Brighton and Hove win Knock Out final

A grading difference of 62 meant we needed 2½ to win the match (a drawn outcome is not possible in the KO, any more than unfinished games). Knock out matches usually go to the stronger team, in spite of the grading handicap - this year's results bear this out with only one upset in seven games. So 62 grading points - we were expecting more - was still enough to wipe us out. Most of the difference was on board one where Callum took on Feliks as black with a board difference of 43. Feliks was already struggling and two pawns down when the snatch of a particularly poisoned pawn led him into a trap and his queen was cornered. Robin narrowly lost a tricky and time-pressured ending on board two with a 20 point difference. Paul S. drew on board three, Michael H. lost on four and Jan won on five. We had 2½. A great result for Callum who is fast becoming one of our strongest players.

Play Online Chess

[Event "KO Final"]
[Site "BHCC"]
[Date "14.5.15."]
[Round ""]
[White "Feliks Kwiatkowski"]
[Black "Callum Brewer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "209"]
[BlackELO "166"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Bc4 Ngf6 6. Ng5 e6 7. Qe2 Nb6 8.
Bd3 Be7 9. N1f3 O-O 10. O-O h6 11. Ne4 Nbd5 12. Nxf6+ Nxf6 13. c3 b6 14. Bf4
Bb7 15. Rad1 Qc8 16. c4 Rd8 17. Bb1 Ba6 18. b3 c5 19. Be5 cxd4 20. Nxd4 Qc5
21. Rfe1 Rac8 22. Qc2 g6 23. a4 Bb7 24. f3 Rd7 25. Kh1 Rcd8 26. Bxf6 Bxf6 27.
Nb5 Qe5 28. Rf1 Rxd1 29. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 a6 31. Na3 Qb2 32. Nc2 Qxb3 33.
Qf1 Bc6 34. h3 Bxa4 35. Kh2 Bc6 36. Qc1 Qxc4 37. Qxh6 Be5+ 38. Kg1 Bf4 0-1

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who's played in the KO this year. As well as last night's team that's Michael C., Terry, Rob, Mustapha and Seb (and me).

*    *    *    *    *

PS The results posted below from the MSCL website use last year's grades which makes the grading difference 74 (with 49 on board one), whereas the results form is preset using the January grades. Rule changes to clarify this are apparently being sought at the MSCL AGM.

14 May		Brighton				Haywards_Heath
1	163	Brewer, Callum D	1	-	0	Kwiatkowski, Feliks J	212
2	163	Jones, Robin A	0	-	1	Boardman, Jeffrey	180
3	161	Selby, Paul R	½	-	½	Cole, Vivian J	169
4	152	Hamilton, Michael J	0	-	1	Faulkner, Martin J	161
5	129	Ten Sythoff, Jan	1	-	0	Fitzgerald, Neil A	120
grade diff:	-74		2.5		2.5
		Required to win:	2.5		3

MSCL results and final game of the season

The end of the season is nigh and results are in. Paul's first team came second to Worthing this year, due in part to a couple of Knoll Knights having trotted over to support Worthing when their team disbanded last year. Robin's second team won division two by three game points so will be facing tough opposition in division one next season. Jan's third team looks like slipping back into the third division, where they will be joined next season by Michael's fourth team coming up, having won the fourth division with ease winning every match bar one. Andrew's fifth team held a respectable centre position in the fourth division on four out of eight. So particular congratulations to the second and fourth teams who are this year's winners in the see-saw fortunes of the Mid-Sussex League.

Meanwhile the keenly-awaited final of the Knock Out Competition - the absolute last match of the season - will be held at Brighton and Hove this evening as we take on last year's winners and KO favourites, Haywards Heath. An exciting match is anticipated where our rising talent take on the heavyweights of Mid-Sussex - all games to be finished on the night by quickplay.

NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON - watch this space!

Kevin AWOL

Hello fellow members,

It's a shame I haven't seen much of you all lately but life has been busy (in a good way) with a newish job and moving house . I won't be available for chess matches until mid-May, so I'll schedule my remaining PK matches between then and the end of June.

NB For the moment my landline number is suspended, I am hoping to get the same number when I move house but that's not certain yet. In the meantime, my e-mail address and mobile number are still correct as per the club contact list.

Cheers, Kevin.

1st Weekend Hastings Chess Tournament

Dear Chess Players,

This link will provide you with the details of a new venture by the Hastings Club to provide regular weekend chess tournaments for local players (and anyone else of course), provided there is interest from chess players in the region.

The ambiance of our renowned chess club, using chess sets for the most part with over a hundred years of history (still in good condition!), the relative ease of access to the club and reasonable cost of entry may be something that local chess players will be able to take advantage of. We do hope that players from all over Sussex, and elsewhere, will be able to have an enjoyable weekend of chess at our club on a fairly regular basis.

With my best wishes,

Jeremy H

No more Wednesdays and NB Saturdays

Please note that our Wednesday evenings have come to an end and we are back to just Thursdays and Saturdays.

Also if you are still at the club after 6:00 on a Saturday please check there is a keyholder present - if not you run a slight risk of being locked in until Monday. (Current keyholders are Andrew, Geoff, Rob and Sue. At least one keyholder is normally present and will warn you if they are leaving.)

Weekend activities

There're still plenty of internal club tournament games left to play but, if you fancy going further afield, there's a

Time Handicap Tournament at Hastings this weekend

and an Easter Long Play Congress at Coulsden next weekend.

Tough match for first team against Worthing 1

Last Thursday we entertained a strong Worthing side in the Mid-Sussex League. The Worthing juggernaut had been mowing down all the opposition this season sometimes by a large margin and we knew that we would face a stern test. Worthing were without Donald Macfarlane for the match, but they had a good substitute in Peter Larwood.

Geoffrey James was our best player on the night and he won a positional game against Chris Jones. The other game to finish that evening saw Paul Batchelor lose against Peter Larwood.

That left three unfinished games which all ended in draws. David Graham missed a win against me and Mike Nicholas appeared to be much better at one time against Simon Wilks. John Henshaw's game against Keith Homeyard was the last to be declared drawn. The two players had previously only played each other once and that was as long as 39 years ago!

The match was therefore drawn, though we would have to admit that, if Worthing had taken their chances, we would have lost. We have now 6.5 points out of 8, while Worthing have the same number of points from 7 games. Our last match is against Eastbourne, but, even if we run out winners, we are unlikely to win the league.

First team win against Horsham 1

Last Tuesday we gained an excellent 3.5 to 1.5 win against Horsham first team. Horsham has a vibrant club, which can always be relied upon to provide stern opposition. Wins were obtained by Paul and me, while Simon, Geoffrey and John drew their games. This means that we have now won five and drawn two of our seven games. Although this is a good sequence of results, it has been eclipsed by the performances of the strong Worthing team, who have won every match so far. We play Worthing next week which match could decide the league. However, unfortunately it is likely that matters are not entirely within our hands and, even if we were to win our last two matches, we might still miss out on retaining our title.

Brighton players win at Bexhill

Six of us had a really fun time in Bexhill at the weekend - the results of three winners can be seen here. The event, at 39, was one entrant short of break-even, but more will follow - perhaps with hot dinners - and is worth supporting if we want local tournaments to happen post-e2e4. Congrats to Mustapha, Simon and Seb who - apart from the 13 year old girl who won it - took the top spots.

Bexhill chess last call

Well it's never the last call actually but just a reminder about the five round tournament coming up this weekend.
Three sections U2200, U1900 and U120 ECF.
Juniors can play for £20 and there is £5 off for local club members.
Thirty entries so far so a decent attendance will ensure some worthwhile and fun chess.
Entries at
http://www.sussexweekendchess.blogspot.co.uk/p/latest-entries.html

Ne le manquez pas!
Jeremy Hudson

End of the junior tuition classes

Attendances at the junior tuition classes have dwindled since Christmas and for the last two sessions there were more organisers present than students. I have therefore decided reluctantly to end the classes about a month earlier than originally intended. I should like to thank Sue, Andrew and Robin for the help that they have given me.

NB Wednesdays are still available to adult members but there will no longer be a guaranteed presence for anyone just turning up. Still useful for arranging your tournament games though and still some league matches to be played.  Sue

Wednesday rooms

This Wednesday 18th there will be a meeting in the through room (not ours) and any tournament players should use the poker room. There aren't any team matches being played.

Next Wednesday 25th is the KO semi-final which will be held in the match room - i.e. the back room, now set up with our match tables - and any tournament games can be played at the front. The poker room will be being used by overflow bridge players.

In both cases the library can be used as the analysis/friendly room.

Ezra's coaching sessions

Ezra gave eight of us an enjoyable free analysis session on Wednesday. He plans to start a regular group session in about a month if there is enough interest. The cost per person will depend on the numbers interested but it will be drop-in each time - Wednesdays in March, reverting to Thursdays after Easter. He will also be available for individual coaching @ £20 an hour. If you are interested in either or both please email Ezra directly. (The group coaching is for club members only - join for £25 after Easter.)

1st team wins against Horsham 2

Yesterday we won our Mid-Sussex League fixture against Horsham 2 by the score of 3.5 to 1.5. 14 year old Callum Brewer made his debut for the first team and gained an impressive win. John and Paul also did well to win. I drew my game and Geoffrey lost. This means that we have now won four and drawn two of our six games. To stand a chance of retaining our league title we would probably have to win all three of our remaining matches and this involves playing against some very strong opposition.

Brighton reach the final of the McArthur Cup

Yesterday we travelled to Haywards Heath to play our game in the semi-final of the McArthur Cup. Last week we had drawn with our opponents in the Mid-Sussex League, but this time we recorded a 4-2 win in the six board competition. Wins were obtained by Simon, Geoffrey and Paul. John and I drew our games while Chris lost. We now play the winners of Horsham and Hastings in the final.

Tournaments

Hopefully members can arrange some tournament games over the next few weeks. It is best we do not leave too many to play at the last minute.
I would recommend members aim to have all games completed by the end of May. This prevents any last minute problems occurring near the deadline of 30th June..
This does not apply to the OT tournament which runs until the end of August.

Places to go in February

Two local tournaments coming up this month:

7th Portsmouth Congress  20th - 22nd February

Bexhill Weekend Chess Tournament  28th February - 1st March

and, for new members, you only need five results now to get an ECF grade in August - either of these would do.

A draw for the first team against Haywards Heath 1

Just as in our match at Hastings last weekend we struggled to make an impression against Haywards Heath first team. Wins were obtained by John and Paul and losses by Simon and Geoffrey. My own game ended in a draw. This means that we have four points out of five in the league, but we need to improve rapidly to stand a chance of winning the competition. We do it all again against Haywards Heath in the McArthur Cup next week, when the match will be played over six boards.

Free Group Lesson with FM Ezra Kirk, 2330 elo

Ezra is going to hold a free group coaching session next Wednesday 4th February at 7:45 pm. The session will last about two hours and is open to members only. You may bring interesting games for analysis and Ezra will bring some of his. Content will depend on numbers attending but if you have any suggestions please email Ezra.