Three Chandler’s Ford players participated in the 18-board County match on 5th February away against Berkshire. Hampshire beat Berkshire 5.5 – 12.5 in the Chiltern League match.
The match was away at the Victory Hall, Church Road, Farley Hill. It was played over 18 boards. Hampshire won convincingly: Berks 5.5 – 12.5 Hants. Hampshire had 9 wins, and there were 7 draws, and lost only 2 of the games.
The Chiltern League 2021-22 comprises teams from Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. Hampshire’s captain is Fraser Mcleod; see his match reporton Hampshire Chess Association’s website.
Chandler’s Ford players scored a win (Graham Stuart), and 2 draws (David Culliford and Keven Lamb).
In Praise Of Chess by Hampshire County player Gillian Moore on the Hampshire Chess Association website. One of three Books Gillian has written, this online book of chess-themed poetry was written during the Pandemic. All 3 are available to read online or download at no cost via the HCA website.
Rate of play – 90 minutes each for the whole game.
The first named player has the white pieces.
Games will (preferably) be played over-the-board at chess club, or at the home of the player with the white pieces. Score sheets and clocks should be used.
Games may alternatively be played online, using Lichess, by mutual consent. Score sheets are not needed for online games.
A reminder to renew our membership subscriptions for 2022 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 4th January to 31st January. Any Membership renewals after then will be subject to a Late Renewals Fee of £5.
Our venue is the Chandler’s Ford Central Club; membership subscriptions year is January to December
To renew your Membership, see the Central Club’s website Subscriptions Page 2022 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 2022 Page 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
Chandler’s Ford Central Club Membership renewal 2022
* 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 Chandler’s Ford Central Club for account details.
When sending the money please ensure you put your Member Number which can be seen on your Yellow Membership Card and Surname into the Payment Reference, to enable the details to be matched on the system to enable 2021 Cards to be available when the Club opens.
If you want a CIU Pass card, please remember to add £3.50 for each Card. All Membership Cards will be prepared and will then be available for collection (can be collected from the Main Bar).
Chandler’s Ford Central Club Membership 2022
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 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.
The 2022 League Season starts – with a win for Chandler’s Ford. Match captain Rob Sims reports on Chandler’s Ford Chess Club’s first fixture of the new 2022 short season. Photo by Hanna Dunleavy.
MATCH REPORT
Tuesday 18th January 2022 saw the return of over the board Southampton Chess League games when the first match of this 3 month season took place at Chandler’s Ford Central Club as the Chandler’s Ford B team took on Andover B. It felt really good to get back to league chess again following a gap of nearly 2 years due to the Covid19 pandemic. The Chandler’s Ford team consisted of Sam Murphy, Dick Meredith, Keven Lamb and Nobby George on boards 1-4 respectively. Starting a little after 7.30 to allow a pre match photo of the 8 players, the club room returned to a hushed silence level last heard in March 2020!
Chandler’s Ford B (right) v Andover B 18 Jan 2022
Nobby was the first to finish with a win against Andrew Dinkele, followed by Keven who astounded his opponent Graham Payne with a sudden win against the run of play. This put Chandlers Ford 2-0 up with the two top boards still to finish. Tension mounted when Sam resigned against his ungraded but strong opponent Steve Jones, so with the score at 2-1 in our favour it came down to a close tussle between Dick Meredith for Chandler’s Ford and Gavin Stonham for Andover. Dick had two bishops against knight and bishop with 5 pawns a piece. This very close match played on for at least an hour after the other 3 games had been completed and it did not finish until 10.25pm when a draw was offered and accepted, giving Chandler’s Ford a 2.5-1.5 win propelling them to the top of Division 4 after one match.
Match individual results
Chandler’s Ford B
Andover B
Sam Murphy
0-1
Steven Jones
Dick Meredith
0.5-0.5
Gavin Stonham
Keven Lamb
1-0
Graham Payne
Nobby George
1-0
Andrew Dinkele
–score–
2.5-1.5
Chandler’s Ford B vs Andover B, Tuesday 18th January 2022
The Andover B match captain is Kevin Steele. Kevin kindly submitted the results to the Southampton Chess League Website. See his Scorecard and kind comments on the SCL Website. Andover B are a friendly team and it was a pleasure to host them.
It was a great evening, with Southampton Chess League match play returning for our club, and the chess club was very well attended too, with several new players coming along.
The Chandler’s Ford B team’s next match is on Thursday 3rd February, away against Southampton University B.
Rate of play – 90 minutes each for the whole game.
The first named player has the white pieces.
Games will (preferably) be played over-the-board at chess club, or at the home of the player with the white pieces. Score sheets and clocks should be used.
Games may alternatively be played online, using Lichess, by mutual consent. Score sheets are not needed for online games.
The New Southampton Chess League Season starts this month! Chandler’s Ford B have their first match on Tuesday 18th January 2022. In this article we look back at the Southampton Chess League EGM which discussed the format for the forthcoming semi-season – and look forward as the League Fixtures are announced.
League EGM
The Southampton Chess League met for its Extraordinary General Meeting at our Club’s venue in Chandler’s Ford on Wednesday 13th October 2021.
Fixtures Secretary Malcolm Clarke Awarded for long service by League and Chess Club
Chandler’s Ford’s Malcolm Clarke received recognition for his long service to the Southampton Chess League as its Fixtures Secretary and as Club Secretary of Chandler’s Ford (previously Eastleigh). He has served 31 years as a principal member of the Southampton League. Malcolm Clarke was awarded a special Trophy and engraved Tankard from the League and Chandler’s Ford Chess Club. The video and pictures below capture Malcolm’s delight at the Awards.
VIDEO: Fraser McLeod presents Malcolm Clarke with Long Service Award Tankard at the League EGM on Wednesday 13th October 2021.
Click on any of the photos in the gallery below for full picture, and scroll from there.
Malcolm Clarke thanks Gillian Moore and the League for Award Trophy. Photo: Graham Stuart.
Malcolm Clarke at the Southampton Chess League EGM 13 October 2021. Photo: Graham Stuart.
Delight! Malcolm Clarke with his League and Club Awards 13 October 2021, presented by SCL President Gillian Moore. Photo: Mansa Chandar.
Delight! Malcolm Clarke with his League and Club Awards 13 October 2021. Photo: Mansa Chandar.
Malcolm Clarke thanks the League for his Award, 13 October 2021. Photo: Mansa Chandar.
Malcolm Clarke thanks League for his Award, 13 October 2021. Photo: Mansa Chandar.
League President Gillian Moore presents Malcolm Clarke with SCL service Award trophy 13 October 2021. Photo: Mansa Chandar.
Malcolm Clarke receives League and Club Awards from SCL President Gillian Moore at SCL EGM 13 October 2021. Photo- Suzan Dunleavy
Malcolm Clarke receives League and Club recognition Awards for long service. Photos by Graham Stuart, Mansa Chandar, and Suzan Dunleavy
New Season 2021-22
Following the EGM the League consulted with the chess clubs as to what form the 2021-22 season would take, given the effects of Covid. Three format options were proposed:
Option 1 – League format with 3 divisions of 6 teams, 5 matches playing each team once only
Option 2 – League format with 5 divisions of 4 teams, 6 matches playing each team home and away
Option 3 – Team Swiss format with 5 or 6 rounds, each match to be played within a 3-week period. Either all teams together in one Swiss or, to avoid mismatches, there could be a Swiss A and a Swiss B
In all cases, teams have 4 players only as agreed at the EGM.
The consultation process has now crystallised into the League format of Option 2. The League has a 5-Division structure.
Club Fixtures 2022
We now have the dates for the Chandler’s Ford fixtures. See the fixture table below.
Southampton Chess League Fixtures for Chandler’s Ford Chess Club
Happy New Year everyone! Much like a year ago, Covid dominates the news. But 2021 still saw a fair amount of chess at Club and beyond. We take a brief look back at the year.
Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Review of 2021
Club Tournaments
All the club tournaments Chandler’s Ford Chess Club players normally enjoy did run this year – even if games had to be played online for much of the year.
The Knock-out Tournament. Steve Dunleavy organised this again, and this year the tournament attracted 20 players. Peter Przybycin won the Knock-out, and Steve Dunleavy presented him with its weighty Trophy at the Autumn Curry.
Peter Przybycin (left) is presented with the Knock-Out Trophy by Steve Dunleavy
Peter Przybycin organises the newest of the club tournaments, the Book Prize. 12 players participated in the first all-play-all 11 Round event, 2020-21. Mike Henbury won the Book Prize – Bronstein Move By Move by Steve Giddins. The new 2021-22 Book Prize is divided into Major and Minor Sections so that an all-play-all format can be retained for the increased number of players in this popular event (20 players in all).
The Prize
The Summer Tournament, organised by our Club Secretary Malcolm Clarke, had 19 players this year. The 2021 winner is Keith Gregory.
Nobby George originally set up the The Ladder Tournament. When the Coronavirus led to lockdown, Nobby ran an online version of the Ladder on lichess.org. Sam Murphy was the winner of the 2021 Ladder. Sam has set up and got the the 2021-22 Ladder started, whilst Rob Sims will run the Tournament going forward.
Online Tournaments. During lockdown we kept in touch as a club by playing chess online, in the standard long-play games of the established club tournaments, plus the ‘virtual club-nights’ of our regular weekly rapid-play online tournaments. Our online games are played on lichess.org.
Junior Chess Club
The Chandler’s Ford Junior Chess Club is organised by Maha Chandar, and this year has seen some major tournaments, both online and over the board. The coronavirus has limited the numbers that could safely attend the over-the-board tournaments – but these were successful and popular events. See photo below.
Junior Tournament 28 Nov 2021
A rising star of the Junior Club is Iwan Cave: in October he played in the Major Section of the Castle Chess Fareham Congress against players of all ages – and won the Major Section Grading Prize!
Iwan Cave, Grading Prize winner, at Castle Chess Fareham Congress 2021
Club Secretary Honoured at League EGM
Malcolm Clarke, Club Secretary of Chandler’s Ford Chess Club and Southampton Chess League Fixture Secretary, was honoured for his long service to the local chess scene by both League and Club, receiving trophies on behalf of both at the Southampton Chess League Extraordinary General Meeting on 13th October from League President Gillian Moore.
Delight! Malcolm Clarke with his League and Club Awards 13 October 2021, presented by League President Gillian Moore. Photo: Mansa Chandar.
Club AGM
Malcolm Clarke presided over the Club’s own AGM on Tuesday 26th October, attended by 15 of the club’s members. It was quite a jolly meeting, everyone just so glad to meet in person after the long lockdown.
Chandlers Ford Chess Club AGM 26 October 2021
The Autumn Curry
The next evening, Wednesday 27th October saw the chess club’s Autumn Curry, organised by David Culliford. This was a great social gathering – and as it turned out – the main social event of the year. One of our former players, John Zastapilo, who has lived in Belgium for many years now, has renewed his link with the club by participating in our online weekly tournaments. John Z was visiting the UK at the time, seeing family and friends – and he came to the Autumn Curry at the Sunrise Balti & Tandoori Restaurant in Chandler’s Ford. It was great to see him after such a long time.
Steve Dunleavy (left) and John Zastapilo at the Autumn Curry 2021The Chandlers Ford Chess Club Autumn Curry 27 October 2021
County matches
Chandler’s Ford Chess Club players have taken part in Over The Board County matches when these resumed in the Autumn, including the home match against Kent, and the away match against Oxford. Click on the pictures below to see more information.
Vishy Anand wishes Steve season’s greetings
2021 ended with Festive wishes and some good advice from former World ChampionViswanathan Anand to our own club’s Steve Dunleavy. Read our recent Post here.
What Christmas gift to get a keen chess player who wants to improve? A chess book? A DVD tutorial? Or arrange for a former Chess WorldChampion to give a personal message of greetings and advice? Steve Dunleavy’s family did just that! One of the world’s top chess players, Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand gives Chandler’s Ford’s Steve Dunleavy some advice! Vishy’s advice to Steve is on Cameo.com.
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan – ‘Vishy’ – Anand is an Indian Chess Grandmaster and former World Champion. He has won the World Chess Championship five times. He is currently (December 2021) ranked 16th in the world by FIDE.
Vishy’s Advice to Steve
One of the best Christmas presents ever for a chess player has to be Suzan and Hanna Dunleavy’s to Steve: ‘Cameo.com‘ greetings given by a Grandmaster. The video message contains season’s greetings from former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand on behalf of Suzan and Hanna.
In the video the Grandmaster says that Suzan and Hanna have told him that Steve is an avid and passionate chess player, but has hit a ‘rough patch’ in his game recently. Vishy Anand sympathises, having had a ‘rough patch in Baku’, Azerbaijan, himself… (See Viswanathan Anand finishes last in Gashimov Memorial chess : The Tribune India). He continues with some good advice for Steve. And it’s really useful for all chess players of whatever ability. And that advice? Follow the link below and hear the wise words yourself.
Viswanathan concludes with wishing Steve a wonderful Christmas and all the best.
The previous Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Ladders were run by Nobby George, and he adapted to the pandemic by setting up an online version of the tournament, where the games were played on lichess.org. The games in the new 2021-22 Ladder tournament, organised by Sam Murphy, will mainly be played over the board.
Sam Murphy has been very successful as a player in the previous Ladders, and he was the first to win the Ladder Trophy.
Sam Murphy, first winner of the Chandlers Ford Chess Ladder: 2017-2018
Players may challenge up to 4 places above their own step: if the challenger wins, they swap places, otherwise they stay where they are. The time control for the games is 90 minutes for each player. The challenger has the white pieces. For the full Rules, see the Ladder Tournament 2021-22 Page.
See the table on the Ladder Tournament 2021-22 Page for the latest positions. There will be regular updates to show on the table as the tournament progresses.
Sam Murphy (left) is presented with Ladder Trophy by Nobby George – AND the running of the next Ladder…
