Our championship games go rolling on towards their conclusions. There were wins for Gordon over John, Alan over Alistair and David over Sean (Default) in the A Grade Championship.
In the B/C Tourney Rick joined Mark S at the top of the table with a win over him, Mark W beat Rose and Velera over Savanah (Default). In both tournaments two players are starting to pull away from the rest with Alan and Paul heading the A Grade and Rick and Mark S the B/C however, neither of them can afford any slip ups as the chasing packs are ready to pounce !
Last week saw the Club Championship play out as per current standings with Ross getting the better of Alistair. Likewise with John beating Sean and David and Gordon playing out a hard fought draw. With all games now completed in Series 1 Both Alan and David share the lead with 6/7 pts and both undefeated with 4 wins and 2 draws.
Most of the action was in the B/C Tourney where Valera won his first point over the board with a good win over Rose – Congratulations to Valera (now a fully fledged member !!) Rick didn’t have too much trouble with Savanna though he was probably a little frustrated that she chose to play on, when being 3 pieces down. !!
The fireworks of the night was in the battle of the two “Marks” A good attack by Mark Summers (MS) was initially spoilt by him leaving a Bishop en-pris! — Big + to Mark Woodward (MW) He (MS) then did excellent work to reduce the deficit and win a Knight/Rook exchange. (Little + to MW) MW then turned the screws but made a unsound Bishop sacrifice to threaten checkmate. (Big + to MS) However, feeling a little pressured MS failed to see the correct defensive move and had to sacrifice his Queen for a Rook. (Winning + for MW). However, possibly feeling a little over confident at this stage, MW failed to pay attention to MS doubling his rooks which led to MS swooping down the board to checkmate MW. As can be in chess, a Crazy game by both players but hopefully one both enjoyed.
Many lessons to be learned but I think a crucial one is when playing on the clock don’t get swayed into playing at the same speed as your opponent. When you come to an important stage with attack or defence, taking a little extra time to try and make sure you have looked for the best response, will always pay dividends in the long run.
Though some players in the Club Champs have played Series 2 games, this coming Tuesday is classed as the first round of Series 2 and so players will play the same opponent in Round 1 of Series 1 but with colours reversed.
In the Club Champs as well as the “B/C”, in what was thought to be two straight forward wins for both the seeded players, someone forget to tell their opponents. Though Alistair McGowan was making life a little difficult for David, he wasn’t in too much danger until he left a Rook “En-pris” which Alistair gratefully accepted and David duly resigned. Other results – John Whibley beat Sean Doyle.
All participants of the Club Championship are advised that due to time constraints in completing games prior to deadline of 5 Dec 17, A match will be forfeited if an opponent cannot attend on the night.
In the B/C. Rick on paper should have had a straightforward win against Mark Woodwood, but after beating Mark Summers the previous week to go joint top, losing to Mark W sees Mark S top the race again. Other results – Mark beat Valera and Rose beat Savannah
Both the Club Championships and the B and C Tourney have reached the half way stage with the top two players of each group facing off against each other. In the Club Championship Alan and David, (Alan on 5.5 from 6 and David on 5 from 5), played a mini 2 ½ hr marathon. Like two undefeated boxers, both parties slugged it out but neither could find the knockout punch. Finally, with Queens face to face in the centre of the board, neither wanting to yield ground, both kept their undefeated status, and agreed a draw–A match both players enjoyed.
Alan has now completed the first series and leads the Championship with 6 from 7 pts. David can overtake him with a win next Tuesday.
In the B and C Grades; the top two leaders played against each other, Rick Lowe on 4 from 5 and Mark Summers the tournament leader with 5 from 5. Having already lost to Mark, Rick needed to avoid defeat to keep in touch with the leader however he went one better and returned the favour by giving Mark his first loss. Now with both parties sharing the lead, the B/C Tourney has become a closer race. Due to insufficient support the experiment of opening at 7.00pm was not successful and so the club with resume opening time of 7.30 pm. Look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday at 7:30pm.
After 4 rounds both the Club Championships and the B and C Tourney are starting to take shape with the front runners being Alan Winfield and Mark Summers respectively. But, it’s still early days with David Paul and Gordon Lyall having a game in hand.
With Sean Doyle away and Alan due a Bye, both he and Ross agreed to bring forward their match. After a long tussle with neither player giving much away, Alan was a pawn ahead though Ross had excellent counter play. With K+R+3P v K+R+4P, both players agreed to a draw.
In the B and C Tourney, Mark Summers has already established a healthy 2 point lead after only 4 rounds. Though there is plenty of chess still to play, he is showing that he is the one to beat!!
In general news are any members interested in going to either Wellington or Upper Hutt for a one day friendly match. Just an idea mulling in my head. If 4 or 5 (or more) are keen I will make a few calls and see if either of these are too.
With the second round completed this week, the Club Championships are well underway with solid turnouts in both competitions.
A minor upset in the ‘A” Grade saw Alistair McGowan beat top seed Ross Jackson with the other two games going to the higher graded players. David Paul had the weeks ‘Bye”.
In the ‘2nd’Tier the battle of the two juniors saw Mark Summers defeat Valera Bonyushkin and Rick Lowe coming out on top over Mark Woodwood. Rose Kingston had the weeks Bye.
On 2 points from 2 games, Mark Summers leads the pack!!
The First round of the Club Championships got underway on Tuesday 5 Sept 2017 with the top 7 players In the club taking part in a new Round Robin format for the ‘A’ Grade and remainder combining in a Swiss Format for the ‘B’ and ‘C’ Grade Championship
After a long 6 weeks the Free Bird Competition finally came to an end with Alan Winfield holding off David Pauls challenge to see out the evening with 3 points from 4, giving him a total of 22 out of a possible 24 points. David stared the night well with a good win over Alan but faltered with a draw and loss to Gordon Lyall and Ross Jackson, respectively.
To those who did not attend on Tuesday, the Club Championships start this coming Tuesday so all members are encouraged to turn up.
As mentioned last week, the club is now opening at 7.00pm to allow the juniors more time to play and learn however all members are welcome if they wish to come in a little earlier.
President Guy Burns is away and returns early 2018.
We welcome Alan Winffield to the weekly Newsletter helm.
Alan begins:
With the Penultimate round of the FreeBird tournament completed on Tuesday 22nd August, Alan Winfield won all four of his games to increase his lead to two points. With four games left only David Paul can catch him. See Top 3 standings below. Full Tournament Chart will be on the Notice Board on Tuesday.
With only Four games left, members are encouraged to attend to ensure sufficient numbers are present to complete the round.
This coming Tuesday we are going to trial opening at 7.00pm so that the juniors (we have 3!!!) can have some game time to not only have friendly games with themselves but also to provide them with some tuition to help them develop.
Should any general member wish to come in a little earlier please feel free to drop in.
Alan Winfield continues to head off David Paul, by one point in the Freebird Trophy. 2 more nights to go then our Holy Grail of Chess Tourneys begins: Club Champ time!