Many thanks to Jonathan Wells who took on other club members in a very enjoyable simultaneous event on Friday 18th December. Playing seven adults and four juniors Jonathan was unbeaten with nine wins and two draws (well done to Edward Hackford and Jack Evans) .
At the first weekend of the British Championships at Warwick University the Rapidplay competitions were held. There were several sections and I had entered the U-150 tournament. The format was over two days, with 11 rounds and 20 minutes on each player’s clock, plus an additional 10 seconds added after each move. Hopefully this would help me practice playing faster after many time-troubled games last season!
The first day was quite tough, with three losses in a row after long, close finishes which left me on 1.5/5. However, I started better on Sunday morning, and ended with 6.5/11 including a quick draw in the last round with most players suffering mental exhaustion by then!
An enjoyable couple of days at an excellent venue and good luck to Alex, Jack and Jon in the rest of the Championships at a more leisurely pace!
I’ve included an interesting game from Saturday where I reached a winning position only to see this disappear over the horizon as the moves got faster and faster…
Our Club Champion, Jonathan Wells, has a 100% record in games against other members this season. In this game, Jonathan allows Tony Larner a chance to force a draw by perpetual check. But why stop there? Why not try for a win!
Congratulation to William Stoppani who won the u-11 group of the Norwich Delancey Schools Mega Final held in Norwich on the 2nd May.
He won his first five games, which meant that he was the only player to go into the sixth and final round with more than four points – so he had effectively won his age group before the sixth round games took place!
Although William lost the final game and commented – “I was not careful enough when sacrificing my queen!” – the game was exciting with just 1 minute left on the clock.
William now heads to the Giga Final in Manchester. Two years ago, he arrived in the sixth round of the Manchester Giga Final with 4.5 points and had he won that game then he would have been crowned champion. Best of luck for this year William!
Having two teams in the same division usually provides a couple of entertaining club nights during the season, and the recent Crabs versus Shrimps Division 3 match was no exception. After a short delay to confirm which team was playing at home, and therefore who had what colour on each board, a hard-fought match resulted.
In the nearby North Sea perhaps Crabs would have the advantage in such a pairing, but over the chessboard the Shrimps were 2.5-1.5 winners. Here are the games on the top two boards.
Our Christmas Quickplay competition was an all-play-all event – good fun with a lot of games to play in an evening!
Congratulations to our winner, Jonathan Wells, with a 100% score. Also well done to Martin Burnham for the grading prize, and Thomas Larner for the junior prize.
