Another sunny day at the end of half term so it was good to welcome 20 juniors to come and learn and play chess.
Programme for June
4 weeks to include a competition on the final day 27th June when we will close for the summer break until September with a planned start date of 12th September. 2 weeks remain for the ladder board competition and a week in between the 27th when we may have a buzzer event.
Highlights from Yesterday
Tony’s Advanced Session — Back to Basics
Tony’s Puzzles: The intermediate group (Hector) continued with ‘Visualize level 1’ puzzles which included themes of double attacks, knight forks, distraction and overworked pieces.
The advanced group consolidated their skills in mating with a knight and bishop and how to win with Queen against Rook from the Philidor position.
Graham’s Session — Chess Opening Basics
Graham had an excellent session setting out puzzles and reviewing the basics of openings, middle games and end games. This was well received and all players used the tactics in their ladder board games.
Graham’s 15-minute tutorial focused on the concept of perspective — underlining how important it is to do the basics in the opening so the game plays itself from move 7 or 8 onwards. A good foundation is crucial.
From a White Player’s Perspective
- Occupy the Centre — e4 or d4 or both if your opponent allows you to!
- Develop minor pieces quickly (Knights & Bishops)
- Castle early (generally kingside 0-0) — get the King’s rook onto the e-file
- Position your pawns on key squares to assist minor pieces
- Do not try for a quick checkmate
From a Black Player’s Perspective
- Challenge your opponent’s desire to occupy the centre — have good openings researched for 5–6 moves (Pirc, Sicilian, Ruy Lopez)
- Develop minor pieces sympathetic to the position — build strong defences like fianchettoes
- Wait to see where your opponent castles, then plan your attack
- Choose an opening you are familiar with and repeat until you fully understand the positions it brings
- Use a few Queen moves that are aggressive and will unsettle your opponent — Qb6, Qa5 (pinning the knight on c3). Qb6 often has a dual threat to the b2 square, particularly if White has played f4 opening the long dark-square diagonal a7–g1
Graham was pleasantly surprised to see the pupils play games with openings that looked like club league matches. The games lasted a lot longer and went the full 30 minutes.
Steve & Eric’s Sessions
Steve had a good session with Arini and Erin who are progressing week by week. In the 2nd session, Steve spent time with Jim who came for the first time — he seemed to enjoy learning the basics and we’re hoping he will continue to come along.
Eric reviewed puzzles with Jack who will hopefully benefit from and practice them in his games.
Photos from Yesterday
Ladder Board Results — 30 May
1st Session: Peter 0–1 Nathaniel, Rafan 1–0 Neil, Hektor ½–½ Coach, Nirvan 0–1 Sarah, Pavina 0–1 Milan, Jack 0–1 Erin, Kit 0–1 Arini.
2nd Session: William 1–0 Ram, Nilay 1–0 Manvik, Emmanual 1–0 Cooper.
Advanced
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicolas | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Nathaniel | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| Peter | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 10.5 |
| Neil | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| Harvey | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Hektor | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6.5 |
| Rafan | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Jake | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
Intermediate
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 8.5 |
| Nirvan | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7.5 |
| Markas | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6.5 |
| Milan | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Jack | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Pavina | 14 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 4.5 |
| Sarah | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Beginners
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arini | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| Omer | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Erin | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 6 |
| Atlas | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Amaury | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
2nd Session — Inter/Beginners
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nilay | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 7.5 |
| William | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Koko | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6.5 |
| Manvik | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Mariusz | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Ram | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Cooper | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Emmanual | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Game Highlights
All games are played on a 15-minute time control and all players are recording their games on score sheets. Well done to all for doing this — it is so useful for going through games afterwards.
Nathaniel beat Peter to reach 2nd place, though Nicolas is still 2 points ahead with 2 weeks to go despite being away yesterday. Kit retains 1st place in the Intermediate group despite losing to Arini who found an excellent mate in 2. Arini now leads the Beginners group with 9 points — also a good win for Erin over Jack.
In the 2nd session, William had a good win over Ram who suffered his first defeat in 5 games. William is now in 2nd place chasing Nilay who won again — just half a point behind. All very close.
Thanks as always to our dedicated team of Graham, Steve and Tony who come along and support the club every week.
See you next Saturday!