities fast approaching, I
send 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.
10.
Details of any
known medical condition that you have, which could require urgent treatment
during the event. For example, if you
carry an auto injector or similar device for a severe allergic reaction or
other life-threatening emergency. With
your agreement, the organiser may share this information with people who will
help to keep you safe.
If you are taking part in the chess, please also give:
11.
Consent for your forename, surname, club,
results and gender to be sent to the ECF for rating purposes.
12.
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 resident members receive a refund equivalent to two nights’ accommodation after attending their first BCA 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 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
3rd January to Saturday 28th March 2026: 1st BCA New Year Cup to be played
remotely.
Following the success of the Remote Summer Cups, our Chairman has had the great idea of offering a winter equivalent to the members. It will be essentially the same as the Summer Cup, except for the season! Philip Doyle and Eamonn Casey have kindly agreed to start their Spring Email Tournament in April instead of March next year, so it doesn’t overlap with the New Year Cup. There will be five rounds in which games are played on any mutually agreed internet-based platform such as Zoom, Lichess, Jitsi, WhatsApp, or by telephone. The default platform will be Zoom as most members find this accessible and people without internet access can dial into meetings. Players for whom Zoom is genuinely inaccessible should mention this when entering and if possible special arrangements will be made to accommodate their participation.
The event will run for twelve weeks with four weeks allowed for Round 2 because many players will be at the Chess Theme Break during that time, and two weeks allowed for Rounds 1, 3, 4 and 5. Games are played at a mutually convenient time agreed by the two players. Ideally, there should be a third-party timekeeper for each game unless it is played on a dedicated chess server such as Lichess. Players may take a half point bye in any one of the first four rounds and will be able to request this when entering or arrange it at fairly short notice. The control team is likely to include James Connors, with Gerry Walsh and Julie Leonard being available to assist as required.
The New Year Cup will be open to all members and associate members of the BCA. Entry is free. Depending on the entries, we may be able to incorporate a Ladies’ section and a Challengers’ section for those whose ECF online standard play rating or estimated rating is below the cutoff point, which is likely to be around 1750. Trophies will be awarded to section winners, provided they are based in the UK or can arrange to collect the trophy at one of our over the board events within twelve months. Trophies will not be posted to overseas winners.
The tournament will be a friendly and fairly informal event. We urge members and associate members to “have a go” regardless of their playing strength. Results will be sent for rating in the ECF Online Rating system.
We hope the New Year Cup will attract the Summer Cup regulars as well as some newcomers! To enter please complete the relevant online form on https://braillechess.org.uk/events/event-forms by Thursday 25th December 2025. The form is the preferred method of entering.
Saturday 24th January to Saturday
31st January 2026 – Chess Theme Break
The 32nd Chess Theme Break will be held at the Lauriston Hotel, 6-12 Knightstone Road, Weston-super-Mare BS23 2AN. This will be the fourth time running we’ve held the CTB at the Lauriston; with its friendly and helpful staff, delicious food, comfortable rooms and being a modest size, it is the perfect venue. The hotel is also 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. Dog food can also be sent to the hotel by post or courier and the hotel will distribute it to the appropriate rooms for those who would prefer not to transport it themselves. During the winter, dogs are allowed to run on the nearby beach.
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, an unrated rapid play tournament and many social events. Please refer to Mark’s report on the 31st Chess Theme Break in the May 2025 gazette to get a flavour of what the week entails.
All members and any visually impaired person who wishes to learn chess or improve their chess can take part. Any member with an ECF over the board 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 £20 per person per night has already been taken off and so no grants will be paid to coaches and trainees after the event. Please be aware that the Lauriston is now a cash free hotel.
There will be a free day on Wednesday when, for those who wish to come along, there will be a coach trip to Wells, where interested parties can enjoy a guided touch tour of Wells Cathedral, or if cathedrals aren’t your thing, Wednesday is also market day. The coach trip and touch tour have both been subsidised by the BCA and we’re asking that interested parties pay in advance by adding the extra cost to their booking. The price will be £10 per person for the coach and £20 per person if you also wish to partake in the touch tour. Once again, we’re also planning to have a group lunch during one of the afternoons in the Greenhouse café. No prior payment is needed for this.
Bookings can be made via the appropriate online form on https://braillechess.org.uk/events/event-forms or by contacting Gary Wickett. Please say whether you’re attending as a trainee, a coach or a non-chess person. The closing date is 29th November 2025. Early booking is advised, especially if you’d like a single room or a room with a bath as there are limited numbers of these. Rooms are allocated on a first come first served basis and are only reserved when the BCA has received your payment. Payments made to the BCA are refundable until the money is forwarded to the hotel, which will be in the first half of December. No refunds are possible after that time and therefore we strongly advise members to take out holiday insurance.
Friday
20th to Sunday 22nd March 2026 – AGM Weekend Chess Congress
This will be held at The Mercure Parkway Hotel, Sheffield. The AGM will take place at 20.15 on Saturday evening, 21st March. We shall also aim to enable members to join in via an online platform if they prefer.
The hotel is situated within an industrial area. However, Boundary Mills retail outlet is 15 minutes’ walk away along pavements with pedestrian crossings. The Meadowhall shopping centre is 10 minutes’ drive away. Whilst there are occasional buses, these cannot be relied upon. A taxi from Sheffield station to the hotel costs around £15. The old Sheffield Airport is nearby where there is a golf course and Waverley Lake which would provide a good area for dog walking. There is a substantial grass area at the back of the hotel, running the full width of the hotel and car park, for dog spending.
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.
To enter, please either send your accommodation requirements to John or Julie, 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 6th February 2026.
The cost of dinner, bed and breakfast for members and associate members is £77 per person per night in a single room and £66 per person per night in a double or twin room. This is also the cost for those wishing to stay Sunday night. For example, three nights in a single room is 3 times £77 and if playing chess, add the £12 entry fee, making £243. 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.
A date for your diary:
2026 BCA British Championship, 4th – 11th July 2026, The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate. More details next time!
The Congress Support Scheme aims to
encourage members to take part in mainstream congresses in the UK or overseas
by offering financial assistance. During
the period of the BCA financial year (1st October to 30th September) an
eligible member can claim up to £300 over a maximum of four mainstream or
non-BCA chess events. To be eligible you
must be a visually impaired UK resident BCA member, you must have played in at
least one BCA over the board or remote tournament in the past year and you must
not have received international funding, for example to take part in an IBCA
tournament.
Eligible members attending
their first ever mainstream event or non-BCA overseas event, or their first one
for ten years or more, may also be able to claim up to £150 for a sighted
guide. At the discretion of the committee,
limited funding for a personal assistant may also be granted to a profoundly
disabled member who needs to be accompanied to non-BCA events.
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!
See the All Under One Roof article for details of events that may be
suitable.
HOW TO CLAIM
In order to make a claim there are three
simple steps:
1. Contact the Congress Support Officer by
telephone or email at least one week prior to the event, giving full details of
the tournament in which you wish to compete.
(See list of officers’ contact details.)
Retrospective claims will not normally be accepted. The Congress Support Officer must have enough
time to check your eligibility and establish whether funding exists to cover
your claim. This scheme is subject to
available funds so if there are a lot of claims in a financial year the money
may run out.
2. Send a receipt or proof of expenditure
to the Treasurer on return from the congress.
Claims can include the entry fee and reasonable expenses for accommodation,
travel or other justifiable costs. All
claims should be appropriate to expenditure.
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 your claim will be processed successfully.
Tony Elbourn, Congress Support
Officer
Guy Whitehouse has compiled the following list of
mainstream tournaments where the accommodation and chess playing room are in
the same hotel.
Hampshire
Chess Congress, 7th - 9th November 2025, Lysses House Hotel, Fareham
This is a five round weekend congress in a family
run 3-star hotel. Sections are Open
(FIDE and ECF rated), Major U1800, and Minor U1550. Website: https://www.hampshirechess.co.uk/hampshire-chess-congress-2025/
Organiser: Gillian Moore.
8th
Somerset New Year Chess Congress, 10th - 11th January 2026, Walton Park Hotel,
Clevedon
A five round seeded Swiss congress with three
sections. For details contact the
organisers Rebecca and Colin Gardiner.
47th
Kidlington Chess Congress, 31st January - 1st February 2026, Oxford Leonardo
Hotel, Wolvercote.
There are four sections: an Open, a U-2000, a
U-1800 and a U-1600. For more details
contact the organiser Keith Freshwater.
2nd
Cheadle FIDE Open, 3rd - 5th February 2026, Village Hotel, Cheadle.
A maximum of 60 players can enter. This is a six-round event which is FIDE- and
ECF-rated. There are no sections or
grading bands. For more details contact
the organiser Teresa Whalen.
49th
Blackpool Chess Conference, 13th - 15th February 2026, Imperial Hotel,
Blackpool.
There is a FIDE-rated Open and then four sections:
a Major U-2050, an Intermediate U-1850, a Minor U-1700 and a Standard U-1550. For more details contact the organiser Bill
O’Rourke.
We held a committee meeting on 20th September. Here are a few notes on the key points we discussed.
At the AGM we announced that a key target was to put a lot of effort into getting as many new joiners as possible involved in our activities. Gary Hogan wrote to the 25-30 or so juniors we had but the initial response was disappointing. Still Voldi, as Membership Secretary, will send our Coaching Officer Gerry details of new joiners so he can contact them and ask them how they would like to receive any chess instruction they may be interested in. We’ve thought about the possibility of putting on a blitz tournament for juniors using the Lichess platform.
We discussed the distribution of our resources between the activities we put on. We would like to put a little more into coaching those with a rating under 1100, though the best format for such activities has still to be determined. We’ve also agreed in principle that we would fund one year’s membership of a chess club for anyone who joined and participated in a club which offered a warm welcome and which met in an accessible venue.
We want to get back into international team play. The IBCA does allow players from more than one country to form a composite team, but we felt we should at least take a full-on look into the possibility of hosting the Six Nations. We need to find out exactly what the responsibilities of a host nation are these days.
For various reasons we have decided to dispense with the services of our fundraiser and start looking for another one. Next time round we will draw up a contract specifying the roles of all those involved. It should be noted quite a lot of our income now comes from repeat donors.
By the time you read this our accounts for the year 2024-2025 will be drawn up, and once approved by the trustees, they will be sent for examination to the accountants. I’ll also have circulated a draft trustees’ annual report and sent it round the trustees for comment and approval.
There has been quite a lot of public relations activity of late. Interviews recorded by the BBC and local media at the Chairman’s Cup were broadcast during the event. Abi was interviewed about our match against the parliamentary team, and I recorded an interview with the Technology Service Lead at Deafblind UK in which I spoke about the BCA’s activities and the benefits of membership. We’ve agreed to a re-match using longer time limits against Parliament and we’ll offer financial support for players travelling into London.
The possibilities introduced by 3D-printing continue to increase. Gerry managed to find someone who was prepared to make some winders for our mechanical clocks, and we agreed Gerry could ask him to produce a sample set.
Tournament entry and membership subscription fees will be increasing. Both of these have remained unchanged for many years. New membership fees will be proposed at the AGM and new tournament entry fees will be introduced in the next financial year. Our entry fees are very low compared to other tournaments and there is a need to share the cost of putting on an event more equally between the association and participants.
Finally, the part of our constitution which outlines our objectives is very out of date, for example referring to formats no longer in use. As our constitution appears online, we can’t ignore this. Annoyingly we’ll need to get permission from the Charity Commission to change our constitution. Obviously, any changes will be put to an AGM.
Guy Whitehouse.
Sadly, we didn’t have a BCA presence at any of the ChessFest events in 2025 so we’re getting a head start with planning for 2026! This year there were events in Darlington, Hull, Liverpool and Portishead, on various Saturdays and Sundays during the school summer holidays, with the main event taking place in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 13th July. We don’t yet have the dates or venues for next year, so we’re not looking for any firm commitments at this stage. However, if you’re interested in joining a BCA group at one of the ChessFest events next summer please contact our Publicity Officer, Abi Baker. We need VI members to play games against each other and potentially take on members of the public. We also need associate members to engage with passersby, hand out information about the BCA, take photos and of course assist our VI members. Our main focus would be the London event in Trafalgar Square, but if some people were interested in attending other venues, we wouldn’t rule that out. Contributions towards reasonable travel expenses will be paid. It’s all about raising the profile of the BCA and VI chess in general - and of course having a great chess-themed day out with friends!
Julie Leonard
In the previous gazette, I mentioned the
difficulties caused by our online bank updating their webpage. Some of these have now been resolved, so at
the moment we are able to continue using their system. I will keep members updated if there are any
changes.
We have once again ended our financial year in an
extremely positive situation. This is
partly due to the continued work of our fundraiser Carl Concannon who since the
last gazette has helped raise almost £17,000 for which we are all 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 many of you in upcoming events.
Tris Cole, Treasurer
The most recent Millennium Club winners and numbers are
July - Caroline Crombie with Number 18
August - Gary Hogan with Number 44
September - Richard Murphy with Number 43
There is a correction to last month’s list, which should have read
April - John Gallagher with Number 58
May - Chris Ross with Number 6
June - Voldi Gailans with Number 17
To take part in the 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.
Tris Cole, Treasurer
Firstly, may I offer my grateful thanks to Julie for her Quick Tips article in the August gazette, which I hope will be the first in a series, open to all contributors, designed to help us all with our chess and particularly for the benefit of our newer and less experienced members. This was an excellent start, so let’s hope we can keep up the good work.
May I take this opportunity to give a plug for our next Chess Theme Break in Weston-Super-Mare in January. This is an ideal event for beginners as there will be coaching, a fun mini-tournament and plenty of social activities. It is also a good opportunity to meet other members and is less intensive than a standard chess tournament. Why not come along and learn some chess and make plenty of friends.
We have ten new members to welcome this quarter and a very warm welcome to you all:
Full Members: Lee Martin from Lisburn and Peter Walker from Bournemouth.
Associate Members: Janet Lucas from Bournemouth, Chris Baker from Crawley and Jyoti D’Mello from India.
Juniors: Lydia Beech from Worcester, Daniel Johnson from Charlbury in Oxfordshire and Johnathan He from Milton Keynes.
Junior Associates: Natasha Hogan from Oxfordshire and Jennifer D’Mello from India.
A particularly warm welcome to Chris Baker, an International Master who has been a great friend to the BCA over many years and has coached some of our top players in the past. He recently acted as coach and guide to Gary Hogan and Brandan Read at the IBCA World Championships in Poland in August.
Voldi Gailans
Julie Leonard writes:
Jon and Maria Lilley (Graham’s brother and sister-in-law) have very kindly sponsored this award, which will run from 2025 to 2027. 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.
Visually impaired UK members who’ve been with the BCA for at least a whole year, August to August, and who have played in at least one BCA rated OTB tournament during those twelve months are eligible for the award. The winner will be the player whose ECF Standard OTB rating in August has increased the most over the year. 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.
I’m delighted to announce that we have a clear winner for the first Annual Award in Memory of Graham Lilley! It isn’t John Jenkins, who added a creditable 18 points to his rating between August 2024 and August 2025. Neither is it the winner of this year’s Chairman’s Cup, Phil Gordon, who increased his rating by 23 points. Lea Ryan has had a tremendous year, winning the trophy at the Chess Theme Break as well as a rating prize at the Chairman’s Cup, so it’s no surprise that her rating has gone up 33 points, but alas, that’s still not enough to win this year’s Graham Lilley award. When I saw that Gary Hogan, who represented us at the IBCA World Individual Championship in Poland this summer, had increased his rating by 58 points, I knew that would be hard to beat. Yet, beaten it was, by Neda Koohnavard, who has won so many trophies in our tournaments that she’ll soon need a special cabinet for them! Neda’s rating went up by a tremendous 61 points. However, with an absolutely massive rating increase of 90 points, I’m delighted to announce that this year’s winner of the Graham Lilley Award is (drumroll) Ben Fletcher-Harris! Many congratulations to Ben!
There will be another award in memory of Graham Lilley next year, so I urge everyone to work hard on their chess and push those ratings through the roof!
Every year BCA members and associate members are invited to submit a game for entry into the David Hodgkins Memorial Best Game Competition. Entries are still being taken for the 2025 competition which is being judged by Gary Hogan and will close on the 31st of December.
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. Please have a go and submit a game you were proud of regardless of your chess strength – it’s open to all members.
Please send your games to me to forward to Philip.
The result of the 2025 competition will be announced at the AGM in March and published in the May 2026 Gazette. Philip Doyle has kindly agreed to judge the 2026 competition.
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.
Newcomers are welcome!
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 send
a note to the email 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 then liaise with the group, Gerry
and Julie Leonard who keeps score, 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 contact Gerry Walsh or me
(see Officers’ Contact Details) if you have any questions regarding the
sessions.
Voldi Gailans
RECENT SESSIONS:
July 2025
The How Good is Your Chess
regulars were delighted to welcome no fewer than three first timers to this
month’s session. Clare Gailans is
returning to chess after a break of many years.
Janet Lucas and Lydia Beech have recently joined the BCA and wasted no
time in joining in!
The game under the microscope
was GM Valeri Beim vs FM Michael Becker, Budapest 1994, a Sicilian Defence by
transposition. There was plenty of
analysis! The scores were kept by Gill
Smith, because Julie was unexpectedly unavailable on this occasion. They were as follows:
On 18 points were Mark Hague and
Richard Harrington, followed closely on 17 points by Lydia Beech and Voldi
Gailans. Bill Armstrong had 16 points,
Irene Hampton and Richard Hayward had 14, Nene Clayton and Janet Lucas 13, and
Clare Gailans and Joe Paton 11. Everyone
reached double figures!
August 2025
We had a whopping fourteen
members scrutinising the game between GM Laszlo Szabo (Hungary) and GM Savielly
Tartakower (Polish-French), in Venice 1949.
The opening was a Queens Gambit, Chigorin variation. White’s moves were guessed and there were
plenty of points to be won, which lead to some very high scores!
Top of the scoreboard was Steve
Bailey with 41, narrowly ahead of Gill Smith on 40. Then came Lea Ryan and Richard Hayward on 38,
Catherine Turner on 35, Janet Lucas and Philip Doyle on 34, Richard Harrington
and Voldi Gailans on 33, Eleanor Tew on 32, Mark Hague on 31, Nene Clayton on
26, Irene Hampton on 20 and Bittor Ibanez on 17. Tragically, Bittor fell foul of a hefty
three-point deduction but recovered well after that.
Due to Gerry’s medical
appointments being scheduled, then postponed, there were no sessions in
September or October. Hopefully normal
service will resume in November.
Bill Armstrong writes:
While I wonder sometimes whether chess, with its impact on blood pressure, is entirely healthy, I’m sure correspondence chess is good for you and your chess. Like OTB (over-the-board) chess it comes in various formats; OTB has its mad scrambles in blitz chess or the stamina testing in five-hour contests. The gentler demands of a move every twenty-four hours can be enjoyed with less stress. Without a chess clock, you need never be flustered, can check your move is not a fearful blunder, and play at a level you never believed possible. But the range of correspondence chess varieties should be appreciated.
Marilyn Bland and Eric Gallacher are in a game they started in March with extremely generous time allowances for thinking built into the rules. (If you want to try this format email me before December 31st and it will be arranged.) As a fan of leisurely chess, even I regard this as slow play. On the other extreme we have the USA version where for every forty moves, only five extra days are allowed beyond the twenty-four hours reply time. BCA Tournaments allow ten days for every twenty moves and saved days are carried forward.
When contemplating a challenge from the US Blind Chess Association, I was dubious about playing two games simultaneously with black and white and accepted eight days grace for every forty moves but thought it was really too fast a rate of play. We had fifteen volunteers, and most were the stalwarts from our twice-a-year email competitions organised by Philip Doyle and Eamonn Casey. The US might have been able to field eighteen players but leaving out the three weakest players should not have been a disadvantage. On discovering the match meant playing two games simultaneously, one American resigned both games. The satisfactory outcome was that a single game on that board played to a result. Below you will find the details of the results seen from a BCA perspective. The players are in board order, and the first result is of the game where BCA had white.
Board BCA White Black USBCA
1. Philip Doyle Draw Loss Mario Montalvo
2. Bill Armstrong Draw Draw Viral Trivedi
3. Stan Lovell Win Draw Glen Crawford
4. Eamonn Casey Loss Loss Nick Baumgartner
5. Ben Fletcher-Harris Win Win Edward Zolotarevsky
6. John Fullwood Win Win Evan Reese
7. Malcom Jones Win Win Ajeet Kumar
8. Voldi Gailans Vinny Beatty. Opponent withdrew due to family commitments. BCA won single game played.
9. Tony Elbourn Adjudicated Win Draw Mark Melonson. Health problems stopped play
10. Nene Clayton Win Win Rohan Shardha
11. John Ramm Win Win Marilyn Bland
12. Maria Dodd Win Loss Ginny Alverson
13. Mark Higgins Loss Loss Dammie Onefeko. Work overload, resigned
14. Mike Flood Loss Win Dave Schuh
15. Ashar Smith Win Win Jim Homme
The strength of the US team lay in the top 4 boards where they took 5 of the 8 points. On boards 5 to 15, several BCA players contributed two wins giving BCA 16.5 - USA 4.5. The final total scores are BCA 19.5 to USA 9.5.
My thanks to all the team members in this second BCA team correspondence match since computers made correspondence chess depend on the integrity of the player’s involved and mutual trust between the contestants. Our previous match was organised by Voldi Gailans against a Surrey County side that was able to out grade us on most boards. The result confirmed this. We have improved considerably on that previous result.
Only older members of the BCA will remember our triumph in winning the braille correspondence world team event organised by IBCA before computers put an end to that competition. I treasure my IBCA gold medal and was delighted to captain a successful BCA team once again.
John Fullwood was a significant figure in the arrangement of this first international correspondence challenge to the BCA and as vice-captain; he has taken on much of the admin work. We owe him thanks for his hard work.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone involved for the cordial way in which the matches have been conducted and hope that future events will be arranged, perhaps involving both correspondence and remote games with the same friendly rivalry. My special gratitude to the US captain, Glenn Crawford, who never let his hopes for a win interfere with his major priority that the match should be run fairly and in a spirit of friendship.
As recognition of the quality of our opposition on the higher boards I include Mario Montalvo’s win on board one against Philip Doyle. From past experience I know how difficult a task that can be.
White: Montalvo - days used: 2 of 8 v Black: Doyle - days used: 1 of 8
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Bd7 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 Nge7 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4 b5 9. Be2 a5 10. Nc3 Na7
11. O-O axb4 12. axb4 Nec6 13. Bg5 Be7 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 15. Qd2 Re8 16. Nxb5 Nxb5 17. Bxb5 Qb6
18. Bxc6 Bxc6 19. Rfc1 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 Ra8 21. Rxa8 Bxa8 22. Qg5+ Kf8 23. h4 Bc6 24. Qc1 Ke8
25. Qc2 g6 26. Qc5 Qb5 27. Ng5 h6 28. Nh7 Qxc5 29. Nf6+ Kd8 30. bxc5 h5 31. Kf1 Bb5+ 32. Ke1 Kc7
33. Kd2 Black resigned.
It is a tricky win, but Philip could see the difficulty of achieving a draw and conceded at that point.
Marilyn Bland from Texas writes:
Over the years I have explored many places in England, but Bournemouth was not one of them. Looking on the bright side though, that was about to change. Not only would I be visiting that lovely town, I was also going to play in the Chairman’s Cup being held at the Marsham Court hotel from 19 to 26 July, 2025. Meeting many of the people I had been speaking to over Zoom and Skype or corresponding with for so long was the icing on the cake.
Bad weather, heavy rain, and power outages created chaotic conditions at Waterloo station and caused long delays for several players trying to get to Bournemouth. Check-in and dinner were rushed, but looking on the bright side, everyone arrived safely, and the atmosphere was cordial as we gathered in the playing room for the welcome and opening given by the mayor, followed by the first round of the tournament.
Play commenced after breakfast each subsequent day with each player having two hours per game. Lunch could be enjoyed in the bar area while chatting with others about your game, or you could venture out to one of the many eating establishments surrounding the hotel. While there were activities planned for each evening after dinner, afternoons were free for whatever you wanted to do: Explore Bournemouth, shop, swim in the heated outdoor pool, or hang out in the bar.
On Sunday evening there was a well-attended quiz with Frank Kirkham as Question Master. The entertainment on Monday was provided by the Southern Union Chorus with both beloved songs and fun sing-alongs, ending with ... can you guess? Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. The Murder Mystery event on Tuesday was humorous because characters were acting out their parts and speaking with accents, all the while trying not to laugh at some of the questions they were being asked as we tried to figure out the guilty party.
Abi Baker and John Jenkins were featured on the local TV news and Abi was interviewed on Radio Solent, providing excellent publicity for BCA. Regaling us on Wednesday evening were Sarah and Phil, the jazz duo on sax and piano – most professional and relaxing. Not so relaxing was the simultaneous as nine of us endeavoured to pit our strength against Martin Simons on Thursday night.
One afternoon a few of us went down to the beach. Some braved the icy water, but I was content to have the waves lap at my feet. A guided tour of the nearby Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum on another day revealed the opulence of the structure that once served as a home for its owners. We were permitted to touch some of the sculptures on exhibit, and while I marvelled at the grandeur all around me, I cannot imagine living in such a dwelling. On another day a seaside fish and chips lunch and a stroll along the peer pleasantly whiled away two or three leisure hours.
Back in the playing room, games were being lost, drawn, and won, but all in good spirit. Though I ended the tournament with a win, three draws, and a half point bye, I am still smarting over my first-round loss over a game in which I was up a piece and a pawn and then allowed my king to be trapped on the back rank. Don’t I know better? Ah well, looking on the bright side, there are always more games to play...
By Friday afternoon the playing was all over. First prize and the 2025 Chairman’s Cup went to Phil Gordon. Brandan Read and Ian Blencowe shared second place. Desmond Masterson won the Challengers first prize and U1300 trophy, while Neda Koohnavard won the Ladies trophy. All week Freya Smith had been working hard at selling tickets and the raffle turned out to be very successful, with multiple prizes and garnering more than £220.
The finale of the week was the traditional BCA soirée hosted by Lea Ryan. I am still smiling at some of those jokes. The audience enjoyed a variety of readings, songs, and musical performances. Singing Nkosi Sikelel’ Afrika with Julie Leonard and accompanied by Tanvi Muir on the piano was a particularly poignant moment for me. Soirée – what a lovely way to round out the week.
Several people had told me that the BCA is like a happy family, and I have to say I heartily agree. I felt welcomed and it was such fun to finally put an actual person to a voice or email. The hotel staff were also kind and helpful and seemed to be there whenever something was needed. I have to give a special thank you to the organiser John Jenkins, arbiters Gerry Walsh and Julie Leonard, steward Richard Murphy, and all the volunteers who spent untold hours arranging the event to ensure that it was so successful and enjoyable. An ending always entails winding down, closing up, preparing to depart, and saying goodbye. The excitement of the tournament was over, and it was time to break away from the camaraderie of the week but look on the bright side – there will be another opportunity to gather and play and share good times with chess friends - there will be another Chairman’s Cup in 2027!
The full list of final scores and prize-winners is as follows:
Phil Gordon 6. Phil won 1st prize and the 2025 Chairman’s Cup!
In joint 2nd place were Brandan Read and Ian Blencowe on 5.5.
On 5 points Desmond Masterson won the Challengers 1st prize and U1300 trophy.
On 4.5 points Neda Koohnavard and Stan Lovell. Neda won 2nd prize in the Challengers and the Ladies trophy.
On 4 points, Mark Kirkham, Mark Hague and Simon Highsmith. Simon won 3rd prize in the Challengers. Mark Hague won Rating prize B.
On 3.5 points Mahendra Galani, George Phillips, Gary Wickett, Steve Bailey and John Jenkins. George and John shared Rating prize A.
On 3 points Gill Smith, Voldi Gailans and Marilyn Bland.
On 2.5 points Dan Rugman, Abi Baker, Tony Lawton, Lea Ryan and Peter Walker. Tony, Abi and Peter shared Rating prize C. Lea won Rating prize D.
On 1 point Anthony Wilcox and Richard Harrington.
Chairman’s Cup winner, Phil Gordon, writes:
I was apprehensive about taking part in the Chairman’s Cup because I had not played chess for some time. At the start of the event, my aim was to finish no lower than fifth, to match my seeding. During my break from over the board games, I went through the information Owen Phillips sent me when I played for the UK in the IBCA World Cup and IBCA Olympiad. I also looked at the coaching games from Paul Benson on the internet. I recommend these games to any chess players.
After round 4, I had 3.5 points and was to play top seed Brandan Read who had won all his games. I managed a draw with black. Here is the game:
BCA Chairman’s Cup, Round 5, Brandan Read 1675 v Phil Gordon 1471, 23rd July 2025
1. b4 Nf6 2. Bb2 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. e3 b6 5. Nf3 Bb7 6. Be2 O-O 7. Bc3 d5 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nbd7
10. d4 Ne4 11. Bb2 Nd6 12. Be2 c5 13. bxc5 bxc5 14. Nbd2 cxd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4 16. Nxd4 Nf6
17. Nd2f3 Rc8 18. Qa4 a5 19. Rfd1 Nfe4 20. Re1 Nc3 21. Qb3 Nxe2+ 22. Rxe2 Ba6 23. Rc2 Rxc2
24. Qxc2 Qc8 Draw agreed.
Going into the final round, Desmond Masterson and I were the joint leaders on 5 points from six games, but we were just half a point ahead of Brandan Read and Ian Blencowe, so I had to win at all costs!
I did manage to win the game and was both pleased and surprised to win the Chairman’s Cup with 6 points from 7 games. My thanks go to all my opponents and also to John Jenkins for organising the event. The event was expertly controlled by Gerry Walsh, Julie Leonard and Richard Murphy, as usual. Here is my final round game:
BCA Chairman’s Cup, Round 7, Phil Gordon 1471 v Desmond Masterson 1174, 25th July 2025
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. Bf4 c6 4. e3 g6 5. c4 a6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. c5 Nd7 8. Bd6 Ne7 9. h3 Nf5 10. Bh2 O-O
11. g4 Ne7 12. Bd3 Re8 13. h4 b6 14. b4 b5 15. h5 f5 16. hxg6 hxg6 17. gxf5 exf5 18. Bd6 Kf7 19. Ng5+ Kf6
After the game, Gerry Walsh pointed out that I could have won Black’s Queen here if I had played 20. Be5+ Nxe5 21. dxe5+ Kxe5 22. Nf7+ forking the King and Queen. Black cannot capture the white knight on g5 after 20. Be5+ or after 21. dxe5+ because White would checkmate with f4. Alas, I didn’t spot this line at the time, so the game continued as follows.
20. Rh7 Ng8 21. f4 Nh6 22. Be5+ Nxe5 23. dxe5+ Rxe5 24. fxe5+ Kxe5 25. Rxg7 Qxg5 26. Qe2 Qg1+
27. Qf1 Qxe3+ 28. Qe2 Qxe2+ 29. Kxe2 Kf6 30. Rc7 Be6 31. Rxc6 Kf7 32. Rh1 Rh8 33. Rxa6 Re8
34. Bxb5 Bd7+ 35. Kd2 Bxb5 36. Nxb5 Kg7 37. Ra7+ Nf7 38. Nd6 Rf8 39. Nxf7 Rxf7 40. Rxf7+ Kxf7
41. Rh7+ Kf6 42. b5 1-0
Challengers’ winner, Desmond Masterson, chose his round 6 win against Brandan Read. Desmond writes:
I took a risk by sacrificing my bishop to wipe out Brandan’s kingside pawns and this enabled my structured pawns to advance, putting pressure on him. In the end, I was set to lose the game despite having more pawns, but a blunder led Brandan to resign. Here’s the game:
BCA Chairman’s Cup, Round 6, Desmond Masterson 1174 v Brandan Read 1675, 24th July 2025
1. e4 e6 2. d4 a6 3. c4 b5 4. c5 Bb7 5. Nc3 b4 6. Qb3 Nc6 7. Nce2 Nf6 8. f3 d5 9. e5 Ng8 10. Bd2 a5
11. a3 a4 12. Qe3 b3 13. Nc3 Qh4+ 14. Qf2 Qxd4 15. Qxd4 Nxd4 16. O-O-O c6 17. Be3 Nf5 18. Bf2 Ra5
19. g4 Nfh6 20. Nh3 Bxc5 21. Bxc5 Rxc5 22. Rd4 Ne7 23. Nf4 Ra5 24. Rxa4 Rxa4 25. Nxa4 Kd7
26. Nc5+ Kc7 27. Nxb3 Kb6 28. Bd3 c5 29. Nd2 Nc6 30. Re1 Rc8 31. Bxh7 g6 32. Bxg6 fxg6 33. Nxg6 Nf7
34. f4 Re8 35. Nh4 Bc8 36. Nhf3 Nfd8 37. h4 Rg8 38. g5 Ne7 39. h5 Bd7 40. h6 Ng6 41. Nh2 Nxf4
42. Rf1 Nd3+ 43. Kc2 Nxe5 44. Ndf3 Ng6 45. Ng4 Nc6 46. Nf6 Rd8 47. Rh1 e5 48. Nxd5+ Kb7
49. Nf6 Bf5+ 50. Kc1 Nd4 51. Nxd4 cxd4 52. Rf1 Bd3 53. Rf2 Nf4 54. Rh2 Rc8+ 55. Kd1 Be2+
56. Rxe2 Nxe2 57. Kxe2 Kc7 58. Nd5+ Kd6 59. Nf6 Ke6 60. Kd3 Kf5 61. Ne4 Kg6 62. b4 Ra8
63. Nd6 Rxa3+ 64. Ke4 Re3+ 65. Kd5 d3 66. Nc4 d2 67. Nxe3 1-0
Bill Armstrong writes:
In February 2008, I played in the first English Seniors Championship (over 60s). It was very similar to a BCA event in several ways. We all stayed in a hotel in Dovedale, Derbyshire, we played one round each day, I knew a significant number of the players and had met several as previous opponents. There was an IM as favourite to win and he did. Remember we once had Colin Crouch in our ranks. The significant difference was there were thirty-six entries and sixteen were rated with ELOs over 2100 and I (with ELO 1947) did not make the top half of the draw. Needless to say, I lost in round 1 but, with two wins in rounds 2 and 3 and draws in 4 and 5, I finished eighth on tie break and won a grading prize. The really memorable part for me was that the article in Chess magazine featured six games of which two were mine because they contained (according to the writer) “exquisite combinations” or moves displaying “a mixture of desperation and ingenuity” after reaching a lost position. Here is one of them.
White Richard Beach (whose father used to adjudicate unfinished games in the early days of the BCA)
Black Bill Armstrong
Sicilian
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Qa5+
10. Bd2 Qd8 11. Bd3 Nxd5 12. exd5 Ne7 13. c4 bxc4? 14. Nxc4 Ng6 15. Ba5 Qg5 16. Nb6
Obviously Black is losing but I wanted a to enjoy some tactics and played on with, according to the article author, a mixture of desperation and ingenuity.
16. … Nf4 17. Nxa8 Nxg2+ 18. Kf1 Bh3 19. Qa4+ Ke7 20. Ke2 Bg4+ 21. Kf1 Bh3 22. Be4 Qg4 23. f3 Nf4+
24. Ke1 Qg2 25. Kd1 Qxh1+ 26. Be1 f5 27. Kc2 Qg2+ 28. Kb3 fxe4 29. Qxe4 Qe2 30. Bh4+ Kf7
31. Qb4 Qd3+ 32. Ka4 Bd7+ 33. Ka5 Qxd5+ 34. Kb6 Qxa8 White resigns.
That was seventeen years ago. Round about that time, I played at a British Championships event for players over 65 in St George’s Hall, Liverpool. We were in a side room and again it had the same familiar group and smallish entry controlled by John Robinson.
A few weeks ago, I played in the Over 65 British Championship. The event was part of the British Championships held in in St. George’s Hall, in central Liverpool. If you go to this event, held in different locations each year, book your hotel as early as possible. Moderately priced rooms are taken very early.
As opposed to seventeen years ago, much was different. Instead of the hotel dining area becoming the congress venue, or a segregated side room, we were in the grand civic hall built when Liverpool was a wealthy city. We, the eighty entrants for the Over 65 tournament, were playing alongside the entrants for the Over 50 Championship and the hundred elite qualifiers for the British Championship itself. Approximately two hundred and fifty players, all playing on digital boards so that the games could be broadcast live on the internet. When that number of players and the spectators for the Championship proper are sitting in silence, one quiet announcement of your move can feel slightly embarrassing. Another difference was that now I was in a competition where most of the competitors were strangers, and my games were public property. The blunders would be available as I played them for all to witness and any good games preserved on a database for future opponents to study in advance of our meeting. I enjoyed the tournament where I met some very strong players in the early rounds. The venue was not designed for people with mobility issues. There is a lift and very helpful hall staff but also lots of changes from level to level and wide sets of steps which would take about twenty people abreast. The organisers, represented by our own Matthew Carr, did everything to make life pleasant. I played at a fixed location with adequate space for my extra board. Matthew replaced the DGT clock linked to the internet with my audio Echo clock. David Clayton kindly took some photos of me at the board for BCA publicity. I conclude with one game that shows escape from adversity is still sometimes possible with “a mixture of desperation and ingenuity”.
Game from Liverpool Over 65 Championship, R2, Julian Glissold v Bill Armstrong, King’s Indian Defence
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5
11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. b4 Nf6 14. Nd3 Ng6 15. Rc1 Rf7 16. c5 Bf8.
Theory goes much further but White has chosen a less popular route for his king’s knight, and I am prepared to play this set up from calculation rather than memory of chess theory.
17. cxd6 Bxd6. My opponent’s pause tells me we are now both out of the main line in this variation.
18. Nb5 a6 19. Nxd6 cxd6 20. Nb2 and on its way to c4 with white being the likely winner of the queenside battle. Time to open a second front on the kingside.
20. ... g4 21. Nc4 g3 22. hxg3 fxg3 23. Bxg3 Nh5 24. Bf2 Ngf4 25. Ne3 An admission that the queenside offensive is postponed.
25. ... Nxe2 26. Qxe2 Nf4 27. Qd1 Qg5 28. g4 Nh3+ 29. Kg2 Nxf2 30. Kxf2 Bd7
The pieces were well placed for a counterattack and that was deliberate. But in the end, you have to improvise the best attack you can while time disappears rapidly on your clock.
31. Rg1 Raf8 32. Rg3 Qh4 33. Nf5 Bxf5 34. gxf5+ Rg7 35. Qg1 Kh8 36 Qg2 Rfg8 White resigns.
Julian obviously intended Rg1 to prevent losing a rook, realised that Black can win the Queen and one rook for two Rooks and chose to resign. In that imbalance of material situation Black can play Qh6, have a simple win of an a or b pawn or both, and the endgame is not a fair contest. A lively finish does not need to start from a total mess. Maybe over the past seventeen years, maturity might be beginning to emerge, let’s hope so anyway.
Gary Hogan writes:
I was delighted when I was first asked to represent the BCA at the IBCA World Individual Chess Championships in Rzeszow in Poland, and really excited to hear that Brandan Read would also be entering his first international tournament. Brandan was being coached by IM Chris Baker who also offered to coach me for the duration of the event. He gave me some lessons in the weeks leading up to the tournament in the Chess.com classroom, which I thought was really helpful. Although I have RP, I still have a little bit of central vision so after I enlarged the board, I could see the different positions Chris was showing me and I felt as prepared as I could be for Poland.
We flew together to Poland and were very impressed with the hospitality of the Polish people, from the assistants at the airport to the hotel staff and the organisers of the event, they really went out of their way to make our visit as comfortable as possible.
In the draw for the first round, both Brandan and I had tough opponents from the top half of the seedings. I had Italian, Marco Casadei. He played the Austrian Attack against my Pirc Defence. I had practiced that specific variation that morning with Chris, so I was happy. Marco played 6. Bb5+, I responded with 6. … Bd7 to block the check and, although he took quite a lot of his time doing it, Marco played the best moves for the next few moves and the position was relatively equal until on move 15 I played e6, an unforced error that weakened my position. Marco punished this mistake, and I couldn’t recover. I had too many weaknesses to defend, and I resigned on move 30 when it was obvious I was about to be mated. See the game below:
1.e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. e5 Ng4 8. Bxd7+ Qxd7 9. h3 cxd4
10. Qxd4 Nc6 11. Qe4 Nh6 12. g4 dxe5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. fxe5 O-O 15. O-O e6 16. Bg5 Rac8 17. Qe3 Qc6
18. Bxh6 Bxh6 19. Qxh6 Qb6+ 20. Kh1 Rc4 21. Rae1 Qc6+ 22. Kh2 Rb4 23. Re2 Rc8 24. Rf4 Rxb2
25. Ne4 f5 26. Nf6+ Kf7 27. Qxh7+ Kf8 28. Qg8+ Ke7 29. Qg7+ Kd8 30. Rd4+ Black resigned.
I felt very unlucky when on round 2 I drew black against Romanian FM Mihail-Dacian Pribeanu, who had a rating of 2140. It was a tough ask to get a result against Mihail, but I had nothing to lose, and gave it my best shot. I wasn’t too disappointed with my performance; I played with an accuracy of 88% after 41 moves but Mihail showed his class with an accuracy of 95.9%. I felt like I was still in the game up until move 38 when I blundered a pawn and resigned shortly afterwards.
1.e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O e5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Nbd7 9. Re1 c6 10. a4 g5
11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Bg3 Qe7 13. Nd2 b6 14. Nc4 Rd8 15. Qd6 Qxd6 16. Nxd6 Ne8 17. Nxc8 Raxc8
18. Bg4 Nef6 19. Bf5 Nh5 20. Red1 Rc7 21. Rd2 Nxg3 22. hxg3 Kf8 23. Rad1 Ke8 24. Kf1 Bf8 25. Ke2 Be7
26. g4 Nf6 27. Rxd8+ Bxd8 28. Rh1 Ng8 29. Bh7 Nf6 30. Rxh6 Nxg4 31. Rh1 Nf6 32. Bf5 Be7
33. Rh8+ Bf8 34. Nb1 Ke7 35. Nd2 Bg7 36. Ra8 Ne8 37. Nc4 Nd6 38. Ne3 Nb7 39. Rxa7 Kd6 40. b4 Re7
41. Bc8 Black resigned.
I felt the pressure going into Round 3. I needed a win and was drawn against Jean Lherbon De Lussats from Monaco. I managed to push my f and g pawns quite early and totally cut off his bishop, so he more or less played a piece down and I managed to take advantage of the position for my first win! Brandan also won his first game in round 3 against Ionel Morariu (1933) from Romania after losing his first game and getting a bye in the 2nd round. Chris took us into the town square to celebrate afterwards.
In round 4 I faced Fabian Spionkowski from Poland. I played the English and when Fabian fianchettoed on the kingside I played the Botvinnik English System that I had recently practiced with Chris. It sort of went to plan and I thought I was in a slightly better position until he played 23…b5. He had thought for about 30 mins about this move and I was sure it was a mistake that I could punish. I thought ahead 13 moves and reckoned I would be winning his queen for two pawns and a rook. I was getting excited and thinking I was winning as we played out the sequence I had planned. He took my rook on the 12th move and when I took his queen on the 13th move of the sequence, I realised that he had a bishop move on the 14th move of the sequence that skewered my rook and queen and there was no way I could keep the 2nd rook. So, for a queen I lost two rooks and two pawns and I never recovered. I resigned shortly afterwards when a checkmate was inevitable. I asked Fabian after we left the hall if he had worked out the 14-move sequence when he was thinking for 30 minutes and he confirmed he had seen it.
1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 e5 7. O-O c5 8. d3 Nc6 9. f4 Nd4 10. Nxd4 cxd4
11. Ne2 Qb6 12. h3 Nd7 13. f5 f6 14. fxg6 hxg6 15. g4 Nc5 16. Ng3 Bd7 17. Rf2 Rf7 18. b3 Raf8
19. Qe2 Qa5 20. Rb1 Qb4 21. Bd2 Qa3 22. Bc1 Qb4 23. Qc2 b5 24. a3 Qc3 25. Qa2 Qxd3 26. Rf3 Qd1+
27. Kh2 bxc4 28. Bd2 cxb3 29. Rfxb3 Qxb3 30. Rxb3 Be6 31. Bb4 Bxb3 32. Qb2 Rb8 33. Bf1 Bh6
34. Bxc5 dxc5 35. Bc4 Kg7 36. Bxf7 Kxf7 37. h4 Bf4 38. g5 c4 39. Qf2 c3 40. Kg2 Bc4 41. Qf3 c2
42. h5 c1=Q 43. hxg6+ Kg8 44. Qh5 Rb2+ 45. Kh3 Bf1+ 46. Kg4 White resigned.
I played Ilinka Dilkova of Bulgaria in round 5 as black. Again, I played a Pirc and things were quite even after around 15 moves.
1. d4 g6 2. e4 d6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bd3 Bg7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Be3 O-O 7. h3 e5 8. c3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 Kh7 10. Qc2 Qe7
11. Nbd2 exd4 12. cxd4 c5 13. O-O b6 14. Rfe1 Bb7 15. Bf4 Nh5 16. Be3 Rac8 17. d5 Ne5 18. Be2 Nf6
19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. f4 Qe7 21. Qa4 Nxd5 22. exd5 Qxe3+ 23. Kh2 Qxd2 24. Rad1 Qa5 25. Qb3 Qb4
26. Qd3 Qxf4+ 27. Kh1 Rce8 28. Rf1 Qe4 29. Qxe4 Rxe4 30. Bf3 Re7 31. Rb1 Rfe8 32. Rfc1 Ba6 33. b4 Bd3
34. Rb3 c4 35. Rxd3 cxd3 36. Rc6 Re3 37. Kg1 Rxf3 38. gxf3 d2 White resigned.
Rounds 6 and 7 were both early draws, the first against another Polish opponent, Andrzej Migala who offered me a draw on move 12 from an equal position, as his rating was a bit higher than mine and because the opening didn’t go exactly to plan I accepted.
In Round 7 I played a Pirc against Novica Drazetic from Croatia, but I played e5 too early and I was immediately under pressure. I offered a draw, and he accepted.
In Round 8 I played Amrillo Abdullayev from Uzbekistan. I played the Botvinnik English again and the opening seemed to go ok for me. I had a passed pawn and was hoping to trade pieces and promote the pawn in the endgame. However, my opponent spent a lot of time thinking and eventually ran out of time. I thought I was in a better position at the end.
In Round 9 I played Italian, Bersan Vrioni. Again, I played a Pirc and he played both e4 and f4 against it. I managed to swap off light squared bishops, and I was under pressure on the kingside for a while. I managed to fight back and got my knight in a good position on h4 around his king. As the game opened up I managed to win the exchange and have queen and rook against queen and knight. I just wanted to swap off the queens, but it was easier said than done. Bersan is a really good player and defended well. We were both very low on time for what felt like ages. In the end Bersan offered a draw after nearly 5 hours and I accepted as I was struggling and could have easily thrown away the game.
1. e4 d6 2. f4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. d3 c6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Bb3 Na6 8. a3 Nc5 9. Ba2 Be6
10. Bxe6 Nxe6 11. O-O Ng4 12. Qe1 Nd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4+ 14. Kh1 Qb6 15. Nd1 Qc7 16. h3 Nf6 17. c3 Bb6
18. f5 Kg7 19. g4 h6 20. fxg6 fxg6 21. d4 e5 22. Qh4 Ng8 23. Rxf8 Rxf8 24. Be3 Qf7 25. Qf2 Qc4
26. Qd2 Qf1+ 27. Kh2 g5 28. Rc1 Qf7 29. Nf2 Ne7 30. Rc2 Ng6 31. d5 Nh4 32. Qe2 Bxe3 33. Qxe3 cxd5
34. exd5 Qxd5 35. Ne4 Qd1 36. Rc1 Qd5 37. c4 Qc6 38. c5 dxc5 39. Rxc5 Qb6 40. Qc3 Nf3+ 41. Kg3 Rf7
42. b4 Nd4 43. Qc4 Ne6 44. Qd5 Nxc5 45. Qxe5+ Kg8 46. Nxc5 Qc6 47. Qe3 b6 48. Nd3 Qd6+
49. Kg2 Qd5+ 50. Kg3 Qd6+ 51. Kg2 Re7 52. Qf3 Rd7 53. Nf2 Qd5 54. Ne4 Qa2+ 55. Kg3 Rf7 56. Qe3 Qe6
57. Qd3 Qe5+ 58. Kg2 Qb2+ 59. Kg3 Qe5+ 60. Kg2 Qf4 61. Qd8+ Kg7 62. Qd3 Re7 63. Ng3 Draw agreed.
Brandan Read writes:
My first international tournament was an amazing experience. I met lots of new friendly players from all different countries and Rzeszow itself was an amazing place. A lovely park nearby, as well as quite a vast shopping centre which Gary got lost in, almost making him late to one of his games. The event itself was very well organised with a driver waiting for us just as we came off our plane. Overall, an amazing experience and I look forward to going to more events like this in the future. Here is my R8 win.
Mahendra
Galani (Austria) v Brandan Read, 25/08/2025
1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 a6 3. Nc3 b5 4. a3 Bb7 5. b4 Nf6 6. d3 c5 7. bxc5 Bxc5 8. Rb1 Nc6 9. d4 Bb6 10. Be2 Ba5
11. Bd2 Bxc3 12. e5 Bxd2+ 13. Qxd2 Ne4 14. Qe3 Qa5+ 15. Nd2 Qxd2+ 16. Qxd2 Nxd2 17. Kxd2 Nxd4
18. f3 Nxe2 19. Kxe2 Rc8 20. Kd3 Ke7 21. Rhc1 Rc5 22. c4 Rhc8 23. Kd4 Rxc4+ 24. Rxc4 Rxc4+
25. Kd3 Rc5 26. f4 Rc4 27. g3 Be4+ 28. Ke3 Bxb1 White resigned.
Eamonn Casey and Philip Doyle write:
Welcome to our 23rd BCA email tournament! There are nineteen participants on this occasion. We have divided these into four divisions with five players in the three top divisions and four in Division 4, based on ECF ratings, previous performance in email tournaments where applicable, and where possible, incorporated promotion and relegation. Because there are five players in the top three divisions, each player will have four games, two with white and two with black. As Division 4 has four players, they will each play three games, with half the players having two whites, and half having two blacks, dependent on the seeding. Divisions 1 and 3 will be controlled by Eamonn, and Divisions 2 and 4 will be controlled by Philip. Play started on Wednesday 1st October, and will finish on 31st December. The composition of the divisions is as follows:
Division 1: Philip Doyle, Bill Armstrong, Steve Burnell, Brandan Read, John Fullwood.
Division 2: Eamonn Casey, Malcolm Jones, Anton Emery, Marilyn Bland, Tony Elbourn.
Division 3: Voldi Gailans, Gill Smith, John Ramm, Mark Noble, Mike Flood.
Division 4: Tony Lawton, Maria Dod, Catherine Turner, Ashar Smith.
Julie Leonard writes:
In the August gazette I predicted that this year’s Remote Summer Cup would be an exciting event, and I was not wrong! We had a record number of players from six countries on three continents. These included Alyona Hogan, Irene Hampton (Canada) and Richard Hayward (New Zealand), who were taking part in their first BCA tournament. All three can be congratulated on their debut performances! In addition, they all now have their first ECF ratings, as does Mark Noble, who was competing in his first rated tournament.
It was a five-round event, with at least two weeks allowed for each. Games were played on online platforms such as Zoom or Lichess. For the seedings, ECF Online Standard Ratings were used. It is a relatively new system, and ratings can vary significantly from the Over the Board equivalents. For example, Paul Inglis, who had a great online tournament in 2024, had an online rating far in excess of the 1700 Challengers cutoff, whereas Gary Hogan, who has successfully represented us in several IBCA events, was a little unlucky in last year’s Summer Cup and found himself below the Challengers cutoff for this event. These two played each other in R1 with Gary the victor, which sort of proves the point. However, the more we input data into the online rating system the more mature and accurate it will become so it’s important to keep using it! Other results that went against seeding in the first round were John Ramm and Steve Bailey agreeing a draw, and Ben Fletcher-Harris beating Malcolm Jones.
Round 2 saw the top three seeds, Steve Burnell, Stan Lovell and Philip Doyle all draw their games with Mahendra Galani, Ben and Norman Wragg respectively. Very cagey! Only Colin Fisher, Eamonn Casey and Neda Koohnavard entered R3 with a perfect score. There were also three joint leaders in the Challengers’: Gary Hogan, Ben and John. Things were hotting up! Further down the table Paul Inglis, Malcolm, Gill Smith, Gary Wickett and Voldi Gailans all notched up their first points, while Lea Ryan and Irene Hampton had a lady-like draw.
In R3 Colin and Neda battled it out on board 1. Neda took the point, and you can see the game in the next article. On board two, Paul Baldwin did very well to take half a point from the higher rated Eamonn. This meant that Neda was now in sole lead of the whole event, and, needless to say, she was top of the Ladies’ section too! The top three seeds Steve Burnell, Stan and Philip all won their R3 games so were still very much in reach of the top spot, as were Eamonn and Mahendra, who had joined them on 2.5 points. Steve Burnell and Norman Wragg had a somewhat unconventional game which is in the next article. Ben, who drew with Steve Bailey, later said he thought Steve had very good winning chances towards the end and was gracious to offer a draw. He then toasted Steve’s “reign of gentle, sportsmanlike devastation”! Ben’s extra half point kept him in joint lead in the Challengers’ section, where he was joined by Gill and Gary Wickett. Meanwhile, further down the table, Richard Harrington, Richard Hayward and Alyona were celebrating their first wins!
Neda dropped her first half point in R4, drawing with Philip, in a game that’s coming up in the next article. Neda was already a point and a half clear of her nearest female rival, Gill, who had suffered a defeat at the hands of Ben, so Neda had won the Ladies’ section with a round to spare! On board two, Steve Burnell defeated Eamonn to join Neda on the leading score of 3.5. The chasing pack on 3 points included Stan, Philip, Mahendra and Norman Andrews. In the Challengers’ section, Gill fell behind after her loss to Ben, but Gary Wickett had been the victor in a close battle with John. That game is also in the next article. So, Ben and Gary Wickett were still neck and neck leading the Challengers’ on 3 points. Elsewhere, Mark Hague got a win against his Noble namesake, and Marilyn Bland, who’d been jetting back and forth across the Atlantic for weeks, chalked up her first point!
Going into R5, if the result of the top board game between Steve Burnell and Neda was indecisive there could be a multiple tie at the top of the Open and Challengers’ sections! Almost immediately, Stan beat Philip to take the lead, but would he hold on to it? Ben, who can only play Summer Cup games on Lichess, had to be paired against Norman Andrews, a non-Lichess user. When Gill heard about it, without hesitation she volunteered to be their intermediary. Ben said, “You know, this is such a great example of how incredible and special the BCA community is - so many people putting in effort to overcome whatever barriers come our way.” The game resulted in a draw, which didn’t help Norman’s quest but did put Ben half a point ahead of Gary Wickett, who was yet to play his game. Mahendra came a cropper against Gary Wickett, ruining his own chances but propelling Gary into the top spot alongside Stan! Then came the crunch game between Steve Burnell and Neda. Steve won it. Stan, who was their timekeeper, said “It was an excellent game. I am very impressed with the progress Neda has made in the last couple of years.” In the final game of the tournament Gill lost what she described as a “very enjoyable battle” against Tony Lawton. Sadly, the game between Abi Baker and Eleanor Tew could not be played because Eleanor was ill. It goes without saying that we hope Eleanor is now feeling completely well again.
So the final scores are as follows:
On 4.5 points the outright winner is Steve Burnell!
On 4 points are Stan Lovell and Gary Wickett. Gary is the highest placed player from the Challengers’ group!
On 3.5 points are Neda Koohnavard, Colin Fisher, Ben Fletcher-Harris, Norman Andrews, Norman Wragg and Gary Hogan. Neda won the Ladies’ section. Ben and Gary Hogan are joint second in the Challengers.
On 3 points are Philip Doyle, Mahendra Galani, Tony Lawton and Paul Inglis.
On 2.5 points are Eamonn Casey, Steve Bailey, John Ramm, Voldi Gailans and Irene Hampton. Irene is second in the Ladies’ section.
On 2 points are Paul Baldwin, Mark Hague, Gill Smith, Richard Hayward and Marilyn Bland. Gill and Marilyn are joint third in the Ladies’ section.
On 1.5 points are Malcolm Jones, Lea Ryan and Abi Baker.
On 1 point are Richard Harrington, Mark Noble and Alyona Hogan.
Eleanor Tew didn’t get off the mark this time, but of course it could have been a different story if she had been well enough to play her R5 game.
Congratulations to the winners! My fellow arbiter, Gerry Walsh, and I would like to thank all the competitors for the friendly way in which they approached the event. Thanks also to the many timekeepers who volunteered to help out with other games. A very special mention must go to Voldi, who timed a total of twelve games! Other big hitters in the timekeeping department were Gill, John, Lea, Philip, Eamonn, Stan and Mark Hague. The following people also helped out with a game or two; Gary Wickett, Mahendra, Malcolm, Steve Burnell and Mark Noble. We had assistance from Clare Gailans and Mark Kirkham too, and they weren’t even playing in the tournament! Finally, thanks to Lea and Voldi for the use of their Zoom accounts, and to Gill and Gary Hogan who assisted by starting sessions on the BCA Zoom account when I couldn’t do it myself. Bittor Ibanez has been working hard behind the scenes to collate all the games into a .pgn file. By the time you read this it will be ready so drop me a line if you’d like a copy. This event really is a team effort, and I think that’s what makes it very special indeed!
The three Summer Cup winners were each asked to choose a game or two for the gazette. Steve Burnell chose his R3 encounter with Norman Wragg and supplied some comments to accompany it.
Steve Burnell v Norman Wragg, R3,
28/08/2025, ECO “D04”, Queen’s pawn game.
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. c4 c6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Bd2 Bf5 9. Bxf5 gxf5
10. Ne2 Ne4 11. Ng3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 f6 Black is tempting fate playing this move with his King still in the centre.
13. Nh4 e6 14. Qh5+ I couldn’t resist playing this move to force the black K to move, though at the time I couldn’t really see a clear follow up plan.
14. … Kd7 15. Rc1 I should have played Nxf5 here and either been a pawn up or if black captured the N then sacrificed it for three pawns. However, the chance came again very soon.
15. … Qe8 16. Qd1 Rc8 17. Qb3 Rc7 18. Nxf5 I decided to play it anyway, though I still couldn’t quite see how it would work out.
18. … exf5 19. Qxd5+ Kc8 20. Qxf5+ Qd7 21. g4 Having given up the knight for three pawns I was happy with my position. Black made it even better by exchanging queens on his next move which blocked his bishop on g7 out of the game.
21. … Qxf5 22. gxf5 Ne7 23. Rxc7+ Kxc7 24. e4 Nc6 25. Bc3 Kd7 26. Ke2 Kc8 I think Black was waiting to see what I was going to do. He should have tried to get his rook and bishop into play.
27. f4 Kd7 28. Kf3 h5 29. g3 a6 30. a4 b5 Black opens up the position but unfortunately this backfired as it allowed my rook an easy entry into the game.
31. axb5 axb5 32. d5 Nd8 33. Ra1 Nb7 34. Ra6 Kc8 35. Bxf6 Bxf6 36. Rxf6 Na5 At this point I think Black was getting a bit short of time and also coming under increased pressure. This move allowed me to win a piece.
37. Ra6 1-0 Either the knight is lost or black loses his rook after Ra8+.
This was an entertaining game – a bit unusual maybe with neither side castling and some odd-looking opening moves! There’s a lot to be said for the old established principles of getting your pieces developed and castling as soon as you can!
Gary Wickett selected his R4 win against John Ramm. Gary said he felt the two players were evenly matched and he enjoyed the battle!
John Ramm v Gary Wickett, R4,
03/09/2025, ECO “C26”, Vienna, Falkbeer Variation.
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qa4 Bb4 6. Ne2 Nxe4 7. f3 Bxc3+ 8. Nxc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O
10. Bb2 Re8+ 11. Kf2 d6 12. Qf4 Re5 13. Bd3 Qg5 14. Qxg5 Rxg5 15. Rae1 Re5 16. f4 Rxe1 17. Rxe1 Bd7
18. Re3 Re8 19. Rg3 Kf8 20. c4 g6 21. h4 h5 22. Rg5 Ne7 23. Bd4 c5 24. Bc3 Bf5 25. Rg3 Bxd3
26. Rxd3 Nf5 27. g3 Re4 0-1
Gary also said he really enjoyed his game against Stan Lovell in R1. Your editor played through all the games in the tournament and this one stood out as being a well-executed win by Stan, so I’ve decided to include it too!
Gary Wickett v Stan Lovell, R1,
08/07/2025, ECO “B12”, Caro-Kann, Advance Variation.
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Bd3 Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bg5 Qa5+ 8. c3 Ne7 9. O-O c5 10. b3 Nc6
11. a4 Rc8 12. Na3 cxd4 13. cxd4 a6 14. Rfc1 Bxa3 15. Rxa3 O-O 16. Bd2 Nb4 17. Qb1 h6 18. Ne1 Qb6
19. a5 Rxc1 20. Qxc1 Qb5 21. Ra4 Nc6 22. Qb2 Rc8 23. Nc2 Qd3 24. Nb4 Nxb4 25. Rxb4 Rc2 0-1
Neda Koohnavard chose her R3 victory over Colin Fisher and her R4 draw with Philip Doyle.
Colin Fisher v Neda Koohnavard,
R3, 19/08/2025, ECO “A40”, Queen’s pawn.
1. d4 c6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. dxe5 Ng4 5. Qd4 d6 6. exd6 Nf6 7. c5 g6 8. Bg5 Bg7 9. e4 h6 10. Bxf6 Bxf6
11. e5 Bg7 12. Nf3 O-O 13. Bd3 Be6 14. O-O Nd7 15. Rfe1 Re8 16. Rac1 Nf8 17. a3 Nh7 18. h4 g5
19. hxg5 Nxg5 20. Nxg5 Qxg5 21. Ne4 Qxe5 22. Qb4 Qxb2 23. Qxb2 Bxb2 24. Rb1 Bxa3 25. Rxb7 Reb8
26. Reb1 Rxb7 27. Rxb7 a5 28. Rc7 Kg7 29. Rxc6 Rd8 30. Rb6 f5 31. Rb7+ Kg6 32. Nd2 Bxc5 33. Bc4 Bc8
34. Rb5 Bxd6 35. Rxa5 Bb4 36. Ra2 Bxd2 37. Rc2 Bf4 38. g3 Rd1+ 39. Kh2 Be5 40. Bb3 Bb7
41. Bf7+ Kxf7 0-1
Neda Koohnavard v Philip Doyle,
R4, 09/09/2025, ECO “C00”, French Defence.
1. e4 e6 2. c3 d5 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. Qa4 c6 6. Qc2 dxe4 7. Qxe4 Ngf6 8. Qe2 Bd6 9. d4 h6
10. Na3 Nb6 11. Nf3 O-O 12. O-O Qc7 13. g3 Rfd8 14. Be3 Nfd5 15. Nc4 Nxc4 16. Qxc4 Rac8 17. Bd2 c5
18. Rac1 a6 19. Rfe1 b5
20. Qb3 c4 21. Qc2 Qb7 22. Ne5 Nf6 23. Qd1 Nd5 Draw agreed
Earlier this summer, former BCA member Frank van de Coterlet from the Netherlands let us know that it is possible to read ebooks from Forward Chess using a screen reader. Their website is at: https://forwardchess.com/
The first thing to say is that you have to check the checkbox at the top of the home page in order to bring up a list of links, including one to sign up. Pressing the close button will make the list disappear and you can then scroll down the page, which contains adverts for new releases. For PC users there’s a web reader available by clicking on the user guide on the home page. There is also an app for both IOS and Android devices.
At this point it should be made clear that a screen reader user hoping for a fully accessible experience is going to be somewhat underwhelmed - while the content of books, including diagrams, is accessible, the same can’t be said of the ‘Interactive’ features advertised. This means that we have to read their books in the traditional way, without the benefit of a refreshable virtual board that a sighted viewer gets. However, we thought this may be of some interest given that there are several titles listed by the author Jesus de la Villa, whose book ‘50 mistakes You should Know’ was referenced in an article in the January 2025 edition of Braille Chess Magazine. This book can be found by using the search facility on the home page. It is possible to view samples of books before buying, which provides the opportunity to check out their accessibility.
Diagrams are slightly tricky to read. Frank has very helpfully provided the following summary:
The left edge of a diagram is marked with 9. The right edge is marked with 0. Empty light squares are marked with a dash sign - and empty black squares are marked with an exclamation mark sign! Unfortunately, in cases when a piece occupies a dark square, there are unnecessary extra letters that precede each letter used to denote the name of the piece. This occurs as follows: king mk; queen wq; rook tr; bishop vl; knight sn; pawn zp. So, to clarify, the surplus letters m, w etc precede the letters denoting pieces of either colour, if and only if the piece stands on a dark square. Capital and little letters denote white and black pieces respectively. Note L and l for bishop.
Frank tells us that some books are presented in an interactive format that offer the reader the chance to answer questions. The answers are revealed by pressing the Show/Hide Solution button. To avoid having to constantly do this you can toggle the option: Show in Text/Quiz Mode.
These are our findings with the small sample of books we have viewed. Fingers crossed that this pattern is consistent. If in any doubt, sampling a book prior to purchase is strongly advised. For any further advice concerning Forward Chess, please feel free to contact the ICT subcommittee and we will do our best to assist. Please understand that Forward Chess is a commercial business. As such, this article is intended for information purposes only and is not an endorsement or otherwise of Forward Chess itself.
Mark Kirkham, Chair of ICT Subcommittee.
Mark Kirkham writes:
Here’s a little chess tip, provided to me by Norman Wragg many years ago, when I was sitting in his dining-room consuming Pauline’s supply of crisps and pop:
In order to avoid nasty knight forks, it’s worth remembering that if you can put a piece two diagonal squares away from it, it will take the knight three moves before that piece can be attacked. For example, when White’s knight is on c3, e5 is a relatively safe square for a black rook.
This of course assumes that all other things are equal, which they never are!
Congratulations to Martin Simons, who received the ECF President’s Award for Service to Chess this summer, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to chess over a period of thirty years. He has run leagues, tournaments and served on the Dorset County Chess Association committee as well as acting as Treasurer and Chairman for his local club. He has been highly supportive of Junior Chess, written bulletins for the Dorset Chess website and produced the Dorset Chess Newsletter. The fact that he has given simultaneous displays at many of our Chairman’s Cup events in Bournemouth didn’t even get a mention in the citation but I’m sure he knows how much we appreciate them nonetheless!
This summer the BCA committee nominated BCA member, David Clayton, as an IBCA Arbiter in recognition of all his work supporting VI players in the northwest, being on the team at the IBCA European Championships in Durham in 2007, controlling our BCA Championship in 2019 and acting as arbiter at many of our weekend tournaments since Covid. I’m delighted to report that the nomination was accepted, so please join me in congratulating David on his new arbiter title! David’s framed certificate will be presented to him at the International Autumn Tournament in Milton Keynes so that everyone present can give him a huge cheer!
Here are the August 2025 ECF Ratings for people who were BCA members that month. 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 2025 ECF Ratings so that visually impaired UK members with a Standard OTB rating will know their starting point for the 2026 Award in Memory of Graham Lilley, mentioned earlier in this issue.
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 1485
Armstrong, Bill OTB S 1616, OTB B 1700
Bailey, Steve OTB S 1211, OL S 1935
Baillie, David OTB S 2056
Baker, Abi OTB S 1043, OL S 1518
Baldwin, Paul OL S 1783
Bland, Marilyn OTB S 1081, OL S 1456
Blencowe, Ian OTB S 1586, OTB R 1498
Borg, Anthony OL S 1803
Brown, Geoff OTB S 1758, OTB R 1660, OL S 1747, OL R 1727
Burnell , Steve OTB S 1730, OL S 2004
Carr, Matthew OTB S 1816, OTB R 1646, OTB B 1636
Casey, Eamonn OTB S 1505, OL S 1904
Chambers, Colin OTB S 1525
Chapman, Gordon OTB S 1444
Cholij, Mark OTB S 976
Clayton, David OTB S 1423
Clayton, Estelita OL S 1750
Cloudsdale, Peter OTB S 1814
Codina, Teresa OTB S 1221, OL S 1666
Cole, Tristram OTB S 1846
Connors, James OTB S 1804, OTB R 1670, OTB B 1594
Cuthbert, Jim OTB S 1049
Deville, Olivier OL S 1870
Dickinson, Peter OTB S 1572, OTB R 1483
Dod, Maria OTB S 1580
Doyle, Philip OL S 2001
Elbourn, Irene OTB S 682
Elbourn, Tony OTB S 1338
Engstrom, Olle OTB S 1500, OL S 1908
Fisher, Colin OL S 1920
Fletcher-Harris, Ben OTB S 1488, OTB R 1453, OL S 1447
Fullwood, John OTB S 1252
Gailans, Voldi OTB S 1250, OL S 1359
Galani, Mahendra OTB S 1343, OL S 1752
Gordon, Philip OTB S 1494
Graff, Ben OTB S 1792, OTB R 1718, OTB B 1677, OL R 1646, OL B 1770
Hague, Mark OTB S 1348, OL S 1711
Harrington, Richard OTB S 656, OL S 1363
He, Johnathan OTB B 1159
Highsmith, Simon OTB S 1234
Hogan, Gary OTB S 1768, OTB R 1504, OL S 1456
Hristov Zhelyazkov, Aleksandar OTB R 684
Hristov Zhelyazkov, Andrey OTB R 461
Ibanez, Bittor OTB S 1252, OTB R 1063, OL S 1711
Inglis, Paul OL S 1890
Irwin, Rosie OTB S 1283, OTB R 1324
Jenkins, John OTB S 1370
Jones, Malcolm OTB S 1228, OL S 1777
Kalumba, Lukwesa Matapo OL S 1630
Khare, Shubhransh OTB S 1157, OTB R 1363
Kirkham, Mark OTB S 1473, OTB R 1526
Koohnavard, Neda OTB S 1306, OL S 1792
Lawton, Tony OTB S 1064, OL S 1665
Levens, David OTB S 1726, OTB R 1694
Llewellyn, Julian OTB S 1831, OTB R 1700
Lovell, Stan OTB S 1601, OL S 2004
Mabbs, David OTB B 1768
Masterson, Desmond OTB S 1238, OTB R 1459, OL S 1043
Mills, David OTB S 1630
Murphy, Richard OTB S 1530
Musson, Tim OL S 1665
Osborne, John OTB S 1071
Phillips, George OTB S 1369
Phillips, Owen OTB S 1912, OTB R 1928, OL R 1840, OL B 1730
Prasath, Malola OTB S 2010, OTB R 2022, OTB B 1989
Rafferty, Phil OTB S 961
Ramm, John OL S 1525
Read, Brandan OTB S 1670, OTB R 1452, OL S 2192
Ross, Chris OTB S 2191
Rugman, Dan OTB S 1349, OL S 1702
Ryan, Lea OTB S 890, OL S 1527
Shimwell, Efe OTB S 1663, OTB R 1577
Smith, Gill OTB S 1166, OL S 1662
Soszynski, Marek OTB S 1840, OTB R 1782, OL R 1754, OL B 1737
Tew, Eleanor OTB S 693, OL S 1358
Uglow, Alfie OTB S 1395
Walker, Peter OTB S 1164
Walsh, Gerard OTB S 1598
Waters, Roger OTB S 1573, OTB R 1447
Whitehouse, Guy OTB S 1652
Wickett, Gary OTB S 1313, OL S 1588
Wilcox, Anthony OTB S 791
Willis, Graham OTB S 1685
Wragg, Norman OTB S 1652, OL S 1751
The BCA Zoom account has been used extensively for the 2025 Remote Summer Cup as well as for meetings of the main committee and various subcommittees. However, it is generally available for use by any members who might want to get together to play a friendly game, for example. To request a Zoom session please contact me. Don’t forget that you can dial into a Zoom meeting from any landline or mobile phone number! You can also write to the zmeetings email address if you have any queries about Zoom and the team of administrators will do their best to help out. .
Julie Leonard
Readers may recall that for the August 2025 gazette, Gerry Walsh sent in the moves of the game between Wilhelm Steinitz and Curt von Bardeleben that won the brilliancy prize in the first Hastings Congress held in 1895. Gerry promised to follow up in this issue with the moves of a mate in ten, which was demonstrated by Steinitz immediately after the game.
Here is the position after Steinitz played 25. Rxh7+.
r1r4k/pp1q3R/5pp1/3p2N1/6Q1/8/PP3PPP/2R3K1
White: King g1, Queen g4, Rooks c1 and h7, Knight g5, pawns a2, b2, f2, g2 and h2.
Black: King h8, Queen d7, Rooks a8 and c8, pawns a7, b7, d5, f6 and g6.
Note that Black cannot play 25. … Qxh7 because 26. Rxc8+ Rxc8 27. Qxc8+ gives a won ending for White.
25. ... Kg8 is the only other option for Black.
Now here comes the mate in 10. Watch how the White queen quietly stalks her prey, calling in the cavalry to assist near the end. Note also that White has to give check with every move otherwise Black has Rxc1#.
26. Rg7+ Kh8
If 26. ... Kf8 then 27. Nh7+ wins.
27. Qh4+ Kxg7 28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Qh8+ Ke7 30. Qg7+ Ke8 31. Qg8+ Ke7 32. Qf7+ Kd8 33. Qf8+ Qe8
34. Nf7+ Kd7 35. Qd6#
Many thanks to
Gerry for sending in such a fascinating game!
August 2025 Puzzle
Johannes Zukertort vs Adolf Anderssen, Breslau, 1865. White mates in 2.
r1b2k1r/ppp1bppp/8/1B1Q4/5q2/2P5/PPP2PPP/R3R1K1
White: King g1, Queen d5, Rooks a1 and e1, Bishop b5, Pawns c3, a2, b2, c2, f2, g2 and h2.
Black: King f8, Queen f4, Rooks a8 and h8, Bishops c8 and e7, Pawns a7, b7, c7 f7, g7 and h7.
Clue: Think of an impressive sacrifice! Solution 1. Qd8+ Bxd8 2. Re8#
November 2025 Puzzle
Gustav
Neumann vs Carl Mayet, Berlin, 1866. White
mates in 2.
5rkr/pp2Rp2/1b1p1Pb1/3P2Q1/2n3P1/2P5/P4P2/4R1K1
White:
King g1, Queen g5, Rooks e7 and e1, pawns a2, c3, d5 f6, f2 and g4.
Black:
King g8, Rooks f8 and h8, Bishops b6 and g6, Knight c4, pawns a7, b7 d6 and f7.
The solution will be in the February Gazette.
Mark Hague