TROWBRIDGE CHESS CLUB
HISTORY
Trowbridge Chess Club was originally
the Bradford-On-Avon Chess Club which met at Robert Race's house at Saint Margarets Place, Bradford-On-Avon. The Club played in the Somerset Leagues. In
1979 they joined the Wiltshire League as well.
Around
1980 the Club moved to the Swan Hotel and was run
by Andy Hurst.
In the Late Eighties the Club amalgamated with Hattersley
Heaton Chess Society and was known as Trowbridge/Bradford
Chess Club, meeting in the Factory Canteen, Bradley Road, Trowbridge.
Where
McDonalds is now.
In 1989 Tim Woodward took over the running of the Club and the Club became Trowbridge
Chess Club. In 1992 Hattersley
Heaton closed and the Club relocated to the Usher Club, Back Street, Trowbridge.
In
2001 Tim handed over the reins of running the Club to Andy Bosworth and Dave Allberry.
In 2003 after the closing of Usher Brewery the
Club moved to its current location - West Wiltshire Conservative Club Lovemead House, 25, Roundstone
St, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8DG.
With Andy Bosworth moving onto pastures
new in Lancashire the running of the Club has been taken over by Tony Ransom.
Contact
Tony
Ransom 01225 774538.
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Players
Our club members are regularly called upon by
Richard Haydon the Wiltshire County captain to play in
County matches.
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Venue
West Wilts Conservative Club,Lovemead House, 25, Roundstone St, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8DG Tel:
01225 752605.
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Clubnight
Clubnight is on Thursday starting from 7.30pm and all ages and expertise are welcome. The Conservative Club has a bar available which also sells food. Chips
being a particular favourite among members.
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Directions
Click here for
directions
Map
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Leagues
We currently play in 4 Leagues on a home and
away basis. The season being September-March:-
1)Charles
Marsh East.
2)Vice
President East - only players of 125 BCF and below are eligible.
3)Wiltshire
4-A-Side.
4)Wiltshire
Minor - only players of 125 BCF and below are eligible.
So that all the club membership can play
competitive chess thereby increase their BCF grading.
Captains
1)Charles
Marsh East, Vice President East, Wiltshire 4-A-Side and Wiltshire Minor – Tony
Ransom.
We run a club championship during the season and
play fun chess in the closed season so that players can keep their hand in.
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SUCCESSES
1989/1990
In 1990 Tim Woodward the doyen of Trowbridge
Chess Club in the 1980's/1990's won the Wiltshire Minor trophy for players
graded under 140.
1990/1991
Tim Woodward successfully defended his Wiltshire
Minor title in 1991. Unfortunately the trophy went missing a couple of years
after that.
2002/2003
In the 2002/2003 season we fielded two teams of
equal strength in the Charles Marsh East league with Trowbridge ‘B’ winning the
league for that season.
2003/2004
In
2003/2004 we were runners-up to Yeovil in the Somerset Cup.
2004/2005
For the 2004/2005 season we fielded teams in the
Charles Marsh East, Vice-President's East, Wiltshire Minor and Wiltshire
4-A-Side leagues. Both the Charles March East and Vice Presidents' East teams
were unbeaten with the Vice Presidents' East scoring 10 points out of 12 due to
draws with Bath - the away match result being achieved with only three players
instead of the normal four.
The Somerset Charles Marsh East chess league
consisted of Bath, Frome and Norton Radstock as well
as us with each team playing each other twice; home and away. The matches
consisted of 6 players aside with the strongest player on board one down to the
weakest on board six.
The league started for us
on the 8th October 2004 with a 4-2 win at home to Frome and ended
on the 9th March 2005 with a 5-1 win away to Bath. We could only field 5
players in their last match and so had to default on one
board. In between these two successes We won our four other matches 5-1, 4-2, 3½-2½ and
4-2. Giving us a total of 25½ points out of 35 with one game defaulted.
In the case of the Somerset
Vice-President's East chess league the line-up consisted
again of Bath, Frome and Norton Radstock as well as us with each team playing each other home and away. The matches consisted of 4
players aside with the strongest player on
board one down to the weakest player on
board four.
The league started well
for our three-man team on 27th October 2004 with a 2-2 draw away to Bath with us fielding 3 players
and so had to default on one board, and ended on 12th March 2005 with a 2½-1½ win at home to Norton Radstock. In between these two matches we were unbeaten by
winning three matches 3-1, 3½-½, 3½-½ and
drawing 2-2. Giving us a total of 16 points out of 23 with one game defaulted.
As far as can be remembered this is the first time that we have won both Somerset leagues. This is especially notable
considering we had a small squad of only 10 players. This prowess was further demonstrated i.e.quality rather than quantity in the Wiltshire leagues.
The Wiltshire Minor chess league consisted of
Nationwide, Swindon 'A', Swindon 'B', Westinghouse 'A' and Westinghouse 'B' as
well as us with each team playing each other home and away. The matches were 4
aside with the strongest player on board one down to the weakest on board four.
The league kicked off to a good start for us on
28th October 2004 with a 2½-1½ win at home to Swindon 'A' and ended on 5th May
2005 with a 3-0 win at home to Nationwide. Both Nationwide and us could only
field three players in this match and so had to default on one board. In
between these two successes we won three other matches 3-1, 3-1 and 3-1. Giving
us a total of 22 points out of 40 with two games defaulted.
We
finished runners-up to Swindon 'A'.
The Wiltshire 4-A-Side chess league consisted of Brownjack, Nationwide and Swindon as well as us with each team playing each other home and away. The matches were 4 aside with the strongest player on
board one down to the weakest on board four.
The league started well
for us on 18th November 2004 with a 3-1 win at home to Swindon and ended on 12th May 2005 with a 2-2 draw at home to Nationwide by our
three-man team defualting
on one board. In between these two successes we
drew two other matches 2-2, one against the reigning champions Brownjack away where boards 2, 3 and 4
were playing players graded 20-30 points above them. Giving us a total of
10 points out of 24 with two games defaulted.
We
finished third to Brownjack.
2005/2006
Due to our success last season several of our
players were above the threshold level of 100 for the Somerset Vice President
East league which meant we couldn't defend our title. For the season our squad
was still relatively small i.e.14 as compared to other clubs we were playing.
The Charles Marsh East league consisted of Bath, Frome, Norton Radstock as well as ourselves with each team playing each
other twice; home and away. The matches consisted of 6 players per side with
the strongest player on board 1 down to the weakest on board 6.
The Somerset Charles Marsh East chess league started well
for us with a 4-2 home win over Frome on 6th October 2005 and ended on 12th April 2006 with a 3.5-2.5 win in our
away match with Bath. We won 5-1, 5-1, drew
3-3 and lost 4-2 in our other matches giving us a total of
22.5 out of a 36 point total with no games defaulted and
the runners-up place. The individual players'
points from the top were Dave Weston 5 out of 5, Paul Hatvany 4 out of 4, Roy Ludlow 2.5 out of 4, Tim Woodward
2.5 out of 4, Andrew Cooper 2 out of 3, Derek Rothwell 2 out of 4, Ilya Shvartsman 1 out of 2, Ian Stables 1 out of 3,
Adrian Davis 1 out of 1, Alex Cooper 0.5 out of 2, Paul Girdlestone
0.5 out 1, Cameron Lange 0.5 out of 1 and Tony Ransom 0 out 1.
We started the Somerset Knock-Out Cup
campaign with a 4-4 away win on count back over Frome on 22nd November 2005 and ended up in the final against Yeovil the winners for the last year after Weston-Super-Mare defaulted
their semi-final against us. The result of the final was a 4.5-5.5
win for Yeovil. The individual players'
points from the top were Paul Girdlestone
2 out of 2, Ilya Shvartsman 2 out of 2, Tim
Woodward 1.5 out of 2, Roy Ludlow 1 out of 2, Alex Cooper 0.5 out 1, Andrew
Cooper 0.5 out 1, Dave Weston 0 out of 2, Adrian Davis 0 out of 1, Paul Hatvany 0 out 1, Tony Ransom 0 out of 1 and
Gareth Williams 0 out 1.
The Wiltshire 4-A-Side league started well for
us with a 2-2 draw with Brown Jack the reigning champions for the last 5 years
on 17th October 2005 and ended on 12th April 2006 with a 3-1 win in our home
match with Swindon and the "Wiltshire 4-A-Side League" title. We won
3-1, 4-0, 3-1 and drew 2-2 in other matches. Giving a total of 17 out of 24
points with no games defaulted. The individual players' points from the top were
Paul Girdlestone 5 out of 6, Dave Weston 3 out of 3,
Paul Hatvany 2.5 out of 3, Ilya
Shavrtsman 2 out of 2, Derek Rothwell
1 out of 3, Ian Stables 1 out of 2, Roy Ludlow 1 out of 1, Tony Ransom 1 out of
1, Andrew Cooper 0.5 out of 1, Gareth Williams 0 out 1 and Tim Woodward 0 out
1.
The Wiltshire Minor league started well for us
with a 2.5-1.5 home win over Swindon 'B' on 27th October 2005 and ended
on 6th April with a 3-1 win in our home match with Swindon 'A'. We won 2.5-1.5,
3.5-0.5, 3.5-0.5, 3-1, 3.5-0.5 and drew 2-2 in our other matches. Winning the
"Wiltshire Minor" league title in our penultimate match with
Westinghouse. Giving us a total of 23.5 points out of 32 with no games
defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Paul Hatvany 5 out of 6, Gareth Williams 5 out of 6, Derek Rothwell 4.5 out of 6, Dave Weston 3 out of 5, Roy Ludlow 3
out of 4, Tom Cooper 1.5 out 2, Alex Cooper 1 out of 1, Adrian Davis 0.5 out of
1 and Cameron Lange 0 out of 1.
As
far as can be remembered this is the first time that we have won both Wiltshire
leagues.
Wiltshire Sporting Heroes
In the Clubperson
category Tony was nominated by Roy Ludlow as captain of Trowbridge Chess Club
but it might be more accurate to say he IS Trowbridge Chess Club. He organises
the premises, arranges the fixtures, collects subscriptions and makes sure
everyone is where they should be. Tony is so unselfish and often leaves himself
out of the team so that other players can have a game. Tony was very pleased
with his placement in the Clubperson category of the
competition sponsored by Asda and the Wiltshire Times
in the top six.
Left to right Ilya Shvartsman, Gareth Williams, Andrew Cooper, Roy Ludlow,
Paul Girdlestone, Tony Ransom, Dave Weston and Paul Hatvany. (Missing Alex Cooper, Tom Cooper, Adrian Davis,
Cameron Lange, Derek Rothwell, Ian Stables, Tim
Woodward)
In the strong Mens
Club Team category Trowbridge Chess Club has enjoyed a successful season
winning the Wiltshire Minor League and the Wiltshire Four-A-Side League. The
club were also runners-up in the Somerset Knock-Out Cup and the Charles Marsh
East League. All this came despite the club having one of the smallest squads
in the league. They were up against the local cricket, football and rounders team with their bigger supporter base and finished
third behind the football and rounders team, but
ahead of the cricket team.
Frome Congress
Roy Ludlow in the Minor Section won the Cyril Chapman Memorial Trophy for the highest placed Somerset player and the Jean Mackereth Trophy for the highest placed ungraded Somerset player. Paul Girdlestone competed in the Open Section scoring
3½ out of 5. His loss being to the IM
Andrew Greet. Narrowly missed British Championship
qualification playing one of his
best combinative games in Round 1. He finished 3rd equal picking up
a cash prize.
2006/2007
Trowbridge Chess Club Are The Somerset And Wiltshire Minor Chess Champions
Trowbridge Chess Club had a successful season last year with a squad of 12 players when we won both the Wiltshire 4-A-Side and Minor East leagues
and finished runners up to Bath in the Somerset Charles Marsh East league and Yeovil in the Somerset Knock-Out Cup.
Due to the untimely death of Ian Stables and Tom Cooper going to
university, Andrew Cooper moving to London and Ilya Shvartsman moving to America our chances of retaining the Wiltshire 4-A-Side and improving on our
performances in the Somerset Charles Marsh East league and Knock-Out Cup i.e.winning them were severely dented. On the plus side the rules for the Somerset Vice-Presidents East
league had changed to an ECF capping of 400
points per match which meant we could enter a team thereby giving some of our lesser
graded players an introduction to chess league matches without too much pressure. For the season our squad was still
relatively small i.e.14 as compared to other clubs we are playing. The Charles Marsh East league consists of Bath, Frome and Radstock
as well as Trowbridge with each team playing each other twice; home and away. The matches consisted of 6 players aside with the strongest player on board 1 down
to the weakest on board 6.
The Charles Marsh East league started badly for us with a 5½-½ home loss against Frome on 5th October 2006 and ended on 28th February 2007 with a 3-3 draw in our away match with Bath. Trowbridge lost 3½-2½, won 6-0,
drew 3-3 and won 3½-2½ in their other matches giving us third place to Norton Radstock
runners-up place. Giving a total of 18½ out of 36 with no games defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Dave Weston 3½ out of 5,
Paul Hatvany 2 out of 4, Tony Ransom 2 out of 4, Tim Woodward 2
out of 5, Adrian Davis 1½ out of 2, Paul Girdlestone
1½ out of 2, Derek Rothwell 1½ out of 3, Roy Ludlow 1½ out of
5, Abdul Kabiri 1 out of 1, Gareth Williams 1 out of 1 and Alex Cooper
1 out of 4.
The start of Vice-President East league resulted in a 2-2 away
draw with Bath on 25th October 2006 and ended on 26th April 2007 with a 2-2 draw in our home match with Norton Radstock.
Trowbridge won 4-0, 2½-1½ drew 2-2 and lost 2½-1½ in their other matches giving us the Somerset Vice-President East
title. Giving a total of 14 out of 24 with no games defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Paul Hatvany
3 out of 3, Alex Cooper 2½ out of 3, Dave Weston 2 out of 2, Derek Rothwell 1½ out of 2, Tom Cooper 1 out of 1,
Tim Woodward 1 out of 1, Gareth Williams 1 out of 2, Roy Ludlow 1 out of 3, Cameron
Lange ½ out of 2, Tony Ransom ½ out of 4 and Adrian Davis 0 out of 1.
We started the Somerset Knock-Out Cup campaign with a 5-3 home win over Norton Radstock on 23rd November 2006 and ended up losing in the semi-final against Weston-Super-Mare 4½-3½ on Tuesady
20th February 2007. The individual players points from the top were Paul Girdlestone
1½ out of 2, Paul Hatvany 1½ out of 2, Tim Woodward 1
out of 2, Roy Ludlow 1 out of 1, Derek Rothwell 1 out of 1, Alex Cooper 1 out of 2,
Andrew Cooper 0 out of 1, Adrian Davis 1½ out of 2, Gareth Williams 0 out of 1 and Dave Weston
0 out of 2.
The defence of the Wiltshire 4-A-Side league started well
for us with a 3-1 away win with Nationwide on 12th October 2006 and
ended on 19th April 2007 with a 3-1 win in our home match with Brown
Jack 'B' and runners-up in the “Wiltshire 4-A-Side League” title. Trowbridge
won 3-1, 2½-1½, 4-0, lost 2½-1½, 3½-½ and drew 2-2 in their other matches.
Giving a total of 19½ out of 32 with no games defaulted. The individual players
points from the top were Paul Girdlestone 4½ out of
6, Tony Ransom 2 out of 2, Gareth Williams 2 out of 3, Derek Rothwell 2 out of 4, Andrew Cooper 1½ out of 2, Dave
Marshall 1½ out of 2, Paul Hatvany 1½ out of 4, Dave
Weston 1½ out of 6, Adrian Davis 1 out of 1, Roy Ludlow 1 out of 1 and Tim
Woodward 1 out of 1.
The Wiltshire Minor league started well for us with a 3-1 away win over Westinghouse on 17th October 2006 and ended on 6th April 2007 with a 3½-½ win in our home match with Swindon ‘B’. Trowbridge won 3-1, 3-1,
2½-1½, 3½-½, 3-1 and drew 2-2 in their other matches. Winning the “Wiltshire Minor League”
title in our penultimate match with Westinghouse. Giving a total of 23½ out of 32 with no games defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Derek Rothwell 6 out of 7, Paul Hatvany 6 out of 8, Dave Weston 4 out of 7, Gareth Williams 3 out of 4, Roy Ludlow 2½
out of 3, Alex Cooper 1 out of 2 and Adrian Davis 0 out of 1.
Torbay Congress
Roy Ludlow was very pleased with his results at Torbay on 24-26th November 2006. Entering the Intermediate Section
from a rather low grade of 88 he won three of his five matches against players
graded between 107 and 113. The three points gained him a £10 prize for a
good performance relative to his grade.
Blackpool
We played in different sections at Blackpool. Adrian Davis scored 3½
out of 5 (Graded Under 80 section) solid throughout. Tom Cooper 3 out of
5 (Graded 80-100 section) started in a blaze of glory and then went downhill! Gareth Williams 3½ out of 5
(Graded 80-100 section) lost first two games. First game in 60 moves, but made
a good recovery. Dave Marshall 2 out of 5 (Graded Under 120 section) started with a horror story - basically
beaten by move 8, but held on till move 23! included one game against Sarah Thomas from Brown Jack in
which he managed to clutch a draw from the hands of defeat. Andy
Bosworth 2 out of 5 (Graded Under
140 section) two draws and a win in the last game. Tim
Woodward 3½ out of 5 (Graded Under 140 section) solid
throughout. Good chess and fun was had by all.
Exmouth Congress
Tim Woodward was happy that he managed to
maintain his record of scoring a win in congresses with his results at Exmouth
on 7-9th March 2007. Entering the Under-140 Section with a grade of 134 he
scored 2½ points in his seven matches against players graded between 107 and
140.
Frome Congress
Our team of Cameron Lange, Roy Ludlow, Dave
Weston and Tim Woodward won the Team Event picking up
a cash prize and certificate. Cameron Lange was joint
1st with 4½ out of 5 points in the Minor Section and won
the Cyril Chapman Memorial Trophy for the highest placed Somerset player. In the Intermediate section
Dave Weston was joint 2nd with 4 out of 5 points and
Roy Ludlow with 2½ out of 5 points was the joint winner of the grading prize for
players graded below 100. In the Major section Tim
Woodward scored 3½ out of 5 points.
2007/2008
Trowbridge Chess Club Are
Runners-Up in the Somerset And Wiltshire Chess Leagues
Trowbridge Chess Club had a successful season last year with a squad of 12 players when we were runners-up to Brown Jack
‘A’ in the Wiltshire 4-A-Side and Swindon ‘A’ in the Wiltshire Minor leagues, and finished runners up to Frome in the Somerset Charles Marsh East league and Yeovil in the Somerset Vice-President East and
Somerset Knock-Out Cup.
Due to Andrew Cooper moving to Sicily our chances of our second team Trowbridge
South being able to mount a serious challenge in the Wiltshire 4-A-Side and improving on our
performances in the Somerset Charles Marsh East league and Knock-Out Cup i.e.winning them were severely dented. For the season our squad was still
relatively small i.e.14 as compared to other clubs we are playing. The Charles Marsh East league consists of Bath, Frome and Radstock
as well as Trowbridge with each team playing each other twice; home and away. The matches consisted of 6 players aside with the strongest player on board 1 down
to the weakest on board 6.
The Charles Marsh East league started well for us with a 3½-2½ away win against Frome on 4th October 2007 and ended on 27th February 2008 with a 3-3 draw in our away match with Bath placing us second in the Somerset Charles Marsh East league. Trowbridge lost 4½-1½,
won 3½-2½, lost 4½-1½ and won 5-1 in their other matches giving us second place to Frome.
Giving a total of 18 out of 36 with one game defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Dave Marshall 3½ out of 4, Roy Ludlow 3½ out of 5, Paul Girdlestone 3 out of 3, Tim Woodward 2½ out of 5, Adrian
Davis 1½ out of 3, Paul Hatvany 1 out of 2, Derek Rothwell 1 out of
3, Dave Weston 1 out of 4, Alex Cooper ½ out of 2, Anthony Ransom
½ out of 2 and Nigel Crucifix 0 out of 2.
The start of our defence of the Vice-President East league
resulted in a 3-1 home win with Bath on 25th October 2007 and ended on 16th April 2008 with a 2-2 draw in our away match with Yeovil. Trowbridge won 3½-½, 2½-1½
drew 2-2, and lost 3-1, 3-1 and 3-1 in their other matches giving us the runners-up spot in the Somerset Vice-President East
league. Giving a total of 16 out of 32 with one game defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Dave Weston 3½ out of 4, Paul Hatvany
3 out of 3, Alex Cooper 2 out of 2, Derek Rothwell 2 out of
2, Nigel Crucifix 2 out of 7, Tom Cooper 1 out of 1, Roy Ludlow 1 out of 3, Anthony Ransom
1 out of 4, Dave Marshall ½ out of 3 and Adrian Davis 0 out of 2.
We started the Somerset Knock-Out Cup campaign with a 5-3
away win over Norton Radstock on 22nd
November 2007 and ended up losing in the final at home against Yeovil 4½-3½ on
Thursday 20th March 2008. The individual players points from the top
were Tim Woodward 1½ out of 3, Paul Hatvany 1½ out of 3, Dave Weston 2½ out of 3, Mark Leonard
2 out of 2, Adrian Davis 1½ out of 2, Paul Girdlestone
1½ out of 2, Alex Cooper 1 out of 1, Roy Ludlow 1 out of 2, Andy Cooper ½ out
of 1, Dave Marshall ½ out of 2, Gareth Williams ½ out of 2 and Derek Rothwell 0 out of 1.
With people’s appetite for playing more chess we entered two
teams of equal strength called Trowbridge North and Trowbridge South in the
Wiltshire 4-A-Side league. The season started well for Trowbridge North with a
2½-1½ “home” win over Trowbridge South on 18th October 2007 and
ended on 7th April 2007 with a 2-2 draw in our away match with Brown
Jack 'B' and runners-up in the “Wiltshire 4-A-Side League” title. Trowbridge
North won 3-1, 3-1, 2½-1½, 3½-½, lost 2½-1½, 4-0, 2½-1½ and drew 2-2 in their
other matches. Giving a total of 21½ out of 40 with two games defaulted. The
individual players points from the top were Paul Girdlestone
5 out of 7, Derek Rothwell 3 out of 7, Gareth
Williams 2 out of 2, Roy Ludlow 2 out of 3, Mark Leonard 2 out of 5, Nigel
Crucifix 1½ out of 2, Alex Cooper 1½ out of 3, Adrian Davis 1 out of 1, Wes Stanicki 1 out of 1, Dave Marshall 1 out of 2, Tim Woodward
1 out of 2, Andy Cooper ½ out of 1 and Anthony Ransom 0 out of
2.
Trowbridge South started with a 1½-2½ “away” loss against
Trowbridge North on 18th October 2008 and ended on 10th April 2008 with a 2-2 home draw
against Brownjack ‘B’ thereby ending up 4th
in the league. Trowbridge
South won 3-1, 2½-1½, 2½-1½, 3-1, lost
3-1, 2½-1½, 4-0 and drew 2-2 in their other matches. Giving a total of 19 out
of 40 with one game defaulted. The individual scores were Dave Weston 4 out of 7, Mark Leonard 3 out of 4, Roy
Ludlow 3 out of 5, Alex Cooper 2 out of 2, Gareth Williams 2 out of 5, Paul Hatvany 2 out of 9, Derek Rothwell
1 out of 1, Dave
Marshall 1 out of 3, Andy Cooper ½ out of 1,
Adrian Davis ½ out of 1, Nigel Crucifix 0 out of 1 and Tim Woodward 0 out of 1
The Wiltshire Minor league started well for us with a 3½-½ home win over Westinghouse on 11th October 2007 and ended on 3rd
April 2008
with a 2-2 draw in our away match with Swindon ‘A’ thereby giving us the runners-up position. Trowbridge
won 2½-1½, 3-1, lost 2½-1½
and drew 2-2, 2-2, 2-2 in their other matches. Giving us the runners-up
position in the “Wiltshire Minor League”
league. Giving a
total of 18½ out of 32 with one game defaulted. The individual players points from the top were Paul Hatvany 4 out of 6, Roy
Ludlow 3 out of 4, Dave Weston 2½ out of 3, Dave Marshall 2 out
of 3, Derek Rothwell 2 out of
3, Mark Leonard 2 out of 4, Nigel Crucifix 1 out of 3, Alex Cooper 1 out of 1,
Adrian Davis ½ out of 1, Gareth Williams ½ out of 2 and Anthony Ransom
0 out of 1.
Torbay Congress
As last year Roy Ludlow entered the Intermediate Section
of the Congress, which is held in the Belgrave
Hotel on the sea front. It is an excellent venue. This year Roy was able to book a room
in the hotel, which was convenient as well
as comfortable!
Unfortunately in terms of the chess, Roy got off to a disastrous
start this year, losing his first three matches. The opening match, on Friday 23rd
November, could have gone either way, so Roy has no complaints. The second game, however, was thoroughly disappointing, as he managed to lose after
being, at one time, a bishop and two pawns up -
quite an achievement! The third game was somewhat humiliating as he was totally overrun by
an 18-year old.
Thereafter matters
improved. Well - they could hardly have got worse! I won a
long and interesting match on the Sunday morning and then finished off with a quick victory (14
moves) in the afternoon. This was pleasant indeed,
as Roy was able to stroll around, relaxed and with a cup of tea in his hand, watching the other matches.
So - two points out of five, one fewer than last year and rather disappointing.
However, Roy would certainly have settled for that on Saturday night!
One final point - Christmas comes early in the hotels of Torquay: coach parties come from all
over Britain for "Tinsel and Turkey" weekends. These start in October,
apart from one particular hotel which begins in August. No, he's deadly serious. At
breakfast on Saturday they were all greeted by
Father Christmas who gave them gifts. In Roy's case this turned out to be a
pair of socks several sizes too large. But please Roy on Sunday morning. He had lost all three games; Roy had wined and dined
splendidly the previous evening; he had slept fitfully; As, feeling the worse for wear, he sat down gingerly with his bowl of cornflakes, what was he greeted with on the PA system but a loud
and particularly unpleasant version of "Jingle Bells"!
That was something he could have done without,
but, all in all, he had a great weekend and met up with a good number of delightful
chess acquaintances.
Blackpool
We played in different sections at Blackpool. Tom Cooper scored 4
out of 5 (Minor section) maintaining the pace throughout. Adrian Davis scored
3 out of 5 (Minor section) an solid performance throughout the weekend. Dave Marshall 2
out of 5 (Intermediate section). Gareth
Williams 3½ out of 5 (Minor section). Good chess and fun was had by all.
TOP
Competitions
Tony
Ransom is also the Tournament Secretary for the Wiltshire County Chess
Association and last year organised the Wiltshire Closed Chess Championship,
Wiltshire 5 Minute Championship and the Wiltshire Rapidplay
Team Tournament which will be run again this year:-
1) 2007/2008 Wiltshire Closed Chess Championship played at the Brown Jack Pub, Priors
Hill, Wroughton over the season. The championship’s format:
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overall tournament split into Major (125 and above) and Minor (under
125) sections: the winner of the Major will be the 2007/8 Wiltshire Champion, the winner of the Minor highest finishing U-125 will be the 2007/8 Wiltshire Minor Champion. Trophies will be awarded to the winners.
Games will be played:
round 1: 7.30pm Monday 12th
November 2007.
round 2: 7.30pm Monday 19th
November 2007.
round 3: 7.30pm Monday 3rd December
2007.
round 4: 7.30pm Monday 7th January
2008.
round 5: 7.30pm Monday 11th
February 2008.
round 5: 7.30pm Monday 10th March
2008.
round 5: 7.30pm Tuesday 14th February 2008.
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- Everyone
must play in all 5 rounds.
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- The
rate of play will 35 moves in 1 ¼ hours + 15 minutes quickplay
finish.
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- Entry
fee is £12 adults / £6 juniors.
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- All
entry fees are returned as prizes.
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2) 2008 Wiltshire 5 Minute Championship with free food at the Brown Jack Pub, Priors
Hill, Wroughton on Monday 8th September 2008. There will be 1 overall
tournament with prizes determined by the entry level. All entry
fees will be returned as prize money. The entry fee is £3 adults
/ £1.50 juniors.
3) 2008 Wiltshire Rapidplay
Team Tournament at Nationwide’s Head Office in Pipers Way, Swindon on Sunday 30th November 2008. The format of the tournament is as
follows:
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- Teams
of 3 players (you may choose to have a squad of more players and swap
people in and out of different rounds).
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- 30
minutes per player per game.
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- The
entry fee is £12 per team which is used as prize money, and there is
also a trophy for the winning team.
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TOP