News – 2013–14

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.

NCA Best Game Prize 2013-14 (31st May)

There were 4 games submitted this year for the Best Game Prize. Steve Burke coordinated the Best Game Prize again and Andrew Walker was the judge. To make the judgement fair and impartial the games were given to Andrew with only the moves and no other details. Read the report to find out which game won.

EMC Junior Chess Academy Training Tournament Results (31st May)

The EMC junior tournament took place at Risley on Sunday 25th May. A number of junior players representing the Notts county took part and their scores are as follows:

Position Score Name Year
=3rd 15/18 Ben Gilpin 5
=5th 14/18 Kaitlyn Mistry 3
=5th 14/18 Armaan Gogia 4

In the overall EMCA grand prix the highest placed junior representing the Notts county is Adam Bennett in 5th place with 33/72.

Inter-County U140 Championship: Nottinghamshire 9-7 Hertfordshire (18th May)

The U140 team won 9-7 in a closely fought match against Hertfordshire which wasn't decided until the final game. They now progress to the semi-final stage to play Kent. Full results

Southend Congress (30th Apr)

Alex Combie (Newark) was playing in the open section and scored 4/7.

Bristol Spring Congress (30th Apr)

Rob Hearne (West Bridgford) came equal 3rd in the open section with a score of 3½/5. Also playing in the open was Daniel Broughton (West Bridgford) and he scored 2/5.

Staffordshire Congress (25th Apr)

There were a number of prize winners from Notts players at the Staffordshire Congress. Adam Bennett (West Notts) won a junior prize of £10 in the minor section with a score of 3/5. Chris Fraser (West Bridgford) won a senior prize of £10 with a score of 3/5 in the minor section. Marten Kats (Long Eaton) won the U100 grading prize of £30 in the minor section with a score of 2½/5. Here are a full list of Notts players who took part in the competition (all scores out of 5):

Nottingham Congress photos (21st Apr)

Photos of the Congress taken by Brendan O'Gorman are now available on the congress web page of the website.

Best Game Prize (21st Apr)

The "Best Game" prize is being offered for the 2013-14 season. Nominations should be sent to Alan Kenyon prior to the 12th May. This covers games played between 1st May 2013 and 30th April 2014 and should be a game played in an NCA competition or for a Notts County team.

General Meeting of the NCA (21st Apr)

The General Meeting of the NCA Rules Revision meeting will be held at West Notts CC on Monday 12th May from 7:30pm. An agenda is available to download.

Comments on the constitution paper in advance of the meeting should be circulated to all members of the Executive Committee. The minutes of the last meeting also need to be approved.

pdf documentAgenda
pdf documentConstitution paper
pdf documentMinutes of previous meeting

Nottingham Congress (6th Apr)

There was a three way tie for first place in the Open between Mark Hebden, Alex Posazhennikov and Michael Barnes, all scoring 4/5. Full Results

Nottingham Congress (27th Mar)

There is still time to enter the Nottingham Congress which is taking place this coming weekend (29-30 Mar). You can either enter online or complete an entry form.

Nottingham Congress late entry fee (23rd Mar)

The late entry fee for on-line entries will commence at 00.01 on Tuesday 25th March.

Nottingham Congress update (23rd Mar)

Updated message from Robert Richmond

The entrance to the High School car park is from Forest Road East. The eastern end of Forest Road East at the junction with Mansfield Road (A60) is blocked for roadworks. The junction is at the top of the hill and is controlled by traffic lights. Coming from the South up Mansfield Road the turn into Forest Road East is on your left and St.Andrews church on your right. Vice versa coming from the north.

Competitors coming from the North on the A60 and from the South and East via Trent Bridge will be affected. Those coming from the M1 will not.

Coming from the North you should continue past the blocked right hand turn, take the first right into Chatham Street, and then right again into North Sherwood Street. This brings you back to Forest Road East beyond the roadworks.

Coming from Trent Bridge follow the signs to Mansfield (A60). This eventually brings you onto Huntingdon Street, which merges into Mansfield Road at an awkward uphill junction controlled by traffic lights. The Forest Road East junction is about 50 yards further on. Carry on down the hill, do a U-turn at the roundabout and then proceed as if coming from the North in the paragraph above.

There is a quicker route. The entrance to Huntingdon Street is a left hand turn from Glasshouse Street. At the second traffic lights turn left into Bluecoat Street (right is the B684 Woodborough Road), immediately cross over Mansfield Road and then right into North Sherwood Street.

Inter-County Minor Championship: Nottinghamshire 8½-7½ Leicestershire (23rd Mar)

Nottinghamshire are the MCCU Minor/Open champions after beating Leicestershire 8½-7½. The last time Nottinghamshire won the minor championship was back in 1976. Full Results

EMC Junior Chess Academy Training Tournaments (16th Mar)

The final four tournaments will be held on the following dates:

25 May Risley
8 June Risley
29 June Bramcote
13 July Risley

These junior events are 6 round swiss tournaments open to all children U13 & U130 grade. All the dates are on Sundays from 11am until 6pm. Chess training is provided in-between games and throughout the day. The entry fee is £20. An entry form is available to download.

Inter-County U160 Championship: Nottinghamshire 6-10 Greater Manchester (23rd Feb)

The U160 team lost 10-6 to Greater Manchester and will not be progressing to the national stages this year. Full results

EMCA Grand Prix (23rd Feb)

Juniors from the West Notts chess club are currently doing well in the EMCA Grand Prix. Susie Wang is in first place on 59 points, followed closely by Harry Madden on 58 points. Adam Bennett is in 5th place on 33 points. The scores are out of a maximum of 72 so far.

Nomads - New Venue (19th Feb)

With immediate effect and until the end of this season, Nomads will be playing at a new venue - The Sherwood Manor pub.

The Sherwood Manor is located on the corner of Edwards Lane and Mansfield Road, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 2FX. It is opposite the Cooperative, and just down from the Sherwood Community Centre.

There is ample car parking and Club nights will remain Mondays at 7.30pm.

Inter-County U120 Championship: Nottinghamshire 7-5 Warwickshire (11th Feb)

The U120 team beat Warwickshire 7-5 to put them equal first with Staffordshire on 6 points. The difference between the two teams at the top is that Nottinghamshire have now played all their matches but Staffordshire still have a match in hand. Full results

EMC Junior Academy events (5th Feb)

The next EMC Junior Academy event will be on Sunday 16 Feb at Risley in Derbyshire. It is a 6 round swiss and is open to all juniors U13 and U130 grade. An entry form is available to download. Further events have been booked at Risley on 25 May, 8 Jun and 13 Jul.

Nottingham Rapidplay (30th Jan)

The winner of the Open section was Ameet Ghasi (e2e4 4NCL) with a perfect score of 6/6. The Major section was won by Shabir Okhai (Birstall) with a score of 5½/6. The Intermediate section was won by Pawel Golimowski (Spalding) with a score of 5½/6. The Minor section was won by Peter Ellis (Rolls Royce) with a score of 5½/6. Full results

Inter-County Minor Championship: Nottinghamshire 8½-7½ Staffordshire (28th Jan)

Nottinghamshire beat Staffordshire 8½-7½ in the Midland Interzonal semi-final and now face Leciestershire in the final on Saturday 15th Mar. Full results

Inter-County U100 Championship: Nottinghamshire 5½-6½ Warwickshire (28th Jan)

The U100 team narrowly lost 6½-5½ to Warwickshire. With both teams finishing on 4 points, they share the U100 title for 2013/14. Full results

2013-2014 Mid-Season Review (24th Jan)

Phil Morgan reviews the league tables in the Notts league at the half way stage in the season and gives his predictions on the teams that are most likely to win each division. Read review

Inter-County U140 Championship: Staffordshire 5½-10½ Nottinghamshire (24th Jan)

The U140 team had a comfortable 10½-5½ victory against Staffordshire. They are the U140 Champions for 2013-14 and have qualified for the national stages. Full results

Leicestershire Junior Chess Tournament (7th Jan)

The Leicestershire Junior Chess Tournament will be held on Saturday 25th January at Loughborough Grammar School. It is a 6 round rapidplay event for players under 18. An entry form is available to download.

New venue for Mansfield (17th Dec)

Mansfield have had to move to a new venue which is Boothy's Club, 2 West Hill Drive, Mansfield NG18 1PJ. There is no fixed club night during the week but the dates for the remaining home matches on a Wednesday will stay as they are.

Inter-County U160 Championship: Nottinghamshire 9-7 Warwickshire (15th Dec)

The U160 team beat Warwickshire 9-7 and are currently top at the half way stage. Full results

Leicester Congress (15th Dec)

Stephen Prior (Grantham) came equal 2nd in the Open section with a score of 4/5 and won £87.50. Here are the results for all the Notts players who took part (all scores out of 5):

Inter-County U120 Championship: Nottinghamshire 4½-7½ Staffordshire (11th Dec)

The U120 team lost 7½-4½ to Staffordshire but are in equal first place on 4 points at the half way stage. Full results

Inter-County Minor Championship: Derbyshire 5-11 Nottinghamshire (11th Dec)

The minor team beat Derbyshire 11-5 to make it 3 wins out of 3 and are the winners of the East Zone. The team now play Staffordshire (West Zone runners up) on Saturday 25th Jan in the Midland's semi finals. Full results

Inter-County U140 Championship: Shropshire 7-9 Nottinghamshire (5th Dec)

The U140 team beat Shropshire 9-7 in a closely fought match. They next play against Staffordshire on Sat 11th Jan. Full results

British Rapidplay (5th Dec)

The leading Notts player in the open section was Jim Burnett (Mansfield) with a score of 5½/11. Aditya Munshi (West Notts) finished equal 3rd in the U11 Trial with a score of 4/5. Here are the results for all the Notts players who took part (main sections out of 11 and junior events out of 5):

Nottinghamshire County Championship (27th Nov)

The 2013/14 County Champion is Alex Posazhennikov with a score of 3½/5. Full results

Online entry forms (24th Nov)

The online entry forms are now available for both the Nottingham Rapidplay and the Nottingham Congress. The links to the online entry forms are as follows:

If you have any problems with using these online entry forms then please contact the webmaster.

Nottingham Congress and Nottingham Rapidplay (22nd Nov)

The dates have been confirmed for the Nottingham Congress and Nottingham Rapidplay and entry forms are available to download for both competitions.

An online entry form for both competitions will be available in the near future from the website.

Inter-County U100 Championship: Nottinghamshire 11-1 Staffordshire (17th Nov)

The U100 team had another convincing win, this time beating Staffordshire 11-1. They secure progression to the national stages and are currently top of the U100 Championship. Full results

EMC Risley Junior Chess Training Tournament (17th Nov)

East Midlands Chess are holding a Junior Training Tournament in Risley, Derbyshire on Sunday 1st December. There will be a 6 round swiss tournament with training in-between matches. It is open to all children U13 and with an U130 grade. An entry form can be downloaded for this tournament.

East Midlands Chess Tournament (17th Nov)

A series of U18 chess tournaments are being held at Dovecote School in Clifton, Nottingham. For each session there are 6 rounds with every player receiving 30 minutes on the clock for each round. An entry form is available to download.

Inter-County Matches round up (10th Nov)

The minor team beat Leicestershire 9-7 to continue their good run and go top of the East Zone table with 4 points. Full results

The U160 team drew 8-8 with Leicestershire in a close match where Nottinghamshire had a slight grading advantage overall. Full results

The U120 team had a comfortable 8½-3½ win over Worcestershire and are the current leader with 2 wins out of 2. Full results

Scarborough Congress (5th Nov)

There was a record entry of 341 players in the event this year. The best scores from Notts players came from Daniel Broughton (West Bridgford) finishing equal first in the major section with a score of 4/5 and winning £125, and David Dunne (West Notts) coming equal third in the minor section with a score of 4/5 and winning £25. Here are the rest of the results for Notts players:

Hull Congress (4th Nov)

Chris Fraser (West Bridgford) came equal 1st in the minor section with a score of 4/5 and won £187.50. Here are the results for all the Notts players who took part (all scores out of 5 unless stated otherwise):

Inter-County Matches round up (23rd Oct)

The U100 team whitewashed a young and inexperienced Leicestershire team 12-0. Full results

The U120 team convincingly beat Lincolnshire 7½-4½ in a match that looked closer on paper. Full results

The Minor team overpowered Lincolnshire and beat them 10-6. Full results

East Midlands Chess Junior Training Tournament (13th Oct)

East Midlands Chess are running another junior tournament but this time in Bramcote, Nottingham on Sunday 20th October. It is the same format as before with a mixture of competition and training. An entry form is available to download.

Executive Committee meeting minutes (5th Oct)

The minutes for the Executive Committee meeting held on 9th August is now available to view on the website.

Update on University venue (1st Oct)

University now have a venue for all their home matches from 15 October up to Christmas.

The Queens Hotel, 189 Queens Rd, Beeston, Nottinghamshire, NG9 2FE have a separate room at the back which they will use. See map.

After Christmas (and home matches on 1 October) they are in Room LG9 of the Trent Building on the University campus, as previously advised.

University venue and captains (26th Sep)

University are having some difficulties in regard to room bookings. The matches on 1st October, and then all home matches after Christmas, will be played in Trent Building, Room LG9. See map. All other matches before Christmas are currently hoped to go ahead as planned, but a specific location is yet to be arranged. This will affect teams in Divisions 1, 3 & 5. More specific info re pre-Christmas venues and any rearrangements that may be needed will be advised in due course.

Team captains for University for the following year are going to be:

Jenny Le (1st team) - ldynl@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk
James Watts (2nd team) - abyjw1@nottingham.ac.uk
Joe Wright (3rd team) - pmyjw2@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk

Leek Congress (22nd Sep)

Jonah Willow (West Notts) scored 3½/5 and came equal 4th in the B section. He had a 169 grading performance which was 28 points above his actual grade of 141. Hambel Willow (West Notts) scored 3/5 in the C section.

Leamington RapidPlay (17th Sep)

Drag Sudar (Gambit) came equal first in the intermediate section with a score of 5/6. Here are the results for all the Notts players who took part (all scores out of 6):

NCA AGM Minutes 2013 (14th Sep)

The draft minutes of the Nottinghamshire Chess Association AGM held at Nomads CC on 8 July 2013 is now available to view on the website.

East Midlands team in the 4NCL (5th Sep)

East Midlands Chess are looking at entering a team in the 4NCL for the 2013-14 season. They are looking for chess players with an EM connection, grading 180+ and who would like to play this coming season. The aim is to start in division 3 and work up to division 1 within 3-5 years. Please contact Christopher Dunworth at eastmidlandschess@gmail.com or by phone on 07577-273275 for further details.

New venues for Mansfield and Newark chess clubs (3rd Sep)

For the upcoming season Mansfield and Newark have moved to new venues and are playing on different club nights to what they had previously. Here is a summary:

Club Venue Club Night
Mansfield The Railway Inn, 9 Station Street, Mansfield NG18 1EF Wednesday
Newark The Roaring Meg, 117 Barnby Gate, Newark, NG24 1QZ Monday

For further details visit the information page

East Midlands Chess Junior Training Tournament (3rd Sep)

East Midlands Chess are running a junior training tournament in Risley, Derby on Sunday 22nd September. It is a 6 round swiss tournament open to all children U13 and U130 grade. There will be a mixture of competition and training. An entry form is available to download.

English U11 Closed Championships (25th Aug)

The East Midlands will be hosting the English U11 Closed Championships at Nottingham High Junior School on Sat & Sun 12 & 13 October. Anyone in Year 6 and under can enter provided that they were born in, live in or attend school in England. An entry form is available to download.

British Chess Championships (11th Aug)

The 100th British Chess Championships was held in Torquay this year from 28th July to 10th August. Over 20 Nottinghamshire players took part in the various events that were ran over the 2 weeks. Robert Willoughby (West Notts) came equal 1st in the U140 Championship and won £160 prize money. Robert Taylor (Ashfield) came equal 2nd in the British Seniors U150 and won £30 prize money.

A selection of games is now available for replay.

Full results are as follows:

Adult and Junior sections:

Junior sections:

CWANG (23rd Jul)

The 4th CWANG event took place on Thursday 11th July 2013 at the Horse 'n' Groom in Basford. Gambit won the competition with 30 points followed closely by Ashfield on 28½ points. Full Results

NCA Dinner (23rd Jul)

Message from Robert Richmond

To mark the end of my term as President I am organising an Association dinner at the Beeches Hotel, Wilford Lane (just opposite the entrance to the old WB club) on Saturday 21st September at 7.30pm. I cordially invite all members plus partner to what should be the social highlight of the year, if not the decade...

If you would like to come drop me a line (0115-9455908), with your menu selections, by August 15th. The full menu is available to download, with a quick summary below.

Quick Menu (select one from each category)
Starter - Mushroom Soup, Prawn Cocktail , Chicken Liver Parfait
Main - Roast Beef, Salmon, Mushroom & Pea Risotto (vegetarian)
Sweet - Strawberry Cheesecake, Glazed Citrus Tart, Cheese & Biscuits
Tea, Coffee & mints

Price - 2 Course £17.95 / person , 3 Course £20.95 / person

NCA Best Game Prize 2012-13 (10th Jul)

There were 5 contenders this year for the best game prize. Steve Burke, the adjudicator, gives his analysis of the games and explains his choice for the best game. Read his report to find out which game won.

County Championship Venue Survey (10th Jul)

A survey was commissioned to find out where players would likely consider playing in the County Championship. This was taken at the Nottingham Congress and the result is a very clear preference for the High School. In recent years the County Championship was moved to West Nottingham following the increase in room hire cost at the High School. As a result of the survey the organisers will try to move the County Championship back to the High school in 2013/14. View results of the survey.

AGM Papers (7th Jul)

Here are the papers for the AGM meeting held tomorrow:

East Midlands Chess Festival (2nd Jul)

Aditya Munshi (Notts JHS) came equal 2nd in the Junior Training Tournament. Nottingham Junior High School entered 2 teams in the Primary Schools Challenge and they took 1st and 2nd place.