Welcome to the July eNewsletter, your coffee-break assortment of chess news from England and beyond. For the August eNewsletter you might want a more substantial tipple than coffee as you nervously find your new grade (I know I will). In this edition, we look forward to the British Championships in Llandudno along with reports from the National Schools Chess Championships, International Braille Chess Association Olympiad where the UK finished a highly creditable 13th and the County Championships finals day.
Leading the home front, we have been in negotiations with our sponsor Tradewise and we are delighted to offer a great deal to all our members and their relatives, and after a lot of testing, we are rolling out a free league management software system, ideal for tournaments and league administration.
Next month I’d like to do a feature on running a tournament (long-play weekender and one-day rapidplay) because playing at such events, I realise there must be an enormous amount of work that goes on before the Round 1 ‘Please start White’s clock’ announcement through to the prize-giving and beyond. If you would like to share your experiences please contact me through publicity.manager@englishchess.org.uk.
Enjoy the summer!
Mark Rivlin
FROM THE BOARD
Good as Gold
Tradewise Insurance is the parent company of “Tradewise 64”, which specialises in car insurance for chess players. As well as sponsoring the annual Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Congress, they currently work with the English Chess Federation in supporting the Hastings International Chess Congress and ECF Tradewise Grand Prix. They re-invest 10 percent of the premiums you pay back into the game of chess, and their continued support is appreciated by organisers, players, and all chess lovers alike. As the new ECF membership year begins, we are proud to announce that all ECF members and their relatives can obtain a discount on their car insurance equivalent to at least one year’s Adult Gold membership (£34). All you need to do is quote your membership number (available on either your membership login, your grading record, or the master membership list downloadable here)
Details of how to apply for an insurance quote (which includes laptop or tablet cover, in or outside of your vehicle) can found on their website at
Software in a league of its own
ECF is delighted to launch its own League Management software system. Developed by Malcolm Peacock, the software is primarily for leagues, although it can handle internal club games and tournaments. Says ECF Director of Home Chess Alex Holowczack, “ECF-graded leagues in England can use this software to administer their evening leagues free of charge. Captains can report results without the need to involve a league secretary, and league administrators can generate grading files automatically. This system will make life easier for the volunteers who run leagues across the country by reducing the amount of time they need to spend administering them.”
Further details are here – here – http://ecflms.org.uk/lms/
Remember you’re a member!
2017/2018 new memberships are now on sale. Renewal or new membership subscriptions can be done online, via this website …
Just the minutes
ECF Finance Council minutes from April including discussions on membership fees available here – www.englishchess.org.uk/about/minutes/
Your Federation needs you!
There’s a vacancy for the post of ECF Voting Register Officer here – https://www.englishchess.org.uk/about/vacancies/
Get moving
Forthcoming events can be found here – www.englishchess.org.uk/event-calendar/
You can turn down a draw, but can you turn down an offer for CHESS mag?
As one of the ECF’s sponsors, CHESS Magazine is pleased to give ECF members a free taster of 11 pages from the July print and online editions. The UK’s most popular subscription chess magazine, regular features include – How Good is Your Chess?; Saunders on Chess; Find the Winning Moves; Never Mind the Grandmasters; Studies; Home and Overseas News; Calendar; and Book Reviews. There’s a taster here at https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CHESS-July-2017.pdf
In Memoriam
Andrew Paulson
It is with great sadness we report the death of Andrew after losing a battle with cancer on 18.7.17, aged just 59. Andrew was a publishing entrepreneur, founder of Agon and in 2013 President of ECF. There is a notification here from Chess.com — https://www.chess.com/news/view/andrew-paulson-1958-2017-1689
David Rumens
David died peacefully in his sleep on 8 September aged 77 after contracting meningitis. An FM with two IM norms David was one of the originators of the Grand Prix Attack and he came third in the 1959 World Junior Championship. Full obituary will appear on ECF website in due course.
ACROSS THE BOARD
County finals come up roses for Lancashire
The County Championships finals day at Warwick proved to be a happy occasion for Lancashire who came back with the Open and Under 140 trophies. Having lost on board count in the Open section after an 8-8 tie Yorkshire got some revenge by beating their red rose rivals 9.5-6.5 in the Under 160 section. Lincolnshire beat Suffolk in the Minor, Leicestershire beat Warwickshire in the Under 100, Devon edged Middlesex on Board count in the Under 180 and Essex beat Middlesex in the Under 120 section. Full results and pgns here —
Best of British
The annual British Championships will run from Thursday 27 July to Sunday 6 August in Llandudno with GMs David Howell, Luke McShane, Gawain Jones and 2015 winner Jonathan Hawkins favourites for the prize-winners’ podium. This year the championship tournament moves to a new nine-round format (down from 11) which has an immediate advantage of packaging all the action into a week rather than two. Once again IM Andrew Martin will be providing commentary and a daily roundup – his tournament previews are here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIHe96QWfP0, here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGLVSNA-8SA and here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaF2VFiXAN4
There are a number of tournaments encompassing all levels to participate in over the week and two weekends, and the link is here — www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk/
Women play the English
The English Women’s Championship is taking place in West Bromwich on 1-3 September with the winner qualifying for a place in the England team at the 2018 Women’s Olympiad Team. Details here –
UK Braille chess get the winning feeling
The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) Olympiad took place in Ohrid, Macedonia last month with UK finishing 13th and qualifying for the World Team Cup. CM Chris Ross had an outstanding tournament with 7.5/9. There’s more here at
GM at the local – Mickey Adams: to Hull and Black
British Number 1 Mickey Adams spent a pleasant Saturday with the Hull & District Chess Association, with a simultaneous to celebrate Hull’s British City of Culture 2017 award. Sponsored by local brewery Furley & Co., who provided a special Grandmaster ale and a lovely outside venue in the city’s bustling Princes Dock Street. This ECF initiative is proving to be popular. Perhaps members can suggest names of ales which suit the top English GMs? A full report is here – https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Adams-GM-local.pdf
First Dan for Fernandez!
IM Daniel Fernandez came joint first in a strong field in Paracin, Serbia and needs a max of two more rating points for the GM title. Marcus Harvey picked up an IM norm. More details here – http://www.chess-results.com/tnr276788.aspx?lan=1&art=25&fedb=ENG&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984
Quick, play in Liverpool
Put 23-24 September in your diary for the English Rapidplay Championships. With £10,000 of prize money from Signature Living and a fabulous location (the iconic Cunard Building on the city’s waterfront) this nine-round tournament is one not to miss. Details here: http://englishrapidplaychampionship.co.uk/
YOUNGSTERS ON BOARD
School masters
Now in its 60th year, the National School Chess Championship (NSCC) finals took place at Winchester College with Guildford taking the U19 crown. A total of 132 schools took part this year. It was fitting, after Richard Haddrell’s 15 years of dedicated service as Chief Conductor, that there is now The Richard Haddrell Memorial Trophy, which was awarded for the first time to the team which came second, Hampton School – https://www.englishchess.org.uk/a-new-trophy-for-the-national-schools-championships/
In the Under 11 section, first place went to King’s College Junior School, Wimbledon, second place to Heathside Prep School, Hampstead and third place to Pointers School, Blackheath. The national final was hotly contested and the outcome was unclear until the final few boards. This year the tournament was enriched by the attendance of schools from both Scotland and Wales. If your school would like to take part next year, contact Julian Clissold at julian.clissold@englishchess.org.uk
Follow the link here for a full report along with a pgn of a lovely game by IM-elect Ravi Haria for Haberdashers’ Aske’s (maximum respect if you can find what Black missed on move 24) — https://englishchess.org.uk/NSCC/u19-open/#raviPGN
Youth Grand Prix
Important changes to rules for next season’s Youth Grand Prix can be found here – https://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/english-youth-grand-prix-2017-18-including-changes-to-the-rules/
Academy
The ECF Chess Academy 2017-18 prospectus will be published in time for the British Championships, where it will also be available as a hard copy. The prospectus will have details of the 2017-18 International Programme and the 2018 Junior Elite Programme. For players under 21 the closing date for the 2017 Junior Elite Programme applications is 31 July 2017.
Extraordinary Joe
In the European Schools Championships played in Budva in Montenegro, Joe Birks finished with 6/9 in the U9 section. Dominic Klingher participated in the European Junior Rapidplay tournament at the same venue finishing fourth with an excellent 6/9.
European schools initiative
The European Chess Union established its Education Commission in 2014 to lead the development of Chess in Schools across Europe. It has recently launched a School Chess Teacher Certificate scheme which recognises school teachers who have the knowledge and ability to teach chess in the classroom. To obtain accreditation requires attending a two-day course and passing an in situ online test on didactical methods and fundamental chess concepts. The course is suitable for teachers who want to introduce or expand chess in their school and are seeking continuous professional development. The first ECU School Chess Teacher training course leading to a Certificate in the UK will take place in west London on the weekend of 14th/15th October 2017. The course director will be IM Jesper Hall. The cost of the course will be £195. If you are interested in attending, please contact John Foley on john.foley@hotmail.com, who is the UK representative on the ECU Education Commission. Note that those attending the course must be able to play at least basic chess. More details here –
Schools news
The Secondary Schools newsletter is here – https://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ECF-Secondary-School-News-July-2017.pdf and championship dates for 2017-18 cab be found here – https://englishchess.org.uk/NSCC/201718-2/#champdates
The NSCC has its own website here – https://englishchess.org.uk/NSCC/
Glorney Gilbert International 2017
A full report on this tournament which precedes the British Championships and which includes some of our top juniors, will appear in next month’s eNewsletter. You can follow the reports and pictures here – https://englishchess.org.uk/Juniors/series/glorney-2017/