LEAGUE RESULTS - WEEK 20

DIV 1 - 1st team keep up good results with win over Shepshed

 

	26-Feb-09	v.	Shepshed (H)
1.	A. Byron	1		R. Henfrey	0
2.	M. Burrows	1		J. Simpson	0
3.	P. Horspool	1		D. Farrall	0
4.	A. Morley	1		S. Rice	0
5.	P. Gibbs	0.5		K. Bennet	0.5
		4.5			0.5

 

DIV 2 - 3rd team draw with Ashby 1

 

	26-Feb-09	v.	Ashby 1(H)
1.	P. Watkinson	0.5		R. Evans	0.5
2.	J. Wells	0.5		T. Dove	0.5
3.	A. Pike	0.5		L. Hayden	0.5
4.	R. Townsend	0		C. Tipper	1
5.	P. Gray	1		L. Adlard	0
		2.5			2.5

 

DIV 4 - 5th team have a good draw away at Oadby

 

	25-Feb-09	v.	Oadby (A)
1.	D. Candlin	1		D. White	0
2.	M. Thornton	1		F. Hulford	0
3.	I. Glenton	0		B. Cooper	1
4.	J. Gutteridge	0		D. Wilkins	1
		2			2

 

Neil

LEAGUE RESULTS - WEEK 19

DIV 1 - 2nd Team lose 2.5 - 3.5 to Littlethorpe 1

- details already posted

 

DIV 3 - 4th team beat Hinckley by 3 - 2

 

	19-Feb-09	v.	Hinckley (H)
1.	R. Townsend	0.5		H. Phillips	0.5
2.	B. Shuter	0		D. Moore	1
3.	P. Turland	0.5		B. Bailey	0.5
4.	P. Gray	1		T. Clay	0
5.	D. White	1		J. Smith	0
		3			2

 

Neil

Chess Puzzle: February

As a thank you to Martin Burrows for organizing the club championship, this month's puzzle shows his loss to Brandon Clarke in the County Championships last summer. :-)


[Martin Burrows (181) - Brandon Clarke (122) ]. Black to play and win.

12-year-old Brandon Clarke became the youngest Leicestershire Champion in history when he defeated reigning champion Martin with the black pieces with a spectacular combination from the above position. Can you see it? (hard).

Have fun!

LEAGUE RESULTS - WEEK 18

DIV 2 - 3rd Team win away against Loughborough 2 by 3 - 2

Details already posted

 

DIV 4 - 5th Team win away against Ashby 4

 

	12-Feb-09	v.	Ashby 4(A)
1.	N. Wyld	0.5		P. Gray	0.5
2.	R. Williams	1		C. Eastlake	0
3.	N. Roberts	0		D. Wilkins	1
4.	M. Storer	0		P. Winterton	1
		1.5			2.5

 

Neil

Loughborough 2 v Wigston 3 match result

Hi, All,

Played last night:

1     Hardy, Otto 142 Drawn 161 Watkinson, Phil
2   Adcock, Terry 146  0-1  146 Smith, Stephen
3  Hickman, Peter 139  0-1  150 Wells, Jez
4 Adcock, Gregory 139  1-0  143 Pike, Andrew
5   Clarkson, Ian 137 Drawn 141 Daniel, John
calculated score----- 2 - 3 ----------------

A very even match which could have gone either way.

Otto was playing very solid chess and had the better game after I blundered a pawn. A draw was a fair result with only a few minutes left on the clock.

[PK Watkinson - O Hardy, Black to play]. (Oops!).

Stephen on board 2 had a much more interesting game, being under the cosh for the majority of the time until the position opened up and he took the opportunity of winning a piece with a rook fork. A couple of moves later, another piece was going and his opponent resigned.

Jez, on board 3, finished a confident game with a king hunt and mate, his opponent's (White) king being forced to take a bishop on g6 (!) before being mated on h4 (or h3 - not sure). Andrew, however, struggled after losing a pawn just after the opening and was never given a chance to recover.

John, on the bottom board, seemed, to my occassional glance, to have the initative in the centre with potential for a break-though or a king side attack. However potential is one thing and conversion to a win is another, and a draw was a fair result.

The next match for W3 is in a fortnight's time, at home against Ashby.

Regards,
Phil (Temporary captain).

Answers to chess puzzles

A couple of blogs ago, a couple of puzzles were taken from Alan Byron's games from Gibaltar. Here are the answers: The first one (see above) was the easy one to get you in the mood: Black to play and win.
The move, of course, is Qf1 mate. This was taken from Alan's last round game and so is a nice way to finish a tournament.

The second one is a bit harder. Black to play and win material. I gave you a hint by mentioning the knight on g6. Did you see 53. ... Rxg4+! 54. Kxg4 (and now the knight can fork king and rook) Nxd5+ Play continued 55. Kf4 Nxd3+ 56. Kf3 Ne5+ and Black had won an important pawn.

Nice one, Alan.

LEAGUE FIXTURES - FEBRUARY 2009

Thurs 12th Feb -    3 v. Loughboro 2(Away)

                            5 v. Ashby 4 (Away)

 

Thurs 19th Feb -    2 v. Littlethorpe 1 (Home)

                            4 v. Hinckley (Home)

 

Wed 25th Feb -    5 v. oadby (Away)

 

Thurs 26th Feb -     1 v. Shepshed (Home)

                             3 v. Ashby 1 (Home)

 

Neil

LEAGUE RESULTS - WEEK 17

The 2nd & 4th Team League matches due on Thursday against Loughborough teams were postponed due to the weather conditions.

 

D12 League Cup

 

A team lose on handicap to Braunstone

 

	4-Feb-09	v.	Braunstone A (A)
1.	J. Robinson	0.5		W. Dehnen	0.5
2.	J. Bingham	0		M. Burrows	1
3.	D. Sandrovitch	0.5		A. Morley	0.5
4.	G. Young	1		D. White	0
	Bonus	0.5		Bonus	0.0
		2.5			2.0

 

Neil

 

Alan Byron at Gibraltar

Hi,

Just to mention that Alan Byron has been playing in the Challengers tournament at Gibraltar, and had a good result with 4/5, giving him 5th position in a strong competition.

After the third round, he was on the top board and got his picture on the tournament website:

[Alan looking pensive at the start of the 4th round at Gibraltar, his opponent is the eventual winner of the tournament, Nicolai Getz from Norway].

Now the chess played in these international tournaments is different to the chess you and I play, and I don't necessarily understand much of what is going on, but here are a couple of simple combinations from Alan's game which I did understand and enjoy, and hope you enjoy them too:

[ Hagen - Byron, Rd 5]


[Black to play and win].

This is from Alan's last round game, and in what I imagine was fanatic time trouble, White had moved his queen to threaten Alan's rook and mate. What was Alan's convincing reply? (easy).

[Horton-Kitchlew - Byron, Rd3]

[Black to play].

White has just taken the pawn on e5 (King's 5) and Alan would like to recapture with his knight, but this would lose his d5 (Queen's 4) pawn. So what did Alan play instead? (average).

Have fun!

Visit the website at http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2009/challengers/index.html

Well done, Alan!

Phil.

Scraptoft Valley 1 v Wigston 2 match result

Hi,
Played on Thursday night at Scraptoft Valley:

1  Edwards, Alan 181  Drawn  173  Morley, Andy
2   Graf, Roland 170   1-0   161   Watkinson, Phil
3   Burgess, Ray 164  Drawn  146  Smith, Stephen
4   Collins, Bob 162   1-0   150  Wells, Jez
5     Tate, Mick 155   1-0   143  Pike, Andrew
---------------------------------------------------
calculated score :    4 - 1

A tough match where we were outgraded on every board. However Andy had perhaps not read the script since he enjoyed an edge thoughout his game with Alan Edwards, culminating in a passed pawn. However, Alan was never going to let Andy have anything more than a draw.

My game had its moments, but after I slightly misplayed the opening, the final result was not going to be in doubt. Stephen had an interesting game where he was generally the poorer, and then it looked to be curtains when his opponent boldly sacrificed a piece for a couple of pawns to give him three connected passed pawns. However Stephen managed to hold the draw.

Jez, on board 4, is finding his new grade a bit tough (tell me about it...) and was struggling from about move 5... Similarly, Andrew, back to chess after a break over Christmas, found his opponent in good form, and after losing the exchange in the late middlegame, was finished off in efficient style.

The next match is next Thursday (5th Feb) at home against Loughboro 1.
Regards, Phil.