As Martin Fisher asked me; where else can you spend £30 and get a guarantee of 12 months joy and misery? Join Crewe Chess Club now!
At this time of year the nation eagerly awaits the start of the new NSDCA chess season. It is now an established tradition that this joyous time is marked in our club by the Time and Point Handicap Competition, an event in which, just like in life in general, time is the great leveller. In this “swiss” contest the higher rated players get less time, and some of the lower rated players are given extra points. If you have a couple of hours to spare, and need a full explanation, then Secretary Hulme will gladly go on with himself about the intricacies of the handicap system; enough to say that he has designed things so that everyone has a chance of winning the tournament. Thanks again to Dave for his hard work
Last night saw the 10th annual event take place with a record number of 36 players competing for the coveted Les Hall Memorial Trophy.
Those of you who follow the news will know that Lukasz has won this competition for the last two years, and many feared that he might win it again, and run off with the Les Hall Memorial Trophy forever. Nod to Les here, one of the club’s founders, who hopefully will have been been looking down on us fondly, from the great chess board in the sky.
This year as 36 players battled it out, and as is not unusual, a playoff had to be arranged to settle matters. Dave Lambton overcame Pawel Stanny, and so wins his first club competition. We are all chuffed for him, especially me, who he absolutely battered in our game, The photo shows the playoff final about to start.
David becomes the 9th different winner as the handicap format allows every member to have a good chance of winning. This is underlined by the fact we had 9 players in with a chance of winning as we entered the final Round (No. 5) with their ratings ranging from 2139 to 1022. At the end of round 4 we had three players on 4.5 pts ! (with their handicaps), three more on 4/4 and two on 3/4 plus a 1 point handicap and one more with 2/4 plus a 2 point handicap. Spare a thought for Martin Burns as the only player to score 5/5, wasn’t enough to win the trophy as David battered him (Martin’s own words) in the play-offs before David faced Pawel in another Armageddon show-down.
In the foreground of the second photo Richard Lee tries to pinch Chairman Price’s wine. Play is about to start. Another great evening was had by all at St Mary’s.
