The Southampton Chess League will hold its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 31st May 2023. It will be at our club’s venue, the Chandler’s Ford Central Club. The SCL AGM will start at 7:30pm.

SCL AGM

Southampton Chess League AGM, Wednesday 31st May 2023, 7.30pm, Chandlers Ford Central Club (2 Winchester Road, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, SO53 2FZ).

Agenda

1. Welcome Thanks to Chandlers Ford club for hosting us.
2. Apologies for absence Roger Marsh (Grading Officer), Stephen Cartridge (Andover)
3. Minutes of previous AGM (14 June 2022) and matters arising   The ‘missing’ Division 2 trophy was retrieved from the estate of Chris Priest (sadly, he passed away in December 2022).
4. Fixture Secretary report (Malcolm Clarke) – copied below
5. Secretary Report (Fraser McLeod) – the season ran smoothly aside from one ongoing complaint for discussion (see proposal 4)
6. Treasurer Report and League Subs (Michael Pope).
7. Website (Graham Stuart) – we propose to use the ECF League Management System (LMS). This is used by many leagues around the country . An added benefit, supported by Roger Marsh (Grading Officer), is that the LMS automatically sends results for rating, substantially reducing workload.
8. Rating – (for discussion of any rating-related issues)
9. Election of officers – The current officers – Fraser McLeod (Sec), Malcolm Clarke (Fixtures and Results Sec), Michael Pope (Treasurer and Vice-chair), Matthew Coldwell (Chair), Graham Stuart (Webmaster), Roger Marsh (Grading Officer) are willing to continue. 
10. Proposals
11. Planning for the next season. Tentatively place teams into divisions based on current structure, with promotions, and regarding expected numbers of teams and clubs’ preferred divisions. With only 5 teams in Division 1 this season, there may be no need for any relegations.
12. Presentation of trophies

	2022/23 winner	Previous season (2022)
Division 1	Fareham A	Fareham A
Division 2	Basingstoke A	Salisbury A
Division 3	Southampton B	Basingstoke A
Division 4	Chandlers Ford B	Fareham B
Division 5	Winchester C	Basingstoke C
Robertson Cup	Fareham A	Not held
Robertson Plate	Salisbury B	Not held
Individual	Tom Anderson	Not held

Important: All trophy holders should bring them to the AGM for presentation to this season’s winners. Basingstoke hold the Division 3 and 5 trophies – all other trophies are with the League Sec.  

13. Any other business

Fixture Secretary’s Report : Malcolm Clarke

This was my 33^rd season as a committee member of the Southampton Chess League and the 32^nd as a secretary. It was good to have a full season after the previous three years had seen one truncated season, one blank season and one half season due to Covid. The Robertson Cup and Plate which had not been competed for since 2019/20 and not completed since 2018/19 were reintroduced.

The five divisions were won respectively by Fareham A, Basingstoke A, Southampton B, Chandlers Ford B and Winchester C, meaning that for the first time I can remember the five divisions were won by five different clubs. Fareham also became the first club to win the Southampton and Portsmouth leagues in the same season. Salisbury became the sixth club to win a trophy this season when they won the Robertson Plate, while Fareham A completed the double when they also won the Robertson Cup.

All divisions ran with six teams, except for Division 1 which ran with five. No individual team remained unbeaten through the campaign and the only winless team drew two matches. In divisions 2, 3, 4 and 5 only one match was defaulted and it was good to see many clubs fulfilling long distance away trips even when it was difficult to have a full complement of players available for the trip.

At last year’s AGM new rules were introduced to the Robertson Cup/Plate which meant that the Plate was for clubs in division 3 and below who were not a club’s first team, with no overlap of players between the two competitions. Although the motion was comfortably agreed at the AGM I did have some concerns. Two clubs with a team in the lower three divisions that was not their club’s first team played no part in the Plate and I was involved in a lot of dialogue with other clubs to check whether they had the resources to enter both Cup and Plate. As things stood, I thought that some teams in the Plate might struggle to keep players eligible to play in the bottom three divisions in league games available for the Plate, while it was still possible for regular Division 1 players to play in the Plate providing they were not nominated to play in Division 1.

For the draws in both Cup and Plate I tried to regionalise the early draws and for the Cup I generally tried to apply the idea of seeding.

Team captains are permitted to act as arbiters, but I think it may be worth clarifying what they can or cannot do in that role.

Matthew Coldwell took over as chairman, while his fellow Salisbury player Michael Pope took on the roles of vice chairman and Treasurer. It is good to see new blood on the committee, alongside long-serving secretary Fraser McLeod. In addition, Graham Stuart has taken on the role of Webmaster. Sadly, Chris Priest, who was a long-serving member of the committee, died during the season.

During the season Andover switched from Wednesday night to Tuesday night, although that change was not known when compiling the fixtures, but it will be noted for next season. The fixtures are always a challenge with University teams being unable to play during certain periods of the season, other clubs being unable to play on certain dates, and some clubs being unable to play more than one home match on the same evening. The need to avoid consecutive teams of the same club playing on the same night and some clubs playing in other leagues means that compiling fixtures can be challenging, but I do not think that too many fixtures have required rearranging.

Results continue to be entered on the SCL website soon after matches are played which represents a good service, especially with the Southern Daily Echo no longer publishing results on a daily basis.

Malcolm Clarke

20^th May 2023

Book Prize Tournament 2022-23 organiser Peter Przybycin reports on the event so far, and reveals the player pairings for Round 7.

Tournament round-up report

The Premier and Major sections have reached the final round of the Book Prize Tournament, and the winner of each section is still in the balance.

In the Premier it’s a straight fight between Iwan and Keith. Iwan is half a point ahead of Keith, so requires at least a draw to take the prize. Keith must win to retain his title.

In the Major, there are several possible outcomes, as three players (Nobby George, Andy Mills, and Keven Lamb) are still in with a chance of winning.

Nobby has a significant half point lead, so if he wins his final game (against Andy) he retains his title.

If Nobby draws with Andy he still retains his title, even if Keven matches his score by winning his final round game, because a tie break is decided by the result of their individual game, which Nobby won.

If Andy beats Nobby, then he takes the title, unless Keven wins his final game against Dick Meredith. In this case, Keven would take the title because he beat Andy in their individual game!

Simple!

The Minor section still has three rounds to play.

Book Prize Tournament 2022-23 Round 7 pairings:

Premier Section

• Iwan Cave v Keith Gregory
• Graham Stuart v Peter Przybycin
• Sam Murphy v Cary Xie
• Pablo Vidal v Robert Sims
• Cary Xie v Pablo Vidal, still to play from round 6

Major Section

• Andrew Mills Nobby George
• Richard Meredith v Keven Lamb
• Peter Eales v John Kooner
• Patrick Pavey v John Pellegrini

Minor Section

• Alan Weaver v Rob Strachan
• Steve Saunders v Daniel Phillips
• Lee Mundy v Geoff Parish
• John Davis v Steve Dunleavy
• Ian Parker v Rose Saunders

Please play the above games by 7^th June 2023, if possible.

All the best, Peter Przybycin.

Current Positions:

Premier section:

• Iwan Cave 6
• Keith Gregory 5½
• Graham Stuart 3
• Cary Xie 2½ (from 5)
• Peter Przybycin 2
• Sam Murphy 2
• Pablo Vidal 1½ (from 5)
• Rob Sims ½

Major section:

• Nobby George 5
• Keven Lamb 4½  
• Andy Mills 4½
• Dick Meredith 2½
• John Pellegrini 2½
• Peter Eales 2
• John Kooner 2
• Patrick Pavey 1

Minor section:

• Lee Mundy 5½
• Daniel Phillips 5
• John Davis 4
• Rob Strachan 3½
• Geoff Parish 3
• Rose Saunders 3
• Alan Weaver 2½
• Steve Saunders 2
• Ian Parker 1 Steve Dunleavy ½

Rules Summary

The first named player has the white pieces.

Rate of play is 90 minutes each, for the whole game.

Games will be played over-the-board at chess club, or at the home of the player with the white pieces. Score sheets and clocks must be used.

Both players should inform me Peter Przybycin of each game’s result via email.

The Summer Tournament 2023 starts as its organiser Malcolm Clarke announces the player pairings for the first Round.

The Summer Tournament runs during the summer, and is a 5-round Swiss format between May and September. Usually in the Summer Tournaments, the winner’s name is engraved on the Kooner Cup and the winner receives a replica of the Cup. The organiser is Malcolm Clarke.

The Summer Tournament is usually 5 Rounds over the summer months – about a month per Round. The winner receives the Kooner Cup for a year and usually gets to keep a replica. The games are standard play in terms of time control, 90 minutes each player.

Round 1 should be played by 31st May.

Click on the button below to see the Summer Tournament 2023 Page:

Player Pairings for Round 1

• Iwan Cave v Keven Lamb
• Nobby George v Keith Gregory
• Graham Stuart v John Kooner
• Lee Mundy v Eric Jones
• Pablo Vidal v Alan Weaver
• James Gray v Andy Mills
• Peter Przybycin v Michael Davis
• Rob Strachan v Frazer Burlinson
• David Culliford v Geoff Parish
• Ian Parker v Sam Murphy,
• Cary Xie v Steve Saunders
• Steve Dunleavy v Rob Sims
• John Davis v Rose Saunders

Summer Tournament 2023 Rules

• Rate of play: the Games are 90 minutes all moves per player.
• When the Round Pairings are announced, the first-named plays as white.
• Notify Malcolm Clarke of the results.

The Knockout Tournament 2023 , organised by Steve Dunleavy, has seen a record 28 entrants. It has a Preliminary Round plus 4 byes to establish the Round 1 players.

With a record 28 entrants this year we have 4 byes into the first round and 12 preliminary round games to qualify for the first round. If you are defeated in your preliminary round game you are eliminated from the competition. This system will reduce us from 28 to 16, and then 8, 4, and 2 thereafter.

The Preliminary Round Pairings

• Kev Lamb vs Steve Saunders                                                       
• Patrick Pavey vs Sam Murphy
• Phillip Tarrant Edwards vs Nobby George                                                                                                                             
• Alan Weaver vs Steve Dunleavy
• James Gray vs Connor Frost                                 
•  Lee Mundy vs Keith Gregory
• John Davis vs John Kooner
• Rose Saunders vs Daniel Phillips 
• Geoff Parish vs Rob Strachan
• Cary Xie vs Peter Przybycin
• Pablo Vidal vs Iwan Cave
• Fraser Burlinson vs Rob Sims                                                   

Preliminary Round Byes

• Andy Mills
• Ian Parker
• Graham Stuart
• Mike Davis

                                                                                                      

Knockout 2023 Rules

• There are a Maximum of 5 rounds: Preliminary, 16, 8, 4, 2).
• The draw for the Preliminary round will be in May.
• Please email Steve Dunleavy the result and let him know if you are having difficulty completing your game by the deadline date
•  Both clocks to be set at 90 minutes
• The name drawn first plays with white in the event of a draw colours are to be reversed and the game is still to be played(if possible) within the original deadline.
• If possible games to be played over the board at club on a club night, if not both players can agree a mutually convenient venue to play at.
• All results to be sent for grading
• Good luck and enjoy!
• Please keep Steve Dunleavy informed as to what date you have agreed to play to enable him to monitor the progress of this competition.