Colchester D round-up

Colchester D finished in 2nd place (out of 11) in a closely-contested NECL Division 3, with six wins, three draws and one defeat in the league. Billericay B finished in first, one point ahead of the D team - with Clacton C and Clacton B close behind. The club introduced a D team to try to ensure that all who wanted a game got a game and this has been the main success of the team this year; with 12 people playing in at least one match (including 7 different people playing on board 4). Dom Lee, Emil Tihov, Craig Bradshaw, Asci Catabay and, 7-year old, Mae Catabay all made their competitive debuts for the club.

The player statistics (by board) are:

Board 1 (Total 6.5/10)
Brian Remmer	2.5/4
Pete Smith	2/2
Emil Tihov	1.5/2
Clive Bellinger	0.5/1
Mark Johnson	0/1

Board 2 (Total 6.5/10)
Mark Johnson	2/2
Pete Smith	1.5/2
John Duff-Cole	1.5/2
Dom Lee	1/1
Brian Remmer	0.5/1
Phil Daley	0/2

Board 3 (Total 7/10)
John Duff-Cole	3/4
Dom Lee	2/2
Brian Remmer	1/1
Pete Smith	1/2
Craig Bradshaw	0/1

Board 4 (Total 7/10)
Craig Bradshaw	2.5/4
Mark Johnson	1/1
John Duff-Cole	1/1
Dom Lee	1/1
Luke Sheppey	1/1
Asci Catabay	0.5/1
Mae Catabay	0/1

HOCCC: 1904 correspondence match

In the 1903-04 season two correspondence games were played between the chess clubs of Colchester and Tunbridge Wells. According to a newspaper article about the match "In game one Colchester, playing Black, soon turned the attack into a defence, and at one time looked like winning, but White found the right replies, and a draw resulted."

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "1904.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tunbridge Wells"] [Black "Colchester"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [Annotator "Barnes, Nathan"] [PlyCount "46"] {C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 {The Giuoco Piano is an opening that has started to come back into fashion in recent years with quite a few of the top players using it.} (5. d3 {is the main line but 5.d4 is also a very common move.}) 5... exd4 6. e5 Ne4 (6... d5 {is the main move in this position, it has been played by Caruana recently against Gawain Jones.}) 7. Qe2 d5 {The only move that does not lead to material loss, the knight on e4 has nowhere to go.} 8. exd6 Bf5 (8... O-O {is also possible as the knight cannot be taken} 9. Qxe4 $4 Re8 10. Qe2 Rxe2+ 11. Bxe2 $19) 9. Ng5 $2 {Trying to win the knight but White would be better off taking on d4 and then developing on the queenside.} O-O $1 $17 {The only move to prevent material loss, the knight is safe due to the potential skewer of queen and king on the e-file.} 10. dxc7 Qxc7 11. O-O Rae8 12. Qf3 Bg6 13. Bf4 Ne5 {White is struggling - development is still not complete, the bishop on c4 is loose and vulnerable to potential discovered attacks from Black's queen and Black's pieces are much better coordinated.} 14. Bxe5 Rxe5 15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16. Qg4 Qe7 17. Qh3 (17. -- Rg5 $1 ( 17... Bxg2 {is also easily winning}) 18. Qh3 Rxg2+ 19. Qxg2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Qe4+ {and White will have to give up a lot of material to prevent mate.}) 17... b5 ( 17... Bxg2 $2 {doesn't work at the moment} 18. Kxg2 Rg5+ 19. Kh1 $11) 18. Bd3 { [%cal Rd3h7,Rh3h7]} (18. Bxb5 $4 Bxg2 $1 {[%csl Rf1,Rh3][%cal Re5g5]} 19. Kxg2 Qb7+ 20. f3 Qxb5 $19 21. b3 {while material is equal (temporarily), White's king is too exposed and the pieces not developed so won't be able to hold on for long.}) 18... g6 $6 {Doesn't achieve much. The idea is to unpin the bishop on e4 so that the tactics on g2 could work.} 19. Bxe4 {only move that keeps White in the game} ({for example} 19. Nd2 $2 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Rh5 21. Qf3 Qg5+ 22. Qg3 Qxd2) 19... Rxe4 20. cxd4 Bxd4 21. Nc3 Bxc3 $6 $15 (21... Re5 $142 $17) 22. Qxc3 Re8 23. a3 a6 {Draw agreed} 1/2-1/2

Tony Locke Rapidplay

The date for this year's Tony Locke Rapidplay will be Wednesday 30th May. Format will be a 5-round Swiss (possibly with alternative pairing system for first two rounds, depending on numbers). 15 minutes per player per game.

Duck chess competition

Nine players took part in the Xmas Duck Chess Competition, Matt Stemp won with a score of 4/4.

Position	Name	1	2	3	4	Total
1	Matt Stemp	+9	+5	+3	+2	4
2	Nathan Barnes	+8	+6	+7	-1	3
3	Michael Catabay	+4	bye	-1	+5	3
4	Asci Catabay	-3	+8	+6	+7	3
5	Clive Bellinger	+7	-1	bye	-3	2
6	John Duff-Cole	bye	-2	-4	+8	2
7	Brian Remmer	-5	+9	-2	-4	1
8	Rezin Catabay	-2	-4	+9	-6	1
9	Mae Catabay	-1	-7	-8	bye	1

Here is the finish from Asci - John, the duck means Black has no way of saving his king.

Photos from the event:

Xmas Competition

The Colchester Chess Club Xmas Competition this year will be on Wednesday 20th December. It will be a duck chess competition - all welcome. To read more about this chess variant go the "official" website.

The evening will start with Nathan and Matt explaining the rules and giving people a chance to practice. The main event will then be (depending on numbers) either an all-play-all or Swiss completion.

Before then there are two matches - one for the A team and one for the B team. After the holiday period the A and B teams will be playing in the NECL knockout quarter-finals with the A team looking to defend the trophy they won last year.

Colchester Junior Chess Club

A new junior chess club has been set up in Colchester.

WHEN

Commences on the 21st September 2017 and then every Thursday (school term dates)
4:30pm – 6:00pm

CONTACT

• Colchesterjuniorchessclub1@gmail.com
• 07838085656

COACH

Michael Catabay (DBS checked)

COST

£3.00 per week per child

WHERE

Hythe Community Centre
( 1st Floor )
1 Venture Drive
Colchester
C01 2FG

Mate in two

The puzzle below was written in 1920 by Lionel Penrose of Colchester Chess Club. It is probably his best known puzzle and took 1st place in The Observer's puzzle competition. White to play and mate in two. Solution given in the comments section.