Keverel Chess

Archive for February 25th, 2012

After having been held at West Buckland Village Hall for several years,  this match had to be arranged for a new venue nearby, Norton Fitzwarren Village Hall. Several players experienced problems finding it, as the postcode, as given on their own website, when typed into google maps, pinpoints a spot over a mile away. 

The new venue

Once play was under way, it wasn’t long before the expected pattern of results appeared – Somerset 1st team set for a big win and the 2nd team for an equally  big loss. And so it proved, with their 1st team’s 10.5 – 5.5 win mirrored by a 6-10 loss in the lower half.

The top games get under way - (Nearest: Buckley - Mackle)

Bd. 14: Bill ingham vs Gerry Jepps.

Bd. 22: Dave Wood vs Mike Stinton-Brownbridge.

2nd team: nearest: P. Dobber vs A. Champion.

Bd. 32: Mark Baker vs John Fraser.

Meanwhile, in another village hall, near Honiton, Cornwall met their furthest opponents, Hampshire.

Now you’d think that after earlier results this season in which Devon beat Cornwall and Hampshire beat Devon, by substantial margins in each case, it would be only logical to suppose that Hampshire should beat Cornwall with some ease. But where Cornwall is concerned, logic is rarely the defining factor. In this case, for example, although the Cornish were outgraded on the majority of boards, they won 3.5 – 2.5 on both the top and bottom 6 boards, to register a 7-5 win. Where’s the logic in that?

Cornwall were without Ian George, but newly-retired County President, Robin Kneebone, seems to have more time to play, and the rise and rise  of  11 year-old Theo Slade continued apace. As already reported, Theo became West of England U-12 Champion at Swindon the previous weekend, and here he was pitched into the senior county team at Bd. 7 and won in 28 moves against a higher graded opponent.

The West of England Junior Open Congress was held last weekend at St. Joseph’s College, Swindon. This event has grown in importance in recent years under the guidance of WECU Junior Secretary Bev Schofield and her band of helpers, and this year’s total entry was 356, making it by far the biggest weekend tournament in the westcountry.

As it is an Open event there were entries from all over the country, all of whom

were eligible to win their age sections, but only those with genuine westcountry connections (birth, residence or schooling in the area) were eligible for the title of WECU Champion.

The prizelist was long and comprehensive, and this is just a summary of the main winners – (grades & clubs given).

Major Section: 1^st= Marcus Harvey (209–Bicester) & Peter Bachelor (184-Willesdon) both 4/5 pts. 3^rd= Rahda Jain (179-Cheltenham Ladies Coll.) & Kumar Dixit (164-Camberley) both 3½. WECU U-18 Championship Awarded to Jain and Dixit. The British Championship Qualifying Place, a new feature of this event, went to Bachelor.

U-14 Section: 1^st= Ananthanarayan Balaji (169–Harrow); Adam Taylor (168-Colchester); Akito Oyama (156-Cambridge) & Roman Mitra (165-Herts) all 4/6 pts. WECU U-14 Champion: Jamie MacDonald (128-Wilts).

U-12 Section: 1^st Vincent Lee (133-Herts). 2^nd= Matthew Fergusson (142-Birmingham); Joshua Higgs (137-Sussex); Richard Meikle-Briggs (132-Richmond) & Ryan Wong (131-Maidenhead) all 5/6. WECU U-l2 Champions: Theo Slade (147-Cornwall) & Alex Vanlint (137-Basingstoke). Girls Champion: Eleanor Hapeshi (92-Gloucester).

U-10 Section: 1^st= Koby Kalavannan (137-Surbiton) & Francesco Bernadini (u/g-Kent). 3^rd= Charlie McLaren  (114-Wilts); Anthony Zang (145-Berks) & Anantha Anilkumar (119-Coulsdon). WECU Champion; McLaren. Girl: Emily Vaughan (u/g Wilts).

U-9 Section: 1^st Will Cleeves (86-Thamesdown). 2^nd= Oliver Howell (106-Coulsdon) & Ben Perryman (u/g-Hants). WECU Champion: Cleeves.

Both Somerset and Devon have assembled strong teams for their match at Norton Fitzwarren, near Taunton, this afternoon. On paper, Somerset have the edge in the 1^st team match (16 boards), while Devon look favourites in the 2^nd team.

At the recent very strong Bunratty Masters weekend tournament 1^st= were Mickey Adams (Taunton), Nigel Short and Gawain Jones (all 5/6 pts) with Keith Arkell (Paignton) and Con Ionescu just half a point behind.

Last week’s position White could have won if he had played 1.Qc3! and 1…Qe7 is not enough to save things after 2.Qxc8.

Here is another new 2-mover from Dave Howard of West Harptree. White to move.

1st publication: White to mate in 2.