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Chess Club AGM this Wednesday 11th 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.

Chess set metal pieces on marble board

Agenda

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:

  1. Secretary  (Malcolm)
  2. Treasurer/ Membership  (Suzan)
  3. President/ Liaison/Social  (Nobby)
  4. Website    (Keven)

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.)

AGM reminder message from Chairman Rob Sims:

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

Maha Chandar hands over Treasurer role to Suzan Dunleavy
Maha Chandar hands over Treasurer role to Suzan Dunleavy
Maha Chandar is thanked for her role as Treasurer over many years, by Chairman Rob Sims
Maha Chandar is thanked for her role of Treasurer over many years, by Chairman Rob Sims at the 2024 SGM. Photo by Suzan Dunleavy

ECF Membership renewals 2024-25

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.

Chess king and chocolate coins on chessboard.
ECF Membership 2024-25 due

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

ECF Membership levels: what’s best for me?

  • Basic Bronze level ECF membership gives players ECF Grading for their game results in club tournaments, local Leagues, and County games. 
  • Gold membership: as Bronze, plus it includes Congresses (tournaments outside our club e.g. Castle Chess Fareham etc), and FIDE rated standard play tournaments.
  • Platinum. As per Gold, plus printed ECF Yearbook.

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.

Other ECF Membership type

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.

ECF Membership renewals 2024-25 rates

  • ECF Supporter – £12.00
  • Bronze – £20.00 | Junior Bronze – £6.00 (or FREE for first year of membership)
  • Gold – £35.00 | Junior Gold – £12.00 (or FREE for first year of membership)
  • Platinum – £77.00

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.

Inside Chess & Bridge Shop, Baker Street, London. Discount for ECF Members.
Inside the Chess & Bridge shop in London – where ECF members get a discount

Renewing your ECF Membership

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:

Any other costs for chess players?

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:

Knockout 2024 Semi Finals

The Knockout 2024 Semi-Finals player pairings have been drawn by tournament organiser Steve Dunleavy.

The Knockout 2024 so far

The Preliminary Round whittled the field of players down to 16. Round 1 determined who went through to the Quarter Finals. Those 8 have been further whittled to the final 4 for the Semi Finals.

Close-up of the Knockout Trophy

The results will be shown on the Knockout 2024 Page in due course, but will appear sooner on the appropriate LMS tournament page sooner, as the results will be used for player ECF rating via LMS.

The Knockout 2024 Semi Finals: player pairings

  • Iwan Cave v Matthew Staniforth
  • Peter Przybycin v Andy Mills

Dear all the draw for the above is as follows;

  1. Iwan Cave vs Matthew Staniforth
  2. Peter Przybycin vs Andy Mills

In Addition to the above please take note of the following;

  1. The deadline date for completing these games is the 8th September(please let me know if you need an extension of time)
  2. The player named first plays with  white in the event of a draw colours are to be reversed and hopefully the game completed by the 8th September
  3. All games to be played over the board preferably at the club or at a mutually agreed venue if this is not possible
  4. Both clocks to be set at 90 minutes
  5. Please email the result asap so that it can be submitted for grading.
  6. Enjoy and thanks for entering

Kind Regards

Steve

Knockout Trophy showing 2022 winners
The Knockout Trophy

Hampshire Rapid-play 2024

Details of a new tournament, the Hampshire Rapid-play 2024, have been announced. The event will be on Saturday 7th September 2024 at Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh. It is organised by Chandler’s Ford Chess Club’s own Iwan Cave.

Line of chess sets

The tournament is a 6 round rapid play tournament in which the games have a time control of 15 minutes plus a 10 seconds per move increment. Round 1 starts at 09:30. The event is ECF-rated, and players below Silver ECF level of membership will need to pay an additional £9 pay-to-play. If you are not yet an ECF member but want to join the English Chess Federation, click on the link: ECF Membership.

Venue

The Hampshire Rapid-play 2024 will be held at Barton Peveril 6th Form College, Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh, SO50 5ZA 

Entry

Fees:

  • Adults – £18
  • Juniors – £15

Entry closes on 5th September – and please note there is a 100-player capacity for this tournament.

Entry form

See the button above for further details, or go straight to the entry form : Hampshire rapid 2024 entry form.

Who’s entered?

See who has entered on the List of Participants at the chess-Results website.

Prizes:

  • 1ˢᵗ  – £100
  • 2ⁿᵈ – £70
  • 3ʳᵈ  – £50

The prizes are the minimum amounts – the prize fund will be increased if there are sufficient entries, and further prize categories to include Rating, Juniors, and Women.

Rate of play

15+10: 15 minutes per player, plus a ten-second increment per move.

Schedule

  • Round 1 – 09:30
  • Round 2 – 10:40
  • Round 3 – 11:50
    Lunch – 13:00-14:00
  • Round 4 – 14:00
  • Round 5 – 15:10
  • Round 6 – 16:20
Hampshire Champion 2022 Iwan Cave
Hampshire Rapid-play organiser Iwan Cave – who is Hampshire Champion

Further information

Full details and online entry form can be found on the tournament’s own Page on the Hampshire Chess Association website:

See list of players and tournament details at the Chess-Results Page:

Knockout 2024 Round 2: the Quarter Finals

The Knockout 2024 Round 2 (the last 8 – the Quarter-Finals) player pairings have been drawn by tournament organiser Steve Dunleavy. The Preliminary Round whittled the field of players down to 16. Round 1 determined who goes through to the Quarter Finals: the last 8.

Knockout Trophy showing 2022 winners
The Knockout Trophy

The results will be shown on the Knockout 2024 Page in due course, but will appear sooner on the appropriate LMS tournament page sooner, as the results will be used for player ECF rating via LMS.

Round 2 – the Quarter Finals: player pairings

  • Matthew Staniforth v Keith Gregory
  • William Purkiss v Andrew Mills
  • John Kooner v Peter Przybycin
  • Philip Tarrant-Edwards v Iwan Cave

Rules recap

  1. The deadline date for completing these games is 8th August (6 weeks)- please let me know if an extension of time is required
  2. The player named first plays with white
  3. Both clocks to be set at 90 minutes
  4. All games to be played over the board either at the club or a mutually agreeable venue
  5. In the event of a draw the colours are to be reversed and the game hopefully to still be completed by the original deadline date of 8th August
  6. Enjoy your game, thanks for entering and please remember to email me the game result asap after it has been played.

Steve Dunleavy

Ladder Latest: Change at the top

Ladder Latest: change at the top as challenger Dick Meredith takes top rung from John Pellegrini. John had enjoyed top perch for many weeks. The Ladder Tournament is a very popular club contest, with 32 players. Tournament Organiser Rob Sims gives an overview of the week’s action.

The Chandler's Ford Chess Club Ladder Trophy
The Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Ladder Trophy

After a couple of quiet weeks, Tuesday of this week saw a total of 4 ladder games. In three of them the challengers lost: Sam lost to Philip, Steve D lost to Theo and Alikhan lost to Christian. A definite pattern in the results of these matches!

In the fourth game, there was a top of the ladder challenge  when Dick Meredith challenged and beat John Pellegrini. This was a long and well fought battle that attracted cluster of spectators late in the evening. Dick becomes top player on the ladder and John moves down to second place.

Ladder Rules Recap

  • Initial positions on the ladder are determined in order of grade.
  • All games to be played on the clock, which will be set at 80 minutes each with 10 second increments per move.
  • You may challenge anyone who is one, two, three, or four places above you on the Ladder.
  • A challenge cannot be made more than 7 days ahead of a game. Once a challenge is accepted neither the challenger nor the player being challenged may make or accept another challenge.
  • The decision as to who plays white is made at the start of the game by one of the players choosing a black or white pawn from a closed hand.
  • You can email challenges to your eligible opponents in advance, but it won’t count as a loss if your opponent is unable to play for any reason. 
  • If the lower ranked player wins, the lower ranked player takes the higher ranked player’s position on the Ladder, and the higher ranked player moves down one place.
  • If the higher ranked player wins, there is no change in the players’ rankings.
    If the game ends in a draw, the lower ranked player takes the position just below the higher ranked player.
  • After a Ladder game is played, at least one of the players must play a Ladder game against someone else before they can play each other again.
  • Please report all results of games to me and I will  submit them to ECF for grading purposes.
  • The top three players on Tuesday 3rd September 2024 will play off to decide the eventual winner. Players in second and third place play each other and the winner plays the player in first place.

The results are entered on LMS: see the LMS Page:

Book Prize Tournament 2023-24 latest

The Book Prize Tournament 2023-24 latest: Round 8 has been announced by organiser Peter Przybycin.

The Book Prize Tournament 2023-24 main features:

  • It has three Sections, the Premier, the Major, and the Minor.
  • There are 30 players, ten in each Section.
  • The tournament has 9 Rounds, with one round every 5 weeks.
  • The rate of play is 90 minutes.
  • Please advise organiser Peter Przybycin of the result of your game.
  • The games are ECF rated.
  • The Book Prize this year, for each Section, is Nail It Like Nepo, by Zenon Franco. See picture below.
The prize for the 2023-24 Book Prize Nail It Like Nepo
The prize for the 2023-24 Book Prize: Nail It Like Nepo by Zenon Franco

Round 8 player pairings :

Premier Section:

Bill Purkiss has kindly stepped in to play Connor Frost’s remaining games.

Round 8 Pairings:

  • Iwan Cave v Andy Mills
  • Sam Murphy v Peter Eales
  • Graham Stuart v Cary Xie
  • Bill Purkiss v Peter Przybycin
  • Philip Tarrant-Edwards v Rob Sims

Still to play from round 7:

  • Cary Xie v Peter Przybycin
  • Rob Sims v Peter Eales

Still to play from round 6:

  • Rob Sims v Bill Purkiss

Major Section:

Round 8 Pairings:

  • Frazer Burlinson v Nobby George
  • John Pellegrini v Patrick Pavey
  • John Davis v Richard Meredith 
  • Keven Lamb v Alikhan Menseitov
  • Daniel Phillips v John Kooner

Minor Section:

Round 8 Pairings:

  • Lee Mundy v James Gray
  • Geoff Parish v Rose Saunders
  • Alan Weaver v Rob Strachan
  • Ian Parker v Steve Saunders
  • Steve Dunleavy bye

Please play the above games by 26th June 2024

LMS

Results so far, and current positions, can be viewed on the LMS website pages for the 3 Sections of the Book Prize Tournament:

LMS for the Premier Section

LMS for the Major Section

LMS for the Minor Section

Peter Przybycin, the organiser of the Book Prize Tournament

Summer Tournament 2024 announced

The Summer Tournament 2024 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.

Summer Tournament prize: the Kooner Cup
Summer Tournament prize: the Kooner Cup

Whilst all the results will show on the Summer Tournament Page, see LMS (League Management System) for more up to date results as it will be updated more frequently.

Player Pairings for Round 1

  • Iwan Cave v John Davis
  • Patrick Pavey v Keith Gregory
  • Matthew Staniforth v John Kooner
  • Rob Strachan v Eric Jones
  • Graham Stuart v Alan Weaver
  • Hin Long Isaac Yip v Peter Przybycin
  • Andrew Mills v James Gray
  • Geoff Parish v David Culliford
  • Sam Murphy v Rose Saunders
  • Steve Dunleavy v Robert Sims
  • Keven Lamb v Steve Saunders
  • Theo Horne v Cary Xie
  • Alikhan Menseitov v Mike Davis

Summer Tournament 2024 Rules

  • The Summer Tournament is a 5-round swiss event.
  • Rate of play: games can be played at either 80 mins + 10 secs or 90 mins for the whole game. If players cannot agree on time control 90 mins is to be used.
  • When the Round Pairings are announced, the first-named plays as white.
  • Notify Malcolm Clarke of the results.

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

Chess Obituary: John Zastapilo

Former chess club member John Zastapilo has died. He was 72. John moved to Belgium, but participated in our online tournaments during the Pandemic, and he joined us for our Autumn Curry social event in 2021. His close friend David Culliford has written the Chess Obituary:

John Zastapilo
John Zastapilo (picture from John’s sister Linda via David Culliford)

Chess Obituary for John Zastapilo

I am sorry to report that my very good friend John Zastapilo has died, aged 72. I first met John during the 1990/91 chess season when he turned up at Southampton Chess Club one evening, seeking a return to playing club chess after a few years’ break from the game. Previously John had played for the Southampton Hospitals team in the Southampton and District League in the mid-1980s. John played for Southampton in the early 1990s and then switched clubs to Cricketers in the mid-1990s, along with our mutual friend Kev Byard. I followed them to Cricketers a year or two later.

John had a fine knowledge of the game, and in particular the principles behind the openings. He displayed a varied opening repertoire, especially with the black pieces, and was sufficiently proficient in many such that he could adapt with ease to his opponents’ efforts to divert him from his preferred opening configurations.

He played in club matches in the Southampton League and also especially enjoyed competing in weekend chess congresses throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, with Exeter, Frome and Weymouth being perhaps the most memorable. A substantial contingent of chess friends from various clubs in the Southampton area would travel to these events and we would typically enjoy the social side of these weekend events as much as the chess, if not more so.

From the mid-1990s onwards, John tended to favour tournaments comprising games with a shorter time-control, and these ‘rapidplay’ events would often have six or seven games compressed into a single day. John became less-enamoured with the longer ‘standardplay’ time-control format, which he always referred to as ‘slow-play’!

In 2006, John left England to work in Nijmegen in the Netherlands, moving to Belgium a few years later to work as a technical author for a company which specialised in the research, design and manufacture of cochlear implants. John very much enjoyed living on the continent, and seemed very settled in his well-appointed flat in the centre of Mechelen, a fine Flemish town.

In early 2022, just a few weeks after his 70th birthday, John was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After a long period of intermittent treatment in Belgium, John finally returned home to be with family, just a few weeks before he eventually died on Sunday 11th February 2024. His funeral was held at Thanet Crematorium in Margate on Wednesday 13th March.

Having known John for well over 30 years, I found him to be a man with considerable wisdom and an engaging conversationalist. He had long-standing interests in foreign languages, European history, cycle racing and, of course, chess; with a well-refined knowledge of each. Adjectives I would use to describe John are: intelligent, patient, erudite, gracious. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Written by David Culliford, 27th April 2024

Links

On this website –

A History of Chandler’s Ford Chess Club

Chess Curry – in Happy New Year 2022 article

On Hampshire Chess History website-

Obituary: John Zastapilo

Steve Dunleavy (left) and John Zastapilo at the Autumn Curry 2021
Steve Dunleavy (left) and John Zastapilo at the Autumn Curry 2021

The new 2024 Knockout Tournament

Tournament organiser Steve Dunleavy announces the start of the Knockout 2024 competition.

29 players have entered. Through a series of Knock-out rounds, one will emerge the winner.

Knockout Trophy showing 2022 winners
Knockout Trophy

The tournament comprises a Preliminary Round, with 3 byes, which reduce the original 29 entrants (a new record) to 16 players, then successive Rounds halve that to 8, 4, and 2 players, until the winner is revealed.

The first-named player of each pairing plays with white.

Whilst all the results will show on this Page, see LMS (League Management System) for more up to date results as it will be updated more frequently.

The Preliminary Round Pairings

  • Kev Lamb vs Matt Staniforth                                                       
  • Nobby George vs Philip Tarrant-Edwards
  • Daniel Phillips vs Eric Jones
  • Keith Gregory vs Graham Stuart  
  • John Kooner vs Theo Horne 
  • Peter Przybycin vs James Gray
  • Patrick Pavey vs Ian Parker 
  • Steve Dunleavy vs Rose Saunders
  • Geoff Parish vs Bill Purkiss
  • Alikhan Menseitov vs Steve Saunders
  • Andy Mills vs Peter Eales
  • Alan Weaver vs David Culliford
  • Rob Strachan vs Iwan Cave                                               
Preliminary Round Byes
  • Sam Murphy
  • Christian Westbrook
  • Rob Sims                                                                                                      

Knockout 2024 Rules

  • a.      The player named first plays with white.
  • b. Games to be played at a rate of play of 80+10.
  • c.      All preliminary games to be played by the 21st April (3 weeks time) and the results to be reported to me Steve Dunleavy by email asap thereafter.
  • d.      In the event of a draw colours are to be reversed and the game still to be played by the 21st April.
  • e.      The draw was made today by myself Steve Dunleavy and Suzan to get the ball rolling as soon as possible  after the closure date for entries of  the 31st March.
  • f.      There were 29 entries, 3 byes, and 13 preliminary games will take us to 16 and then 8,4,2 thereafter.
  • g.      Enjoy the competition!

The game results will be updated to the League Management System – usually before this site is updated, so for the most up to date results see LMS:

Cheers! Steve Dunleavy raises a glass
Cheers! Knockout 2024 organiser Steve Dunleavy says “Enjoy the competition!”