Welcome Back
On a bright and sunny day we were pleased to receive and welcome 28 juniors that came along to learn and play chess.
Please note that we will be continuing lessons and chess club through half term.
We are now fully committed with beginners in both sessions and if any beginners are interested in joining us then we will add you to our waiting list to start in the New Year. We continue to welcome all players of all levels.
Coaching Sessions
Our Advanced section is now broken into two sections to allow more individual coaching. Graham took the top level of Nathaniel, Neil and Rafan through chess openings by transition. There are literally thousands of ways to transition and part of that will also allow you to identify opening inaccuracies, gain tempos, lead on the opening development position, inflict a material winning tactic and avoid unfavourable opening lines.
Tony went through his usual array of puzzles with Harvey, Jake, Hektor and Ram. There were 4 level 1 puzzles and 2 level 2. Ram managed to get both the level 2s but missed out on one of the level 1s. Jake did very well getting all of the level 1s. The topics included skewers and mating patterns, particularly bishop on the long diagonal with a rook. They all did well.
Eric took the intermediate players through a game looking at the King’s Indian Opening. The game was played by the great Bobby Fischer in the 60s where he took advantage of a weak queenside pawn structure to destroy the advance and win the game. We hope our players will observe how important it is to identify a weakness and take advantage.
Steve had his hands full as always with Preston, Saint and Nathan through basic chess tactics, not making mistakes and openings.
2nd Session
Our 2nd session is now equal in numbers to our 1st session which is great to see – a full room of players enjoying chess.
It is very pleasing to see Peter Nimmo helping and engaging with us now and we were especially grateful as both Peter and Eric could split the intermediate section between 9 players.
Eric repeated the King’s Indian section with his group of Atlas, Ritha, Erin and Emmanuel. Atlas did especially well and selected many correct moves.
Peter had his hands full with Milan, Manvik, Koko and Leo but went through opening tactics and how to find ways to open up defences in the middle game.
Steve had another full session with Manvik S, Adelyn, Kiara and Jeson. We hope they are practising in the week to add value to the teaching sessions.
Ladder Board Results – Round 5
There were some good games played including Neil v Jake which Neil continued his winning streak. Nathaniel is also looking very strong and it is beginning to look like a two-way title race between these two players.
1st Session
| White | Score | Black |
|---|---|---|
| Coach | ½ – ½ | Rafan |
| Ram | 0 – 1 | Nathaniel |
| Neil | 1 – 0 | Jake |
| Harvey | 1 – 0 | Arini |
| Alexander | 0 – 1 | Omer |
| Kit | 0 – 1 | Markas |
| Nirvan | 0 – 1 | Hektor |
2nd Session
Milan playing William did very well and a draw was agreed – they are both looking strong in this group.
| White | Score | Black |
|---|---|---|
| Milan | ½ – ½ | William |
| Manvik R | 1 – 0 | Erin |
| Leo | 2 – 0 | Koko |
| Ritha | 0 – 1 | Atlas |
| Kiara | 0 – 1 | Manvik S |
| Emmanuel | ½ – ½ | Coach |
Ladder Board Standings – Round 5
1st Session – Advanced/Intermediate
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Nathaniel | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Harvey | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Ram | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Omer | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Kit | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Hektor | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Sarah | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Jake | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Nirvan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Rafan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Markas | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Lucas | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Alexander | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Arini | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
2nd Session – Intermediate/Beginners
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manvik R | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Leo | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Milan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| William | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Erin | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Emmanuel | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Kiara | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Ritha | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Atlas | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Manvik S | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Markas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Koko | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Adelyn | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Many thanks to Graham, Tony, Steve, Peter and Dee for supporting the sessions to allow all to enjoy the club.
We look forward to receiving all our regulars next Saturday!
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