Category: Chess - Page 19 - Cumnor Chess Club, Oxford

Updated Players Cup results

With spring on its way (!) and the season coming to an end, the Players Cup tournament at Cumnor Chess Club is starting to heat up and it’s going to be a close competition again this year.

Here are the latest standings:

# Competitor Pl  W  D  L  PF
1 Liam        6  5  1  0  5.5
2 Gareth      6  5  1  0  5.5
3 Steve       5  3  1  1  3.5
4 Mark        3  2  1  0  2.5
5 Andrew      2  2  0  0  2
6 Pako        2  1  1  0  1.5
7 Roger       3  1  1  1  1.5
8 Graham      3  1  0  2  1
9 Daniel      3  1  0  2  1
10 Mike       2  1  0  1  1
11 David      2  0  0  2  0
12 Ann        4  0  0  4  0
13 Marc       4  0  0  4  0
14 Robin      1  0  0  1  0
15 Richard    1  0  0  1  0
16 Clive      1  0  0  1  0
17 Robert     2  0  0  2  0
18 Zoe

For those who aren’t aware, Cumnor Chess Club runs a “Players Cup” tournament every year, where Cumnor players battle against each other to find out who is the champ.

Close but no Cigar… Cumnor 1 vs MCS/B1 [Match Report]

Cumnor 1 lost a very close match last night against Champions elect Magdalen College School Blackbirds 1 (MCS/B1).

	Cumnor 1		MCS/B 1
1	Varney, Andrew (143)	0 – 1	Daggitt, Matthew (186)
2	Sayers, Mark (141)	0 – 1	D’Souza-Eva, Jon (191)
3	Stevens, Gareth (143)	½ – ½	Cole, Graham (137)
4	Glenn, Liam (129)	1 – 0	Ward, Eric (140)
5	Carr, Robin (128)	1 – 0	Sayers, David (124)
6	Jones, Michael (117)	0 – 1	Bush, Ian (120)
Match played: 21 Mar 2013		2½ – 3½

Robin was the first to finish (a small surprise) when David Sayers miscalculated and called a check when there was none, allowing Robin to take his Queen.

Gareth managed a draw with black, while I won a piece and my opponent resigned putting us 2.5-0.5 up.

However, Mike lost a piece, and Mark lost the exchange and was always going to have a difficult game from then on.

Andrew was the last to finish with a very complicated endgame with very little time for either players, and went on to lose on time.

Our last game of the season is away to Wantage in a month’s time.

Cumnor 1 play top of the table MCS/B1, but are safe in Division 2

Cumnor 1 are playing their penultimate game of the season tomorrow (Thursday) night at home, against top of the division MCS/B1. It will be a hard match – without a doubt.

However, whatever the result, it looks like Cowley Workers will be relegated from division 2, which will mean Cumnor 1 staying in the same division two seasons in a row for the first time.

Snow stops play! U125 Chiltern league final postponed

Remember how we told you last week that various Cumnor Chess Club players were taking part in the final of the U125 Chiltern League?

Well, that Oxfordshire vs Buckinghamshire match should have been played today at Wellington College, Crowthorne.

Unfortunately heavy snow in Oxfordshire has meant that the game has been postponed.

Pah..

Cumnor chess players prepare for Chiltern League U125 final against Buckinghamshire

This Sunday (March 17th 2013) will see chess players from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire compete for the Chris Stothert Trophy, in division 3 of the Chiltern League. And Cumnor players are strongly represented!

Division 3 of the Chiltern League sees both adult and junior players, graded under 125, playing alongside and against eachother.

Cumnor Chess Club has no less than three adult players scheduled to play in Sunday’s match against Bucks’ juniors, and the deadly duo of Zoe and Daniel Varney will be facing adult rivals.

Oxon U125

1. Mark Creasey, City
2. Tony Burcham, Bicester
3. Bob Kilbride-Newman, Witney
4. Francisco Alvarez, Cumnor
5. Graham Cluley, Cumnor
6. Steven Bennett, Cumnor
7. James Cole, MCS
8. Daniel D’Souza-Eva, MCS
9. Joseph Truran, Witney
10. Zoe Varney, Cumnor
11. Daniel Varney, Cumnor
12. Isabel Hauer, Witney

Battle will commence on Sunday at Wellington College in Crowthorne.

The good news is that Oxon U125 has already beaten Bucks (8-4), Hants (9.5-2.5) and Berks (8.5-3.5) in the run-up to the final. Despite this excellent run of results for Oxfordshire, a quirk in the rules means that whoever wins this final game wins the trophy.

Fingers crossed, we will have some good news to bring to you early next week!

Update: Match postponed due to heavy snow

Beautifully entertaining chess positions [VIDEO]

I’m a big fan of the Chess.com website – also accessible via an iPhone and Android app.

Chess.com is great, not only because it’s a strong online community of literally *millions* of chess players around the world who you can pit your playing skills against, but also because of the depth of other resources available on the site – including tournaments, tactics trainers, and video tutorials and lessons from some of the world’s best players.

Here’s one of their videos which I found on YouTube, and it’s particularly wonderful.

In this video, Grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili shows some of the most amazing positions he has ever encountered – and they’re delightful. Whatever level of chess player you are, there is much to enthrall you here.

You have to become a paying “Diamond” member to have full access to the hundreds of videos on Chess.com.

I think it’s a good investment for those who can afford it, because of the sheer wealth of information that could help you both improve your game, and increase your love for the beauty of chess.

PS. Of course, all of the games we play at Cumnor Chess Club qualify as “beautifully entertaining” – just in case you were wondering..

Lecture by Grandmaster Peter Wells

Our friends at Witney Chess Club are hosting a lecture with Grandmaster Peter Wells next Monday night (11th March 2013).

The event, which starts at 7:30pm, sounds like a great opportunity to hear from one of England’s very best chess players and maybe even pick up some tips to improve your own play!

The lecture will be held at Ducklington Village Hall in Standlake Road, Ducklington.

More details about the event, and how to pre-book your place, can be found on Witney Chess Club’s website.

We expect any Cumnor Chess Club players who attend the event to come back with renewed vigour, and at least an extra 30 points added to their ECF grade..