Chesterfield Chess Club

Visit to London Chess Classic

I'm going to sound like a groupie in this one. No apologies: that's probably the sort of standing in the chess world to which I should aspire.
The VIP room at the tournament contained such luminaries as Vlad Kramnik, John Nunn, Jonathan Speelman, David Bentley, Viktor Korchnoi and all the grandmasters at the tournament. Emma proved herself, as David put it, "a chip off the old blockhead": straight up to Vladimir Kramnik and buttonholed him for an autograph. I could only envy the social confidence as I sat next to Korchnoi who was trying to take on John Nunn in analysis of the Short-Carlsen game. And Carlsen...there's a tale. On the Sunday he wiped out Chinese champion Ni Hua, and I nearly inflicted more damage on the young star myself, using not the chess pieces but the door between the gentleman's restroom and the main concourse.
David had earned the VIP ticket by all his efforts to publicise, organise and generally set things in motion. I will always be grateful to him for this chance to ride his coat tails: it was a memorable day. At one point the former British champion Julian Hodgson looked in my direction and said "ah, at last a man who'll know what he's doing...what do you think - queen a2 or takes on a4?" From over a foot above my right shoulder came a lordly Russian accent: "I would take the pawn without thinking about it"...fortunately the killer question was not for me but for the man next to me, the former world champion, who sat down with Hikaru Nakamura to go through their game as near to me as anyone at The Three Merry Lads.
Emma and I took on the main GM commentary room, where three British GMs - Rowson, Gordon and Ward - analysed with the audience. And after their games, the players came in to run through what had happened and take questions. This I hadn't seen at previous tournaments and it was a great experience: Adams calm and modest, explaining the lines in depth, all things he'd been concerned about; Short witty, equally self-deprecatory as he ran through a thrilling game with Carlsen in which both players narrowly avoided defeat; Kramnik just amazing in the depth of what he'd seen, and the speed and brilliance with which he expressed it in a foreign language. Wow. I've been in Buckingham Palace to see the medals handed out: that was a nice day out. I've been to the House of Commons, which is also OK if you've got a free afternoon. The London Chess Classic. That was the place.

Chess for Derbyshire Schools.

David Bentley has rightly won a plaudit in the programme for the London Chess Classic: after all the praise for the great masters who made this such a memorable event, we read: "The people who make a difference tend to be chess enthusiasts taking initiatives at local level - people like David Bentley from Chesterfield, father of a chess prodigy, who has launched a programme for distributing free chess sets to schools in Derbyshire. "We've had great support from local companies", he says proudly. But would that support have been forthcoming if he had not gone knocking on doors?" Spot on.

So 90 schools applied, and David's efforts and organising have resulted in masses of sets, boards and DVDs turning up at his house. He and I have been charging round Derbyshire delivering them, and for me it's been such a rewarding experience. First the trips round: lovely day out round Edale and Chapel, back through villages en route, took Mrs L for a pub lunch on the way, and I could certainly handle the expressions of gratitude from schools along the route. My own gratitude to a couple of chaps who've taken sets to distribute round their own neighbourhoods: our old friends Andy Toothill and John Hoddy. Hope they find it as pleasant a job as I have. So far, we've done more than half, should finish early in the New Year, and David tells me there's still the odd school ringing asking if they're too late. Any further offers of help distributing will not be turned away! We've got about 15 within 10 miles of here; couple in Ashbourne, one in Buxton and quite a lot round the southern suburbs of Derby. Dave L.

Summer Chess

Yes, we're still playing; thanks largely to Brian, Emma, Steve B and George who've turned up fairly regularly. I rang round to get a decent turnout for two visitors from overseas. Hubert showed up and wiped out all comers at 5 minutes: the prospect of taking on the big boys without him for much of next season...
...and Frank spotted the website at home in California while planning a trip to see family. Terrific to meet him; we had six or seven there for a jolly evening of chess and beer. Frank has sent me some great photographs of a trip to Hungary organised by GM Susan Polgar, which I'm sure he'd be glad for anyone interested to see - can forward by email. A rare treat to make a new friend like that; he may turn out as a ringer if back over during the season.

The British Championship is being slugged out late July to early August, 11 round Swiss in Torquay. A few local players have had the courage to risk it, and as I write after 4 rounds two old faces have started very well: 2.5/4 for Chris Ross, and a splendid 3/4 by the Sheffield Nomads star Paul Cumbers, which puts him right among the leaders. Paul's fourth round was a win with Black against IM James Cobb, who must be rated near 230.

NOTICE OF AGM

Folks, can we go for Monday August 31st so as to get in before the Sheffield and Derbyshire AGMs? Have a think about doing any of the jobs - secretary, A team captain etc: most are elected on the principle of you want it you got it. Other agenda items can be sent to me beforehand or raised on the night. I have minutes of last time, which I'll stick on here under "Letters" since we haven't had any! and look forward to seeing y'all then.

The Times, July 25th

The Staunton Memorial Tournament will be played from August 8th to 17th; it features very strong grandmasters from the UK and The Netherlands. We have considerable local interest: the website is by David Bentley - google Staunton Memorial and you're away, and very interesting it looks too.
Meanwhile, Emma set about publicising the event by playing Raymond Snoddy at The House of Commons; GM Ray Keene devoted the whole of his column to this on July 25th. If I knew how to lift it to print here, I would; as it is, the column will be on line for at least some days yet and I urge folk to take a look.

Mike Alcock County Champion yet again!

Our lone representative in the Derbyshire individual championship has been quietly cruising through the field all year. Paul Madden (Breadsall) and Simon Gilmore (Belper) were the most obvious competitors, but in the event the only point dropped was to David Levens. Entering the final round needing just a draw against Simon, Mike won a piece on move 12 and the game in due course. I believe this is the twelfth time Mike's won the title; he once said his ambition was to win it as a senior, and he's achieved that three times over. Youth and talent no match for experience and...even more talent. After taking a year out through illness - during which time the club failed to retain the league championship it had twice won with Mike on top board - he returned and we won the Derbyshire double. If anyone begrudges us the monopoly of the team competitions, it'd be understandable, but you can be sure that the people who went in for the individual will be as delighted as we are to have Mike back and still at the top of his game. The individual title as well. Brilliant, well done Mike.

Derby & District League.

Chesterfield have won the Derby & District, one of the two leagues we enter. With one match still to play, our total of 10 wins, a draw and two losses for 21 points can't be matched. Seven other teams competed in the top division, from as far away as Lichfield and Long Eaton; closest contenders were from West Notts, Belper and Derby. Thanks to all the players who supported our efforts.

Sheffield League

We've finished third, which is honourable and probably a fair reflection of where we stand for the moment: Nomads were worthy winners and congratulations to them. If we're not to get the trophy, at least it went to our senior partners in the winning Woodhouse Cup all-star combo, and you'd be hard put to speak too highly of Jonathan, Kieran, Jeremy and co. as players or as people. Next came Sheffield University, and readers of our history section will know something of the contribution that institution has made to Yorkshire chess. After a few fallow years, they've built a team worthy of their predecessors, and that's really saying something.

Our own points tally might have been a little higher, had those last matches required a bigger effort, and had a few earlier not got away. But we start next season with as good a chance as any, and my thanks to all our players. The Davy League is hard to win: it's a fine and difficult competition, as shown by the talent, both in chess and the wider world, of the people whose interest and affection it engages. We played a full part in keeping it that way.

Our individual scores were mostly within yoo-hooing distance of 50%, with two standouts: captain's prize Martin Howard 12.5/15 just ahead of Steve Bracey 10.5/13.

Best wishes and cheerio but I'll bet only for one season to our good buddies of Phoenix and Woodseats. We've had some great battles and good evenings with both over many years; it's been a pleasure and an honour to sit across the table with some of those people, and one we surely hope to enjoy again soon. Nomads are even now planning how to keep their crown while dividing their efforts between two A Division teams, and congratulations to Paul Kelman, Dean Hartley and friends of Clay Cross: next year Derbyshire has two clubs going for the Davy.

The Woodhouse Cup leaves Yorkshire!

Matches against Alwoodley and Doncaster wrapped up this competition. Alwoodley especially didn't go down easily; it was 3-3 for ages, though rationally we knew the last points were going to come. Hubert Mossong proved The Man once again: he's won every game he played in this competition, and ground down his opponent in the ending, after a black square domination of a type so familiar to us. He was missing for the Doncaster match, in which Jim Burnett led his people bravely, but against a strong Sheffield team: Jeremy wasn't risking losing this one at the last. A draw being good enough, we were waiting for the vital point to take us to 4; and it came from our own Mike Johnson, a great moment. The final result was 5.5-2.5, our 100% match score being little more than the minimum requirement to finish ahead of York.

Of the Sheffield squad, IM Andrew Ledger represented Woodseats and Dr Peter Hempson, Ecclesall. Couldn't have won it without them; we saw at least two good wins from Carl Walker of Phoenix, and also appearing occcasionally, Bill Ward and Geoff Frost, the latter as stand-in captain. These heroes apart, the squad is drawn from two of the area's many clubs, namely Nomads and Chesterfield. Paul Blackman built a team based on Rotherham Juniors and the University, which easily held its own in the top division; the Barnley/Doncaster crew represent Donny or Wakefield, and one star player never misses a match but plays for York...and of course lots of people have better things to do of a Saturday. Since we won even with this division of resources, it says something for the continuing strength of chess locally.

And it's now our turn to take possession of the trophy itself - ! A fine piece of Victorian silverware, emblazoned with the names of clubs going back to the 1880s. I'd heard it was worth a lot of money, so got it valued, and, sure enough, it's not! but in terms of how badly people wanted it, over many years of trying, absolutely priceless. We'll be showing it off anywhere we can think of, over the next few weeks.

March 09

Feb 14th was showtime in the Woodhouse Cup: the annual Sheffield - York match which has decided matters in the North of England's most prestigious club competition for the last few seasons. Both teams came in having played and won seven, and York had the advantages of home venue and higher gradings on at least 6 of the 8 boards. IM Andrew Ledger of Woodseats took board one and drew with one of his few peers hereabouts, the respected player and writer IM Richard Palliser. It looked very hard fought, beyond that I'm too humble to comment. Four Nomads and three of our own made up the rest of the Sheffield team. FM Hubert Mossong was Sheffield's secret weapon and didn't let the mere fact that his ending was drawn stop him winning on two. Dave Adams turns out for York in this League, and his draw with Jon Nelson was one of the first to finish. Kieran O'Driscoll made it 3-1 at the top end, a fine win v Detlef Plump; nobody on the top 4 was ranked below 185. Mike Johnson made it 50% for our club with a solid draw against Chris Ross - a special note of thanks to him for help with the team motivation - and Jeremy Hamm scored the point that took us over the line, a captain's innings if ever there was one, and a memorable moment for one of the guys who make you proud to play the game. By contrast I'd been scraping a living against Jos Woolley on 5 after an opening howler, thought I'd survived, then went down at the last; since I didn't know the score I wondered if I'd be commiserating with Mohammad Said who also lost a hard ending in the other last game to finish, and we could be remembered together as the unfortunates who lost us the Woodhouse Cup. A blessed relief, as Andrew told us the result. The competition's not over yet, but it's now Sheffield's to lose.
York 3.5 Sheffield 4.5

The Times, Thursday 19th

I've heard that Ray Keene may be featuring a game by one of our own. And not Noted Master crushes NN in a fashion readers will find amusing and instructive, the usual way Chesterfield players (except Hubert) expect to make a national splash. No, GM Keene is going for Otto Hardy - Emma Bentley, the vital game in which our young star levelled the Leicestershire-Derbyshire match. Apologies to anyone left of centre or right of Genghis Khan who buys the Times and finds the column's been derailed by the outbreak of war or arrival of Martians, but this is what I've heard. Gotta be worth a look! Dave Latham.

Summer Chess

NOTICE OF AGM

The Times, July 25th

Mike Alcock County Champion yet again!

Derby & District League II

Derby & District League.

Sheffield League

The Woodhouse Cup leaves Yorkshire!

Feb.14th.

The Times. GM Raymond Keene MA OBE.

The Times, Thursday 19th

Sheffield A v York RI- Woodhouse Cup.