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The Knock-Out Tournament 2021

Tournament organiser Steve Dunleavy announces the start of this year’s Knock-Out Tournament. There are 20 players at the start, four of which will be eliminated in the Preliminary Round, and then Round 1 will start with 16 players. The number of players is then halved with each round. The games are to be played online on lichess.org.

Cheers! Steve Dunleavy raises a glass
Steve Dunleavy, Knock-out Tournament organiser

The Players

  1. Mike Whitford
  2. Steve Dunleavy
  3. John Kooner
  4. Dean Shaw
  5. Maha Chandar
  6. Andrew Vagg
  7. Patrick Pavey
  8. Joseph Henbury
  9. Kev Lamb
  10. Mike Henbury
  11. Graham Stuart
  12. Peter Przybycin (Defending Champion)
  13. Geoffrey Parish
  14. Rob Strachan
  15. Rose Saunders
  16. Steve Saunders
  17. Sam Murphy
  18. Rob Sims
  19. Nobby George
  20. Don Creasey

Preliminary Round

There will be 4 games played in the preliminary round. This will reduce the number to 16 (-8-4-2 thereafter)

DEAR ALL THE DRAW FOR THE ABOVE HAS BEEN MADE AND IS AS FOLLOWS:

  • Joseph Henbury vs Peter Przybycin
  • Rose Saunders vs Maha Chandar
  • John Kooner vs Sam Murphy
  • Nobby George vs Patrick Pavey

Knock-out Tournament 2021 Rules

PLEASE ALSO TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING;

1) The player named first plays with white

2) All games to be played on lichess with the clocks set at 90 minutes for both players

3) All games to be played within the next 3 weeks (on or before 23rd May)

4) In the event of a draw players can either a) agree to play a rapid play game on the same night (duration to be agreed by both players) or b) play another 90-minute game before the 23rd May; in any replay games the colours will be reversed

5) Could I please be notified of the result immediately after the game has concluded to allow me to prepare to make the round 1 draw on Sunday 23rd May 2021

Steve Dunleavy, May 2021

Book Prize Tournament Winner Announced

May the Fourth: Ewok wins chess prize

May the 4th – and news that an Ewok has won the chess Tournament! The Force was with former Star Wars actor Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’ on lichess.org) as he is announced as the winner of the Chandlers Ford Chess Club Book Prize Tournament 2020-1. Tournament organiser Peter Przybycin gives the final scores.

Hi All,

The Book Prize Tournament is now complete, and the winner is Mike Henbury!

The top three players again recorded wins in round 11, so Mike retained his half point lead over Rob Sims, with John Kooner a further half point adrift.  

Impressively, Mike went through the whole tournament unbeaten, the only player to do so.

Special mention has to be made to Rob Strachan(6), Rose Saunders(5), and Geoff Parish(4), who all performed well above their grades. Also, congratulations to Suzan for breaking her duck in the final round.

Round 11 Results:

  • Steve Saunders 0 – Nobby George 1
  • Steve Dunleavy 0 – Mike Henbury 1
  • Keven Lamb 1 – Rose Saunders 0
  • Rob Strachan 0 – John Kooner 1
  • Don Creasey ½ – Suzan Dunleavy ½
  • Geoffrey Parish 0 – Rob Sims 1

Final scores:

  • Mike Henbury 10
  • Rob Sims 9½
  • John Kooner 9
  • Keven Lamb 7½
  • Rob Strachan 6
  • Rose Saunders 5
  • Don Creasey 5
  • Geoffrey Parish 4
  • Nobby George 4
  • Steve Dunleavy 3
  • Steve Saunders 2½
  • Suzan Dunleavy ½

I have thoroughly enjoyed running this competition, and I hope all of you have enjoyed competing in it.

Maybe we can do it again sometime soon. Please let me know your views.

All the best,

Peter.

Late April Tournament Results

A catch-up of the club’s online tournaments, with results from the second half of April. Plus the latest in the Ladder.

Classic antiquity style chess set
Classic antiquity style chess set

Results of club tournaments

The Club’s players keep in touch during lockdown with regular online chess tournaments played on lichess.org.

Tuesday Arena 20th April: 15 of us participated in this week’s Arena on 20th April, won by Sam Murphy. David Culliford (‘djc202’ on lichess) was second, and John Zastapilo (‘john_zed’) 3rd.

Thursday 5-round Swiss 22nd April 10 of us played in the Chandler’s Ford Swiss on 22nd April. Congratulations to winner Rose Saunders who is a regular player but this was her first time at the top ‘podium’ place. David Culliford (‘djc202’ on lichess) came 2nd, and Sam Murphy third.

Rose won the Chandler Ford Arena on 22nd April

Tuesday Arena 27th April 17of us participated in this week’s Arena on 27th April, a great turnout: only one of our Tournaments has exceeded that: 18 played on 16th February. Congratulations to winner David Culliford, and well done Rob Sims second, and Sam Murphy 3rd.

Thursday 5-round Swiss 29th April: 12 of us played in the latest tournament. Congratulations to David Culliford who won all 5 of his games. Michael Whitford, one of the club’s newest members, came 2nd with 4 points, whilst Sam Murphy came third with 3 points.

The Ladder Latest

Tournament organiser Nobby George reports 3 games this week:

Andrew Vagg0 -1Rob Sims
Nobby George0.5 – 0.5Patrick Pavey
John Kooner0 -1Maha Chandar
This week’s Ladder results. 2nd May 2021.

Sam Murphy continues his reign at the top of the Ladder. For the full standings table, see our Ladder Page.

Hampshire Juniors to play in Finals

Hampshire Juniors will be playing in the English Primary Schools Chess Association Finals – the Under-9 and Under-11 events. Chandler’s Ford Junior Chess Club organiser and Hampshire Juniors Team Leader Maha Chandar reports.

Wooden chess set

National Association Under 9 Team Championship Finals 2021

The English Primary Schools Chess AssociationEPSCA – are unable to arrange these tournaments this year, but Barnet Junior Chess are arranging the series of online events for EPSCA.

The National Association Under 9 Team Championship Finals 2021 will be held on Saturday 24 April at 2pm. The format is a 5-round Swiss, in which games each Round have a time control of 10 minutes per player per game plus a 5-second increment per move. That time control is a rapid-play pace of game. There will be 5 minutes between Rounds. The tournament is divided by Board: that is, all the Board 1 players from each Team in one section, Board 2 from each team in the next and so on, and there is a Reserves section. The tournament is set up on lichess.org: see the overall tournament link: National Association U9 Finals.

Reserve places are unlimited. It will just be run as an open swiss with prizes for the top 3 places.

There will be 12 in the team for U9 and 20 for U11 with medals for the highest scoring players on each board as well as Gold, Silver, and Bronze for the winning teams.

Under-11 Finals 8th May

Hampshire Juniors will also be participating in the National Association Under 11 Finals on Saturday 8th May 2021 at 2pm.

Team Battle 1st May

Hampshire Juniors have a Team in the 3-County Team Battle on 1st May. The 3 Counties are Hampshire, Dorset, and Berkshire. See Tournament page on lichess.

Delancey UK Chess Challenge

Looking further ahead there is the Delancey UK Chess Challenge for young chess players to look forward to.

registration for the Delancey UK Chess Challenge is now open.

Dates for the two Megafinal weekends are:

  • 12th and 13th June
  • 26th and 27th June

Dates for the two gigafinal weekends are:

  • 3rd and 4th July
  • 17th and 18th July

The Terafinal is set to take place over the board in October.

 

Tournament Results 13th and 15th April

Results of the club’s online tournaments on Tuesday 13th and Thursday 15th April, plus the Wimborne Arena, and the Ringwood Invitational Team Battle.

Small Indian marble chess set
Small Indian marble chess set

Results of club tournaments

The Club’s players keep in touch during lockdown with regular online chess tournaments played on lichess.org.

Tuesday Arena: 14 of us participated in this week’s Arena on 13th April, won by Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) . Well done too Rob Sims 2nd, and John Zastapilo, 3rd.

Thursday 5-round Swiss: 12 of us played in the Chandler’s Ford Swiss on 15th April. Congratulations to John Zastapilo who won all 5 of his games. Keith Gregory (‘KeithDFG’ on lichess), came 2nd with 4 points, whilst Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’) came third with 3 points.

Wimborne Arena

Several Chandler’s Ford players participate in the weekly Wimborne Chess Club Arena Tournament. These tournaments have a time control of 20 minutes per player per game plus a 10-second increment per move. than our This week Chandler’s Ford’s Steve Saunders came second in the tournament, playing on top form in this week’s Wimborne Arena.

Ringwood Invitational Team Battle 12th April

Six Chandler’s Ford players participated in the online ‘Ringwood Invitational 20 Team Battle‘ on 12th April: Keith Gregory, Ian Partridge, John Zastapilo, Ted Black, Patrick Pavey and Graham Stuart. Eight teams participated, and Chandler’s Ford came 4th. The tournament counted the points of each team’s 4 top scorers, and the time control was 5 minutes per player per game plus a 3 second increment (‘Blitz‘ level of pace in chess time control terms), and ran for an hour and a half.

Book Prize Tournament Latest

Book Prize Tournament organiser Peter Przybycin reports one result in the event’s Round 11 this week:

Steve Saunders 0 – 1 Nobby George

See the Book Prize Tournament Page for full pairings and results.

Book Prize Tournament Final Round

Book Prize Tournament organiser Peter Przybycin announces the pairings for Round 11 – the final Round. He also lists the Round 10 results. And reveals what the Book Prize is.

Hi All,

The remaining two round ten games were played this week, and the final round is about to commence.

The top three players again recorded wins, so Mike Henbury continues to hold a half point lead over Rob Sims. It’s now between just the two of them, and it hinges on the results of their round 11 games!

Unfortunately for John Kooner he’s now out of the running despite his win, as he had earlier lost against Mike (the tie break if scores are equal) in round seven.

This is the prize that will go to either Mike or Rob:

The Book Prize

 

See the Book prize Tournament Page for results to date.

Round 10 Results:

  • Don Creasey 0 – Geoffrey Parish 1
  • Keven Lamb 1 – Rob Strachan 0
  • Mike Henbury 1 – Steve Saunders 0
  • Suzan Dunleavy 0 – Rob Sims 1
  • Nobby George 1 – Steve Dunleavy 0
  • John Kooner 1 – Rose Saunders 0

Scores to date:

  • Mike Henbury 9
  • Rob Sims 8½
  • John Kooner 8
  • Keven Lamb 6½
  • Rob Strachan 6
  • Rose Saunders 5
  • Don Creasey 4½
  • Geoffrey Parish 4
  • Steve Dunleavy 3
  • Nobby George 3
  • Steve Saunders 2½
  • Suzan Dunleavy 0

Round 11 Pairings:

  • Steve Saunders v Nobby George
  • Steve Dunleavy v Mike Henbury
  • Keven Lamb v Rose Saunders
  • Rob Strachan v John Kooner
  • Don Creasey v Suzan Dunleavy
  • Geoffrey Parish v Rob Sims

As ever, the player named first has the white pieces.

Deadline for finishing round 11 is Saturday 1st May 2021.

All the best,

Peter.

Rules Recap

  • The Book Prize Tournament is an all-play-all contest, so with 12 players that makes 11 Rounds.
  • Although players will sometimes play consecutive games with the same colour, each player will end up having played at least 4 games as white.
  • Each Round should be completed within 3 weeks, but there can be some flexibility.
  • The games are to be played online – on lichess.org.
  • The time control is 90 minutes each per game.
  • The winner (or white if drawn) should notify Peter of the result.

A good week for the Henburys

This week: a good week for the Henburys – father and son Mike and Joseph – as Joseph wins Thursday’s online tournament, and Mike leads in the club’s Book Prize Tournament. Plus, the latest in the Lichess Ladder tournament.

Results of club tournaments

The Club’s players keep in touch during lockdown with regular online chess tournaments played on lichess.org.

Tuesday Arena: 14 of us participated in this week’s Arena on 6th April, won by john Zastapilo. Well done too Ian Partridge 2nd, and Rob Sims, 3rd.

Thursday 5-round Swiss: 12 of us played in the Chandler’s Ford Swiss on 8th April. Congratulations to Joseph Henbury who took top slot with 4.5 points. Just half a point behind Joseph was David Culliford (‘djc202’ on lichess), coming 2nd, whilst Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) came third with 3.5 points.

The Book Prize Tournament: Mike in the lead

In a good week for the Henbury family, as well as son Joseph winning Thursday’s tournament, his father Mike Henbury leads in the club’s Book Prize Tournament. The Book Prize has one more Round to go, and Mike has a half-point lead over nearest rival Rob Sims.

The remaining 2 games of Round 10 were played last week:

  • Don Creasey 0 v 1 Geoffrey Parish
  • Keven Lamb 1 v 0 Rob Strachan
Joseph Henbury (centre) and Michael Henbury (right) analysing a chess game at Dudley 2013
Joseph Henbury (centre) and Michael Henbury (right) analysing a chess game (old photo)

Lichess Ladder Latest

Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Lichess Ladder organiser Nobby George reports 3 results this week:

  • John Kooner 0 Nobby George 1
  • Andrew Vagg 0 Maha Chandar 1
  • Patrick Pavey 1 Nobby George 0

See the Ladder Page for the latest standings.

Easter 2021

Happy Easter everyone. This week’s online tournament results on 30th March and 1st April, plus the latest in the Book Prize Tournament.

Chocolate chess set
Chocolate chess set

Results of club tournaments

Tuesday Arena: 14 of us participated in this week’s Arena on 30th March, won by Ted Black (‘MagnusPolgar’) who won all 4 of his games. Well done too David Culliford (‘djc202’) 2nd, and Rob Sims, 3rd.

Thursday 5-round Swiss: 13 of us played in the Chandler’s Ford Swiss on 1st April. Congratulations to Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’) who took top slot only after the last Round – a well-contested tournament in which the virtual podium was occupied by various players during the tournament, including new player Ian Partridge who led for a while. Ian still had a podium position at the end, coming 3rd, whilst Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) came second.

The Book Prize Tournament: Ewok marches on

A good week for Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’ on lichess.org): as well as winning Thursday’s rapid-play tournament, he continues his march towards victory in the ongoing Book Prize Tournament. Tournament organiser Peter Przybycin reports.

Hi All,

There are four results to report this week:

  • Mike Henbury 1 – Steve Saunders 0
  • Suzan Dunleavy 0 – Rob Sims 1
  • Nobby George 1 – Steve Dunleavy 0
  • John Kooner 1 – Rose Saunders 0

Wins for Mike Henbury and Rob Sims maintain the status quo, with Mike half a point ahead of Rob (and one hand on the prize?) with just one round to go.

Mike Henbury poses with trophy
One hand on the prize? Mike Henbury brandishes a trophy…

Games remaining in this round:

  • Don Creasey v Geoffrey Parish
  • Keven Lamb v Rob Strachan

Best regards,

Peter.

Book Prize Tournament Round 10

Chandler’s Ford Chess Club’s Book Prize Tournament Round 9 has been completed. Tournament organiser Peter Przybycin gives an update and results from Round 9, and he announces the pairings for Round 10.

Round 9 is now complete.

With the top three all winning their games, Mike Henbury continues to hold a half point lead over Rob Sims, and a full point lead over John Kooner.

The book prize will be won by one of these top three, as with only two rounds to play nobody else can overtake the leader. Rob Strachan could equal Mike’s score but he would be eliminated on tie break, having lost his individual game with him.

Mike Henbury at Southend Easter Chess Congress 2018
Mike Henbury, pictured at Southend Easter Chess Congress 2018, currently leads the Book Prize Tournament.

Round 9 Results:

  • Keven Lamb ½ – Steve Saunders ½
  • John Kooner 1- Geoffrey Parish 0
  • Rose Saunders 1 – Suzan Dunleavy 0
  • Steve Dunleavy 0 – Rob Strachan 1
  • Rob Sims 1 – Don Creasey 0
  • Mike Henbury 1 – Nobby George 0

Scores to date:

  • Mike Henbury 8
  • Rob Sims 7½
  • John Kooner 7
  • Rob Strachan 6
  • Keven Lamb 5½
  • Rose Saunders 5
  • Don Creasey 4½
  • Geoffrey Parish 3
  • Steve Dunleavy 3
  • Steve Saunders 2½
  • Nobby George 2
  • Suzan Dunleavy 0

Round 10 pairings:

  • Don Creasey v Geoffrey Parish
  • Keven Lamb v Rob Strachan
  • Mike Henbury v Steve Saunders
  • Suzan Dunleavy v Rob Sims
  • Nobby George v Steve Dunleavy
  • John Kooner v Rose Saunders

As ever, the player named first has the white pieces.

Deadline for finishing round 10 is Saturday 17th April 2021.

All the best,

Peter.

Rules Recap

  • The Book Prize Tournament is an all-play-all contest, so with 12 players that makes 11 Rounds.
  • Although players will sometimes play consecutive games with the same colour, each player will end up having played at least 4 games as white.
  • Each Round should be completed within 3 weeks, but there can be some flexibility.
  • The games are to be played online – on lichess.org.
  • The time control is 90 minutes each per game.
  • The winner (or white if drawn) should notify Peter of the result.

Results of online Tournaments, 23rd, 25th March

This week, results of our regular online tournaments, on 23 and 25 March, and the latest standings of the Lichess Ladder. But first, Malcolm Clarke, chess columnist for the Hampshire Chronicle, with his chess news summary.

Malcolm Clarke’s Chess News Summary

Having drawn the first match between the clubs last match Chandlers Ford lost a return match to Wimborne 5-2.  However whereas in the previous encounter the teams were evenly matched in terms of grading, on this occasion Wimborne were on average 20 points higher graded than Chandlers Ford over the seven boards, so the defeat was no disgrace.

Graham Stuart and Rob Sims who respectively won and drew on the first occasion, did not play this time, but Sam Murphy and Mike Henbury were victorious for the second successive occasion and both won their matches with good tactical combinations.

Henbury who really seems to be taking to online chess won the exchange and two pawns in a game that was even to that point and that was sufficient to win the game, while Murphy was able to launch a discovered attack on his opponent’s queen which he could not move to a safe square and keep his knight protected at the same time and Murphy was able to win the knight and gain a decisive advantage.

All of the other games were lost, although the majority of the games were closely contested.

Malcolm Clarke

Waterloo Chess Set

Results of regular club tournaments

Two regular club tournaments online at lichess.org.

Tuesday Arena: 15 of us participated in this week’s Arena on 23rd March, a great turnout. Congratulations to this week’s winner Ted Black (‘MagnusPolgar’ on lichess.org). Well done too Sam Murphy , who came second, and Rob Sims who came 3rd. A closely-fought tournament, the top 3 on the ‘podium’ scoring 10, 9, and 8 points respectively.

Thursday 5-round Swiss: 12 of us played in the Chandler’s Ford Swiss on 25th March. Congratulations to David Culliford (‘djc202’ on lichess.org) who won this week. Well done too Rob Sims 2nd, and Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’ on lichess.org) 3rd. A closely-fought tournament, the top 3 having 4.5, 4, and 3.5 points respectively.

Bye

There was also a fascinating example of the 2 types of byes you can get in the Swiss tournaments in the first round on Thursday, as one player had a full-point bye being the player left over from an odd number of players – at that moment. But another player joined just one minute too late for the Round, was given a half-point bye. The difference is, like in over-the-board tournaments, a bye imposed upon the player (odd number of players) is given a full point, whilst a bye from the player’s ‘choice’ (such as being late or choosing to miss a Round) is awarded half a point.

Lichess Ladder Latest

Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Lichess Ladder organiser Nobby George reports 3 results this week:

  • Steve Dunleavy  1  Steve Saunders  0
  • Andrew Vagg  ½  John Kooner  ½
  • Peter Przybycin  1  Nobby George  0.

See the Ladder Page for the latest standings.