Welcome
Welcome to the website of the Nottinghamshire Chess Association (NCA). The NCA administers chess in Nottinghamshire.
If you are a new or experienced chess player looking to join a club in Nottinghamshire contact one of the club secretaries shown on the list of clubs. New members are always welcome.
33rd Nottingham Congress
GM Mark Hebden once again won the Open at the 2008 Nottingham Congress, this time with a perfect 5/5.
The results of the Open section are now on the Congress page. Details of the other sections will follow over the course of the week.
The competition was held at Nottingham High School on 19–20 April.
Latest news
For older news items see the news page.
County Under 150 Championship – Quarter-Final (11 May)
Nottinghamshire swept into the National U150 semi-final with a 10½–5½ win over Essex in a match that was almost perfectly balanced on paper. Match details; report to follow.
EPSCA Under 11 Championships (11 May)
The Nottinghamshire Under 11 team took third place in the national final, missing out on the silver medals only on tie-break. Even better – the result was good enough to take shared first place (with Wey Valley) in the Audio Chess Grand Prix for the overall performances of the Under 9, Under 11 and Girls teams. Nottinghamshire’s primary school chess players are thus officially the best in England!
Illness deprived the Notts team of their intended Board 3, so the coaches found an imaginative solution – rather than simply bumping everyone up a place, they decided to take a chance and promote eight-year-old Mark Kenyon from the lower order straight into the number 3 slot. Mark is a seriously talented player – he beat Ashfield’s Richard Dyce in his first game in the Notts League recently and his playing strength was not in doubt – but the worry was that he might not be able to handle the pressure. The gamble (if that’s what it was) worked – he picked up 1½/3 (nearly winning his last game) and allowed the rest of the team to demonstrate their strength in depth.
Unfortunately, this inspiration was offset by yet another instance of the Mobile Phone Gambit in Round 1, despite the players all being told to turn off their phones. Despite this shock, the team kept themselves in the running with a spectacular second round of 15½/20. The extremely consistent Kent team were nevertheless able to keep all their rivals at a comfortable distance while Nottinghamshire and Wey Valley held their own private battle for second place. In the end, Wey Valley stole ahead when the tie-break – elimination of bottom board – was applied.
Despite that disappointment, this was a significant advance on last year’s fifth place – we are now competing on more or less level terms with the powerful southern counties, who have far more opportunities to play and access to many more coaches. A large number of the current team will still be eligible next year, so the outlook is very promising.
Returning to the Audio Chess Grand Prix – last year Nottinghamshire finished third, so shared first place represents another big improvement. There must be a real chance of taking the prize outright next year.
| Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent | 14½ | 14 | 14½ | 43 |
| 2 | Wey Valley | 13½ | 12½ | 13½ | 39½ |
| 3 | Nottinghamshire | 11 | 15½ | 13 | 39½ |
| 4 | Richmond | 13 | 12 | 11½ | 36½ |
| 5 | Sussex | 10 | 13½ | 12½ | 36 |
| 6 | Yorkshire | 12 | 13 | 10½ | 35½ |
| 7 | Barnet | 12½ | 12 | 10½ | 35 |
| 8 | Berkshire | 12 | 8 | 10½ | 30½ |
| 9 | Essex | 9½ | 10 | 9½ | 29 |
| 10 | Lancashire | 9½ | 8 | 9 | 26½ |
| 11 | Oxfordshire | 6½ | 7 | 11 | 24½ |
| 12 | Oldham | 8 | 6 | 10 | 24 |
| 13 | Manchester | 8 | 8½ | 3½ | 20 |
| 14 | Somerset | 5 | 6½ | 4 | 15½ |
| 15 | Liverpool | 5 | 3½ | 6½ | 15 |
UK Chess Challenge Trent Megafinal (11 May)
The second stage of the UK Chess Challenge was once again held at Foremarke Hall school in Derbyshire, organised by Paul Martin. It will come as no surprise that the Nottinghamshire juniors dominated the event, winning several sections and qualifying in large numbers for the Gigafinal stage.
A list of Nottinghamshire’s section winners follows; full results are at the UKCC web site.
- Under 7 Girls: Laura Phillips
- Under 7 Boys: Ben Rendell
- Under 8 Boys: Mark Kenyon
- Under 9 Girls: Katherine Archer
- Under 9 Boys: Harry Croasdale
- Under 10 Girls: Rhiya Sood
- Under 11 Girls: Mathilda Pynegar
- Under 11 Boys: David Somers
- Under 12 Girls: Ella Macleod
- Under 12 Boys: Andrew Garside
- Under 13 Girls: Heather Garside
- Under 14 Boys: Toby Thurgood
- Under 15 Boys: Daniel Lin
- Under 16 Girls: Lateefah Messam-Sparks
- Under 16 Boys: Alex Bentley
- Under 17 Boys: Ankush Khandelwal
Handicap KO (9 May)
The second semi-final, help up by the university vacation, was played on 6 May, resulting in a win for Mansfield. The final, against Gambit Boys, is to be arranged.
4NCL final weekend (5 May)
Notts 1 finished well over the Bank Holiday weekend to claim sixth place in Division 4 of the 4NCL. The second team had a harder time, but came good on the last day. Report and details.
ECF in turmoil (29 April)
Four members of the ECF Board, including the Chief Executive, Martin Regan, resigned at the weekend. There is a brief statement on the ECF website and discussion of the situation on the ECF Forum.
In a completely unrelated development, David Welch has had to resign from his post as Manager of Congress Chess due to ill health.
University 1 win league title (17 April)
Ashfield 1 beat Gambit 1 in a tense match last night in which both relegation (for the former) and the league championship (for the latter) were at stake. Ashfield’s win secured safety for them, whereas Gambit, who needed just a draw to take the title, had to settle for second place behind University 1.
University 1 therefore capture the title following a solid and consistent season. Gambit 1, in contrast, had the proverbial season of two halves: seven straight wins to start the season, followed by a second half that saw them take just four points.
Steve Burke’s report on the Ashfield 1–Gambit 1 match will appear in the next issue of Notts News.
Maurice Brown Memorial Rapidplay, Hull (13 April)
Steve Burke (Ashfield) shared 1st place in the Hull Rapidplay’s Major section (6 April) with 4½/6. Steve’s full report appears in Notts News No. 34.
East Midlands Junior Rapidplay Grand Prix (13 April)
A record 125 entrants competed in the third and final leg of this event, which took place at Dovecote Primary School, West Bridgford, on 13 April. The winners of the third leg were:
- Under 18: Alex Webster
- Under 14: Lawrence Findley
- Under 12: Greg Akerman; Best girl: Imogen Stables
- Under 10: Sohum Dhir; Best girl: Sophie Hudspeth
- Under 8: Mark Kenyon; Best girl; Annette Bespalova
The overall Grand Prix titles went to:
- Under 18: Alex Webster
- Under 14: Lawrence Findley
- Under 12: Myles Webster; Best girl: Catherine Keetley
- Under 10: Patrick Ellis; Best girl: Sophie Hudspeth
- Under 8: Mark Kenyon; Best girl; Annette Bespalova
Full details, including the other prizewinners, will appear shortly on the tournament web site.
Inter-County Championships quarter-final draw (13 April)
Our teams have both been drawn away in the quarter-finals: the U150 side faces Essex, while the U100 team go to Lancashire. Both matches are scheduled for 17 May, so put that date in your diary.
Inter-County Under 100 Championship (6 April)
The U100 side was unable to claim the MCCU title going down 7–5 to Warwickshire on 5 April. They nevertheless proceed to the national stage. Sally McIntosh reports.
Inter-County Under 150 Championship (30 March)
Just in from U150 captain Neil Graham:
‘Warwickshire beat Manchester by 9½–6½ yesterday, but quite unbelievably Staffordshire beat Leicestershire 8½–7½, thus giving Notts the runners-up spot in the Midlands zone.
‘So once again, onward and upwards to the National stages. Details to follow in due course!’
This is how the teams finished:
| P | W | D | L | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warwickshire | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | Nottinghamshire | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Leicestershire | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Greater Manchester | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | Staffordshire | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
One minor piece of housekeeping: in the match against Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire’s claim for a draw on Board 8 under the two-minute rule (unable to win by normal means) was rejected, making the final result 12–4 to Notts.
EPSCA Audio Chess Grand Prix (29 March)
With the Under 9 and Under 11 finals still to be played, Nottinghamshire currently lead the Audio Chess Grand Prix with 31 points, just ahead of Oxfordshire (29) and Wey Valley (28). Points in the Grand Prix are awarded according to placings in the Under 9 and Under 11 zonals and finals, and the Girls final. Last season, Nottinghamshire finished 3rd overall.
Southend Congress (29 March)
Richard Webster (Ashfield) and Alex Combie (Newark) played in the Open at the Southend Easter Congress (21–24 March). Richard scored 3½/7; Alex 3/7.
Rules Revision Meeting (23 March)
As announced provisionally in Notts News No. 29, there will be a General Meeting of the Association at West Bridgford CC on Tuesday 3 June, starting at 7:30 p.m. This will be the Rules Revision Meeting. Proposals for changes to the League Rules should reach me no later than Tuesday 29 April; proposers and seconders must be from different clubs. Any other items for the agenda should reach the Secretary, Andrew Walker, no later than Tuesday 13 May.
The AGM will also be at West Bridgford CC, on Tuesday 8 July, starting at 7:30 p.m.
4NCL – Fourth weekend (16 March)
Nottinghamshire 1 did well to hold two strong opponents, including the runaway leaders Brown Jack, to 3–3 draws. The second team fared less well, losing both matches. Report and details.
Inter-County Under 100 Championship (11 March)
The Under 100 side reached the Midlands final following a win on board count against Staffordshire after drawing 6–6. Nottinghamshire’s success was all the more remarkable given that they were outgraded on every board. Neil Graham reports.