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34th Crowborough Chess Congress 14th September 2019
Download Crosstable
 
David Norton from Horley prevailed over a very competitive field scoring an unbeaten 5½/6 and picked up the Berberich Cup and £150 1st prize.

David Graham of Worthing came clear 2nd on 5/6 and was also unbeaten.

Three veterans came in as equal 3rd place on 4½/6;
  • Ian Snape (Beckenham)
  • Chaski Patrick (Uckfield)
  • John Sugden (Hastings & St L)
Grading prizes were won by ;
  • Martin Cutmore (Folkestone)
  • Paul Jackson (Coulsdon)
  • Daniel Finn (Sussex Juniors)
  • Matthew Britnell (Lewes)
  • Jon Lawrance (Crowborough)
  • Andy Mitchell (Lewes)
  • James West (Coulsdon)

The team results were;

  • Gold Medal (Boxes of chocolates)  WORTHING 10½ Points
  • Silver Medal LEWES 10 Points
  • Bronze Medal SUSSEX JUNIORS and SUSSEX MARTLETS 9½ Points.

And finally after 30 years of hurt he never stopped dreaming.

Jon Lawrance was the first winner of the Albany Cup presented to the highest placed Crowborough Chess Club player in the tournament of 1987.

After 30 barren years Jon once again picked up the trophy with a very fine 4½/6 and a grading performance of 180.

No First Name Surname Club Veteran Grade Score Prize Notes









1 Chaski Patrick Uckfield Yes 203 4½ £30 = 3rd & Veteran 
2 Ian L Snape Beckenham Yes 203 4½ £30 = 3rd & Veteran 
3 J Morgan Blake Sussex Martlets No 202 4    
44 David S Norton Horley No 201 5½ £150 1st Place
4 David B Graham Worthing No 188 5 £80 2nd Place
5 John N Sugden Hastings & St L Yes 188 4½ £30 = 3rd & Veteran 
6 Peter G Farr Argumentatives No 186 4    
7 Rasa Norinkeviciute Eastbourne No 181 4    
8 Ross B Rattray Haywards Hth No 181 3½    









Section 1 152-170            
9 Paul J Kelly Hastings & St L Yes 168 3    
10 Alec Hedger Worthing No 160 3½    
11 Martin J Cutmore Folkestone No 159 4 £40 Grading
12 David J Deacon Fareham No 156 3½    
13 Martin Faulkner Haywards Hth No 156 3    
15 Peter L Dallas Emsworth No 152 3½    









Section 2 140-151            
16 Jonathan Britnell Lewes No 151 3    
17 Paul G Jackson Coulsdon Yes 151 3½ £40 Grading
45 Susan C Howell Sussex Martlets No 150 2½    
18 Janis Petersons Bexhill No 149 3    
46 Matthew  G Howell Sussex Martlets No 146 3    
19 Lilya Stewart Sussex Juniors No 146 2    









Section 3 134-139            
20 Adrian Cload Hastings & St L Yes 139 1½    
21 Daniel M Finn Sussex Juniors No 139 4 £40 Grading
22 Maximilian Wilton Sussex Juniors No 139 3½    
24 Gary McCulloch Crowborough No 138 1½    
25 Chris Lake Brighton Yes 137 2    









Section 4 127-133            
                 
26 Michael J Reddie Eastbourne Yes 133 2½    
27 Matthew J Britnell Lewes No 131 3 £40 Grading
28 Alan E Riddoch Maidstone No 130 w/d    
29 Oliver Manchester Haywards Hth No 129 2½    
30 Solomon Mitchell Lewes No 129 2½    









Section 5 121-126            
31 Robert HC Fisher East Grinstead Yes 126 3    
32 Jon  Lawrance Crowborough No 126 4 £20 = Grading
33 Andy Mitchell Lewes No 126 4 £20 = Grading
34 Robert W Counsell Brighton No 123 2    
35 Phil T Foley Upminster Yes 123 1½    
36 Keith C Osborne Seaford Yes 120 2    









Section 6 Under 120            
37 David Wallis Worthing Yes 117 2    
38 Ian Goodyer Eastbourne No 116 2    
39 Nick Hope Crowborough No 108 2    
40 James West Coulsdon No 106 2½ £40 Grading
41 Roland Rattray Haywards Hth Yes 101 1    
43 Donald P Grant (Filler) Yes 41 0    









Winner (Joe Berberich Cup) £150
 David Norton
Second  £80




Third  £40




Veteran (60+)  £40




6 Section Prizes of £40




Albany Cup awarded to top Crowborough Player
 Jon Lawrance

Entered by: David Fryer on 15.09.2019 | 0 Comments
33rd Crowborough Chess Congress 15th September 2018
Dagne Ciuksyte won in style winning her first 5 games before drawing with former champion and tournament regular Rasa Norinkeviciute in the final round.  

Dagne's next tournament will be the Chess Olympiad playing for the England women's team.

Sussex players Chaski Patrick and Morgan Blake came in second with a fine result of 5 wins and just a single loss each and Rasa came 4th with 4½ points.

Peter Kemp won the Albany Cup for the best result by a Crowborough Chess Club player with a score of 4/6.



The Veteran's Prize was shared three ways by John Sugden and Paul Kelly of Hastings and Mike Nicholas of Worthing.

There were also 6 grading prizes making up a total prize fund of £550.

Link to Final Cross Table

Link to Junior Results and Photos

Prize List

First Name Surname Club Grade Score Prize Notes







Dagne Ciuksyte 4NCL Guildford 216 5½ £150 1st Place
Nicolas Varley Hastings
 214 3½    
Ian L Snape Beckenham 210 3    
Russell Granat Wimbledon 203 4    







Section 1 181-195          
Chaski Patrick Uckfield 194 5 £60 2nd=
Peter D Kemp Crowborough 193 4   Albany Cup
John N Sugden Hastings
 193 4 £30 Veteran
Krzysztof Jamroz Petts Wood 191 4    
J Morgan Blake Warwick Univ 186 5 £60 2nd=
Rasa Norinkeviciute Eastbourne 183 4½ £40 Section 1







Section 2 166-180          
Michael D Nicholas Worthing 177 4 £30 Section 2 =
Paul J Kelly Hastings
 175 4 £30 Section 2=
David W Frtyer Crowborough 173 3    
Martin J Cutmore Folkestone 171 3    
Martin Faulkner Haywards Hth 170 3    
Richard R Welford Lewes 167 3½    







Section 3 145-165          
Matthew Forster Horsham 165 3½ £40 Section 3
Robert Elliston Crowborough 156 2½    
Viktor Jamroz Petts Wood 155 3    
Jonathan Britnell Lewes 150 2½    
Daniel M Finn Sussex Juniors 149 2    
Jon  Lawrance Crowborough 159 2    







Section 4 133-144          
Daniel DS Brooks Newhaven 140 2½    
Batuhan Kaya Eastbourne 140 3    
Michael Reddie Eastbourne 135 2    
John R McKenna Crystal Palace 134 3½ £40 Section 4
James F McKenna Beckenham 133 2    







Section 5 121-132          
Robert HC Fisher East Grinstead 132 2    
Gary McCulloch Crowborough 130 2½    
Phil T Foley Upminster 129 3 £20 Section 5=
Mark J Weidman Felixstowe 125 1    
Matthew J Britnell Lewes 122 3 £20 Section 5=







Section 6 Under 121          
Roland Rattray Haywards Hth 120 1 £10 Section 6
Nick Hope Crowborough 100 1 £10 Section 6
Roger S House Medway 94 1 £10 Section 6
Janis Petersons Bexhill e120 3 £10 Ungraded







Winner (Joe Berberich Cup) £150 Dagne Ciuksyte
Second  £80



Third  £40



Veteran (60+)  £40



6 Section Prizes of £40



Albany Cup awarded to top Crowborough Player Peter Kemp

Entered by: David Fryer on 16.09.2018 | 0 Comments
Crowborough Chess Congress
               32nd Crowborough Chess Congress Results                  

                   Saturday 16th September 2017

                     Click here for the full crosstable

 Name  Pts    Prize
 Krzysztof Jamroz
  6  1st Joe Berberich Cup
  £150
 Matthew Payne
  5  2nd
  £  80
 Mark Broom
  4½  3rd=  £  40
 John N Sugden
  4½  174-185 Grading (3rd=)
  £  40
 Martin Cutmore
  4½  161-173 Grading (3rd=)
  £  40
 Michael Nicholas
  4  Veteran Prize
  £  40
 David Fryer
  3½  Albany Cup
  
 William Graham
  3  146-160 Grading =
  £  10
 Richard Welford
  3
  146-160 Grading =
  £  10
 Joe Everett
  3
  146-160 Grading =
  £  10
 Martin Faulkner
  3
  146-160 Grading =
  £  10
 Michael Reddie
  3  127-145 Grading =
  £  20
 Gary McCulloch
  3
  127-145 Grading =
  £  20
 Matthew Britnell
  3½  101-126 Grading =  £  40
 William Wright
  3  Ungraded
  £  40
 TOTAL     £550

Krzysztof Jamroz from Petts Wood playing at Crowborough for the first time won our 32nd event with a perfect 6/6 score. Pictured here with the Joe Berberich Cup and the first prize of £150.



Matthew Payne scored 5/6 for the 3rd year running and picked up 2nd place and £80.

It was one of our most competitive tournaments with 13 players graded over 170.

Unfortunately not everyone can go away as winners however we do have six grading prizes so everyone has a chance. Matthew Britnell had a tough start scoring only ½/3 but then had a storming 3/3 finish to pick up a grading prize of £40 while Martin Faulkner had the opposite experience of achieving a 100% score after 3 rounds but could not maintain the momentum but still picked up a share of the grading prize.

Both Matthew and Martin are amongst a number of parents who take advantage of the opportunity to play in this competition while their children are playing in the junior tournaments run by Sussex Junior Chess that take place with exactly the same time control and round times as the adults.

There are also a number of the stronger juniors who try their luck in the senior tournament and take a few scalps. 12 year old Oliver Manchester deserves a mention for a fine mature victory that overturned a 50 point grading difference and 50 years of experience. It was a particularly nice finish in an endgame that took home the point against yours truly.

In the junior tournaments Elena Currah & Thomas Kindell won the Crowborough Town Council Cup please see the Sussex Junior Chess website for full results.



Thankyou to Carol Graham for these views of the playing hall.







As always it is a big thank you to the band of helpers especially those from Sussex Junior Chess who make this congress possible at all. This includes all the catering, pairing and arbiting that takes place on the day and of course thank you to all of the competitors for coming along and supporting our event.

No Name Surname Club Vet Grade Score Prize Notes









1 Peter G Farr Argumentatives   202 3½    
2 David B Graham Worthing   199 4    
3 Matthew J Payne Worthing   198 5 £80 2nd Place
4 Mark Broom Portsmouth   195 4½ £40 3rd Place
5 Callum D Brewer Brighton   190 3    









Section 1 174-185            
6 John N Sugden Hastings Yes 185 4½ £40 Section 1
7 Charles E Tippleston MK Phoenix   184 4    
8 Rasa Norinkeviciute Eastbourne   183 4    
9 David W Fryer Crowborough Yes 176 3½   Albany Cup
45 Mikolaj Rogacewicz Brighton   175 4    
10 Thomas Finn Sussex Juniors   174 4    
11 Cassie M Graham Worthing   174 4    









Section 2 161-173            
12 Krzysztof Jamroz Petts Wood   173 6 £150 1st Place
13 Martin J Cutmore Folkestone   171 4½ £40 Section 2
14 Matthew Forster Sussex Juniors   167 3    
15 Roger M Hutchings Woodpushers   167 4    
16 Robert V Elliston Crowborough Yes 166 3    
17 Michael D Nicholas Worthing Yes 164 4 £40 Veterans
18 Calum Salmons Brighton   162 4    









Section 3 146-160            
19 William M Graham Worthing   159 3 £10 Section 3
20 Richard R Welford Lewes   156 3 £10 Section 3
21 Duncan R Badham Lewes   154 1½    
41 Joe Everett Brighton   152 3 £10 Section 3
22 Martin J Faulkner Haywards Heath   148 3 £10 Section 3
23 Ian S Comley Horsham   147 2½    
43 Daniel D Brooks Lewes   146 2    









Section 4 127-145            
24 Stephen Pike Rainham   145 2    
25 Robert H Fisher East Grinstead Yes 140 2    
26 Viktor Jamroz Petts Wood   136 2½    
27 Michael J Reddie Eastbourne Yes 136 3 £20 Section 4
28 Gary McCulloch Crowborough   135 3 £20 Section 4
42 Phil T Foley Upminster   131 2    
30 Keith C Osborne Seaford Yes 127 1    









Section 5 101-126            
31 Oliver Manchester Hurtspierpoint   126 2    
32 Matthew J Britnell Lewes   124 3½ £40 Section 5
33 Andy Mitchell Lewes   120 2    
34 Robin M Wilson Tunbridge Wells   120 2    
47 David Wallis Worthing   120 2    
35 Alex Garfield Kent Juniors   112 3    
44 Paul Buswell St Leonards Yes 103 1    









Section 6 Ungraded            
36 Donald P Grant Crowborough Yes 49 ½    
37 Tom Bennett Rotherfield Yes 0 2½    
38 Sienna Davids Eastbourne   0 2    
39 Anthony Pelling Crawley Yes 0 2½    
40 Stephen Priestley Ludlow   0 1½    
46
 Lael
 Page
 Robertsbridge
   0
 0
    
48
 William S
 Wright
 Brighton
   0
 3
 £40
 Section 6
Entered by: David Fryer on 17.09.2017 | 0 Comments
31st Crowborough Chess Congress
                                          Saturday 17th September 2016

Winner Rasa Norinkeviciute
 
 2nd Place Matthew Payne
 3rd Place Rhys Cumming


Click here for the Crosstable

Click here for the Results by starting order
 
 Name  Pts    Prize
 Rasa Norinkeviciute
  5  1st Joe Berberich Cup
  £90
 Matthew Payne
  5  2nd
  £90
 Rhys Cumming
  5  3rd  £90
 David Fryer
  4½  Albany Cup
 Callum Brewer
  4  171-185 Grading =
  £15
 David Liu
  4  171-185 Grading =
  £15
 Robert Jacobs
  4  171-185 Grading =
  £15
 Thomas Finn
  4
  161-170 Grading =
  £20
 Matthew Forster
  4
  161-170 Grading =
  £20
 Jeffrey Boardman
  4
  151-160 Grading
  £40
 Oliver Weiss
  3½  141-150 Grading
  £40
 Phil Foley
  3
  126-140 Grading
  £40
 Andy Mitchell
  2  Under 125 Grading =  £15
 Michael Spence
  2  Under 125 Grading =
  £15
 Michael Ifalore
  2
  Under 125 Grading =  £15
 David Fryer
  4½
  Veteran  £40
 TOTAL     £560




Finally David Fryer receiving the Veterans Prize and the Albany Cup for top Crowborough player from President of the Chess Club Don Grant.
 

Entered by: David Fryer on 18.09.2016 | 0 Comments
Season 2015/16
The new season starts on Friday 9th September 2016

The 2015/16 Season started with the 30th Crowborough Chess Congressin September and ended with the British Chess Championships in Bournemouth.

During the season the Senior Club entered 3 teams into the Mid Sussex Chess League, completed our internal championships and ran several blitz nights as well as a social training evening.

The Junior Club was also busy with weekly training and rapidplay games, Sussex Junior Chess events, UK Chess Challenge as well as representing Crowborough in national and international events.

Here are just a few of the highlights and apologies to all those successes not mentioned but further details can be found on our website and twitter feed.

The Crowborough Chess Congress was won jointly by  Ian Snape and Matthew Payne with Peter Kemp winning the Albany Cup for the best Crowborough player while Gerald Michaud won the Under 160 grading prize. Thomas Martin won the Crowborough Town Council Cup for the best score by a Crowborough player in the junior events.

In the MidSussex Chess League our 2nd Team captained by Chris Dunn were promoted to the 2nd Division with Gerald Michaud winning the Tankard with a tremendous 92% score. Our 1st Team just avoided relegation while our new 3rd Team were mid table in the 4thDivision.

The Longplay Club Championship was  won by Gerald Michaud with Gary McCulloch winning the Challengers. The rapidplay tournaments had two very exciting and close head to head finals. Peter Kemp beating Amardip Ahluwalia 1½-½ in the Championship and young Elena Currah collecting the Challengers Trophyalso with a 1½-½ scoreline against runner-up Michael Redman.

The Winter 10 Second Blitz was won by Peter Kemp  with a perfect 6/6 while David Fryer took theSummer 3m+2s Blitz with an unbeaten 11 wins and 3 draws.

The Regency Chess Junior Prize Board was presented each term to the winners of the junior tournaments with the winners during the year being; Grace Lamb, Liam Scott, Elliott Hookway, Thomas Martin and Oliver Faulkner.

In the UK Chess Challenge Thomas Martin won the Club Qualifier and a large Crowborough contingent played in the Sussex and Kent MegaFinals with the qualifiers going on to play at the Southern GigaFinal. At the GigaFinal Amardip Ahluwalia won the Under 12 Boys and Giovanni Currah won the Under 11 Boys. Both players went through to the TeraFinal last weekend 20th-21st August 2016 and saw Amardip pick up the bronze prize for 3rd= while Giovanni came 32nd out of 50,000 original entries.

We were represented at the British Chess Championships in Bournemouth by David Fryer playing in the Seniors Championship and Amardip Ahluwalia, Giovanni Currah, Elena Currah, Suriya Velayudham and Evie Seddon in their respective junior events. The highlight was Amardip picking up the Under 13 British Championship title with a wonderful 6½/7.


   Amardip with David Howell and Jonathan Tuck at the British Championship closing ceremony.

David Howell who came 2nd in this years British Championship was a long time Crowborough member starting as a junior and is now a world class Grandmaster.

Jonathan is Crowborough Chess Club Chairman and Sussex Junir Chess coaching manager.


Entered by: David Fryer on 24.08.2016 | 0 Comments
30th Crowborough Chess Congress

Saturday 12th September 2015
Crowborough Chess Club Chairman Jonathan Tuck opened this years congress. As well as the main rapidplay tournament the event includes the Sussex Junior Chess Crowborough Grand Prix.

48 players competed in the senior tournament while 94 played in the junior event. A record 142 competitors in total. With representatives from 5 chess federations; England, Canada, Romania, Lithuania and Mongolia.

With all the preparations made including the usual excellent catering provided by Sussex Junior Chess the games began.

This year's tournament was characterised by a changing leadership race. First of all ex-Crowborough player George Salimbeni raced into a perfect 4/4 start but then crashed in round 5 to Tumen Buyandalai who was playing his first ever Crowborough tournament. This left Tumen in the sole lead with 4½/5 with 6 players in the chasing pack on 4/5
In a tense and exciting last round Ian Snape demonstrated his prowess at rapidplay with a fine victory over Tumen showing why he has his name on the Joe Berberich Cup so many times.

Other final round games saw Matthew Payne beat George Salimbeni while Dominic Lawson, Peter Kemp and Matthew Forster all drew their final games.

FINAL RESULT
1st Place shared between Ian Snape and Matthew Payne on 5/6
3rd= Tumen Buyandalai, Dominic Lawson, Peter Kemp & Matthew Forster on 4½/6




 Name  Pts    Prize
 Matthew Payne
  5  1st = Joe Berberich Cup
  £115
 Ian Snape
  5  1st = Joe Berberich Cup
  £115
 Tumen Buyandalai
  4½  3rd =
  £15
 Dominic Lawson
  4½  3rd =  £15
 Peter Kemp
  4½  3rd= Albany Cup
  £15
 Matthew Forster
  4½  3rd= 160-179 Grading
  £40
 Gerald Michaud
  4
  150-159 Grading
  £40
 Norman Blake
  3
  140-149 Grading =
  £15
 Thomas Finn
  3
  140-149 Grading =
  £15
 Paul Smith
  3  140-149 Grading =
  £15
 Keith Osborne
  3½
  120-139 Grading
  £40
 Duncan Badham
  3  120-139 Grading
  £20
 Matthew Howell
  3  120-139 Grading
  £20
 David Wallis
  2½
  100-119 Grading
  £40
 Robert Smart
  1½
  0-99 Grading
  £40
 John Sugden
  4
  Veteran  £40
 TOTAL     £600

Full Crosstable can be found here while the junior results and prizes are here on the Sussex Junior Chess website. Congratulations to Thomas Martin who won the Crowborough Town Council Cup for the best performance by a Crowborough junior.

Thanks to the arbiting team of Sue Howell, chief arbiter and Catherine and Peter Finn who managed all the pairings.
Also thanks to the Crowborough Community Centre for allowing us take over their whole venue for the day.



Don Grant President of Crowborough Chess Club with two of our junior members Maxwell and Laurie

That's Life

Tony Pelling held reigning Champion Ian Snape to a draw in the first round but then lost to 10 year old Robert Akeya-Price in the second.

Tony recommends ' keeping an eye out for young Robert in the future '

Certainly Robert justified his mother Sholpan's faith in entering him into the adult tournament. He finished on 2½/6 with a grading performance of 149.
Crowborough's Gary McCulloch found the going tough this year after an excellent showing last time out while Uckfield's Brian Stockham was spotted contemplating life after a 0/3 start. It obviously worked even though he has replaced his trademark pipe with a much healthier electronic version as he took 2½ points from his last three games.

Ian Snape looking very happy and why not ! Equal first this year to add to his previous 4 triumphs.
Dominic Lawson the President of the English Chess Federation was drafted in to present the prizes at the junior closing ceremony but was also successful in his own right coming third with an undefeated score of 4½/6.

Players prepare for the start of their games in different ways.

Here Rasa looks serene while Daniel is ready to punch his opponent.

Or has he just heard that Brighton have scored and are now 4 points clear at the top of the table?


Evie and Izzy are two of Crowborough's strong contingent of girl chess players.

Izzy deservedly won the best mascot prize which helped her to gain an excellent 50% score in the Under 11s.

Another Crowborough player Elena Currah score 4/6 winning the Under 8 trophy and it won't be long before sister Francesca is picking up some cups of her own.

Crowborough Juniors playing in the tournaments were;

Under 18s ; Callum Hynes

Under 11s Major; Leo Yu 5/6, Thomas Manchester 4½, Oliver Manchester, Matthew Liu

Under 11s Minor Thomas Martin 5/6, Elena Currah, Lauren Manchester, Grace Lamb, Maxwell Kendall, Laurie Kendall, Liam Scott, Sophie Rees, Izzy Merry-Dungey, Theo Hall, Rafe Chapman, Amelie Rees, Evie Seddon








AND ITS ALL OVER UNTIL NEXT YEAR

Entered by: David Fryer on 14.09.2015 | 0 Comments
Weald Chess Congress 2015
The Weald Chess Congress took place over the weekend of the 11th and 12th July 2015 in Copthorne and attracted a record 140 entries.

The time control was the whole game in 80 minutes + 10 seconds a move and with 3 games on saturday that could mean 9 hours of chess so a number of players took a half point bye in round 3.

Full results can be found on the congress website.

Crowborough players' results ;

Section Player
 Score
Open
 David Fryer
3½/5
Intermediate
 Oliver Manchester
2/5
  Tim Yu
 ½/5
Minor
 Leo Yu
 3/5
  Thomas Manchester
 1½/5
  Suriya Velayudham
 1½/5

I have picked out the following positions from my games as I think they are instructional especially for our junior players.

Round 1



I was white in this king and pawn ending and as in all such endings each player is only one slip away from disaster. My opponent decided to defend by playing 47... Kd6 ?? (Kd5 draws) and after 48.Kg6 Ke7 49.Kxh5 c5 the following position arises.



In order for white to stop black's pawn the white king must be able to step into the square created by the black pawn and have a clear run to the queening square. Which in this case it can by playing 50.Kg4.

The other important aspect of this position is to note that the two white pawns are safe from attack by the black king, as with careful play by white, if black captures one of the pawns the other will get away and queen.

Round 2

This is one that got away from me.



I was black in this rook and pawn ending and once again have two passed pawns and felt that I was better due to my good king and rook positions. Unfortunately I did not find 48...Rc1 which is the only winning move. After this the white rook cannot stop both pawns in their relentless quest for promotion. eg 49.Rg4 f3 50.Rxh4 f2 and the pawn will queen.

It is worth remembering that in rook and pawn endings an active rook and control of the queening squares are extremely important.

Round 3

My opponent broke the rule about not moving the same piece twice in the opening which is especially true when you are black.



Black has just played the tempting 6...Ng4 and if white plays 7.Rf1 black has the thunderbolt 7... Nxh2 8.Nxh2 Qh4+ winning.

However white has the choice between playing two good moves.
7.Qe2 which I played and after 7... Bf2+ 8.Kf1 Nd4 9.Nxd4 Bxd4 white is doing well due to his better development and more space or the complex 7.Ng5 when in a miniature played at the Gibraltar Masters this year the following position arose after 15.Nd5;



This is a good example of a classic checkmate that black did not wish to see demonstrated and promptly resigned.

eg 15... Qg3 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Rxh7+ Kxh7 18.Qh5#

Round 5

Is also about checkmates and is why we practice those puzzles on junior club night. I just wish I was paying attention as if I had I would have won this game and taken home the first prize.



I was white in the above position and after my opponent had pinched a pawn on a2 missing a strong reply, I just had to finish the game off.

Unfortunately I played the very bad 34.c4 and though not losing in itself allowed the black king to escape on the dark squares. Can you see the checkmate idea that I missed?

Its simple when you spot it. 35.R2f6+ Kc5 36.Rxb7!! and if Rxb5 then all those hours practicing checkmates in one come to the fore.



and just for completeness if black plays 36...Rc8 then 37.Bd7! and the black rook is lost or its still checkmate.
Entered by: David Fryer on 13.07.2015 | 0 Comments
Summer Lightning 2015
Our annual 10 second buzzer chess tournament attracted 16 entries including three dads of juniors and guest Sue Carter from Uckfield.



With play fast and furious there were some remarkable games including some tough rook and pawn endings as well as a number of opening novelties!

Of the juniors playing Theo Hall performed exceptionally well scoring 2½/4 before he had to go due to an early start on Saturday morning.

Of the dads Mark Currah did best with a score of 2/3 including a fine sacrificial win in 15 moves against yours truly.



Game continued 11.Nxe6 Qb6 12.Nxg7+ Kf8 13.Bh6 Qc7 14.Qe8+ Nxe8 15.Rxe8#




Prizes were kindly donated by Chess & Bridge Shop and went to ;

1st= Peter Kemp and Jonathan Tuck 5/6
3rd   Chris Dunn         4½/6
4th   Robert Elliston
 4/5

Entered by: David Fryer on 23.05.2015 | 0 Comments
2nd Team Captain's Report - Season 2014/15

Last season, Crowborough 2 won every game & won Mid-Sussex Div.3 with games to spare.

What a difference a year makes ! 

Promotion was always going to be difficult with the higher standard in Division 2 & so it proved. The loss of Robert E., Gerry M. & David F. to the 1st team & other players unavailable from time to time or leaving the club made life in div.2 hard, but it should not have been terminal. Despite some very good performances from Jon L. & Amardip A. we have been relegated by probably only half a point.

The season started by being well beaten by Brighton 2 who greatly outgraded us & not unexpectedly, will get promotion. That set the scene for the season. Although we then went on to beat Brighton 3, a narrow loss to Hastings 3 in the end cost us dear. Jon & Amardip put in very good performances but we lost 3 – 2.

Next was a loss to Horsham 3 who again well outgraded us & look set to clinch the other promotion slot as Div.2 champions.

The match against Woodpushers 1 was the match that probably sealed our fate. A narrow loss kept Woodpusher above us in the division even though Jon & Amardip on top boards won their matches. The captain played rubbish & the match was lost 3 – 2.

Match 6 vs. The Argumentatives ended in a draw. Jon & Amardip drawing against higher graded players with Jon only having seconds on his clock. (nothing unusual there then). Again the captain played rubbish against a lower graded player trying to force the pace, made a truly rotten move from a good position & was the very lucky recipient of a draw offer. With a little more patience, a win should have been possible which would have won us the match & that extra half point that may have kept us in division 2.

The 7th match of the season ended in a 4 – 1 win for Worthing 2 although our overall grading was better than them. Again, the captain played poorly & lost from a strong winning position.

The 8th & last match of the season ended on a high with a win against Lewes 2. Our top 2 boards of Jon & Amardip winning & the captain on board 3 playing badly again. (does nothing change?) Gary M. & Caroline on the other boards getting draws to see us to the win.

Overall, it’s been an enjoyable season despite being relegated. The highs were the way Jon & Amardip performed along with no defaults for the team. My thanks to all the players but especially to Caroline, Graham & Gary for doing the away matches & filling in at short notice & Don faithfully organising the boards & refreshments etc. Much appreciated. Just one significant low was the way the captain performed. Might be better to give him the big heave-ho. It won’t come as a surprise!! 

Chris Dunn

2nd team captain.

2nd Team Stats

R E S U L T S   Jan-15 Jul-14   T O T A L
Player   Grade Grade   Score Played %age Perf
Lawrance Jonathan 159 160   4.5 8 56% 168
Liu David 165 158   0.0 1 0% 113
Ahluwalia Amardip 152 147   5.5 8 69% 172
Salmon Graham 133 132   1.0 5 20% 108
Dunn Chris 125 131   0.5 7 7% 91
Redman Michael 133 125   1.0 3 33% 114
Campion Caroline 113 114   2.0 6 33% 93
McCulloch Gary 115 109   0.5 1 50% 132
Grant Donald 76 80   0.0 1 0% 70
TOTAL         15.0 40 38% 128

Current League Table


 Division 2
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pl
 MP GP
1 Brighton 2
2.0 3.0 4.5 4.0 4.0 2.5 4.5 3.5 8 6.5 28.0
2 Horsham 3 3.0
1.5 4.5 3.5 3.0
4.0 3.0 7 6.0 22.5
3 Worthing 2 2.0 3.5   1.5 3.5 2.5 4.0 4.0 3.0 8 5.5 24.0
4 Lewes 2 0.5 0.5 3.5   3.0 3.0 3.5 2.0 2.5 8 4.5 18.5
5 Argumentatives 1.0 1.5 1.5 2.0   2.5 3.5 2.5 3.0 8 3.0 17.5
6 Hastings 3 1.0 2.0 2.5 2.0 2.5   3.0 3.0   7 3.0 16.0
7 Woodpushers 1 2.5   1.0 1.5 1.5 2.0   3.0 4.0 7 2.5 15.5
8 Crowborough 2 0.5 1.0 1.0 3.0 2.5 2.0 2.0
3.0 8 2.5 15.0
9 Brighton 3 1.5 2.0 2.0 2.5 2.0
1.0 2.0
7 0.5 13.0
Entered by: David Fryer on 24.04.2015 | 0 Comments
29th Crowborough Chess Congress 2014
Saturday 13th September 2014                          all pictures (c) David Gray
Click here for Crosstable

The 29th Crowborough Chess Congress took place at the Community Centre with a healthy 42 entries in the adult event and 76 entries in the Junior event.

Ian Snape a regular contender from Beckenham was in decisive form.
 
  Ian who in the noughties won the tournament three times on the trot returned to winning ways. He defeated Fraser Musson from Tunbridge Wells a former Crowborough Chess Club regular in Round 1 then faced 3 youngsters; David Liu, Crowborough CC, Callum Brewer, Brighton CC and  Morgan Blake, Worthing CC.
Despite (so I am told) getting into some dodgy positions experience triumphed over youth. With 4/4 Ian won a tough game in Round 5 against Peter Farr 3½/4 from the Crawley Args and in the final round faced Crowborough Captain Peter Kemp.
  To the dismay of the chasing pack the game between Ian and Peter ended in a quiet draw assuring Ian of 1st place and the Berberich Cup while Peter Kemp retained the Albany Cup presented to the top Crowborough player.

David Graham of Worthing CC finished a fine 2nd with in equal 3rd Rasa of Eastbourne CC and Rowan of Ilford CC.
 Name  Pts  Prizes
 Ian Snape
  5½  1st Place
 David Graham
  5  2nd Place
 Peter Kemp
  4½  3rd=
 Rasa Norinkeviciute
  4½  3rd=
 Rowan Brown
  4½  3rd=
 Philip Foley
  4  U160
 Martin Faulkner
  4
  U140
 Liam Backler
  2  U120
 James West
  2  U100
 Gerry Michaud
  3½  Veteran
Here is a little puzzle from the game between Phil Foley (white) and David Fryer (black). White to play.

Black has snaffled a piece and then defended like a wobbly jelly (raspberry flavour) facing a diner with a steak knife.

The question is on which square is the black king checkmated in 6 moves by 'best' play?

Phil won this game and captured the U160 grading prize.
  

Junior Results

Visit the Sussex Junior Chess site for full results, crosstables and photos
Entered by: David Fryer on 16.09.2014 | 0 Comments
British Chess Championships 2014 Aberystwyth
A number of Crowborough members picked up sticks and travelled to West Wales for the annual British Championships.

First of all congratulations to David Howell on defending his British title with a fantastic fight back from a loss in round 4. David was a member at Crowborough for many years with his name appearing on the Crowborough Town Council Cup which is presented each September to the top score by a Crowborough Junior in our Chess Congress. From the age of 9 he was playing for our 1st team in the MidSussex League and a short while later played regularly on top board.



In the Major Open Joshua Higgs scored 6½/11 and came 4th=

In the age group sections

U16 Billy Twigg-Molecey scored 4/7 and came 6th=
U14 David Liu scored 5/7 and came 3rd=
U13 Kartik Velayudham scored 3½/7 (unbeaten!)
U11 Amardip Ahluwalia scored 3½/7
U9 Matthew Liu scored 2/7
U8 Suriya Velayudham scored 2/7

In the Weekend Atkins Open myself and Martin Faulkner competed. In this tournament everyone was very closely matched so there was no difference in pairings whether you won or lost. I luckily got off to a good start and scored 4/5 while Martin hit players in form scoring 1½/5.

With 4/5 I won the tournament and have no idea how I managed it playing some crazy chess on the way.

 
Copyright http://britishchesschampionships.co.uk/photos-week-2/

Click here for one of my games - not for the faint hearted (must be over 16 to view)

Other events
Rapidplay U2000 Amardip Ahluwalia scored 3½/6
Blitz 3m+2s Billy Twigg-Molecy 4½/9 beating myself 4/9 on the way.
 
Congratulations to all of above.
Entered by: David Fryer on 03.08.2014 | 0 Comments
Return to Montargis
During the recent twinning visit to Montargis with the juniors I was invited to return in June for the Open International d'Amilly.

So on Friday 6th June I duly boarded the Eurostar to Paris and after negotiating the Paris Metro to Bercy I caught the SNCF train down to Montargis.

I was met by the Goix family and after a beer and a few games of chess they kindly dropped me off at my hotel. Later in the evening I walked round to the chess club where the juniors were having a high tech training lesson with a big screen and chess base.

After a takeaway and beer (apparently a club night tradition) we settled down to numerous games of exchange chess that with the french rule of allowing checkmate by pieces added to the board were short and chaotic.

Chess proper started on Saturday and ended on Monday with 2 games per day. The field included two IMs; Benjamin Bushijo from a neighbouring club and was there to counter the Bulgarian challenge from Tervel Serafimov.

The good thing about playing abroad is that your opponents do not know how you like to play and in round 5 Jacques Masset made the mistake of almost forcing me into a crude kingside attack.

see the game here

I did lose to the french IM Benjamin but started round 6 in a great position on 4 points out of 5 with the two high rated IMs playing each other. Unfortunately my concentration was lost after 18 moves when what sounded like explosions came from the theatre roof. On leaving the playing hall to investigate I discovered that an enormous hailstorm was in progress. This was like no hailstorm I had seen with golf ball size hail stones hitting the ground (and cars) at tremendous speed.

On returning to the hall I was met by a scene of chaos as the central skylight had been smashed and pieces of the ceiling and hail stones were pounding a number of tables. But in a truly laid back fashion the french simply moved their tables to the edge of the room and carried on playing !

Anyway my concentration was gone and I offered my opponent a draw which was duly accepted. Similar results occurred on the other top boards.



4½ points out of 6 was a good return and earned me 7th place and 33 Euros.

See http://www.echiquierdugatinais.fr/ for full results.

No
 Name Elo Fed  R1  R2  R3  R4  R5  R6 Points
Perf
1 BUJISHO Benjamin 2362
FRA +50N +19B +  7N +24B +  9N = 2B 5½ 2468
2 SERAFIMOV Tervel 2410
BUL +48B +12N +10B =  5N +24B = 1N 5 2365
3 DEVALLEE Jeremie
 2178
 FRA
 +27B
 +29N
  -  6B
 +  4N
 +11B
 = 8N
 4½
 2058
4 RUBINO William 2113
FRA +32N +14B =18N  -  3B +20N + 9B 4½ 2068
5 MASSET Jacques 2074
FRA +33N +25B +11N =  2B  -  7N +18B 4½ 2080
6 PEETERS Florian 1895
FRA +36N +22B +  3N  -  9B +19N = 7B 4½ 2020
7 FRYER David W 1957
ENG +38B +26N
  -  1B +41N +  5B = 6N 4½ 2028
8 DUPEUX Denis 1845
FRA +31N +28B  -  9N +25B +14N = 3B 4½ 1945

Entered by: David Fryer on 13.06.2014 | 0 Comments
Montargis Visit 10th - 14th April 2014
    Photo Diary

     

 
 


  
     
   
 
   



 
 


 
     
     


  


     
   
   
     
 


 
 


 


Entered by: David Fryer on 20.04.2014 | 0 Comments
28th Crowborough Chess Congress 14 Sep 2013
Results Cross Table click here
   
Venue:     CROWBOROUGH COMMUNITY CENTRE   
Date:       14 Sep 13 to 14 Sep 13   
Timings:    First  moves in 25 mins. Plus an additional 5 secs for each move.   
   










Entered by: David Fryer on 20.09.2013 | 0 Comments
British Chess Championships 2013 Torquay
Jonathan Tuck

Our esteemed Chairman despite a poorly ankle travelled to Torquay offering wise words and encouragement to all our players.

David Fryer

Club Secretary did 'play' scoring 4/6 in the Week 1 Rapidplay and 4½/11 in the Major Open. Less said the better and despite his new training technique christened the 'Blue Duck' managed to blunder away pieces and won positions in wild abandon.

Amardip Ahluwalia

Warmed up with a week of adult chess in the under 140 grading section then in the second week took on the best juniors in the country.

Amardip scored a fine last round knight and pawn endgame win to finish on an excellent 5/7 and 6th= in the under 10s.

Joshua Higgs

Tough to beat Joshua played in the under 14s scoring 50% and only losing once.

Brian Tarhon

Scored a superb 7/11 in the Major Open finishing 6th= and in the process qualified for next years British Chess Championships that are being held in Aberystwyth.

Billy Twigge-Molecey

Despite a tough start in the under 14s he was unbeaten in the last five rounds and finished 4th= with 4½/7.

David Howell

Former Crowborough 1st team player and past regular junior player at the club won the British Championship for the second time and in fine style by clinching the title with a round to spare.

If anyone has any photos or wishes to expand on their performances with commentary or annotated games please send them to secretary@crowboroughchess.org
Entered by: David Fryer on 10.08.2013 | 0 Comments
Crowborough Fun Day
Saturday 1st June 2013

With some nice weather the crowds were out in Crowborough High Street where the Chess Club sharing the Community Centre gazebo challenged all comers to a game.

It was a good advert for the club both Senior and Junior with a string of players taking turns to take on Amardip, Jonathan, Don and David.



Entered by: David Fryer on 02.06.2013 | 0 Comments
ECF Grades

A well deserved big rise for our captain Peter and nice improvements for Chris, Michael and Jonathan and top rating for Gareth.

Name
Standard
Previous
 Rapid     
Previous
Gareth Anthony
  203  200    
Peter Kemp
  200  184  195  195
Robert Elliston
  174  181  171  172
David Fryer
  164  170  183  183
Joshua Higgs
  153  137  156  138
Chris Dunn
  147  135  125  124
Jonathan Lawrance
  140  134    
Graham Salmon
  130  130  115  115
Gary McCulloch
  128  127  135  135
Michael Redman
  118  112  128  130
Caroline Campion
  108  111  131  135
Don Grant
  84  85  73  76
Matthew Pannett
      57 54
Luke Pannett
      55 57
Amardip Ahluwalia

48
 35
Christopher Sneddon

43
 42
Roland Bourne

43

Entered by: David Fryer on 24.10.2012 | 0 Comments
19th Oct 2012 Crowborough 2 vs East Grinstead 2
    Crowborough 2 19-Oct East Grinstead 2  
1 147 Dunn, Chris C 1-0 Hawkins, Norman 102
2 130 Salmon, Graham P ½-½ Kernot, Adrian 98
3 118 Redman, Michael A 1-0 Marshall, Suzanne 78
4 -  Hannan, James 0-1 Irvine, A -  
5 -   Ahluwalia, Amardip 1-0 Avery, Walter H 73
  132   3½-1½   88

Entered by: David Fryer on 23.10.2012 | 0 Comments
2012/13 Season has started

The brand new season started on Friday 21st October with a 2nd team match against East Grinstead with a 3½-1½ win.

We are now well ensconced into our new venue and have welcomed 11 new members to our junior chess club.

Our various teams are being selected and notified by the team captains

1st Team Peter Kemp                team1@crowboroughchess.org

2nd Team Caroline Campion      team2@crowboroughchess.org

KO team David Fryer                  secretary@crowboroughchess.org

Please help the team captains by letting them know your availability for our fixtures that can be found on www.midsussexchess.org.uk

Reminder : to play in the Mid Sussex League this year club members need to be at least a bronze member of the English Chess Federation – which you can pay for online at http://www.englishchess.org.uk

I am sure you all are but please help as much as possible at home games eg setting up, refreshments and clearing up as this is much appreciated by Don who is now well into his 70s

A bit of housekeeping

Can all members please email secretary@crowboroughchess.org confirming your preferred email address and contact phone number and for the club records your Home Address and Phone number.

If you have paid your subscriptions already thank you, for those who are yet to do so please can you give to Don as soon as possible or send a cheque made payable to Crowborough Chess Club to Don Grant 37 Rochester Way, Crowborough, TN6 2DS

Entered by: David Fryer on 21.10.2012 | 0 Comments




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