News – 2015–16

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.

County Championship Quarter-Final Weekend (12th Jun)

The Quarter-Finals of the County Championship took place on Saturday 21st May. There were 4 teams from Nottinghamshire competing in the minor, U160, U140 and U120 sections. Read the round up report to see how the teams got on.

Notts Chess Association AGM (12th Jun)

The NCA Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 11th July at West Notts Chess Club (provisional) from 7.30pm. A reminder that Officers will need to submit a report - please could these be sent to Alan Kenyon (secretary) by 20th June to enable him to circulate well in advance of the meeting.

Anyone wishing to take on/relinquish a responsibility post should also notify Alan of this intention.

Logo Competition, Win A Clock! (30th May)

Entries are invited for a logo competition, to help provide the NCA with a modern image. A flyer can be downloaded with further details about the competition. A revamped version of the logo we used many years ago is also available to download. You can continue the themes of the former logo or invent a new theme that somehow associates Nottinghamshire with chess. Entries are to be submitted to the NCA President, no later than the end of July.

Rules Revision Meeting Agenda Update (15th May)

The agenda has been updated for the Rules Revision Meeting being held on Monday 16th May.

Four Counties U130 junior team tournament (15th May)

The second of this new series of junior county matches was held in Sheffield on Sunday 24th April. Four counties participated in the tournament - Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. The Notts junior team finished in 3rd place. Full report

Rules Revision Meeting Papers (1st May)

Here is the agenda and supporting papers for the Rules Revision Meeting to be held on Monday 16th May:

Nottingham Congress (24th Apr)

GM Keith Arkell cruised through to win the Open by 1½ clear points. Marcel Taylor (Radcliffe & Bingham) won the Intermediate with the only other 100% score. Nathan Cragg (Ashfield) and Robert Cater (University) were joint winners of the Minor and Bernardo Pincheira (University) was immediately behind. Both students were playing their first ever adult event. The West Nottingham junior trio of Jonah Willow, Anita Somton and Adam Bennett were second in the Open, Major and Intermediate respectively. Full Report

Winners

Keith Arkell - Open Winner
Keith Arkell
Open Winner
David Williams - Major Winner
David Williams
Major Winner
Marcel Taylor - Intermediate Winner
Marcel Taylor
Intermediate Winner
Nathan Cragg - Minor Winner
Nathan Cragg
Minor Winner

Executive Committee meeting minutes (24th Apr)

The minutes for the Executive Committee meeting held on 8th April is now available to view on the website.

Best Game Prizes (24th Apr)

Entries are invited for this season’s best game prizes. As last year, there are two prizes (£15 each). One is open to all, while the other is an Under 140 prize (July 2015 grading list).

Any game played in an NCA event (League, County Championship, Rapidplay, Congress or County Match) since May 2015 is eligible.

Games don’t have to be perfect to win! A mistake or two, doesn’t necessarily rule a game out. So why not enter your most enjoyable game of the season? It would be good to share more of the highlights of our season with our fellow players.

Games in PGN or ChessBase form would be easiest, but a simple score of the game (including details of when/where it was played and who against) is acceptable. You can add any notes or comments that you wish, though this is not required.

Please send entries to Steve Burke by the end of May.

Congress (Apr 16/17) Emergency Phone Number / Volunteer(s) needed (5th Apr)

Here are the contact details for Robert Richmond, the organiser of the Nottingham Congress:

Emergency number, for use on the day - 07498-575638

For queries before then 0115-9455908 or by email - Robrchmnd@aol.com

Volunteer(s) needed for part of the Saturday to serve refreshments. Please ring Robert Richmond if interested.

NCA Meetings (5th Apr)

The general meeting of the NCA "Rules Revision Meeting" will be held (provisionally) on Monday 16th May at West Notts Chess Club.

Please send any proposals for the agenda to Alan Kenyon (secretary) by Monday 18th April at the latest.

An Executive Committee meeting is being held on 8th April. Should any member wish to express an interest in attending this or wish to add an item for discussion to the agenda let the secretary know.

Inter-County U180 Championship: Warwickshire 9-7 Nottinghamshire (19th Mar)

The U180 team lost 9-7 to Warwickshire and miss out on a clean sweep of the Midland County Team championship titles. Full Results

Inter-County Minor Championship: Worcestershire 7-9 Nottinghamshire (19th Mar)

Nottinghamshire beat Worcestershire 9-7 to win the Minor Championship. The team now progress to the quarter final of the national stages to play either Norfolk or Middlesex. Full Results

Obituary for John Buttery (13th Mar)

The following brief obituary was received from Barry Redburn at Radcliffe and Bingham chess club:

"It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of long time Radcliffe and Bingham member, John Buttery. John passed away in February, aged 93, following a couple of falls in the last two months, the last of which occurred in a Nursing Home in Clifton.

John was a character and a man of strong faith. After every club evening on a Tuesday, he would deliver a sermon to us all, whether we wanted it or not. He could never be accused of keeping his opinions to himself.

For all his eccentricity he will be sorely missed by us all, at his club, county and Nottingham congresses, all of whom he supported whenever possible."

Inter-County Matches Roundup (4th Mar)

Nottinghamshire county teams were in good form as they win 3 Midlands titles in the U140, U120 and U100 championships. All 3 teams progress to the national stages.

Results
U100 - Nottinghamshire 6½-5½ Warwickshire Full results
U120 - Worcestershire 3½-8½ Nottinghamshire Full results
U140 - Nottinghamshire 10-6 Derbyshire Full results

Mansfield Venue (16th Feb)

Mansfield do not have a venue for their remaining home games. They will contact opponents to make alternative arrangements.

Inter-County U140 Championship: Worcestershire 6-10 Nottinghamshire (16th Feb)

The U140 team beat Worcestershire 10-6 and are currently equal first in the group stages with Derbyshire. Their last match against Derbyshire will decide who wins the U140 championship. Full Results

Executive Committee meeting minutes (7th Feb)

The minutes for the Executive Committee meeting held on 15th January is now available to view on the website.

Nottingham Rapidplay (7th Feb)

The winner of the Open section was GM Mark Hebden (Guildford 4NCL) with a score of 6/6. The major section was won by Athar Mehmood (Newport) with a score of 5/6. The intermediate section was won by Hari Solomonides (West Bridgford) with a score of 5½/6. The minor section was won by Leslie Fancourt (Derby) with a score of 5½/6. Full Results

Inter-County U160 Championship: Nottinghamshire 10-6 Warwickshire (24th Jan)

The U160 had a comfortable 10-6 victory over Warwickshire to make it 2 wins out of 2. Full Results

Inter-County U140 Championship: Lincolnshire 5-11 Nottinghamshire (17th Jan)

The U140 team had a convincing win against Lincolnshire. They fielded a very strong team and only lost 2 games. Full Results

Mansfield Venue (17th Jan)

The remaining home fixtures for Mansfield will be played at the Brown Cow. If there are any further changes to the venue then the opposition teams will be informed.

NCA Best Games 2014-15 (28th Dec)

Message from Steve Burke

The joint winners of the open section (judged by Tim Walker) were John Molyneux and Andrew Walker. The new U140 section (judged by Maurice Hill) was won by Derek Padvis. With the assistance of Komodo, I have annotated all the games, each of which has it’s own interesting points. The games include the player’s notes, where provided, and Maurice's comments are also added to Derek’s game. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, Tim hasn’t yet been able to annotate the open section winners himself. View Games

I hope they will inspire you to enter your games for this season’s competition when the time comes.

Inter-County U120 Championship: Nottinghamshire 6-5 Staffordshire (13th Dec)

Both teams were short on players for this match but it was Nottinghamshire that came out on top with a 6-5 win over Staffordshire. Full Results

Inter-County Minor Championship: Nottinghamshire 12½-3½ Warwickshire (13th Dec)

The Minor team thrashed Warwickshire by a score of 12½-3½. This wasn't surprising as Nottinghamshire were the stronger team with an average of 10 points higher grade on all boards. Full Results

Nottinghamshire County Championship (30th Nov)

The 2015/16 County Champion is Jim Burnett (Mansfield) with a score of 4½. Full Results

Four Counties Junior U130 Tournament (20th Nov)

Notts were invited to take part in this round robin team event organised by the Lincolnshire Schools Chess Association. Simon Scott and John Swain volunteered to organise our team, with Simon doing most of the pre-match arranging and John being there on the day. They were so successful that we even provided a couple of players to help out the opposition. Thanks to both of them, the parents who provided transport and, of course, to those who played!

John reports that we came a very close second to Yorkshire, only losing 5.5-6.5, and ahead of Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. All the matches were very competitive, played in a very good spirit, and everyone gained a lot of useful experience of playing standard play games with a Fischer increment (50 minutes and 10 seconds per move) which many had not previously experienced.

Full Results

League Secretary's Statement re Withdrawal of University 1 (20th Nov)

Following the withdrawal of University 1, several issues arose. The full statement is available on the lmc page. The main items affecting clubs in general were:

  1. The Records Secretary has amended the fixtures and table appropriately.
  2. For simplicity, the lower University teams won’t be renumbered for this season.
  3. Only one other team will be relegated from Division 1.
  4. For the time being, promotion and relegation in other divisions remains as before, i.e. notionally two up two down, as set out on Page 3 of the League Handbook.

British Rapidplay (8th Nov)

There were many good performances from Notts players at the British Rapidplay this year but only one player won prize money. Adam Bennett (West Notts) won a grading prize of £8.33 in the intermediate section. Here are a list of Notts players who took part in the competition (all scores out of 11 unless stated otherwise):

Scarborough Congress (8th Nov)

Chris Fraser (West Bridgford) came equal 2nd in the Foundation section with a score of 4/5 and won £56. Daniel Broughton (West Bridgford) finished equal 3rd in the Major section with a score of 4/5 and won £84. Hambel Willow (West Notts) received £125 in prize money for finishing equal 4th in the minor section with a score of 4/5 and for winning a junior prize and best female prize. Here are a list of all Notts players that took part in the competition (all scores out of 5):

Inter-County Minor Championship: Nottinghamshire 11-5 Lincolnshire (8th Nov)

The Minor team scored a convincing win against Lincolnshire to go top of the leader board. Full Results

Inter-County U160 Championship: Greater Manchester 7-9 Nottinghamshire (8th Nov)

The U160 team beat Greater Manchester by a score of 9-7. They started the match with a 2-0 lead when Manchester defaulted a couple of boards. Full Results

Inter-County U120 Championship: Lincolnshire 5-7 Nottinghamshire (8th Nov)

The U120 team make it 2 wins out of 2 games with a 7-5 win over Lincolnshire. Full Results

Executive Committee meeting minutes (30th Oct)

The minutes for the Executive Committee meeting held on 16th October is now available to view the website.

Inter-County U100 Championship: Leicestershire 3½-8½ Nottinghamshire (30th Oct)

The U100 team won 8½-3½ against a weaker and less experienced Leicestershire team. An average rating difference of 20 points on each board meant it was always going to be a one sided match. Full Results

Inter-County Minor Championship: Leicestershire 8-8 Nottinghamshire (25th Oct)

The Minor team got a hard fought draw against Leicestershire. A bit of luck and resolute defending gave Nottinghamshire draws and wins from tricky positions. Full Results

Inter-County U120 Championship: Nottinghamshire 7-5 Warwickshire (25th Oct)

The U120 team had a comfortable 7-5 win against Warwickshire in their opening match of the season. Full Results

Changes to captains for West Nottingham (24th Oct)

The captain for West Nottingham 2 is now Alan Kenyon and the captain for West Nottingham 5 is now John Crawley. Please see the info web page for further details.

New team entered into Division 4 (24th Oct)

Grantham have entered a new team into Division 4. The new fixtures have been added to the website.

Nottinghamshire Competitions (16th Oct)

The dates have been confirmed for the County Championship, Congress and Rapidplay competitions. You can either download an entry form or enter online for each of the competitions.

Competition Date Paper Entry Form Online Entry Form
County Championship 21-22 Nov 2015 Download Entry Form Enter Online
Nottingham Rapidplay 31 Jan 2016 Download Entry Form Enter Online
Nottingham Congress 16-17 Apr 2016 Download Entry Form Enter Online

If you have any problems with the online entry forms then please contact the webmaster. If you have any general enquiries about the competitions then please contact the organiser.

National Chess Day (6th Sep)

The National Chess Day will take place on Saturday 12th September at Nottingham Railway Station Atrium from 9:30am to about 4:30pm. Juniors are particularly welcome.

MCBANG 2015 (9th Aug)

The annual MCBANG (formerly known as CWANG) event took place on Thursday 23rd July 2015 at the Horse 'n' Groom. Gambit emerged winners with 24 points. Full Results

Fantasy Football (8th Aug)

Fantasy Football enthusiast? Still time to join Premier Chess here - http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ - joining code is 651025-161998.

Your chance to beat a grandmaster! Sole rule - no pseudonyms for managers - real names only!

ECF National Schools Championships (19th Jul)

Report from John Swain

Nottingham High School (average grade 143) finished third in this year’s National Schools Chess Championships, after defeating Hampton School (average grade 163) on bottom board elimination (with the scores 3-3 and level on boardcount). The previous day, Nottingham High School lost 0½-5½ to a very strong Reading School (average grade 180) who were Champions last year but who lost on boardcount to Haberdashers’ Aske’s (average grade 175) in the Final this year.

The team consisted of Harry Croasdale, Hari Solomonides, Taylor Pearson, Karam Sangha, Saaras Mehan and Russell O’Brien (captain). Mention must also be made of Michael Fletcher and Aditya Munshi who played in the victory over Manchester Grammar School in the Quarter-Final but who were unavailable due to other prior commitments.

An interesting game follows, a classic case of “biter-bit” from move 22: View game

Sheffield Congress (19th Jul)

Nearly £500 prize money was won by Nottinghamshire players at the Sheffield Congress across three sections with 4 of those players finishing in 1st place. Jim Burnett (Mansfield) came equal 1st in the Open section with Mark Hebden on 4½/5 and won £150. Drag Sudar (Gambit) won the major section with a score of 4½/5 and received £200 in prize money. Andrew Sutton (Nottingham Central) and Chris Fraser (West Bridgford) both finished equal 1st in the minor section with a score of 4/5 and each received £72 in prize money. Here are the results for all the Notts players that took part in the competition (all scores out of 5):

Inter-County Championship - ECF Final Stage (13th Jul)

Nottinghamshire took on Kent in both the Under 140 and Under 100 County Championship Finals at Trident College, Warwick. The U100 team won 7-5 but the U140 team narrowly lost by 8½-7½.

Final Results
U100 - Nottinghamshire 7-5 Kent Full results
U140 - Nottinghamshire 7½-8½ Kent Full results

AGM Papers (10th Jul)

Here are the papers for the AGM meeting to be held on Monday 13th July: