
Merry Christmas 2024 from Chandler’s Ford Chess Club! Best wishes for 2025!






Merry Christmas 2024 from Chandler’s Ford Chess Club! Best wishes for 2025!
The Book Prize tournament 2024-25 has 34 Players who compete in 4 Sections (A,B,C and D) according to player grading strength. Within each Section, it is an all-play-all structure in a series of Rounds. The tournament will run until August 2025.
The Tournament organiser is Peter Przybycin.
Each Round lasts 5 weeks, enabling the tournament to be on course to complete all games by August 2025. The Book Prize Tournament 2024-25 pages of this website for each Section will have the player pairings and results.
See the latest pairings and results on the ECF League Management System website.
See organiser Peter Przybycin‘s outline of the Tournament below.
We have 34 entries, in four sections, A, B, C, and D, according to player strength.
Sections A and D are of nine players, necessitating a bye in each round.
Sections B and C are of eight players.
There will be one round every five weeks, meaning the tournament should end in August 2025.
All games should be played at Chandlers Ford Chess Club, or alternatively at the home of the player with white pieces, if both players agree.
Online games are not permitted.
Rate of play will be 80 minutes plus 10 seconds per move.
Provided both players agree, the rate of play can be 90 minutes each for the whole game.
If two players tie for first place in any section, the book prize will go to the winner of their individual game. If that was a draw, then there will be a replay with reversed colours. If the replay is drawn, the player with the lower published grade (at the time of the replayed game) will take the prize.
Best wishes,
Peter P.
The Hampshire Chess Association will hold their Hampshire Chess Congress 2024 on 1-3rd November, at the Lysses House Hotel in Fareham.
The tournament comprises 5 Rounds of games, organised in three Sections: The Open, the Major, and the Minor. There are currently 75 players entered in the tournament. Please note the venue’s capacity is 92 – so enter now!
The Lysses House Hotel in Fareham is a pleasant and friendly venue that has been used by the Hampshire Chess Association on previous occasions, and also by Castle Chess (they had 3 events there in 2024). The address is: Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 7BQ.
The Hotel has free parking for 35 cars, but there is a convenient car park very close to the venue: the Lysses Car Park, Lysses Path, Fareham PO16 7BE, free after 6pm and Sundays, whilst Saturday all day is only £3.50.
Note: Entry fees based on ECF Membership of Silver or above. Otherwise add a £9 fee.
Late Fee: for entries received after Monday 28th October additional fee of £5. So enter the HCA Congress today!
Each Section has Prizes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, plus a Grading Prize. There are also various Trophies and Cups in the Sections. Overall, there are further Prizes, such as the Gillian Moore Cup for the highest-scoring Hampshire Lady, and the John Dunleavy Memorial Best Game Prize (£100). The cash prizes are open to all players, whilst the Cups and Trophies are for Hampshire players.
For more details on the Prize see the HCA entry form link below:
The time control is 90+30: that is, 90 minutes each plus 30 seconds per move.
A ½-point bye may be taken in any one round except the last if claimed in advance on the entry form.
See who has entered by checking the HCA website – button below
Tournament organiser Rob Sims announces the New Ladder for 2024-25. As in the previous Ladders, players may challenge up to 4 places above themselves. This year the time control is 80+10 (80 minutes each, plus ten seconds per move).
The new chess Ladder 2024-25 started last week and will run until 2nd September 2025.
Although the winner of the 2023-24 Ladder tournament has not been decided yet, as the final game between Theo and Peter Przybycin has not been played, I am sending out the new Ladder for the 24-25 season which has about 23 club members on it at the moment.
I am expecting a few more to join over the coming month and they will be slotted in on an appropriate rung when possible.
The rules remain the same as previously. If any of you play a game tomorrow evening at club please let me know the result as soon as possible.
Many thanks and good climbing to all
Best wishes
Rob
Click the link button below to go to the Ladder Page, with the latest ladder positions plus the Rules.
Rob Sims September 2024
Castle Chess will be holding their 25th Fareham Congress tournament on Friday 11th to Sunday 13th October 2024. The organiser is Tony Corfe. Full details on their flyer leaflet via the button link below (links to Microsoft Word or pdf versions).
Castle Chess have a new website: castle-chess.co.uk – Welcome
Dates: 11-13th October 2024
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.
Entry fee: £40 (£8 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.
Playing Schedule:
Printable Entry Forms are on the Full Details flyer – see buttons to the flyer above.
Also, you can contact the organiser Tony Corfe, by email or phone. 01707 661160 Mob: 07973 516718 tony@mrcorfe.co.uk
See list of players: Castle Chess 25th Fareham Congress October 2024 entrants
Chandler’s Ford player Alikhan Menseitov had a great tournament in March, being joint winner of the Minor Section!
As the new 2024-25 season starts this week, we reflect on what a great season we had in 2023-24.
In his Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Secretary Report, Malcolm Clarke summarized the season:
It has been a good season with our teams. We were able to introduce an E team, while both our A and B team won their divisions and were promoted as a result. We also won the Robertson Plate and our C team also came close to winning their division.
The Southampton Chess League Annual General Meeting in June was the moment Chandler’s Ford harvested a haul of trophies.
Division 2 of the SCL was a close-run table, with 3 clubs on 14 points. Our A Team emerged the winner. See the LMS Division 2 League Table.
Our B Team also enjoyed success, winning Division 3 and the Robertson Cup. See the LMS League Table Division 3 and Robertson Plate respectively.
As Malcolm mentioned in his Secretary’s report quoted at the top, the C Team came close to winning their division, Division 4, which was won by Basingstoke C.
Chandler’s Ford Chess Club celebrated its successful 2023-24 season by presenting individual souvenir trophies to the A and B team players. This was at CFCC’s own AGM on 11th September.
The new season begins: can Chandler’s Ford build upon our tremendously successful 2023-24 season?
The new season begins tonight with 3 of our teams in two matches, both at our venue, the Chandlers Ford Central Club:
See the ECF League Management System page for the Southampton Chess League for the 2024-25 season:
She Plays To Win is a non-profit organisation whose aim is to encourage more girls to learn and play chess. Next Sunday, 22nd September, SPTW will hold their Starter Girls Tournament for girls with little or no tournament experience. The games will be ECF rated. It is organised by Hampshire Junior Chess Association. For enquiries about the SPTW tournament please contact Maha Chandar. At the time of writing this Post, there are 31 entries.
Maha runs the Chandler’s Ford Junior Chess Club.
The She Plays To Win Starter Girls tournament is an event designed for girls of 18 years old or less who are new to tournament chess and this event will be either their first or one of their first tournaments.
This is part of the She Plays to Win (SPTW) initiative created by IM Lorin D’Costa
More details at She Plays To Win Official Web Site
Entries to date: https://chess-results.com/tnr973984.aspx?lan=1
Schedule (Sunday 22nd September, 2024)
Round 1. 10am
Round 2. 11.am
Round 3. 12pm
Round 4. 1pm
Round 5. 2pm
The time control will be rapid play with twenty (20) minutes for each play. DGT 2010 timers will be used throughout.
Prize Giving. 3pm
Prize Fund
1st- £30
2nd- £15
3rd- £10
Entry will be confirmed once payment have been received.
All entries will be updated on chess-results.com at https://chess-results.com/tnr973984.aspx?lan=1
All SPTW enquires to Maha Chandar email: kidschess@hotmail.com
The Book Prize Tournament 2023-24 final scores have been announced by its organiser Peter Przybycin.
The tournament comprised three Sections based on player grades, and was an all-play-all format – 9 Rounds.
The results of the games were recorded on the ECF LMS system for grading: the Minor, the Major, and the Premier.
The Book Prize is Nail It Like Nepo, by Zenon Franco, and the winner of each Section receives a copy.
Congratulations to the three Book Prize winners!
Full results – for all the participants, are given below.
Book Prize Tournaments organiser Peter Przybycin will soon launch the next Book Prize Tournament, which will begin on 3rd September 2024.
The Chandler’s Ford Chess Club AGM will be on Wednesday11th September 2024. The Annual General Meeting 2024 will be at the Club’s venue at the Central Club, at 7:30pm.
See the Agenda below. Topics will include various issues and will prepare the club for the forthcoming 2024-25 Season.
Chandler’s Ford Chess Club AGM. 7.30 pm Wednesday 11th September 2024
1 Apologies
2 Minutes of Special General Meeting 10th April 2024
3 Matters Arising
4 Officer Reports:
5.Issues Raised by club members:-
i)Andy – standardise time control for club tournaments to 80+10 / ladder changes/ noticeboard/ annotated games by A team players?
ii)Peter E- storage space for senior+junior club/ U18 subs/ Noise levels in club room/membership limit?/CFCC recording sheets
iii) Graham – Cole Cup/Most improved player award/Recorded games quantity and timing/squad photos; Presentation Evening / CCFC Online Rapid Tournament
6.Team Captains/ Squads / Nominated Players for 24-25 season
7. AOB
8.Presentation of trophies ( if agreed above.)
Just a final reminder that our AGM is on Wednesday at 7.30 pm this week after Junior Chess Club finishes at 7.00pm.
It’s a bit of a club tradition that some people pay their CFCC membership fee after the meeting, although there is no compulsion to do so! We now have a bank account set up, so the days of payment into a suspicious looking plastic bag are now over!!
I’m sure that Suzan, our new Treasurer, would be happy for you to make payment by bank transfer if you would like to and she will provide details at the meeting or in an email.
Best Wishes
Rob Sims
ECF Membership renewals 2024-25 will be due for many club players at the end of August. Although it is now possible to join and renew English Chess Federation Membership in any month, many of us continue to have September to August membership annual membership. Membership will last for 12 months from the date of purchase of the membership package you choose.
Membership of the English Chess Federation enables playing ECF-graded games, such as the club’s own internal tournaments, plus Southampton Chess League matches, County matches, and Congresses (tournaments) across the country. The different membership levels will determine what is covered. Note that there is no longer a Silver level of membership.
ECF Membership also gives discounts at various companies, including Chess & Bridge shop
For most club players, Bronze Membership is sufficient: Bronze if you don’t plan to go to Congresses, but do want to play in the club’s events and the League.
ECF Supporter: access, and ECF grading to ECF online members clubs and events on chess.com and lichess.org together with free online rating of all ECF rated online events. £12.
There are other benefits too: a range of discounts at online chess retailers Chess & Bridge (chess.co.uk) and Chess Direct, as well as discounts with other partners. See Membership partners and benefits – English Chess Federation for more information.
This may automatically happen, and the subs will be taken when due. If you are an existing ECF Member, but haven’t set up for automatic payments, you can renew by going to the ECF’s membership payment page ecf.justgo.com – or via the ECF’s Membership page:
English Chess Federation membership is one of 3 possible costs of being an active member of Chandler’s Ford Chess Club. The other costs are joining our chess club, and membership of our venue, the Chandler’s Ford Central Club. See our ‘What does it cost?” Page: