Chandler’s Ford Chess Club player Iwan Cave is organising the 2nd Hampshire Rapidplay tournament next Saturday, 5th April 2025. It is a 6 round ECF Rated Rapid tournament with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move held at Barton Peveril 6th Form College, Eastleigh, SO50 5ZA on 5th April 2025. Maximum Entries: 90 (there are still places available).
The 2nd Hampshire Rapidplay – Tournament details
Sections:
Open
Major (U1650)
Rapid ratings will be used to determine which sections players can enter. If a player doesn’t have a rapid rating or has a provisional rating then their classical rating will be used to determine eligibility.
Please note there is a £15 pay-to-play fee (£6 for juniors) for players with ECF membership below Gold. With the ECF restructuring their membership system, all Silver Members have been upgraded to Gold membership. You can check your ECF membership here.
For any players without ECF membership, please follow this link to sign up to the ECF. Players under 25 who haven’t previously been members of the ECF can get their first year of membership free of charge.
Prizes:
1ˢᵗ – £100 2ⁿᵈ – £70 3ʳᵈ – £50
Minimum prize fund for each section. No player may win more than one prize. If a player is eligible for two or more prizes, the highest will be awarded. In the event of a tie, players will share prizes.
*The minimum prize fund is based on receiving 40 entries . The prize fund shall be increased in line with the number of entries and may include extra category prizes including: rating; junior; and women.
The venue is easily accessible by car and public transport. It is located just off Junction 13 of the M3 and Junction 5 of the M27 and has ample on site parking as well as parking on Chestnut Avenue just outside the college. Southampton Airport Parkway and Eastleigh Train Station are both a 20 minute walk away and public buses from Romsey and Southampton run past the college regularly.
Local amenities can be found a short walk from the college campus in Eastleigh Town Centre. The College Café will be open between 09:00 – 15:00.
This is a busy time for Chandler’s Ford Chess Club. The Southampton Chess League nears the end of the2024-5 season, but with some club tournaments about to start, plus some local Congresses, there’s a lot happening. Graham Stuart guides us through the chess scene with his club roundup March 2025.
SCL League
No matches last week, but the result of the University C match is of relevance to our C team and Division 4. University c beat Basingstoke D 2½ – 1½ and this leaves the table as below. The C team need to beat Salisbury C 3½ – ½ to win the league, a 3 – 1 win will see a tie (and play-off for promotion and a tied championship). A tough ask, but it could have been worse if the University had won by a larger margin.
Three away matches next week with:
D team are away to Southampton C on Tuesday
E team visit Basingstoke E on Wednesday
The previously mentioned C team match against Salisbury C on Thursday. Good luck to the team!
I have attached a LMS Report on the matches from last week in the SCL League. But all results can be seen from the SCL Fixtures.
Dave Holmes and David Culliford are playing in this weekend congress. This congress is a favourite of theirs. Results can be found at the link below, with 2 of the 5 rounds played.
The 2nd program went down more favourably than the first, with the 8-queen puzzle being popular. I think this week has 6 more players, and from what I can see one player is rated over 1800 and I think could be the strongest player in the event.
The player who left if the 1st round is Nick Templar and he is rating is 1650 (1670 live), which was a bit higher rated than I thought. But the games in the show are 10-to-15-minute games (with increment) and maybe this gave a false impression of their quality.
The popular KO tournament is being held from April.
Quick summary if that you need to enter by the 31st March and Steve Dunleavy will complete a round by round draw and you will normally have between 3 and 4 weeks to play your game.
John Kooner Club Championship (old Summer tournament)
Please let Malcolm Clarke know if you wish to enter this competition. The draw is to be completed in a couple of days’ time, so please enter soon.
It can be difficult to turn up and get a game due to the tournaments, so please do email players to see if available for a ladder / rated game before club night. Not sure of the best way to manage this, but if anyone wishes to set something up please do so.
Please remember to advise the Tournament Controller of the result of your game. Contact details and LMS links below.
If you are away / cannot play in the ladder for a few weeks let Rob know so he can sit you out and allow others to challenge above the normal number of places.
If you cannot get a game from the internal tournaments, you can play a rated friendly, but the tournaments always take priority to ensure they run on schedule. To ensure these ad-hoc games do not start too late, please make sure they start before 8pm and only play one per evening. If you have played someone once, the 2nd game should be with reversed colours.
Time control can be either 80 + 10 or 90 minutes for these standard rated games but if players cannot agree, 80 + 10 is the default.
Large prizes available from Dorset Chess Association! This is certainly a tournament to consider playing in. This also now has a British Chess Championship place for the best score by a WECU member. There is now a late entry fee, and the Congress is close to full. Keith, Graham and Philip are playing.
2nd HCA Rapidplay – 5th April 2025 (run by Iwan Cave)
Hampshire play in the Chiltern League which this season has reintroduced the B team competition
All matches are on Saturdays, 2pm to 6pm.
B team dates (Under 1750)
29th March 2025 – Victory Hall, Church Road, Farley Hill, RG7 1TR
National U1650
Hampshire have entered the national stages which Ashraf will be running. Details to follow, but if your rating was under 1650 in September 2024 you are eligible (especially improving juniors!)
In addition, for the Hampshire Chess History website I am planning on adding a small history of each Hampshire club, I have started with our club and as this is an amalgamation of many clubs this does cover all of these. The idea is that others will update me with additional information from their club archives.
My understanding of the clubs which fed into the current CF Chess club is below. Eastleigh Railway was the main Eastleigh club (and would have probably changed venue / name a few times as well) which was formed in 1912.
In addition, this does mean CF Chess Club is now 10 years old and we should think about the best way to celebrate this! Please do let Rob / Malcolm and other CF Officers know of any idea?
Castle Chess will hold their 27th Fareham Congresstournament (over the board games) on 10th-12th March 2023. It will be at the Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, PO16 7BQ.
Lovely garden at the Lysses House Hotel venue of the Castle Chess Fareham Congress March 2024
Castle Chess 27th Fareham Congress: main features
Dates: 14-16th March 2025
Venue: the Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire. PO16 7BQ. Contact Castle Chess if you’d like to stay there for the tournament.
The Lysses House Hotel, Fareham
Entry fee: £40 (£7 discount for juniors)
Sections: Open, Major (U1901 ECF), Minor (U1601)
Prizes: expected £200 per Section, but dependent on the number of entries.
Rate of Play: 75 minutes plus 30 seconds per move.
See link below for printable Entry form. You can contact the organiser Tony Corfe, by email or phone. 01707 661160 Mob: 07973 516718 tony@mrcorfe.co.uk
The format of the Congress is a six-Round Swiss: round one on the Friday evening, three rounds on the Saturday, and the last two games on the Sunday. Byes may be requested (except Round 6).
There are three sections:
Open: Under 2001
Major: Under 1901
Minor: under 1601
The Congress costs £40 to enter, with an £8 discount for Juniors. Non-ECF members will need to pay £15 extra. There are also various accommodation packages – available through Castle Chess – if you would like to stay at the Lysses.
Tea and coffee will be provided for a donation: £1.50 per cup, £9 maximum for the weekend.
Results of all games will be be sent to the ECF for Grading.
There will not be a Prize-giving ceremony as prizes will be sent via bank transfer.
Rate of Play
The rate of play for the games is 75 minutes plus 30 seconds per move (about 3 and a half hours). All moves must be recorded throughout the game.
Further information
EVENT ENQUIRIES: Tony Corfe, 51 Borough Way, Potters Bar, Herts. EN6 3HA Tel: 01707 661160 Mob: 07973 516718 email: tony@mrcorfe.co.uk or marc.shaw.chess@gmail.com or Marc Shaw 07947 813303
See the Castle Chess website’s home page by clicking on their logo below:
