The Lichess Ladder started on 27th November 2020, and will be updated each Sunday.
The time control is 90 minutes per player in each game. A player may challenge up to 4 places above, and if the challenger wins the two players swap places on the Ladder (otherwise they stay perched on their current rungs). The Challenger has the White pieces.
Lichess Ladder 3rd January 2021
Ladder organiser Nobby George reports a busy week in the tournament, with 5 games played:
Manoj Chandar: 1 Rose Saunders: O
Sam Murphy: 1 Steve Saunders: 0
John Kooner: 1 Maha Chandar: 0
Joseph Henbury: 1 Keven Lamb: 0
Steve Dunleavy: 0 Don Creasey: 1
See the Ladder Page for full current standings list of the 17 players as of 3rd January. Patrick Pavey retains top slot as we go into 2021. The Ladder Page is updated weekly.
Happy New Year everyone. Results from Tuesday’s Arena tournament online at lichess.org, plus a look back at a highlight from 2020 (there weren’t many…). And looking ahead, to next week’s online tournaments.
Results of tournament Tuesday 29th December 2020
10 of us participated in this week’s Arena Tournament on Tuesday 29th December, online at lichess.org. Congratulations to Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’), who came first with an awesome score of 20. Graham made good use of the Arena format’s ‘Berserk‘ function (in which you trade in half your time in a game for the chance of a bonus point –IF you win). Well done too Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’)2nd, and John Kooner 3rd.
Forthcoming online tournaments
Details of the new year’s first two online tournaments at lichess.org.
Tuesday Arena, 5th January 2021, 8pm
This is our regular weekly rapid play online tournament in which players have ten minutes each per game in the one-hour tournament. 8pm start. It’s already set up, click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
Our next 5-round online Swiss Tournament is on Thursday 7th January 2021. This starts at 8pm at lichess.org. Players have an initial 7 minutes each per game plus a 3-second increment per move (that is, about ten minutes each). Click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
What was the best bit of 2020? It seems like a strange question given that the year is generally viewed as not having been a good one… Selecting a highlight from this year shouldn’t be difficult though, the bar being set quite low… I’ve actually selected two highlights – and one of them is since the pandemic restrictions.
The ‘Super-Match’: 16 Chandler’s Ford players in one match
There was one event that was a real chess highlight though: when Chandler’s Ford Chess Club’s C and D teams played each other in their Southampton Chess League Division 5 match in January. Each team was double-size, so it was an 8 v 8 players match. A great 16-players involvement from the same club in an event on one night. Boards 1-4 counted towards the Match result, whilst the remaining boards were still graded for English Chess Federation grading purposes. See Southampton Chess League match result screen for individual results – and our own match article D Team Beats C Team in Super-match. The super-match would be a highlight in any year, a great chess club night. And I say that as the captain of the losing side – it was such an enjoyable event.
Incidentally, the COVID-19 crisis came along late in the chess League 2019-20 season, so the C team only missed out playing one match, but the D team’s last 2 fixtures were cancelled due to the pandemic. See the Southampton Chess League Division 5 table. Obviously the 2020-21 season hasn’t started – and will probably simply not happen now.
The A and B teams also did very well in the Southampton League: the A team managed to play 7 games in Division 3 before the pandemic ended the season, and came 2nd. The B team did even better in Division 4: playing 8 games, they came top of Division 4!
Chandlers Ford C (left) v D team (right) Tuesday 14th January 2020 (photo by Suzan Dunleavy)
Chandler’s Ford players represent England
Since the COVID crisis began, over-the-board chess came to a halt – but now games are played remotely online, at such websites as lichess.org and chess.com. The English Chess Federation has an official lichess Women’s team – England Women and Chandler’s Ford’s own Rose Saunders and Maha Chandar have played in the team! This is a brief mention here, but there will be a fuller post on this soon.
Tournament organiser Nobby George reports two results in the last week in the Lichess Ladder:
Peter Przybycin 1 Joe Henbury 0
Sam Murphy 1 Steve Dunleavy 0
See our Ladder Page for the current standings table. Patrick Pavey, who was top over Christmas, retains the number one slot over the New Year. Well done Patrick!
An old photo of Patrick Pavey (right of picture, smiling) taken in 2008
Club online tournaments
See our previous Post (Christmas) for results of last week’s online tournaments on lichess.org on 22nd and 24th December.
The next Tournament is Tuesday 29th December.
This is our regular weekly rapid play online tournament in which players have ten minutes each per game in the one-hour tournament. 8pm start. It’s already set up, click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
The Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Christmas Swiss on Christmas Eve Thursday 24th. Also, the results of Tuesday’s regular Arena online tournament on 22nd December. Next tournament details. And of course, seasons greetings to you!
Tuesday Arena, 22nd December 2020
13 of us participated in this week’s Arena Tournament on Tuesday 22nd December, online at lichess.org. Congratulations to Rob Sims, who came first. Well done too John Kooner 2nd, and Sam Murphy 3rd.
Christmas Swiss
Thursday’s 5-round Swiss online rapid play tournament was on Christmas Eve. Five of us played, so each had a bye in one of the rounds, and was an all-play-all. Congratulations to winner John Zastapilo (John-zed’). Well done too Kev Lamb 2nd and Steve Saunders third. Whilst fewer players could make playing in the tournament, several chess friends who couldn’t play were able to pop in virtually to wish us all a happy Christmas.
Chandlers Ford Christmas Swiss
Next online Tournament: Tuesday Arena, 8pm on 29th December 2020
This is our regular weekly rapid play online tournament in which players have ten minutes each per game in the one-hour tournament. 8pm start. It’s already set up, click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
A different one this year – like most of this year. December is usually the time we like to meet up for our Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Christmas Curry (the ‘CFCCCC’) social gathering, which of course was not possible this year due to the COVID-19 situation. The photos in the picture gallery below are from last year, at the Christmas Curry 2019. Click on a picture for full images.
Steve Dunleavy (left) presents the Knockout Trophy to Peter Przybycin at the Christmas Curry 2019
Chess Club Curry Night 12 December 2019
Chess Club Christmas Curry Night 12 December 2019
Nobby George, Sam Murphy and Steve Dunleavy at the Christmas Curry 2019
Maha Chandar at theChandlers Ford Chess Club Christmas Curry 2019
Looking forward to when we can meet in person again. Merry Christmas everyone!
Results of the week’s online club tournaments on 15th and 17th December, and links to join the forthcoming tournament on 22nd December. Plus the latest Lichess Ladder standings.
Online Tournament results 15th ,17th December
Tuesday Arena, 15th December 2020
15 of us participated in this week’s Arena Tournament on Tuesday 15th December, online at lichess.org, a great turnout. Congratulations to Keith Gregory (‘KeithDFG’), who came first – with a wide margin. Well done too David Culliford (‘djc202’) 2nd, and Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’) 3rd.
5-Round Swiss, 17th December: tight at the top
Eleven of us played in the 5-round Swiss on 17th December. Congratulations to Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) for winning a tightly-contested tournament. Patrick Pavey who was second, had won as many games as Graham, and so had the same number of points – and the same ‘Tie Break’ scores . The system had to delve deeper to distinguish their podium positions: Graham had a tournament grade performance of 1978 compared to Patrick’s 1950. Close at the top! Well done too Joe Henbury who came third.
Forthcoming online club tournament: 22nd December
Our regular weekly online Tuesday Arena is at 8pm on 22nd December 2020. Players have ten minutes each per game in the one-hour tournament. It’s already set up, click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
No tournament yet for Thursday 24th – but if enough players are available and keen to play one can be set up quickly.
The Lichess Ladder: Patrick top at Christmas
The club’s Lichess Ladder organiser, Nobby George, reports three results this week:
Maha Chandar 1 Steve Dunleavy 0
John Kooner 1 Andrew Vagg 0
Manoj Chandar 1 Keven Lamb 0
The club’s Lichess Ladder Tournament is updated each week on Sunday. This means we can tell who is top of the Ladder this Christmas: well done Patrick Pavey!
David Culliford reports on victory for Dave Holmes in the semi-finals of the Devon Chess Autumn Grand Prix.He also gives details of the Finals, which can be seen live on Friday 18th December at 7.30pm.
Dave Holmes (left) won the U140 at Fareham February 2016, and is in the Devon Grand Prix Finals December 2020
Dave beat Charlie Keen 3-1 in the semis, and all four of his games feature in an analysis by Tom Thorpe and Paul Hampton (both graded in the 180s). Excellent to see these games played through and discussed.
I see that Dave had two Smith-Morra Gambits and also a couple of Nimsowitsch Defences, with both the pairs being in no way similar. I admired Dave’s excellent swashbuckling style, and the tactical nuances associated with the Nimsowitsch in Dave’s two games were totally unexpected, for me at least!
Just a quick heads-up about the date for Dave Holmes’ final in the graded section of the Devon Chess Autumn Grand-Prix. As you know, Dave triumphed in last week’s semi-finals which were replayed on Tom Thorpe’s twitch TV channel, and some spectacular games they were. The final will be on Friday 18th December, from 19:30 GMT. See details from Tim Paulden, DCCA President, below:
Autumn Grand-Prix Finals – 7:30pm this Friday (18 Dec)
After nearly two months of competition, the Finals of our Autumn Grand-Prix will be taking place this Friday (18 Dec) starting at 7:30pm, with JackRudd (IM Jack Rudd) and JUDevon (Jon Underwood) playing off for the Championship, and gashead4 (David Holmes) and cash-only (Steve Dean) battling it out for the Graded title. As always, we’ll be running live commentary on the event via Tom Thorpe’s Twitch channel, which can be accessed free of charge by going to https://www.twitch.tv/chesster1883 in your web browser. It promises to be another great evening of chess – hope you are able to join us!
Results of the week’s online club tournament on 8th and 10th December, and links to join the forthcoming tournaments on 15th and 17th. Plus the latest Lichess Ladder standings.
Online Tournament results 8th ,10th December
Tuesday Arena, 8th December 2020
13 of us participated in this week’s Arena Tournament on Tuesday 8th December, online at lichess.org. Congratulations to Keith Gregory (‘KeithDFG’), who came first. Well done too Rob Sims 2nd, and John Zastapilo (‘john_zed’) 3rd.
5-Round Swiss, 10th December: Sportsmanship
Eight of us played in the 5-round Swiss on 10th December. A good week for our overseas-based club players as Kev Byard in New Zealand enjoyed a breakfast of victory, and John Zastapilo (‘john_zed’) in Belgium came third. David Culliford came second this week. John Z showed great gamesmanship in offering a draw to David after David had a technical issue during their game.
Forthcoming online club tournaments
Forthcoming Chandler’s Ford chess club online tournaments are set up and ready to join on lichess.org. The weekly Tuesday Arena is on 15th December, and we have our regular 5-round Swiss on Thursday 17th December.
Tuesday Arena, 8pm on 15th December 2020
This is our regular weekly online tournament in which players have ten minutes each per game in the one-hour tournament. 8pm start. It’s already set up, click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
Our next 5-round online Swiss Tournament is on On Thursday 17th December. This starts at 8pm on lichess.org. Players have an initial 7 minutes each per game plus a 3-second increment per move (that is, about ten minutes each). Click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
Tournament Organiser Nobby George reports three games played this week in the Lichess Ladder Tournament. Patrick is now top of the Ladder. See our Ladder Page each week for the latest positions.
David Culliford reports on the progress of fellow Chandler’s Ford player Dave Holmes in the Devon Chess online Autumn Grand Prix.Dave Holmes has previously done extremely well in the Devon summer event in July – see our item Dave in Devon Finals
Simon Kay, Dave Holmes and David Culliford at 2018 Christmas dinner. Photo by Don Creasey.
A quick update on Dave Holmes’ progress in the graded section of the Devon online chess ‘Autumn Grand Prix’ finals stages.
Apparently Dave (‘gashead4’ is his chess handle) played last night (9th December 2020) in his semi-final, but I don’t yet know the result. According to Tim Paulden who runs Devon chess, there will be live coverage of the other semi-final tomorrow night (Friday 11th December) on Tom Thorpe’s Twitch channel (details in the forwarded email below) and, more relevant to us, there will be a review of Dave’s semi-final. I don’t know whether that means some commentary coverage or not, but nevertheless, we will get to find out how Dave fared.
Autumn Grand-Prix Semi-finals – 7:30pm tomorrow!
After six hard-fought weeks of competition, we’re delighted to announce that the Semi-finals of our Autumn Grand-Prix will be broadcast at 7:30pm tomorrow night (Fri 11 Dec). The match-ups will be as follows:
In the Championship: Live coverage of JackRudd (Jack Rudd) vs ExeterPrez (Tim Paulden), and JUDevon (Jon Underwood) vs robertcymru (Robert Taylor)
In the Graded: Live coverage of cash-only (Steve Dean) vs dawsx40 (Darrell Watson), and a review of gashead4 (David Holmes) vs histo03 (Charlie Keen), which was contested last night
We’ll be running live commentary on the event via Tom Thorpe’s Twitch channel, which can be accessed free of charge simply by going to https://www.twitch.tv/chesster1883 in your web browser.
It promises to be another fun evening of chess to round off the week – so we hope you are able to join us at 7:30pm tomorrow!
Peter Przybycin, the Book Prize Tournament organiser, announces the pairings for Round 3.
Book Prize Tournament organiser Peter Przybycin
Hi All,
All games in round two have now been completed.
Results so far:
Round 1
Rose Saunders ½ – ½ Mike Henbury
Geoffrey Parish 0 – 1 Keven Lamb
Rob Strachan 1 – 0 Don Creasey
Rob Sims 1- 0 Steve Dunleavy
John Kooner 1 – 0 Steve Saunders
Nobby George 1 – 0 Suzan Dunleavy
Round 2
Steve Dunleavy 0 – 1 Keven Lamb
Suzan Dunleavy 0 – 1 John Kooner
Rob Sims ½ – ½ Mike Henbury
Nobby George 0 – 1 Don Creasey
Geoffrey Parish 0 – 1 Rose Saunders
Rob Strachan 1 – 0 Steve Saunders
Round 3 pairings are as follows, with players’ current scores in brackets:
John Kooner (2) v Don Creasey (1)
Rob Sims (1½) v Rose Saunders (1½)
Steve Dunleavy (0) v Geoffrey Parish (0)
Steve Saunders (0) v Suzan Dunleavy (0)
Rob Strachan (2) v Nobby George (1)
Keven Lamb (2) v Mike Henbury (1)
As always, the player named first plays white. I am aware that some of you will be playing your third game in a row with the same colours. This will balance out during the course of the tournament.
Deadline for finishing round three games is Saturday 2nd January 2021. As round two finished early it gives us a few extra days to play round three, which is just as well, with Christmas falling in this period.
Enjoy!
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.
Online tournaments and Ladder Latest. Results of the online club tournament on Tuesday 1st December, the SCL tournament on Thursday 3rd; the Lichess Ladder latest. Plus details of the next two online club tournaments.
Online Tournament results 1st, 3rd December
Tuesday Arena, 1st December 2020
16 of us participated in this week’s Arena Tournament on Tuesday 1st December, joint-best attended of our online tournaments on lichess.org. Congratulations to Keith Gregory (‘KeithDFG’), who came first. Well done too John Zastapilo (‘john_zed’) 2nd, and Rob Sims 3rd.
SCL 5-round Swiss 3rd December
The monthly Southampton Chess League online tournament, set up by Graham Stuart, was a 5-round Swiss tournament this time. It was well-supported by Chandler’s Ford Chess Club players – indeed we formed the great majority of this month’s players. Our own club’s Joseph Henbury came 2nd.
Lichess Ladder Latest
Lichess Ladder Organiser Nobby George reports 2 results this week:
Patrick Pavey 1-0 Don Creasey
Nobby George 1-0 Steve Dunleavy
The online version of the Ladder – the Lichess Ladder- is played on lichess.org. Players may challenge an opponent up to 4 places above their own position. If the challenger wins they swap places on the Ladder, otherwise they stay where they are. The games have a time control of 90 minutes per player. Go to the Ladder Page of this website to see the latest standings.
Forthcoming online club tournaments
Forthcoming Chandler’s Ford chess club online tournaments are set up and ready to join on lichess.org. The regular Tuesday Arena is on 8th December, and we have our regular 5-round Swiss on Thursday 10th December.
Tuesday Arena, 8pm on 8th December 2020
This is our regular online tournament in which players have ten minutes each per game in the one-hour tournament. 8pm start. It’s already set up, click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
On Thursday 10th December there will be our regular online 5-round Swiss Tournament. This starts at 8pm on lichess.org. Players have an initial 7 minutes each per game plus a 3-second increment per move (that is, about ten minutes each). Click on the button below to go to the Tournament.
