There were 24 people at the club last Wednesday which included two visiting the club for the first time. With no league matches this week or scheduled tournaments some members were paired up to play games as part of the club’s internal winter competition. In addition there were plenty of friendly games going on
In Division 1 the game between Lukasz and Neville had a slightly quicker time limit as Lakasz needed to catch a train, it ended in a relatively quick draw. However a second Division 1 game between Dave Lambton and Martin Burns went the full distance and was last to finish on the night. With Dave managing to secure two extra connected passed pawns on the queenside Martin had to resign.
In Division 2 George Bulbeck managed to beat Steve Balantyne in a close encounter and in Division 2 Joe Hignett playing white beat Mathew Dean in a sharp game with both players having various attacks.
Next week sees the long awaited start of the North Staffs League and Crewe have 4 teams competing throughout the week, two of these are on the Wednesday so next week’s club night might be slightly quieter than usual. Its good to see league matches back as for most members this will be the first time they have played members from other clubs since before the covid lockdown. Hopefully Crewe members will have an advantage over some of those from other clubs as they will not have played any competitive chess during this period
Last night saw the final of the 2022 Summer K.O between two of our leading players – Harry Gardiner and Simon Layhe. Both came into this final in rich veins of form with Harry having won his previous 11 games in a row, and Simon the mere 4 in a row. In fact Harry’s last defeat was back in March (strangely enough against Simon). Simon’s progress over the last 12 months has seen his rating jump from 1700 to 1809. This competition started on 15th June with 30 competitors and so this was their 5th game each. Harry had drawn black in each of the earlier rounds and was delighted to win the toss for choice of colour so he could have the white pieces. As anticipated this was a high quality encounter where Simon created the initiative in the middle game with a central pawn capture that deflected support after a minor piece exchange to give him the pawn advantage. From here Simon exploited any weakness in white’s position to build pressure and ultimately add another pawn to his advantage. Harry did his best to complicate the picture and prevent black’s progress but Simon’s active position proved too much in the end. Congratulations to Simon on winning our inaugural KO competition, and commiserations to Harry who collected 3 trophies at our recent AGM. It is pleasing to see two of our younger members rising up the chess ladder and leading our club so positively into the future !
It was great to see Newcastle play their first competitive match since March 2020 due to Covid and make the short trip to The Mals to play a pre-season friendly which has been an annual event since 2015. This was a five board match with teams equally rated overall at 8203 vs 8209, and before battle commenced it was announced that the match series was level at 2-2. Early skirmishes finished in the host’s favour as George Bulbeck won on board 4 and his dad Julian drew on 5. When Martin Burns won on top board it was expected Crewe would take a 3-2 lead in the match series, but this did not take into consideration Newcastle’s fighting spirit. Gradually the visitors gained the upper hands on both remaining boards as Alberto Gissi and Peter Hornsby won on boards 3 and 2 respectively to draw the match and keep the series in the balance. It is hoped Crewe can take a team to Newcastle later this season for the 6th challenge to allow some more competitive chess to supplement Newcastle’s limited league fixture list of just 10 matches.
A number of games were played in our newly started 2022/23 club championship, where we have 3 divisions of 11 players so far in all-play-all sections. Results can be seen from the following link
What a terrific night we had at The Mals yesterday, as our favourite annual event took place to compete for the “Les Hall Memorial Trophy”.
To give some background, this is a unique handicap event where all club members are invited to play in a 5 round swiss style blitz competition with a twist of handicap thown in. Firstly players are given a fixed amount of time to complete each game ranging from 5 minutes for the highest rated with up to 15 minutes for the lowest rated. Then handicaps are given where higher rated play off scratch, with handicaps from half a point to a max of two and a half for the lowest rated. These handicaps are added to the players scores over 5 rounds. Then in another twist, all previous winners have one minute deducted from their time allowance and a half point clipped off their handicap if they have one. Accordingly our 2019 winner Bart Fajfer, was seeded No 1 for the event with only 4 minutes for each game.
We had another record attendance at the club with 33 members present, and 30 taking part in the competition, with David Hulme and Steve Cross acting as the control team. 1st round pairings had been produced on the eve of the competition but then chaos ensued with 3 withdrawals and a no-show. Just to test the controllers nerve just before the start, we had some surprise arrivals with Amy Lovatt making a welcome one-off return to the club, and a potential new member turning up out of the blue – who happened to be quite a strong player – Lee Farrington. On top of this we had another late entry from one of our juniors which gave us an odd number, so then we managed to bribe one of the juniors parents to play as well – thank you to Oskar’s dad – Marek, we were able to get everyone playing a little behind schedule.
Having got under way, all of the top 15 seeds won their first round games, as expected, with the exception of Lukasz Michalek who fell to 12 year old Joe Hignett, thanks to a little skulduggery and innocence on Joe’s part (mobile phone distraction !?). Round 2 saw a couple of shocks as two of the top four got beat, to effectively remove their chances of winning the comp, but we still had 8 of the top 11 seeds on 2/2, including our two late arrivals Amy and Lee.
Round 3 cut the leading pack in half as Bart Fajfer, Simon Layhe, Amy & Lee all emerged with 3/3, while Lukasz and Joe joined the leaders with the assistance of their handicaps.
In round 4, Bart clinched a win against Simon and Amy stopped Lee in his tracks for this pair to move on to 4/4. Meanwhile Lukasz was victorious against our 2018 champion Rick Renegade, and Joe scrambled another unexpected win on the clock, to leave four players in contention going into round 5. Of course if there were to be any draws on the top boards in Round 5, this would bring several more players into contention.
As Lukasz and Joe had played in round 1, we had to separate the two 100%- ers to play the handicappers thus Bart was paired with Lukasz for an all-Polish clash, while Joe and Amy battled on behalf of the Union Jacks. In the Polish clash Lukasz’s extra 5 minutes ( 9 vs 4) proved decisive, while Amy kept her cool to defeat the surprise perfomer of the night – young Joe.
And so we had a tie after the 5 rounds, with Amy scoring a perfect 5/5, while Lukasz’s 4/5 was supplemented by his 1 point handicap. Bare in mind this was Amy’s first time playing OTB since our last handicap in September 2021, this was a superb achievement to score 5/5 with only 6 minutes on the clock and no handicap ! And so, our time-honoured way of finding the outright winner was brought into play – our version of an “Armageddon play-off”, where white is given one extra minute and must win, otherwise black is declared the winner in the case of a draw. Amy called the toss of the coin unsuccessfully, meaning Lukasz would play white and now had 10 minutes on the clock against Amy’s 6 minutes.
Lukasz quickly gained the upper hand as he attacked Amy’s Sicilian with gusto. An unusual deployment of both white knights created holes in Amy’s queenside which was exploited with a manoeuvre to attack the Q on d8 with B on b6, supported by knights and then jumped to c7 with a fork to win a rook. Amy could play Qb7 to leave herself an exchange down but boldly went for a king-side attack playing Qf5, allowing Lukasz to retain a whole rook advantage. Lukasz seemed to be cruising to victory, but Amy unleashed a blistering double Bishop attack supported by the Q against a king-side castled position. As Lukasz centralised his piece majority, Amy had advanced her h pawn and when Lukasz decided to capture this pawn, this allowed a Rook to swing over to the king side open h-file. Lukasz defended against the bishops with some pawn blocks and eventually gave up his Queen for the rook and exchanged some minor pieces. Lukasz held his nerve and allowed Amy’s attack to fizzle out under time pressure to become the deserved winner.
Congratulations to Lukasz , who becomes the 8th different winner of this event and will collect the Les Hall Memorial Trophy at next year’s AGM. Commiserations to Amy who has fallen at the final hurdle (Armageddon-style) two years in succession, and we hope she will be back next year for another assault on our favourite competition.
Leading Scores after 5 rounds:
1st = 5pts – Amy Lovatt, Lukasz Michalek
3rd = 4.5 pts – James Grange, Jarek Czyz
5th = 4pts – Bart Fajfer, Simon Layhe, Doug Barnett, Jakub Grabowski, Joe Hignett.
Many thanks to all 30 of our players who made it such an enjoyable night; Steve Cross who did a vital job in writing out all the pairing cards, and our new club steward – Harry – who prepared the room before the players arrived and managed resetting clocks for every board in every round.
A final note for Lukasz to remind him that defending the trophy will be made much tougher as he will suffer the same fate as all previous winners – a reduction in time allowed and removal of half-a-point from any scheduled handicap !
There were 19 members at the club last night. This is likely the lowest number we have had at the club for some time, probably due to it being the holiday season. Even so this is still a good number compared to most other clubs and there were a number of serious games played between those members that were in attendance.
Both semi-finals of the summer knockout competition were able to be played last night where both players with the black pieces managed to win. Simon Layhe won a piece against Dave Lambton and went on to convert this to a win, in the shadow of an appreciative crowd. In the other game Karl Lockett fell into the opening prep of Harry Gardiner and with his king unable to castle he soon lost. That means the final will be played between Harry and Simon, Wed 21st September 2022 the same night that we are hosting a pre season game between Crewe and Newcastle.
Both Harry and Simon have improved significantly over the last season and are now amongst the best players in the club. Harry for example has now won his last 11 graded games straight and is close to a 1900 rating, in fact the last time he lost a graded game was last March against Simon! So an interesting final is expected.
Several players took the opportunity to play a match in this new season’s Club Championship. Although this tournament requiring 10 games in total runs until next June, there wont be that many free nights due to NSDCA League matches etc. so its a wise decision to play these games when they are available. In division 1 Martin Burns huffed and puffed, and finally got the win against Neville Layhe and in division 2 Steve Ballantyne also playing white drew with Mike Keenan. Division 3 has yet to kick off. In addition to the above some members played graded games which will lead to a more established rating. Jacob Grabowski beat George Jellis but the most notable was the first ever victory in a graded long play game for Vicky Kelsall, may it be the first of many.
Next week sees the popular Time and Point tournament takes place. Harry the H pawn attempt to defend his title in the eagerly anticipated Time-and-Point Handicap. The winner will have the honour of having their name inscribed on a handsome trophy, which was recently purchased in memory of the much missed Les Hall. We hope to see you there, to maybe raise a glass to Les, and to enjoy what should be a riveting evening
This is a fun (but competitive) 5 round quickplay tournament where lesser graded players are not only given extra time on their clock but also receive handicap points. Any member wishing to enter, who has not done so already, please contact the Events Officer Dave Hulme.
Subscriptions held at £20 p.a for Adult Members and £10 for juniors (under 18 @ 1st September 2022)
Committee positions: a)Chair – Dave Price – continues. b) Treasurer – David Hulme appointed as Neville Layhe retires. c) Secretary – Karl Lockett newly appointed to be assisted by David Hulme. d) Events – David Hulme to continue assisted by Harry Gardiner. e) Club steward newly appointed – Harry Gardiner. f) Club Librarian newly appointed – Neville Layhe.
Club’s 8th Annual Time & Point Handicap to be held on Wednesday 14th September, commencing at 7.30pm prompt. Contact David Hulme for details and to register beforehand.
New NSDCA League season to commence 3rd October. with two teams in each of three divisions. Teams to comprise 4 boards. More boards may be agreed with opposition. No team grade limits, with players unable to play for any lower team if playing on board 1 or bd 2. Cup competitions to commence in new year.
Internal long-play events to start on Wednesday 7th September for all members interested – games to be graded, and ECF membership required in addition to club subscription. Members to be assigned to divisions based on ratings and previous winners to be promoted.
Summer KO Tournament to be completed in September.
Pre-season friendly arranged with Newcastle at The Mals on 21st September.
Eight Trophies awarded and presented including the new Les Hall Memorial Trophy for the time & Point Handicap. See Honours List for details and photos to be added asap.
Another fantastic night at The Mals Club on Wednesday (24th) saw a club record attendance with 32 of our own members joined by 8 visitors from Wallasey. Thanks to Alan Kelly for arranging to bring a team of 8 to take part in the inaugural Wallasey-Crewe Challenge for the “WC Trophy”. The two teams were evenly matched with less than 60 rating points between the sides. As Wallasey were delayed by local road works and diversions the time control was reduced from the normal 75 mins down to 60 mins plus increments. 10 year old Oskar Jarzynski was in a rush, and had a superb early win against an experienced Wallasey congresser. After the first score, it was tit for tat, as George Jellis and Lukasz Micahlek chalked up wins for the hosts, while Adam Miller and Rick Purcell did the same for the visitors. The remaining games all shared the points to conclude the match with a narrow 4.5-3.5 success for Crewe.
Alongside the main event, there were the other two quarter-finals played in our Summer knock-out. Dave Lambton managed to gain end game superiority over Jules Hawthorne, and Simon Layhe put an end to Rick Renegade’s run, after Rick had beaten the number one seed in the previous round. So the semi-final line up is Karl Lockett vs Harry Gardiner and David Lambton vs Simon Layhe. One graded game saw Matthew Dean beat Vicky Kelsall playing her first ever “long-play” graded game.
The night was a great success for the club, and was made more enjoyable thanks to the sportsmanship of our friends from Wallasey, and the provision of a special buffet to mark this event (WC Challenge).
Just a reminder to all our members that Wednesday 31st is our AGM, where the highlight should be the Trophies Presentation section (see News item 3rd August).
A surprisingly good turnout saw 25 members at the Mals on Wednesday (17th). While most were playing social games, Jakub Grabowski was keen to get some serious match time and won one of our rare graded summer games. Meanwhile the first two knockout quarter-finals were played with both favourites gaining success. Harry Gardiner escaped from a losing position having initially been outplayed by underdog James Marshall, before James overlooked the loss of a piece. In the other QF Karl Lockett always held the upper hand over secretary David Hulme, with superior early development holding control over the game. These two winners play each other in one of the semi-finals, while the other QFs should be played next week.
Next Wednesday sees our club hosting an 8 board challenge against Wallasey from the Wirral and Merseyside Leagues. Thanks to Alan Kelly (Wallasey cc) for initiating this challenge as a result of friendships fostered at many congresses with our club colleagues, notably chairman Dave.
Looking ahead we hold our AGM on 31st August, and September will see the conclusion of our Summer knockout, the 8th Annual time and point handicap, a pre-season challenge with Newcastle, and the start of our internal winter long-play competitions. The NSDCA league commences on 3rd October, where we have two teams in each of the three divisions.
With our teams having completed their Summer League fixtures, attention has turned back to our inaugural knock-out competition.
The last remaining game from the 1st round was completed with Dave Lambton moving in to the 2nd Round (of 16). There were several games played in Round 2, where Karl Lockett, James Marshall and David Hulme all progressed to the quarter-finals. There are two more games to be played in this Round of 16, which are scheduled for next Wednesday, with the plan to carry out the quarter-final draw as soon as the last 8 is known.
The atmosphere in the club on Wednesday was a joy to behold, with some vibrant and cracklin scenes. With a newcomer cycling all the way from Market Drayton to see what we could offer, he left the club well after 10.30 having been entertained by all of our top players mixing in, and expressing how he was made to feel most welcome. Despite being in the traditional quiet part of the year for club chess, we still managed to have 27 in attendance as our membership numbers increased to 44.
Another fantastic night at The Mals on Wednesday, saw our two Summer league teams in action as over 30 members attended together with another 8 visiting players from Fenton and Stafford.
The “A” team have been captained by Harry Gardiner who has led from the front and selected a team based on youth. Wednesday’s match against Fenton saw the opposition field a team with very little league experience as they took the opportunity to get newcomers used to league chess. The result was much as expected with our team running out 3-1 winners. Harry completed the campaign with a perfect 4/4 and has been on a tremendous run of form collecting 13 points from his last 15 games since 1st March. The “A” team finish the SCS with 6 pts from 5 matches, currently in 2nd place.
The “B” team have been captained by another of our younger members – Dave Lambton, who like Harry has had 100% success in the competition, also missed one of the matches to score 4/4. This final match against Stafford was expected to be closely fought and so it turned out. Mike Keenan got an early win for Crewe before the match was levelled by Stafford’s David Barker. Captain Dave had a very fortunate win in a cast-iron drawn endgame, opposite colour Bishops with R & P, before David Hulme added the final point for a 3-1 win. The team is currently top of the league with 7pts, and has to wait for Alsager (on 4pts) to play their two postponed games before knowing who will be 2022 champions.
With so many new members at the club, the match room only had 18 or 20 in there, with all of the other members moving to the lounge where they could continue to chat while receiving coaching led by Dave Price and other experienced members.
