Club Championship Final

After numerous replays in the semi-finals, Brian Remmer and Phil Daley contested the final of the 2014/15 season club championship. Phil, playing Black, won the match and becomes club champion; Brian wins the Club Shield for best performance by a player graded under 120. The game is shown below, with brief annotations. The Club Honours page has been updated to include the results of this year's competitions.

[Event "Colchester Club Championship"] [Site "Colchester"] [Date "2015.07.22"] [White "Remmer, Brian"] [Black "Daley, Phil"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [Annotator "Barnes, Nathan"] [PlyCount "40"] [SourceDate "2015.07.25"] {A00: Irregular Openings} 1. g4 e5 2. Bg2 Ne7 {A rare, but not bad, line to play against The Grob.} 3. c4 Ng6 4. Be4 Bc5 5. e3 O-O 6. Qc2 d6 7. h3 { Protecting g4} Nd7 8. Nf3 $6 {The wrong square for the knight as it gets in the way of the bishop on e4.} (8. Ne2 Nf6 9. Bxg6 hxg6 $15) 8... Nf6 9. Nc3 Nxe4 $17 10. Nxe4 Bb6 11. b3 $2 (11. Ng3 $5 $17) 11... f5 $19 12. c5 $2 (12. gxf5 $142 Bxf5 13. Rg1 $19) 12... fxe4 13. Qc4+ (13. cxb6 Qf6 14. Ng5 Qxg5 15. bxc7 $19) 13... d5 14. Qc3 exf3 (14... Rxf3 $142 {is even better} 15. cxb6 axb6 16. d3 $19) 15. cxb6 axb6 16. Bb2 Qe7 17. a4 d4 18. Qc2 c5 19. O-O (19. Kf1 $19 {there is nothing better in the position}) 19... Qh4 20. Kh2 (20. Qc4+ {just delays the inevitable} Kh8 21. Rfe1 Qxh3 22. Qf1 Qxg4+ 23. Kh2 Rf5 24. Qh3 Rh5 25. Qxh5 Qg2#) 20... Bxg4 {White resigned} (20... Bxg4 21. Qc4+ Rf7 22. Qxf7+ Kxf7 23. Kg1 Qxh3 24. exd4 Qg2#) 0-1

New ECF grades

The July 2015 ECF Grading List has been published. The standard play grades for active Colchester players are:

Ref	Name	Age	Standard	Previous
256466L	Gooding, Ian		190B	183C
186371L	Stemp, Matt		174E
295981B	Ruano Marco, Javier		173F
297026A	Orava, Aleksandr		165E	148F
140673F	Barnes, Nathan		158B	152B
299554C	Kjenner, Svein		147E
120924D	Wagstaff, Michael		147C	148D
250046C	Bellinger, Clive		130D	138D
155695C	Daley, Phil		120D	123C
150405J	Harris, Martin		120A	121A
213710A	Smith, Peter		119C	119D
268163J	Denney, Simon		118B	114D
117812L	Remmer, Brian		109D	109D
298130A	Jaufarally, Mohammud		100A	99A
293018D	Johnson, Mark		100B	71D
297586F	Jaufarally, Nadia	11	98A	97A
283272A	Harris, Peter	17	91D	76D
227455D	Duff-Cole, John		89C	87C
297619F	Jaufarally, Shazia	14	80A	77D
256466L	Goodman, Ed		74B	73C
297620B	Jaufarally, Zahra	9	72A	55D

There are also a number of other Colchester players who have played some standard play graded games in the last half-season (but not enough to have a grade yet).

 

A few players have increased their grades - with Mark Johnson (+29), Zahra Jaufarally (+17), Alex Orava (+17), Peter Harris (+15), Ian Gooding (+7) and Nathan Barnes (+6) having the most significant increases.

 

The following players have a standard play grade for the first time (or reappear on the list) - Matt Stemp, Javier Ruano Marco and Svein Kjenner.

 

The rapidplay grades for active Colchester players are:

Ref	Name	Age	Rapidplay	Previous
140673F	Barnes, Nathan		160F	153F
299554C	Kjenner, Svein		151F
250046C	Bellinger, Clive		136F
268163J	Denney, Simon		119D
297586F	Jaufarally, Nadia	11	114A	100A
293018D	Johnson, Mark		107D	103D
298130A	Jaufarally, Mohammud		101A	97A
150405J	Harris, Martin		94E	96E
297619F	Jaufarally, Shazia	14	82A	74A
256466L	Goodman, Ed		78F
297620B	Jaufarally, Zahra	9	72A	58A
301407B	Parker, Leon	16	46F
283272A	Harris, Peter	17	39F

There are also a number of other Colchester players who have played some rapidplay graded games in the last half-season (but not enough to have a grade yet).

 

A few players have increased their grades - with Zahra Jaufarally (+14), Nadia Jaufarally (+14), Shazia Jaufarally (+8) and Nathan Barnes (+7), having the most significant increases.

 

The following players have a rapidplay grade for the first time (or reappear on the list) - Svein Kjenner, Clive Bellinger, Simon Denney, Ed Goodman, Leon Parker and Peter Harris.

Issues raised at the AGM

Post from Clive

Below is a brief summary of salient some of the issues that were raised at the AGM

Treasurer’s Report

Phil Daley presented the financial reports for the year. The accounts reflected a surplus of £8.

The fee levels were discussed for the forthcoming year they would be:

• Full members (gainful employment)£30
• Students,Senior Citizens & Unemployed £20
• Family membership £30
• Juniors £10
• Casual £2 per night

All members are responsible for their own ECF membership

PD requested the club recognise Dave Chatfield as Assistant Treasurer, this was seconded by Nathan Barnes, all in favour.

NECL

The number of teams to enter in NECL league next year are to remain at 4. The number of teams to enter in NECL knockout next year was agreed at 3.

NECL Player of the Year

This has been won by a Colchester player for the 2nd year in a row (Eldar Lachinov last year) – this year Alex Orava is player of the year with 7.5/8 (mostly on top board for the B team). A small trophy to be presented to Alex. Of the top 6 in the player of the year listings, 5 are Colchester players

Appointing more match captains

Matt Stemp and Michael Wagstaff offered their services as match captains.

Election of Officers

Roger Sharman stated there were no new applicants for any committee position, and that the existing Officers were prepared to stand again. The following Officers were therefore elected un-opposed:

• Chairman: Roger Sharman
• General Secretary: Clive Bellinger
• Treasurer: Phil Daley
• Match Secretary: John Duff-Cole
• Tournament Secretary: Nathan Barnes

Match Nights

Setting-up for match nights.  There have been occasions when NB has been the only person setting-up boards and tables - if he arrived early then he has no problems with this but he does have a bit of an issue with not being helped when other people are there.  Non-drivers who play in matches should be responsible to arrive at 19:00 to set up for the match.

Organised Coaching sessions

It was discussed that it may be possible to arrange an organised coaching sessions from a strong player. It was agreed that Clive, Nathan, and Matthew would look into the possibility.

Player of the Year Award

It was agreed the club would present a Player of the Year award. Nominations were to go to the Secretary prior to next year’s AGM, the Committee would then decide on the winner.

Club championship quarter-finals

The club championship quarter-finals have been completed, while there have been numerous upsets prior to this round this time the games were all won by the higher-graded player.

 

QUARTER-FINAL
Nathan Barnes	1 v 0	Simon Denney
Phil Daley	1 v 0	John Duff-Cole
Ed Goodman	0 v 1	Martin Harris
Mark Johnson	0 v 1	Brian Remmer

 

These results mean that Brian Remmer will win the Club Shield for best result by an U120 graded player (unless he wins the Club Championship which will mean a 4-way play-off between Simon, John, Ed and Mark will be needed). The draw for the semi-finals is:

 

SEMI-FINAL
Nathan Barnes	v	Phil Daley
Martin Harris	v	Brian Remmer

DITO 2

The previous post in this occasional series was an example of forgetting opening preparation, today is an example of playing your normal line without paying sufficient attention to the move order being used by your opponent and is taken from the same tournament.

When playing the first game in your first tournament for nearly two decades it always helps if your opponent has a DITO...

Lines where Black plays an early ...d5 in the Symmetrical English are quite common as instead of trying to maintain symmetry Black tries to grab the initiative. 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 leads to a fairly common position:

There are numerous possibilities after this e.g. 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nc7 is the Rubinstein System, a complex line often seen in grandmaster play.

Today's DITO shows an example of ...d5 being played too early in a Symmetrical English, taken from Barnes, N (ECF:146) - Burrows, J (ECF:164)(2014).

2.g3 is the 4th most common move in response to 1...c5; Nc3, Nf3 and d4 are the more frequently seen alternatives. The game continued in a normal manner 2...Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3

However, 4...d5? just throws a pawn away. The difference from the line shown at the top of the post is that White has played Bg2 instead of Nf3 and so d5 is attacked three times and only protected twice. Black has not noticed the move order difference and has lost a pawn. It is going to get worse though...

Black still hasn't noticed that the knight is not on f3 and played 5...Nxd5??

White is a piece up after just six moves and the rest (should be) simple.

Colchester D: season round-up

Colchester D finished the season in 5th place in Division 3. They won 5 matches, drew 1 and lost 3 (despite being out-graded in 8 of their 9 matches).

 

The player statistics (by board) are:

 

Board 1 (Total 1.5/9)
Pete Smith	0.5/4
Simon Denney	1/3
Mo Jaufarally	0/1
Ed Goodman	0/1

 

Board 2 (Total 4.5/9)
Simon Denney	1/1
Brian Remmer	0/1
Mo Jaufarally	2/2
John Duff-Cole	0.5/2
Ed Goodman	1/3

 

Board 3 (Total 6.5/9)
John Duff-Cole	1/1
Ed Goodman	3/4
Mark Johnson	2.5/4

 

Board 4 (Total 5/9)
Mo Jaufarally	1/1
Denzel Gonzales	0.5/2
Shazia Jaufarally	1/3
Mark Johnson	2.5/3

Colchester C: season round-up

Colchester C finished the season with a 3-1 win against Billericay B and a 3.5-0.5 loss against Brentwood C. The team were in with a a chance of winning the league up to the last match but, in a very close division ended up finishing 4th - if the first match of the season (against Colchester D) had gone as expected then they probably would have won the division.

Date: Apr-2015
NECL Division 3
Brd	Col	BILLERICAY B	Result		COLCHESTER C	Col
1	b	Dale Bailey (133)	0	1	Martin Harris (121)	w
2	w	Chris Van Veen (113)	½	½	Simon Denney (114)	b
3	b	Ken Young (112)	½	½	John Duff-Cole (87)	w
4	w	Charles Newman (105)	0	1	Mark Johnson (71)	b
		(avg=115)	1	3	(avg=98)

 

Date: Apr-2015
NECL Division 3
Brd	Col	BRENTWOOD C	Result		COLCHESTER C	Col
1	b	Robert Davies (130)	½	½	Mike Wagstaff (148)	w
2	w	Timothy Weaver (127)	1	0	Martin Harris (121)	b
3	b	Chris Phillips (105)	1	0	Mohammud Jaufarally (99)	w
4	w	David D'Cruz (100)	1	0	Mark Johnson (71)	b
		(avg=115)	3.5	0.5	(avg=109)

 

Nine league matches were played by the C team, with five wins, two draws and two losses. The player statistics (by board) are:

 

Board 1 (Total 5.5/9)
Mike Wagstaff	0.5/1
Clive Bellinger	2/3
Phil Daley	1/1
Martin Harris	1.5/3
Pete Smith	0.5/1

 

Board 2 (Total 6/9)
Martin Harris	2.5/4
Pete Smith	2/3
Simon Denney	1.5/2

 

Board 3 (Total 5.5/9)
Martin Harris	0/1
Simon Denney	3/3
Brian Remmer	1/2
Mohammud Jaufarally	1/2
John Duff-Cole	0.5/1

 

Board 4 (Total 5/9)
Brian Remmer	1/2
John Duff-Cole	2/3
Denzel Gonzales	1/1
Shazia Jaufarally	0/1
Mark Johnson	1/2