Hope Valley Quick Play

Annual 5’ Tournament for the Hope Valley Trophy: 14 May 2012

27 players entered, including 8 for whom it was their first time.  After 7 rounds the top 4 for the KO stage were: A Ledger, F Ai; J Arnott, P Fletcher.
Semi-final:

A Ledger  0  1   J Arnott

F Ai          0  1   P Fletcher

Play off for 3rd/4th

F Ai          0  1    A Ledger

FINAL       J Arnott   0.5   0.5   1             0.5   0.5   0    P Fletcher, a very tense, exciting and tight three games with everyone spectating!
Prizes      1st                       J Arnott (trophy retained from last year)   £34

2nd                      P Fletcher   £15

3rd                       A Ledger     £8

Under 170           K Dewhurst; O Hackner    £5 each

Under 14 Junior   S Cobbold    £5

John Fryer appreciates the great help offered by Bill and helpers of Woodseats, and extends thanks to James Alsop, his junior assistant.

 

 

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Summer League underway

The summer league is now underway with close matches at Worksop and Chesterfield

Phill

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Venue for Claycross – Summer League Matches

Brian Lever wants opponents to know that Clay Cross Summer League home matches  will be played at Bateman’s Mill, S42 6AE, (click for directions):

(The same link can be reached through our club website on  http://www.claycrosschessclub.co.uk/abouttheclub.html, which is also listed on the Association page for Clay Cross

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Charity Event

For those of you who attended Bill’s party, you will all be pleased to note that we raised £120 (150 with gift aid)

A heartfelt thanks to all concerned

Cheers

Phill Beckett

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Sheffield B v Huddersfield on 14th April 2012

Needing to win the match, to give us the best chance of promotion, we fielded our strongest side of the season. As a result we out graded Huddersfield on every board, but there wasn’t much in it on the higher ones.
Chris was the first to finish, with a draw. I was surprised that my opponent was putting up such good resistance but it was early days yet and we were looking at least even or better on all boards. Tristram also drew but James won and we were up on a few other boards as my opponent crumbled in the ending. Mark was lucky to win, his opponent throwing away his queen when mate in 2 was a better option, but all the others looked justified and rather inevitable. The final score of 6½ – 1½ therefore only slightly flattered us and meant that if Bradford Central did not beat Hull then we would be promoted. But guess what. Bradford beat Hull, by the same score that we beat Huddersfield by.
As it was one of the Hull player’s birthday that day and some of the team went to his party, they only fielded three of the players that faced us and, the opponent I beat on board 6 was playing board 2 for Hull on this occasion. I did think Bradford were capable of beating Hull but it’s a pity it didn’t require a little more effort. So, it’s another year in the I M Brown for us but, we must again be one of the favourites for promotion.
I would like to finish by thanking all the players that turned out for the B team, especially those that turned out at short notice, and if anyone else would like a game just get in touch.
Sheffield B v Huddersfield
M Hankinson 1 – 0 R Keely
I David ½ – ½ D Firth
M Allison 1 – 0 D Tooley
T C Cole ½ – ½ R Boylan
C J Marley ½ – ½ R Sutcliffe
J Marley 1 – 0 S Oliver
R A Sutcliffe 1 – 0 B Corner
A S McIntosh 1 – 0 J Hughes
6½ – 1½

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End of term

So, to the final match of the season – a dead rubber against Calderdale A and a shot at cementing third place in the table. We were missing Oskar, Paul, Louis and Pete from the top half of the team so reinforcements were called for and as late as Friday afternoon we were still a player short; take a bow, 10 year old Kyle Sharpe, drafted in on the Friday to ensure we didn’t default any boards.
With captain David Patrick on 8, Calderdale A were clearly keen to finish the season on a high and ultimately their superior play fully deserved the rather crushing victory they secured. That’s not to say we didn’t battle long and hard, with our juniors doing what they could to try to reverse the tide, but we ended up well beaten.
On bottom board, Kyle put up a good fight against David and things were even until fairly late on. However, under pressure and not realising that he had another hour on the clock, Kyle started to move too quickly and dropped a piece; David ensured that was decisive and we were 1-0 down.
It didn’t stay at that scoreline for long – as I became the next player to lose with an absolute shocker of a move against Darwin taking me from a dodgy position to a simply lost one. Cheap tactics don’t tend to work against a player graded over 180 who has been undefeated all season; cheap tactics that aren’t really tactics at all but just outright blunders, even less so.
2-0 soon enough 3-0 and I was starting to worry about a whitewash. Bill, making a late season D Team debut, was massively outgraded against Mark Whitehead but did well to battle down to an endgame where he was a pawn down. Unfortunately, Mark then proved that his bishop was a lot stronger than Bill’s knight and gradually Bill was pushed back until his knight ran out of squares.
However, our board three ensured the whitewash was not going to happen. In recent weeks, Paul has had a resurgence of form and so it proved here again – Martyn has been unbeaten in the YCA this season, but that record did not survive the final match as Paul sacrificed a piece to open up the kingside. Eschewing the opportunity to win Martyn’s queen, Paul instead opted for a king hunt, driving the monarch from g8 to the other side of the board and although I missed the denouement, the end could not have been too far off when Paul played b4+!
Barry’s game concluded next; he was also significantly outgraded but opted for a quiet opening and seemed to be no worse, albeit somewhat passive. JP managed to winkle out a pawn advantage…and then his queen and rook started to do some damage and a discovered check was enough to force resignation with mate looming. Tom was the next to crash to defeat – his queenside stripped bare by John’s marauding pieces after an unusual opening, and counter-play in the centre not proving enough to turn the tide.
All of which left two more juniors on the top two boards. Robert had taken more space in the middlegame and Miles had sat back somewhat; however, things simplified whilst becoming more complex and a Q+2B endgame looked increasingly difficult to play; I missed the end but it looked like at least one pair of bishops was coming off and a draw was agreed. All eyes on James against Phil on top board. The early stages saw James castle, push all his kingside pawns, and set up a series of pins. After that, it got interesting and Phil attacked on the queenside whilst James tried to bludgeon a way through on the kingside. From what I heard in the car on the way home, it might be that James missed a chance to win but eventually Phil’s attack proved the stronger and that was that.
A heavy defeat…but no disgrace and yet another match with four juniors in the side which can only bode well for the future. Well played to Calderdale, who might yet have sneaked into fourth if Rose Forgrove slipped up in their final match.
Phil Watson 1 – 0 James Bowler
Robert Newton 1/2-1/2 Miles Edwards-Wright
Martyn Hamer 0 – 1 Paul Blackman
Darwin Ursal 1 – 0 Andrew Hards
John Morgan 1 – 0 Tom Wills
Mark Whitehead 1 – 0 Bill Ward
JP Waering 1 – 0 Barry Williams
David Patrick 1 – 0 Kyle Sharpe

And so… it all came down to this. After a season where, to be frank, we have underperformed on occasion, our fate was barely in our own hands as we travelled to Halifax for a showdown with Calderdale B. The winners were safe, the losers relegated, and a draw would suit our hosts. On paper, we had a strong side – arguably stronger than the D Team playing on the other side of the room! Calderdale were also out in force, but we actually outgraded them on every board so I was hopeful that we would have chances.
Chris and David were first to finish – queens and most pieces off early doors, doubled rooks, solid pawn structures, draw. Not long after, Srini and Malcolm also shared the point, albeit Srini had used considerably more of his time, with no doubt a fair proportion of that spent ensuring his queen wasn’t trapped after it ended up deep in opposition territory with only a few squares available. Two games gone, 1-1. And a quick wander around the boards suggested we might be struggling to achieve our objective.
Not for the first time this season, Daniel was able to lead the way. Facing David’s Budapest, he steadily improved his position, worked a small advantage and then a slightly bigger one, picked up a pawn and slowly edged up the board; eventually two connected passed pawns were enough to seal the win. This was followed by a win on two for Tom, absent for nearly the entire season whilst at university. A Budapest had given him a pawn advantage over Peter and he too slowly improved his position before a rook on the seventh proved decisive. 2 wins became 3, as Andy also won after an unusual opening and some queenside pressure eventually gave him a breakthrough and the point against Neil. A clean sweep of the top three boards, and a 4-1 scoreline. One draw from the last three games and it was all over.
Naturally, we made it as hard as possible for ourselves…. Seabelo was 2 for 2 going into this match but had managed to lose the exchange at some point and as pieces and pawns came off, this disadvantage proved increasingly hard to play around… Steven didn’t give an inch and the score was 4-2. However, both remaining games looked comfortable for us; I couldn’t see either player losing and we only needed one draw when…disaster! Mike looked like he was dropping the exchange, but found a way to save his rook. Andy then seemed to be getting his knight trapped…but in fact there was a sting in the tail and when Mike shuffled his king over to the pinned knight, Qe6+ led to mate in two. 4-3… and now everything was riding on the final game. Stuart had given a pawn up in the opening for rapid development but never really got an attack going. However, Martin wasn’t making any inroads himself and with both players knowing that their match was all-or-nothing, it wasn’t for the faint-hearted. Time was slipping away too, with both players deep into the last five minutes of their allotted time and 42 moves some way off… and then it happened. Stuart pushed a pawn to hit Martin’s bishop. Martin responded by pushing a pawn to hit Stuart’s rook…but this left his bishop unprotected. Stuart captured, Martin offered his hand…and we had done it! Saved by the skin of our teeth, in the last game of the last match of the season.
Sheffield E live to fight another season in division two, whilst Calderdale will no doubt be looking to bounce straight back up next season.

David Shapland 0 – 1 Daniel Sullivan
Peter Hughes 0 – 1 Tom Whitaker
Neil Suttie 0 – 1 Andy George
Andy Leatherbarrow 1 – 0 Mike Newett
Martin Syrett 0 – 1 Stuart Crosthwaite
Malcolm Corbett 1/2 – 1/2 Srinivasa Muthukrishnan
David Sugden 1/2 – 1/2 Chris Willey
Steve Priest 1 – 0 Seabelo Manenye

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Fund raising venture by Bill Ward and Phill Beckett

For those that have not heard, Phill Beckett and myself (Bill Ward) have been planning a joint venture.

This will include a Birthday party (for me!), with a buffet laid on and plenty to drink, combined with a fund-raising charity event for Phil Beckett’s chosen charity of SCOPE.

This will all take place at Woodseats Working Men’s Club, on The Dale, just a little way up from Woodseats Social Club, which used to be Woodseats Chess Club’s venue, on Thursday, 19th April.

But much more importantly, there will also be laid on for your entertainment, a six round, 8 minute Swiss system tournament, which will be controlled by Phill Beckett and open to all. Phil asks that all entrants get there by 7.15pm to enter, the first round will be at 7.30pm.
We suggest a donation of at least a £1 all monies collected will be donated to SCOPE
There will be a few small prizes (books)

TGB

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Sheffield Congress 2012 Entry Form

The Entry Form for the 2012 Sheffield Congress can be downloaded as a Word doc.

Further details of the Congress are as follows:

ECF Chief Arbiter: David Welch
Sections: Open (inc Yorkshire Championship), Major (U171),
Intermediate (U146), Minor (U121)
Prize Money (all sections): 1st £200, 2nd £100, 3rd £60 + grading prizes
Best Game Prize: £25 (all sections)
Venue: King Edward VII Upper School (map)
Time Control: Each player has 40 moves in 1h 40 then 20 mins to complete the game
Rd 1: 7.00pm Rd 2: 9.30am Rd 3 2.15pm Rd 4: 9.30am Rd 5 2.15pm
Entry Fee: £25 (£20 juniors)

This information is also available on the Congress specific part of this website here or via the link under the banner at the top of the page.

If you have any questions please contact: Paul Bailey 078 12 49 49 57 or email 

Thanks to everyone who supported the Congress last year.

We aim to make this an enjoyable event for everyone.

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North / East Sheffield: Junior Chess Day – Thursday 12th April

GM Chris Ward is coming up to Sheffield on Thursday 12th April to run a junior chess day. Focussing in particular on the northern and eastern parts of Sheffield, the aim is both to reach 8-13 year old children in this part of the city who enjoy playing chess and to give skills and confidence to adults (parents, school staff and others) who are interested in supporting junior chess. The event, run at Firth Park Community Arts College, is being organised under the auspices of Sheffield Children’s University.

If you’d be interested in supporting junior chess in this area, you are very welcome to come along. For booking information, please contact me as soon as possible at jeremyxxhamm (ignore the xs) at blueyonder.co.uk.

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SUMMER LEAGUE

Entry forms will be circulated soon.

If your club is interested please let Phill Beckett know by email

Maximum matches 10 as teams will be grouped in sections of 6 teams

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