The Ladder Tournament 2022-23 is extremely popular, and now has 31 players! Also in this article: the Ladder Trophy is presented to its 2022 winner Peter Eales.

The 2022 Ladder Trophy Winner: Peter Eales

Tournament organiser Rob Sims presented the Ladder Trophy to its 2022 winner Peter Eales. The Trophy is inscribed with the Winners’ names, and Peter is the latest. Congratulations Peter!

New heights for the Ladder: six games in one evening at Club as the Ladder extends

Tournament organiser Rob Sims reports on a great week for the Ladder. The tournament now has no less than 31 players! And with 6 games played in one evening last Tuesday, a new record was set for this very popular tournament.

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Good Afternoon Everyone,

There were 6 Ladder games at club last Tuesday evening with very interesting results. John Pellegrini defeated Rose, who had been top of the Ladder since September, having defended the top rung against several would be usurpers. Lower down the Ladder there were several changes in position where lower placed challengers defeated higher placed players. Here are the results in full:-

• John Pellegrini 1 –  0 Rose Saunders
• Keven Lamb 1 – 0 Peter Eales
• Andy Mills 1 – 0 Philip Tarrant-Edwards
• Mike Davis 1 – 0   Daniel Phillips
• Lee Mundy  1 – 0 John Kooner
• Peter Przybycin  0.5 – 0.5  John Davis

6 Ladder games in one evening is the highest number so far this season so well done all for challenging and accepting challenges.

Best wishes

Rob Sims

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Brief overview of the Ladder

• Games are 90 minutes per player
• The games are graded, results will go to the ECF.
• Challenger plays as White
• Challenger can challenge up to 4 rungs above their own.
• The top 3 players on Tuesday 12th September 2023 will play off to determine the eventual winner.

To see the full Rules, and to see the latest player standings, go to the tournament’s Page:

The Book Prize Tournament 2022-23 Round 4. The tournament’s organiser, Peter Przybycin, reports on the results so far, and the player pairings for Round 4. The first named player has the white pieces.

This year the tournament is divided into three all-play-all sections: Premier, Major, and Minor.

Book Prize Tournament 2022-23 round 4 pairings:

Premier Section

• Iwan Cave v Cary Xie
• Graham Stuart v Pablo Vidal
• Sam Murphy v Keith Gregory
• Peter Przybycin v Rob Sims

Major Section

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

Minor Section

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

Games to be played by 8th March 2023, please.

Click on the button below to go to the Round 4 part of the Book Prize 2022-2023 Page.

Current positions:

Premier

• Iwan Cave 3
• Keith Gregory 2 (from 2)
• Graham Stuart 2
• Cary Xie 1½
• Sam Murphy 1
• Peter Przybycin 1
• Pablo Vidal ½
• Rob Sims 0 (from 2)

Major

• Keven Lamb 3
• Andy Mills 2½
• Nobby George 2
• Dick Meredith 2
• Peter Eales 1½
• John Pellegrini 1
• John Kooner 0
• Patrick Pavey 0

Minor

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

All the best,

Peter Przybycin.

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 of each game’s result via email.

Castle Chess will hold their 20th Fareham Congress tournament (over the board games) on 20-22nd January 2023. It will be at the Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, PO16 7BQ.

Castle Chess have run a number of Congresses (tournaments) over recent years at this pleasant venue. They host two Congresses per year at the Lysses, one earlier in the year, one in the Autumn. 2022’s events were so popular (95 players in October) that Castle Chess have added this January event to their 2023 calendar.

Tournament format

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 (=175 former ECF grade system),
• Major: Under 1901 (=160),
• Minor: under 1601 (=120).

The Congress costs £40 to enter, with a £7 discount for Juniors. Non-ECF members will need to pay £9 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.

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 Fareham Congress page:

A reminder to renew our membership subscriptions for 2023 for our venue, the Chandler’s Ford Central Club. Central Club Membership Renewals subscriptions run January to December each year. Renewals at the rates shown below are available from 1st January to 31st January online, and 10th January to 31st January at the Club. Any Membership renewals after then will be subject to a Late Renewals Fee of £5.

To renew your Membership, see the Central Club’s website Subscriptions Page 2023 which gives details on how to pay online – their preferred method, although other ways are available.

Chandler’s Ford Central Club Membership Renewals 2022

See the Subscriptions Page 2023 of the Central Club website, and the table below. Membership fees are an important part of the Central Club’s income.

The cost of renewal will be:

MEMBER	Without Pass Card *	With Pass Card *
MALE/FEMALE	£20.00	£23.50
OAP	£ 8.50	£12.00
LIFE	Not available	£ 3.50

* Note: Pass card enables entry to all other Club and Institute Union (CIU)

Fees can now be paid electronically to the venue’s Bank Account – see Website Subscriptions Page 2023 for account details.

When sending the money please ensure you put your Member Number which can be seen on your Membership Card and Surname into the Payment Reference, to enable the details to be matched on the system.

If you want a CIU Pass card, please remember to add £3.50.

New Membership at the Central Club

If you haven’t joined the Chandler’s Ford Central Club yet, and would like to, please see their website’s ‘Join Us’ Page. There you will find a link to the Application Form. This is completed by you, plus Proposer and Seconder. Two passport photos, the form, and the fee should then be passed to the Club Secretary during normal Club hours (see the Central Club’s Home page for details).

Annual subscriptions for the venue is one of three financial costs if you want to fully engage with playing chess and the chess club, the other two outlays being annual subs to the Chess Club itself, and the other, annual membership of the English Chess Federation – so that you can participate in ECF-graded League matches and chess tournaments. See our What does it cost Page.

Chandler’s Ford’s Iwan Cave became Hampshire’s youngest ever chess champion as he won the Silver Rook in the Hampshire Chess Association Congress (tournament) at Fareham in November.

Malcolm Clarke reports, with further reporting from Graham Stuart, and photos from Keven Lamb.

Iwan Cave Hampshire Champion

Iwan Cave a 15-year student from Romsey school has become the youngest ever winner of the Hampshire Individual chess championship, a prestigious tournament that has been running since 1930.

See Graham Stuart’s Hampshire Chess History website list of all the HCA Individual Championship winners: HCA Champions

He won the tournament as a result of being the top placed Hampshire player and he played in six rounds over the weekend of 4th-6th November all of 4 hours duration in which he won 3, drew 2 and lost 1 in a good quality field, having the week prior to the event attended a whole week of school, and on the Tuesday evening won his individual game on top board in helping his club record a 4-1 victory.

Romsey school is not a school where chess is a major extra-curricular activity and there has not been a chess club in the town since the 1970’s.  However, Iwan’s game has come on leaps and bounds since joining Chandlers Ford chess club, where he started winning prizes in junior tournaments.  Last season he competed in senior competition for the first time and his made rapid progress during that time culminating in his most recent and most meritorious success.

His parents also deserve credit for transporting him to and from chess events.

– Malcolm Clarke

Iwan Cave and the Silver Rook: photos

Further Success for Iwan

Iwan was one of 12 young players who qualified for the Under 18 Terafinal . This year it was held at Blenheim Palace on 15th and 16th October. 60 players across five age categories took part (12 in the U18).

Iwan won the U18 Hampshire Junior Open Congress 27th November with an awesome 6 out of 6. The rapid-play tournament had 27 entries in the U18. It included some of the top Portsmouth and Dorset Juniors as well.

2022 a good year for Hampshire Junior Chess

It has been a good year for Hampshire Junior Chess with Harry Grieve from the North of the county becoming at 21 the youngest ever British champion.  Harry a few years ago regularly played and assisted with the megafinal of the Delancey UK Chess Challenge which was often held in Winchester and where his mother Amy coordinated the event.

Season’s greetings from Chandler’s Ford Chess Club. Merry Christmas everyone!

The Book Prize Tournament 2022-2023 Round 3. The results so far, and the player pairings for Round 3.

Book Prize Tournament 2022-2023 Round 3 pairings:

Premier Section

• Iwan Cave v Pablo Vidal
• Keith Gregory v Rob Sims
• Cary Xie v Graham Stuart
• Peter Przybycin v Sam Murphy
• Sam Murphy v Graham Stuart (still to play from round 2)

Major Section

• Andrew Mills v Patrick Pavey
• Nobby George v John Pellegrini
• John Kooner v Richard Meredith
• Keven Lamb v Peter Eales
• John Kooner v Nobby George (still to play from round 2)

Minor Section

• Alan Weaver v John Davis
• Steve Dunleavy v Daniel Phillips
• Ian Parker v Steve Saunders
• Lee Mundy v Rob Strachan
• Rose Saunders v Geoff Parish
• John Davis v Daniel Phillips (still to play from round 1)

All the above games should be played by 1^st February 2023, please. This is double the normal duration to allow for the festive season, and to help players with outstanding games to catch up.

Results so far:

Premier section

Round 1:

• Iwan Cave 1 Sam Murphy 0
• Rob Sims 0 Graham Stuart 1
• Cary Xie ½ Peter Przybycin ½
• Pablo Vidal 0 Keith Gregory 1

Round 2:

• Rob Sims 0 Iwan Cave 1
• Cary Xie 0 Keith Gregory 1
• Peter Przybycin ½ Pablo Vidal ½

Major section

Round 1:

• John Kooner 0 Keven Lamb 1
• Andrew Mills ½ Peter Eales ½
• Patrick Pavey 0 Nobby George 1
• John Pellegrini 0 Richard Meredith 1

Round 2:

• John Pellegrini 0 Andrew Mills 1
• Peter Eales 1 Richard Meredith 0
• Keven Lamb 1 Patrick Pavey 0

Minor section

Round 1:

• Alan Weaver 0 Rose Saunders 1
• Lee Mundy 1 Ian Parker 0
• Rob Strachan 1 Geoff Parish 0
• Steve Dunleavy 0 Steve Saunders 1

Round 2:

• Steve Dunleavy ½ Alan Weaver ½
• Geoff Parish 1 Ian Parker 0
• Lee Mundy 1 John Davis 0
• Daniel Phillips 0 Rose Saunders 1
• Steve Saunders 0 Rob Strachan 1

All the best,

Peter Przybycin.

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 of each game’s result via email.

The Eastleigh Operatic and Musical Society (EOMS) are currently performing their Chess – The Musical show at The Point in Eastleigh, until Saturday 26th November. I went to last night’s show (Thursday 24th).

Background to Chess – The Musical

The original Chess musical was written by Tim Rice in the 1980s, inspired by the famous Bobby Fischer v Boris Spassky World Chess Championship of 1972. Rice approached Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson from ABBA to write the music. The music is of various styles and includes hits One Night in Bangkok and I know Him So Well. The show premiered in 1986 and had three years in London’s West End; it has since been performed in many countries.

Brief synopsis of Chess – The Musical

The Cold War still rages, adding a key dimension to the World Chess Championship as the American World Champion Freddie Trumper defends his title against Soviet Grandmaster Anatoly Sergievsky. The central theme is the love triangle between the two Grandmasters and Florence Vassy, who is the manager of one of the players but falls in love with the other. Add in some Cold War plotting and you get a satisfyingly full story.

The Eastleigh Operatic and Musical Society Show

Some details – it’s still on, and with e-tickets sent to your phone, you can buy tickets easily.

Show performances remaining – tickets still available

• Friday 25th November 20222: 7:30 pm.
• Saturday 26th November: 2:30pm
• Saturday 26th November: 7:30pm

Although popular, there are still tickets available for all the shows listed above. Full price tickets are from £15-17, some discounts for over 60 and students and under-16s.

Chess Club involvement

The Musical Director for the EOMS production is Ian Partridge, Chandler’s Ford Chess Club member.

The chess club has provided the chess boards and clocks.

Recommendation

I saw the show last night, Thursday, and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Immersed in the story straightaway, I enjoyed all aspects of it: the acting, music and singing performances. I would recommend seeing the show if you get an opportunity.

I saw former club player Don Creasey afterwards, and he and his wife had also enjoyed the show.

Keven Lamb

Hampshire Chess Association will hold their Hampshire Chess Congress 2022 on 4-6th November, at the Lysses House Hotel in Fareham.

The over-the-board chess tournament comprises 6 Rounds of 4-hour games, organised in three Sections: The Open, the Major, and the Minor. There are currently 78 players entered in the tournament.

The venue

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 twice a year by Castle Chess (most recently 7-9 October this year). The address is: Lysses House Hotel, 51 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire, PO16 7BQ.

Parking:

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.

Hampshire Chess Congress 2022: details

Sections:

• The Open. £35 Entry fee.
• The Major. Under 1900 English Chess Federation rating. £30 Entry.
• The Minor. Under 1600 ECF. £27 Entry.

Note: Entry fees based on ECF Membership of Silver or above. Otherwise add a £9 fee.

Prizes

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:

Timetable

• Rd 1: Fri 1900-2300
• Rd 2: Sat 0900-1300
• Rd 3: Sat 1400-1800
• Rd 4: Sat 1900-2300
• Rd 5: Sun 0900-1300
• Rd 6: Sun 1400-1800 Prize-giving on Sunday at 18:05

Rate of play

The time control is 40 moves in 100 minutes followed by a 20-minute quickplay finish.

Byes

A ½-point bye may be taken in any one round except the last if claimed in advance on the entry form.

Book Prize 2022-23 Tournament organiser Peter Przybycin gives a Round 1 scores update and announces the Round 2 player pairings. The first named player has the white pieces.

Here are the results so far from round one of the 2022-23 Book Prize Tournament:

Premier section:

• Iwan Cave 1 Sam Murphy 0
• Cary Xie ½ Peter Przybycin ½
• Pablo Vidal 0 Keith Gregory 1

Major section:

• John Kooner 0 Keven Lamb 1
• Andrew Mills ½ Peter Eales ½
• Patrick Pavey 0 Nobby George 1
• John Pellegrini 0 Richard Meredith 1

Minor section:

• Alan Weaver 0 Rose Saunders 1
• Steve Dunleavy 0 Steve Saunders 1

Although three games are yet to be played in round one, I have been assured by those concerned that they will be completed ASAP. Two of these games are already scheduled for next Tuesday.

I will announce the pairings for round two shortly, adding an extra (fifth) week to its deadline. This will hopefully give time for the outstanding games to be played.

All the Best,

Peter.

Round 2 Pairings

Premier section:

• Robert Sims  v  Iwan Cave
• Cary Xie  v  Keith Gregory
• Sam Murphy  v  Graham Stuart 
• Peter Przybycin  v  Pablo Vidal

Major section:

• John Pellegrini v Andy Mills
• Peter Eales v Dick Meredith
• John Kooner v  Nobby George
• Keven Lamb v Patrick Pavey

Minor section:

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

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 of each game’s result via email.

All games in this round to be played by 30^th November please.