The new English Chess Federation grades have been announced. The ECF Lists come out twice a year, at the end of July and the end of January. The January 2020 List should be used by team captains for determining playing strength and board order – see the Southampton Chess League website.

Chandler’s Ford Chess Club players have enjoyed mixed results, with some players increasing their Grade (James Daas and Sam Murphy both saw double-digit improvements: +26 and +13, and other players also improved), whilst some saw their grades slip a little.

In his latest reports, Malcolm Clarke writes on team, League, and County news.

Chandlers Ford D whitewashed Chandlers Ford C beating them 4-0 in the Southampton Chess League.  It was the second time the D team had beaten the C team this season having beaten them in the division 5 cup, although the C team, won the first league game between the teams earlier in the season.  For this league match the C team were without their two strongest players in Peter Eales and Manoj Chandar, while the D team were able to field a team as strong as they have fielded all season.  However it was still a good performance by the D team with even Keven Lamb the C team captain who has enjoyed recent success in chess tournaments losing his game on board 3 to Rob Sims.  To add to the occasion four additional games counting for grading purposes only were played and of these two were drawn and the other two won by Dick Meredith and John Kooner.

Winchester C drew 2-2 with Andover B with Sam Rebdi winning his game for Winchester and Graham Payne and John Schonenberger drawing.

Former Chandlers Ford A team captain Chris Priest, Basingstoke’s Frank Bonsey and Bob Cleave were all in the Hampshire team that lost 11.5-4.5.  All three were amongst the bottom seven boards all of whom lost their games, but in fairness on all of these boards the Hampshire player was rated 20 or more grading points lower than their opponents., and over the 16 boards the grading discrepancy averaged approximately 18 points.

The division 5 cup final between Chandlers Ford D and Salisbury C will be played at Salisbury on Thursday 12th March.  Winchester A’s match with Ringwood B was postponed, but Chandlers Ford’s A and B team are expected to return to action this week.

Malcolm Clarke‘s New Year article, that appeared in this week’s Hampshire Chronicle print edition, reports on a good Rapid-play tournament for one of our players; plus Basingstoke and Winchester meet in the League; the outcome of a chess arbitration decision; – and a party.

Chess Article

In the under 105 grading section of the Golders Green chess congress Keven Lamb captain of the Chandlers Ford C team and webmaster of his chess club’s website obtained 4.5 points from 6 games, a good performance. 

In the Southampton Chess League Division 5 Winchester D are still seeking their first win after losing 2,5-1,5 to league leaders Basingstoke, with Alan Weaver being Winchester’s sole winner and Bryan White drawing his game.

As a result of James Daas’s game being drawn after being referred to an English Chess Federation arbiter Chandlers Ford D beat Salisbury C 2.5-1.5 in the Southampton Chess League.

Chandlers Ford chess club stalwart Steve Dunleavy hosted a party at his home on the Saturday before Christmas which was attended by several chess club members many of whom bought their partners and the guest list included the former Southampton footballer Nicky Banger, an expert pianist who has starred in Mamma Mia and a saxophonist who provided the music for the evening.  Steve, his wife Suzan and their daughter Hannah provided the hospitality for the evening.

League fixtures for the Chandlers Ford club resume on Tuesday 14th January when for the third time this season Chandlers Ford C and D team meet with both teams likely to have full squads to choose from.

Happy New Year to all our readers

Chandler’s Ford‘s C and D Teams are both in Southampton Chess League Division 5, and have already met this season. Tuesday 14th January was the ‘return’ fixture, C team hosting (although both teams in their own home venue, the home or away distinction decides which players play with which colour pieces: the ‘Away’ side plays white on odd-numbered boards).

Division 5 fixtures are played across 4 boards, but the League permits an extra graded game for grading purposes. We stretched that facility to have not one but four graded pairings in addition to the League match boards 1-4. A big event for us: we’ve previously had two matches at club before against two visiting clubs, with up to ten of our players involved at the same time – but this was between two of our own teams, both at double-numbers: 16 players of our club playing at the same time! A super-match played over 8 boards.

So how did the match play out? Well, a conclusive win for the D team, with 6 points to 2, with the League Match boards 1-4 a romping 0-4 win for the D team. This result propels the D team up to second place in Division 5, a great start to their second half of the 2019-2020 season. There were some surprises with a couple of out-graded players getting draws against their higher-graded opponents: Ian Parker against Sam Murphy and David Culliford against Graham Stuart. See full individual results below, and the match result card submitted to the SCL with match comments and results of the extra grading pairings.

Results Card 2019-20, Division 5 Super-match: CFC v CFD plus multiple grading pairings

Date: Tuesday 14^th January 2020

	Chandlers Ford C	ECF		CFD	ECF
1	Maha Chandar	96	0	James Daas	95	1
2	Don Creasey	85	0	Rob Bird	103	1
3	Keven Lamb	82	0	Rob Sims	95	1
4	Steve Saunders	64	0	Nobby George	88	1
League Match result	0	League Match result	4
5	(grading purposes only) Rose Saunders	47	0	(grading purposes only) John Kooner	84	1
6	(grading purposes only) Dick Meredith	107	1	(grading purposes only) Steve Dunleavy	52	0
7	(grading purposes only) Sam Murphy	105	0.5	(grading purposes only) Ian Parker	63	0.5
8	(grading purposes only) Graham Stuart	146	0.5	(grading purposes only) David Culliford	124	0.5
	Total of the 8 boards		2	Total of the 8 boards		6

You may be wondering why some strong players weren’t in the top 4, match-board half of the line-up. This was to avoid eligibility issues now or later in the season, as the players would normally play for our A or B teams in Divisions 3 or 4.

Although I write as the captain of the losing team, I must say the event was a highlight of the season for me, seeing so many players of the club all participating in such a good atmosphere and showing flexibility to make the ‘super-match’ possible. A really enjoyable evening. Kev Lamb.

Membership subscriptions for the Chandlers Ford Central Club – the venue we play at – are due for renewal in January. Central Club membership is for the venue; chess club membership is a different cost – see the What does it cost? tab on this website for more information.

We meet at the Chandler’s Ford Central Club at 2 Winchester Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO53 2FZ . See their Join Us section of their website for more information. Being a member of the venue enables easy access to the place, such as door entry, and registering your car registration, and access to the club’s facilities and events. Facilities include:

• A well stocked bar including cheap beer prices
• Various Bar Snacks
• TASSIMO COFFEE
• Free Wi-Fi

Membership runs January to December.
MEMBERSHIP: New: £38.75 | Senior Citizen: £27.25 | Renewal: £20 (£23.50 with CIU- Club and Institute Union – pass card); £8.50 for OAP, £12 OAP with CIU pass card.

See the Central Club’s announcement below for more information:

2020 Subscriptions are due

THE OFFICE WILL BE OPEN FROM FRIDAY 3 JANUARY 2020 AT THE FOLLOWING TIMES FOR MEMBERS TO PAY THEIR SUBSCRIPTIONS: MONDAY: 12.00pm – 1.30pm
TUESDAY: 12.00pm – 1.30pm
FRIDAY: 12.00pm – 1.30pm &   7.00pm – 9.00pm
SUNDAY: 1.00pm – 3.00pm Members can now pay over the bar, however, you will not receive your card immediately. You would need to collect them on your next visit to the Club.

COST OF RENEWAL WILL BE:

MEMBER	Without Pass Card *	With Pass Card *
MALE/FEMALE	£20.00	£23.50
OAP	£ 8.50	£12.00
LIFE	Not available	£ 3.50

* Note: Pass card enables entry to all other Club and Institute Union (CIU)

ANY MEMBER WHO HAS NOT PAID THEIR SUBS BEFORE FRIDAY 31 JANUARY 2020 WILL INCUR A FINE.
PAYMENT BY CASH OR DEBIT CARD. WE DO NOT HAVE THE FACILITY FOR ACCEPTING CHEQUE OR CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS.