Christmas opening

We're open over the Christmas period as per normal except for Christmas Eve when we're closed and New Year's Eve when we will be open but only between 2:00 and 6:00 pm as the Bridge Club will be closed.

Plus next Thursday 22nd there'll be mince pies and wine. 😋

Juniors on Arctic trip to play the Russians

If you were wondering where half our star juniors had got to this season they've been off in Murmansk playing the Russians - and teams from Paris and Rotterdam -  see Mike Forster's blog and photo gallery where Callum Brewer and Edward Gray can be spotted along with Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman.

New season launched

The new season is now off with the internal tournaments up and running and the MSCL fixtures set. The latter may be difficult to view on the Mid-Sussex site but B&H matches are on the B&H website Events Calendar (see above). Robin has taken over running the internal tournaments so please talk to him if you want to join one or have any other queries - see Tournaments above. Don't forget you need to be a member of the club and the ECF to play in either (for those of you yet to renew the bank transfer details are on the FAQs page - see under Home above). Happy playing everyone!

PS Sussex Chess News 2016 is now on the Links page - see under Club Library above.

Saturday 24th September

We are hosting the Dieppe match on Saturday 24th September so the club will be filled to capacity. If members want to come and watch they can but there won't be much space to play and it's probably not going to be a good time for other visitors and non-members. The match will finish at 6:00 pm when the club will be closed to all but the team and committee helpers.

Tournaments

The rapidplay tournaments finished on 31st August 2016.
Congratulations to the following.
                               1)    Open rapidplay tournament.
                                               Winner         Jonathan Davies
                                                Second        Anthony Stanton
                                                Third           Paolo Ortolani        Alaa Albadin.
                             
                               2)   Rapidplay Ladder Tournament
                                                Winner        Jonathan Davies.
           

Brunswick Festival: Saturday 20th August

Next Saturday 20th August the club will be decamped and set up at the Brunswick Festival all day - weather permitting. It's only a short walk east from the club to Brunswick Square. If it's fine we'll be there all day from midday on and they'll be no-one at the club. It's a chance for friends and family and anyone else to come along for a chat and a game or two and perhaps consider joining us next season.There's lots going on and it's usually a fun day out in the sun - hopefully.

See us ready to go last year:

Tournament results

 Congratulations to the following:
1)  Club Championship.
                               Julien Carron         Simon Wilks             Joint winners.
                              Geoffrey James      Chris Lake                 Joint third
2) Plummer Knight
                               Terry Brown                                            Winner
                               Alaa Albadin         Jonathan Davies        Joint second.
3) Tasker Tankard
                              Joe Everett                                                First
                              Sue Chadwick                                           Second
                              Robert Counsell                                        Third.
              Congratulations to you all. The cups, plaques and certificates will be presented to you all at the AGM in September.

Club equipment

The club has three wooden boards available for sale to members at £10 to £30. One board is 100 years old and requires restoration. There is also a wooden board and a decorative set plus board (this is suitable for display purposes only) available free to anyone who wants them. Please contact Anthony if you are interested.

MSCL AGM: B&H win again and Junior League approved

Much excitement at the MSCL AGM last week when it was decided to run a separate Junior League next season, starting earlier and finishing on the night (!), sneaking in as an alternative proposal to Eastbourne's  fourth division idea. Plus Brighton and Hove won the league cup and the first division tankard - both of which were carried off by first team captain, Paul Batchelor. Congrats to him for winning 6/7, and the first team for a winning team performance of 8.5/9.

Tournaments

Great to see that the majority of games are now completed in the three main tournaments. Well done everyone. A few still have to be finished but these seem to be in hand. The deadline is 30th June 2016.
Luckily I have noticed that the results of a few games have not been written on the A4 sheet. I use this information to send in results for grading. I have added them to the A4 sheet . If results are omitted  they will not be sent for grading. If hopefully an error is later discovered the result will then be entered in the next grading session.

Hastings and St Leonards 4th Weekend Tournament

Hastings are running another weekend tournament on 2nd - 3rd July.
See this page on their website for further details.

First Team Season Over.

The first team have finished the season with a loss in the McArthur cup. Although we did hold the trophy for seven seasons. A thank you to Geoffrey James and Shaun Brewer for providing lifts to away matches when required. Also a thank you to Paul Selby for captaining the side twice in my absence. Silverware this season was won in the form of the league[Mowatt] Division One Cup.
 I hope everyone who has participated has enjoyed the experience and hopefully will return next season to renew the first team campaign.

Hastings and St Leonards 3rd Weekend Tournament

Hastings are running another weekend tournament on 7th-8th May.
See this page on their website for further details.

Tournaments

A reminder that the longplay tournaments end on 30th June. However it is best to aim to have all your games played by the middle of June at the latest. It can often be difficult to arrange games at the last moment.
Also be aware that the winner of each tournament is the person with the highest score irrespective of the number of games played. E.G. Player A only completes five games and has five points. Player B completes 8 games and has 5.5 points. Player B is the winner.
The two Rapidplay tournaments continue until 31st August.

Brighton & Hove Chess Club Division 1 Champions

A hearty congratulation to everyone who contributed to this season's campaign. At present we lead Haywards Heath by 4-0. John Henshaw's game is adjourned. This means we finish the season with
 8.5 Match Points out of a possible 9. A most commendable performance. Well done everyone.
 Today's winners were Julien Carron, Callum Brewer, Simon Wilks and myself.

Rapidplay Ladder Tournament

The Open Rapidplay Tournament is now full.
 If present members, wish to enter a tournament, the Open Rapidplay Ladder Tournament is now operating.
To enter members just write their name on a card positioned in the ladder and challenge people above them. The time control is the same as the Open Rapidplay Tournament.
The rules of the Open Rapidplay Ladder Tournament are displayed at the club.

Library and clocks

Anthony's updated Library catalogue and all his digital clock help pages are now on the website. The clock pages make everything a doddle for people still puzzled by anything digital. Please take a moment for them to load if you don't see them at first. If you want to practise at home you can get a super new DGT 2010 for £49.99 - sale price from Chess and Bridge - or a much cheaper DGT 1001 for £19.99 for just the basics.

Also don't forget the e2e4 comeback at Gatwick next weekend.

Hastings chess match 12-Jan-2016

Hi Chess Club,

I am looking for 3 players willing to travel to Hastings to play for the 3rd Team next Tuesday 12th Jan 2016.

Myself and Sue are driving so you can have a lift.

If you would like to play at Hastings next week, then please contact me ASAP. ***Playing strength is not important.

Contact me on 07976 739911 or email : michael_s_cain@yahoo.co.uk

Thank You

Michael