Oh dear, who wants to go on a horrible blustery wet Saturday morning to play chess? 22 keen and enthusiastic children and juniors and our great team of Steve, Graham, Tony and Peter. Great effort all.
An anecdote – Graham was on a walking trip in Northumberland and he arrived home late on Friday night despite all the delayed and obstructions of the railways, and took the 7.45 am bus from Wimborne to the Town Centre to help with all on this Saturday morning. Dedication!
We are continuing with lessons during half term so open on next Saturday.
1st Session
14 players came along for the 1st session including Lawrence for the 1st time. He solved all the intermediate puzzles set out and he shows promise – hope he continues to come along.
Tony’s Coaching – Advanced Visualisation
We did the usual visualise puzzles including themes such as knight forks and skewers. In addition we familiarised ourselves with Legal’s Mate and added a new tactic to our repertoire called the Swing Door.
Tony had a good session with the 2nd group of advanced visualised puzzles and advises the group are doing well and progressing by solving more difficult ones now. Great stuff and keep it going – Harvey, Ram and Hektor.
Legal’s Mate – Can You Find White’s Move?
This is the famous position from the game Légal vs Saint Brie (1750). Black has just pinned White’s knight with the bishop on g4. It looks like White’s queen is under attack – but White has a brilliant sacrifice! Can you spot it?
White to move – the answer is 5.Nxe5! and if Bxd1?? then 6.Bxf7+ Ke7 7.Nd5# checkmate!
Graham’s Coaching – Bishops vs Knights
Graham took Nathaniel and Neil through the pros and cons of Bishops vs Knights in specific endgame scenarios. In closed positions, knights often have advantages that may allow a conversion to win. In open positions, bishops can often win games. He taught some useful rules like placing your pawns on opposite colours to your opponent’s bishop.
Eric’s Coaching – Mating Puzzles
Eric set out mating puzzles in 2 and 3 moves with the intermediate group of Kit, Nirvan, Omer, Markas, and newcomer Lawrence. All the positions are from actual games and they show you how to finish – often with a sacrifice.
Steve’s Coaching – Beginners
Steve had Preston and Manvik 2 through the basics and he thinks they are progressing and are ready to play games. Well done!
2nd Session
Our 2nd session group of 8 players where Peter took the group through tactics of strong moves through a series game. He reviewed all moves and showed strongest moves, one by one. The group of Milan, Atlas, Manvik and Leo were fully engaged and I am sure they will bring some of the teaching into their own games.
Graham reviewed the concept of candidate moves and how to link such moves to the plan for the next 2-3 moves. Graham went on to have a game with William after, who did very well and gave Graham a hard game.
Eric – without a queen – had a game with Emmanuel and showed him how to trade pieces to eliminate pieces to win. It is so important to bring all your pieces into play to make them effective and control the board.
Steve again had a smaller group of Adelyn and Jenson and it’s so pleasing to see these beginners advancing weekly.
Ladder Board Games
Results
1st Session: Harvey 0 Ram 1, Nathaniel 1 Neil 0, Nirvan 1 Markas 0, Hektor 1 Lawrence 0, Kit 1 Omer 0, Preston 1 Manvik (2) 0.
2nd Session: Leo 0 Milan 1, William ½ Graham ½, Atlas 1 Manvik (1) 0, Emmanuel ½ Coach ½, Jenson 1 Adelyn 0.
Ladder Board – 1st Session (Round 6)
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathaniel | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Ram | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Neil | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Harvey | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Kit | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Omer | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Hektor | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6* |
| Nirvan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Sarah | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Jake | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Rafan | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Alexander | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Markas | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Lucas | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Preston | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Arini | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Lawrence | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Ladder Board – 2nd Session (Round 6)
| Name | P | W | D | L | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Manvik 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| William | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Leo | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Emmanuel | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Erin | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Atlas | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Koko | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Ritha | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Kiara | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Manvik 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Markas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jenson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Adelyn | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Highlights
There were some really good games played today. Ram took control of the centre of the board to create a pawn fork, opened up his opponent’s king side and forced an unstoppable mate. Excellent demonstration of good play.
Nathaniel’s win over Neil was notable – he now tops the ladder board with 10 points. Good to see Nirvan, Hektor and Kit with their wins too, hard luck to those that came 2nd!
In the 2nd session another good win by Milan and pleasing to see Atlas win his game. William is by far the strongest in this group and we are trying to arrange a coach to play him weekly – well done William for continuing with his chess.
Thanks to our dedicated coaches for coming along and I look forward to seeing you all next Saturday.