Thursday evening saw me have a go at blindfold chess.
For those who don’t know you play a game without sight of the board or pieces.
I have already played half a dozen blindfold games with varying results, so after a few pints on Thursday night and feeling a bit cocky, I decided not only to play blindfold but also to play both Graham and Gareth (who could both see the board) at the same time in The Bear and Ragged Staff in Cumnor.
Here is the game I played:
Congratulations to Magnus Carlsen!
Who currently holds all three Fide World Championships (Classical, Rapid and Blitz) after winning the World Blitz Championship with 17 points in the 21-round tournament in the Dubai on Friday.
Some people may not be that impressed with that, after-all Chess is just Chess. But it is similar to a Tennis Player winning grand slams on hard-court, clay and grass or a Golfer winning The Masters, The Open Championship and The Butlins Bognor Regis Crazy Golf Championship.
P.S Cowley are hosting their bi-annual Blitz Tournament tonight (don’t worry I think Carlsen is busy)
P.P.S The Club is open as usual this Thursday after our break for the England v Uruguay Game.
GM John Nunn gave a 21 board simul at Hanwell Village Hall in Banbury on Sunday 8th June. He came out 20-1 winner with two draws from Ben Graff and our very own Simon Terrington.
Two Cumnor players took part: Simon and his son Issac.
Simon had this to say about his game:
“I played a very very boring Caro. There were no tactics at any point. I had a slight pull in a rook and pawn endgame but Fritz read 0.00 to -0.3 all the way through.
“On move 55 I had a rook and two pawns vs Rook and pawn. John gave one incorrect check and Fritz went -5.
“I incorrectly put my rook in the way to allow him to enter a drawing queen endgame a pawn down. Moving my king would have won beautifully.
“At the end I asked him, “Do you think I missed a win”. He said “I don’t think so”. It’s a difficult game chess. John’s a good player. He has been three times chess problem world champion and was in the world top 10.”
Congratulations to Simon on the result!
Organiser Carl Portman said “It was a great day and we are grateful to John Nunn for agreeing to visit us.”
The World is excitedly looking forward to the World Cup in Brazil this summer but its the 2014 Players’ Cup that has the Chess World fascinated, with the top 6 separated by only 2 1/2 points! Check out the table here.
The 2013-14 season saw Cumnor 1 compete in Oxford and District League 2 for a second year in a row.
Our aim at the start of the season was to improve on last year’s league position (6th out of 7) and cement our place in League 2.
The season didn’t start too well with an away defeat to Wantage 2 (4-2) followed by playing the two favourites for promotion Witney 2 and Didcot 1. We lost both of those games, Witney 2 (1-5) and Didcot 1 (6-0).
After three games we had a grand total of points and were bottom of the table.
Sandwiched in between those disappointments was the first round of the Frank Wood Shield (aka FWS, our version of the FA Cup if you like), where we beat Wantage 2 (2.5-3.5) for our first win.
However the FWS is a handicapped competition and we where duly knocked out. Pah.
Out first real win of the season was against City 2 (5-1) and it started a nice little run of form which took us into the new year.
Home wins against Bicester 1 (3.2-2.5), Wantage 1 (3.5-2.5) and Cowley 3 (5-1) helped not only our position in the league but also our game point difference.
Confidence was high when we went to face both Witney 2 and Didcot 1 in February aiming to get our revenge.
It didn’t work out against Witney who beat us 5-1 again but a closer match against Didcot 1 (2.5-3.5) showed a great improvement from earlier in the season.
As we entered the end of the season we gained a hard fought away draw with City 2 (3-3).
With two games left we had escaped safely from the relegation zone, and promotion was assured. But we had the unenviable task of playing the bottom two sides in the league, Bicester 1 and Cowley 3, both fighting for their lives.
We won away to Bicester 1 (3.5-2.5). but it was our last game against Cowley 3 which was the decider for relegation.
A win for Cumnor 1 would send Cowley 3 down. but a draw or a win for Cowley 3 would send Bicester 1 down in their place.
It was a tight game with a couple of controversial moments but Cowley 3 won (3.5-2.5) and gained safety.
Highlight of the season – Gaining our highest ever position and points total in the Oxfordshire Chess Leagues.
Lowlight of the season – Losing twice to Didcot 1 and Witney 2.
The final table can be found here.
The last game of the season for Cumnor 1 was an exciting and nerve-racking game against relegation threatened Cowley 3.
| Cowley 3 | Cumnor 1 | ||
| 1 | Chapman, Andrew (148) | 0-1 | Terrington, Simon ( ) |
| 2 | Rasell, Geoff C (144) | 1-0 | Varney, Andrew (145) |
| 3 | Viscu, Catalin (141) | 1/2-1/2 | Varney, Zoe (150) |
| 4 | Idle, Oscar (141) | 1-0 | Stevens, Gareth (142) |
| 5 | Keeling, David (141) | 1-0 | Varney, Daniel (142) |
| 6 | Taylor, John F (138) | 0-1 | Glenn, Liam (141) |
| Match played on 07 Apr 2014. | 3.5-2.5 | ||
Games at the end of the season fall into two categories, either neither team has much to play for and a leisurely game of chess follows or one of the teams has something to fight for and it was the later for Cumnor 1 on Monday night. Cowley 3 needed a result (a win or a draw) against Cumnor 1 to stay up, if Cumnor 1 won Bicester 1 would be relegated in their place. Liam was the first to finish a win on bottom board and Daniel was next he made a real fight of it but lost. With the emotions running high Simon’s opponent tried to claim a draw with only 12 seconds left. The game had just reached drawish position (a draw with correct play), a long discussion started with two outcomes agreed, if the result mattered it would be sent off to George Spalding for a decision. My personal view is that the game would still be awarded to Simon because you can’t claim a draw in a theoretical draw. If it didn’t matter to the result Andrew would resign. With that getting sorted out in the other room, Andrew lost his game saying better theory could have changed the result. Zoe actually sacced a pawn to keep the knight on the wrong side of the board long enough to force a draw. Gareth’s game went down to the wire with only minutes on both clocks but Gareth resigned when he lost an important pawn. That made the result 3.5 to Cowley 3 meaning they would stay up and Andrew resigned. The final score was 3.5-2.5, Cowley were happy to stay up and even though we lost on the night it was an end to good season for Cumnor. The end of season will follow after every match has finished.
We are into the last few weeks of the season, but there is still plenty to play for.
In Division 1, Witney 1 are the champions winning 11 games out of 11, while MCS/B1 are going to be relegated back to division 2.
At the top of division 2, Witney 2 and Didcot 1 have only one game between each other to settle the title, a shoot out!
A win or draw for Didcot 1 will mean they are Champions while a win for Witney 2 means they will receive the title.
Both have been at the top of the division for most of the season with a massive 9 points between Witney 2 in second and Cumnor 1 in third, the difference between third and last is 8 points.
At the wrong end of the table it’s gone down to one game. Cowley 3 play Cumnor 1 on Monday and any result for Cowley 3 will save them at the expense of Bicester 1.
In Division 3, is all done and dusted with Didcot 2 winning the title and Abingdon School being relegated with a game in hand.
Division 4 is an all-Witney affair, at the top is Witney 4 and at the bottom are Witney 5. Cumnor 2 currently sit 4th with 5 wins 2 draws and 5 losses.
The Frank Wood Shield, in the final is between Didcot 1 and Oxford City 1.
Cumnor 1 beat Bicester 1 3.5-2.5 last night.
| Bicester 1 | Cumnor 1 | ||
| 1 | Marlow, Mike (165) | 0-1 | Terrington, Simon ( ) |
| 2 | Hepworth, Nicholas J (147) | 1/2-1/2 | Stevens, Gareth (142) |
| 3 | Morton, Iain (153) | 0-1 | Liam Glenn (142) |
| 4 | Beckett, Richard (141) | 0-1 | Sayers, Mark (138) |
| 5 | Burcham, Anthony (130) | 1-0 | Cluley, Graham (110) |
| 6 | Maddox, Thomas (127) | 1-0 | Bennett, Steven (109) |
| Match played: 18 March 2014 | 2.5-3.5 | ||
Mark was the first to finish his game after Richard made a blunder, allowing Mark a discover check winning the Queen. Gareth’s opponent offered a draw which he accepted in a drawn position. Simon won his game on top board. Steve lost next, along with Graham leaving Liam’s game as the decider. With the game tied at 2.5-2.5 Liam had to accurately play, with his King a little undefended, but he did manage to turn it into a win.
The result doesn’t help Bicester 1 who are only one point from bottom. But Cumnor 1 are currently in 3rd. See the updated table here.
Congratulations to Cumnor Chess Club’s very own Gareth Stevens, who managed to cause a major upset last week by beating a grandmaster.
That would be a brilliant result in itself, but to make his victory over Peter Wells GM in a simultaneous demonstration even more glorious – Gareth was playing with the black pieces!
Gareth’s final move is wonderful. White cannot recapture the rook, because he will be putting himself in check. Although Black’s Queen could be taken by white, that’s not frightening to Black who is threatening to move his knight to g3, with a devastating checkmate.
Well done to Gareth for his brilliant and stylish game.
Watch out Magnus!
Last night saw Cumnor 1 draw for the first time this season against Oxford City 2.
| City 2 | Cumnor 1 | ||
| 1 | Lee, Anthony (178) | 1/2-1/2 | Terrington, Simon ( ) |
| 2 | Smith, Roger A ( ) | 0-1 | Stevens, Gareth (142) |
| 3 | Biswas, Karl (149) | 1/2-1/2 | Varney, Andrew (145) |
| 4 | Yates, John O (145) | 1-0 | Glenn, Liam (141) |
| 5 | King, Simon E (139) | 1/2-1/2 | Jones, Michael (115) |
| 6 | Smith, Lucy K (119) | 1/2-1/2 | Bennett, Steven (109) |
| Match played: 3 March 2014 | 3-3 | ||
Steve and Mike were the first to finish getting draws against stronger opponents on the bottom two boards. Liam made a blunder in the opening, loosing a pawn and getting a bad position, he resigned soon after. Andrew drew against Karl Biswas and Gareth won on board 2. His opponent was low on time when Gareth checkmated him. Simon was in a very complicated position, with little time on both clocks him and Paul Lee played some entertaining Chess both missing better variations and it finished with a draw King v Rook Pawn and King. The evening was an fascinating match with some interesting characters. The result put us in to 3rd in the table which can be found here.
