News – 2011–12

Items on this page are in reverse chronological order (i.e. the most recent items are at the top). For the very latest news, visit the home page.

Bolton Rapidplay (18th Dec)

The Bolton Rapidplay took place on Sunday 13th November. Janos Wagenbach (Mansfield) came 3rd place in the Knights section with a score of 5/6 and won £30 prize money. In the same section David Dunne (West Nottingham) scored 2½/6 and in the Open Daniel Broughton (West Bridgford) scored 1½/6.

Birmingham Rapidplay (18th Dec)

The Birmingham Rapidplay took place on Sunday 23rd October. In the major section Richard Webster (West Bridgford) came first place with a score of 5/6 and won £200 prize money. Peter Mercs wasn't far behind with a score of 4½/6 in the same section, coming equal second and winning £30 prize money.

British Rapidplay - Junior report (4th Dec)

Report from David Levens

At the recent British Rapidplay event, held in Leeds, 4 of our juniors, Hari Solomonides, Taylor Pearson, Karam Sangha, and Sahrin Ahluwalia, all from Nottingham Junior High School, though the first three mentioned are also members of WNCC, all achieved their second, necessary half norms and have qualified already to compete in the England U11 team trials next April. In addition to that we have several more who have also achieved part qualification and may yet join them. Listen to Radio Nottingham around 2.20pm next Friday.

Further successes were achieved by 7 year old Adam Bennett from Bramcote Hills Junior School, who, in consecutive weeks, won the Under 8 section of Northampton Junior Congress, by scoring 6/6, and followed that up by winning the Under section of the Warwickshire Junior Championships with another 6/6. Adam is also a member of West Nottingham CC.

Anyone interested in coaching juniors is welcome to attend our county coaching sessions at Dovecote School, Clifton on Saturday, 3rd December and/or Saturday, 10th December between 9.00am and 12.00 noon.

British Rapidplay (4th Dec)

The best result from a Notts player at this year's British Rapidplay came from Jim Burnett (Mansfield) in the Open section where he had a very impressive score of 7/11. Also playing in the Open was Alex Combie (Newark) scoring 5/11. In the minor there were 2 Notts players - Chris Bonnello (Radcliffe & Bingham) scored 6/11 and Allan Brown (Gambit) scored 4½/11.

Congress, Rapidplay & County Championship (19th Nov)

The organisers have had problems finding available dates at the High School. The Association will now pay for the room hire, and consequently it will not be possible to give free entry to juniors. Also the County Championship will run sometime after the congress (date to be confirmed). The dates for the competitions are as follows:

Rapidplay - Sunday Jan 15th
Congress - April 21/22
County Championship - To Be Confirmed

Entry forms will be available in the near future.

English Under 11s Closed Championship held on 15-16th Oct - Results (15th Nov)

Report from David Levens

This year's event, held in Nottingham High School, attracted a record entry of 67 children including eighteen boys and one girl from Notts. This was a good standard of entry with two youngsters having grades of 133! Nonetheless seven of our boys secured the magical half-norm required towards qualification for a place in the England Under 11 trials next April. These seven were as follows: Taylor Pearson - 3.5; Hari Solomonides - 3; Karam Sangha - 3(all West Nottm.); Ben Rendell - 3 (West Bridgford); Donald Flynn - 3 (High School); James Webster - 3 (HS); Sahrin Ahluwalia - 3 (HS).

Other scores are as follows:
Sam Smith McGloin - 2.5 (West Nottm); Ishaan Bedi - 2 (West Nottm); Will Atiomo - 2 (HS); John Croasdale - 2 (West Bridgford); Adam Bennett - 2 (West Nottm); Matthew Shipway - 2 (West Nottm); Helena Constantinou - 2 (Girls HS); Harry Mahal and Adiyta Munshi - 1 (both HS); Blake Southwell - 1 (Keyworth). Jonah Willow and Sam Teanby both withdrew through illness.

There is a good crop of talent here, especially when you realise that many of the above who missed getting 3 points are still only year 5s; Adam Bennett who had really tough opposition, is a year 3(!)

Scarborough Congress Game (14th Nov)

The following game played at this year's Scarborough Congress is a good example of how sustained pressure on your opponent can outweigh any material deficit. White is 2 pawns up but completely tied up in the position. When it looks as though he has finally broken free his position collapses quickly.

Scarborough Congress (28th Oct)

Over 15 Notts players made the journey up to Scarborough for this popular congress and between them they won £1070 prize money! David Dunne (West Notts) came first place in the minor with a perfect score of 5/5 and won £500. Chris Bonnello (Radcliffe & Bingham) came equal first in the foundation with a score of 4½/5 and won £375. Alex Combie (Newark) and Mike Barnes (Gambit) both came equal 3rd in the Open with a score of 4/5 and won £85 each. Alex beat IM Andrew Ledger in round 3 with a grading difference of nearly 50 points. A summary of all the Notts players that took part in the competition are as follows:

If you played any interesting games in this congress then please send them into the webmaster who will gladly put them up on the web site.

Hull Congress (28th Oct)

The best scoring Notts player was Stanley Cranmer (Ashfield) with 3½/5 in the Major section. Here are the results for all the Notts players that took part in the competition:

ECF Membership (23rd Oct)

Robert Richmond

The ECF Council approved a membership scheme to replace Game Fee last Saturday (Oct 15th). The main features are:

  1. BRONZE membership at £12 (Juniors £8) for league only players
  2. SILVER membership at £18 (Juniors £12) to play in congresses
  3. GOLD membership at £27 (Juniors £22) to play in FIDE rated events
  4. Residual Game Fee to be payable for graded games for non-members at £1 if the league exceeds 85% membership (excluding ungraded players playing 3 or fewer games) and £2 if it does not.

These changes clearly have substantial implications for the way the association is funded. Watch this space...

Leicester Congress (9th Oct)

Daniel Broughton (Nottinghamshire) won the Major section with a score of 4½/5 and received £200 prize money. There were a number of good performances from Notts players in the Open including Mike Barnes (Gambit), Rob Hearne (West Bridgford) and Richard Webster (West Bridgford) who all finished on 3/5. A summary of all the Notts players that took part in the competition are as follows:

Minutes of LMC meetings for 2011 (26th Sep)

The minutes for the LMC meetings held on 15th April and 8th July are now up on the web site. An important topic discussed at the meetings was the eligibility of players. Some of the rules were changed this season to try and address these issues e.g rule C4.

Paignton Congress (18th Sep)

Steve Burke

Five Notts players went down for the 61st annual Paignton week. Richard Webster was most successful, sharing first place in the Challengers event with 5.5/7, beating Bob Taylor along the way. He finished on 4/7, missing out on the grading prize with a last round loss. Stan Cranmer also scored 4/7, in the Intermediate, while Richard Truman had a tough week in the Premier, finishing with 1.5/7. I was also in the Premier and gained some FIDE points with 50% against higher rated opposition.

CWANG Challenge 2011 (29th Aug)

The annual CWANG challenge took place on 14th July at the Horse 'n' Groom. Ashfield dominated the tournament from start to finish and won with a score of 31½/40. This was 11½ points more than Gambit who finished 2nd place on 20 points. Full report

Sunningdale International (25th Aug)

Steve Burke (Ashfield) played in the Challengers E group of this 9 round all play all event and came 1st with a score of 5½/8 (one player dropped out). He won free entry to one of the Masters groups in a future event. For further results and games visit the e2e4 web site.

League Fixtures 2011-12 (25th Aug)

The league fixtures for the coming season are now available. They are in an excel spreadsheet format and can be downloaded. Please note that these dates could change. The league results section of the web site will be updated in the near future.

British Championships (20th Aug)

In the major open Alex Combie (Newark) came equal 4th with a score of 7½/11 and won £50 prize money. Gordon Stables (West Notts) also finished equal 4th but was awarded a rating prize of £100. He had a rating performance of 2116, 150 points higher than his actual rating of 1966. A full list of Notts players who took part in the British Championships are as follows:

Some photos (taken from the BritishChess11 web site):

Gordon Stables playing in the Major Open at the British Championships 2011
Gordon Stables (West Notts) in the Major Open

Robert Taylor playing in the U160 section at the British Championships 2011
Robert Taylor (Ashfield) in the U160

Peter Mercs playing in the 5 day morning open at the British Championships 2011
Peter Mercs (Gambit) in the 5 Day morning open

County Championships - U180 Final stages (17th Jul)

The U180 team beat Devon 8½-7½ to claim the U180 title. This made amends to last year's defeat in the final stage against Warwickshire. Full results. Some games from the final are available to play through.

League Rule Changes (10th Jul)

There have been some minor changes to the league rules. Please familiarise yourself with these changes in preparation for the new season which starts in September. Here is a brief summary of the changes (highlighted in bold):

Section A - Administration

Rule 2b - A member of the LMC, including the League Secretary & Records Secretary, may not vote on any issue directly concerning his or her club, unless personally involved, when he or she may give evidence
Rule 5b - No later than end of February, the Association Secretary shall call the meeting to be held normally in mid May

Section B - The League

Rule 1 - The season is from 1st September to 15th May and clubs must be affiliated to the NCA before entry into the League

Section C - Players

Rule 4 - No player may play for a club lower team if he (or she) has, previously in the same season, played twice for higher teams other than on the bottom two boards played or won by default.
Rule 5 - All appearances above the bottom two boards played or won by default will count for eligibility even if that team fails to complete its fixtures

Schedule D - Penalties

Rule 7 - The penalty for defaulting a match is the loss of two match points and a fine of £20, in addition to any other penalty imposed.

Best Game Prize (10th Jul)

The winner of this year's Best Game prize is David Levens, for his game versus Nick Payne. Congratulations to him, and thanks to Jon Tait, who chose it from the six entries this year. Message from Andy Walker.

July 2011 FIDE Rating List (2nd Jul)

The new FIDE ratings were published yesterday. Below are a list of the top 5 most improved Notts players:

Chris Dorrington (Grantham) +44.25
Alex Posazhennikov (University) +26.1
Daniel Wells (Newark) +24.75
Pablo Padilla (Ashfield) +13.8
Richard Webster (Ashfield) +5.55

There are about 33 Notts players with FIDE ratings and half of these players actively play in FIDE rated events. A full list is available to view.

Gatwick Congress (25th Jun)

The leading Notts player in the Open was David Coates (Grantham) who scored 2½/5. There were 2 other Notts players, also competing in the Open and they were Paul Cumbers (Grantham) with a score of 2/5 and Ivan David (Grantham) with a score of 1½/5.

Sunningdale Congress (25th Jun)

There were 2 Notts players taking part in the Open section. David Coates (Grantham) scored 4/7 and Ivan David (Grantham) scored 2/7.

Inter-County U180 Championship: Lancashire 5-7 Nottinghamshire (25th Jun)

Nottinghamshire beat Lancashire 7-5 in the ECF semi final and progress to the final on 2nd July where they play Devon. This was an excellent result considering the team were outgraded by an average of 5 points per board. Full results

County Championships - ECF Quarter Finals Stage - Results (6th Jun)

There were 4 Notts county teams competing at the ECF quarter final stages. The U180 team had a convincing win over Kent where they won 9½-2½ and progress to the semi final where they play Lancashire. The U160 team beat Suffolk 10-6 and progress to the semi final where they play Kent. Unfortunately the U140 and U100 teams both lost. Results are as follows:

U180 Quarter Final Nottinghamshire 9½ - 2½ Kent
U160 Quarter Final Suffolk 6 - 10 Nottinghamshire
U140 Quarter Final Kent 11½ - 4½ Nottinghamshire
U100 Quarter Final Lancashire 7½ - 4½ Nottinghamshire

Obituary for Paul Todd (6th Jun)

An obituary has been written in memory of Paul Todd who died earlier this year.