SASRA Chess Club

Current League Standings 30th Jan 2012

2012-01-30T02:06:00.000-08:00

Current 2011-2012 League Positions Cumbria Division 1

Team Games For Against %

Penrith A 16 11.5 4.5 72%
Carlisle A 20 11.5 8.5 57.5%
SASRA 20 10 10 50%
Windermere A 12 9 3 75%
Carlisle B 20 8 12 40%
Cockermouth 20 8 12 40%
Barrow A 20 6 14 30%

Windermere have games in hand. Play off positions are far from clear and will be until their backlog has been cleared.

Windermere will be playing Carlisle A on Saturday 4th February and three more matches are scheduled for Saturday 11th February. At this point it will be clear for some teams whether they are in the play offs or not, with only one match outstanding, that being between the likely leaders, Windermere A and Penrith A.

New Grades - January 29th 2012

2012-01-29T02:26:00.000-08:00

For those that have grades the grades are now revised twice a year.

new grade/change

Phil Almond 170 -11
Mark Mallard 143 +10 (an all time personal best)
Fiona Wright 130 +3
Wes Bell 117 -2
James Taylor 116 n/c

Andy Barber 154 -6 (ex Sasra)

No changes to board order.

For those without grades two weekend tournaments will sort that out and furnish you with a grade in July. There is a tournament at Barrow on 24th - 26th February, and another at Blackpool on 9th - 11th March, among many others.

No Sasra members have a new rapidplay grade.

Sasra v Carlisle A 28th January 2012

2012-01-29T01:52:00.000-08:00

Phil Almond 1 - 0 M Green
Mark Mallard 0.5 - 0.5 D Siddall
James Taylor 0 - 1 P Rivers
Alan Fox 1 - 0 D Jackson

Sasra win 2.5 to Carlisle's 1.5

First game to finish was as usual James's. This time he played the french defence with black, an opening to which he is not all that familiar to be fair. He was ultimately punished by Paul as he played a poor move early on losing a tempo and later managed to put one of his bishops in the role of a pawn. Even so James had some play in the middle game before succumbing later on.

At this stage Alan in only his second game for Sasra appeared to be a pawn or possibly two down, so things were looking grim for Sasra.

Mark outgraded as usual on board 2 appeared to be level. Sasra were in fact heavily outgraded on all boards except the first.

Phil appeared to be maneuvering for a passed pawn from an early stage. As the game progressed material was exchanged and the passed pawn duly materialised. Phil converted this into a win after some serious thought.

Alan continued doggedly attempting some counter play on his opponents king side but still materialy down and looking very likely to lose.

Mark was now on the recieving end of an all out attack and after a hairy 10 moves or so he had survived with at least an equal position (in his opinion) as his king was now very safe but his opponents was now an available target. With little time on the clock Mark's draw offer was accepted.

Dave was pressing Alan for the win, it looked like it was all over to be frank. But he overlooked a combination, a very seriious one that resulted in a back rank mate that could not be avoided. Dave resigned.

Another good result consolidating our position in 4th place and with only one more match before the playoffs, strengthening our hold on the final spot in the top four playoffs.

Penrith V Sasra 21st January

2012-01-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

A very dood result for Sasra.

result 2-2

There is a nice write up on the Penrith Chess Club website - see Andy's log

http://www.penrithchess.org.uk/eca8.html

Sasra v Windermere 14th Jan 2012

2012-01-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

1 Phil Almond 1-0 J Toothill
2 Mark Mallard 1/2-1/2 D Phillips
3 Fiona Wright 0-1 P Shaw
4 Alan Fox 1/2-1/2 P Caulfield

2-2

A good result against a top team. Alan's debut, which with a bit more over the board experience he would have won.

The result puts us mid table.

Next week we play the current league leaders, so a tough match expected.

York Congress 6th - 8th Jan 2012

2012-01-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

A poor start from Andy Barber and Mark Mallard, but a great one from James Taylor.

After 3 rounds James was on 100%, mark on 33.3% and andy on 16.7%.

Mark withdrew to enjoy the sights of york whilst James and Andy continued.

James fell back and finished on 3.5/5 picking up a small prize and Andy recovered to finish in 2.5/5.

Whitaker Round 2 17th Dec 2011

2011-12-19T02:02:00.000-08:00

Sasra v Barrow @ Seascale

Phil Almond 181 ( 1 - 0 ) M MacKenzie 180

Mark Mallard 133 ( 1 - 0 ) Dave Cole 165

Fiona Wright 127 ( 1/2 - 1/2 ) George Horne 157

Wes Bell 119 ( 1 - 0 ) I Travers 70

Sasra win 3 1/2 to Barrows 1/2

same after handicap

Sasra were looking for a win on bottom board and three draws from the other boards. Wes quickly took control with his superior grade and experience and gained the required point.

During this time boards two and three were equal but Phil on top board had launched an all out attack on his opponent sacking material for what looked to be an overwhelming attack.

At this point Mark offered a draw in an equal position against a much higher graded opponent to hopefully secure the match points required. It was declined and several moves later Mark made an inferior move which could and should ultimately cost the game. Ony pawns and a knight and king each left. Mark was hoping for some counter play with his knight but it would require an error from dave. Dave was preoccupied with his advancing passed pawns and duly made the required slip. Mark did not make another error and swiftly converted the position into a clear win. Dave then resigned securing the match for Sasra.

Board one had already finished with Phil converting his exciting position into a win.

With the match decided Fiona and George agreed a draw.

Sasra progress into the last four for the third year running.

Carlisle B V Sasra 26th November 2011

2011-12-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

Sasra were narrowly beaten by Carlisle B. 2.5 v 1.5 at Carlisle

Phil Almond drew
Mark Mallard drew
Fiona Wright drew
Wes Bell lost

I was questioned by a number of those present as to why I accepted a draw offer when my opponent clearly, had no time left to win, had declined two of my offers earlier and would have lost on time had the game continued.

The rules regarding winning on time are not entirely familiar to me and it just seemed the decent thing to do and would avoid any controversy. Having said that if the result was of more importance i would have declined and hoped the experts in the room could have clarified the situation afterwards.

I thought Wes possibly was holding a draw for a while and in my opinion he should have offered a draw if he felt that he had the worst of it. You never know your opponent may feel exactly the same way. No harm in asking.

Mark Mallard

The following was submitted by Wes Bell

As I informed Mark in the car home, the eitquette is that the draw offer should come from the player with the advantage when that player thinks that they cannot convert the advantage. As it happens the position was not holdable for Black, though it would have been easy for White to have gone wrong.

As for winning on time, the rules can be complicated, there is the issue of 'not trying to win by normal means' but given the position that Mark had then I very much doubt that this would have stood up. In any case having already declined two draw offers his opponent had pretty much given up the right to get moralistic if he was to lose on time.

Wes Bell

Grand Prix

2011-12-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

Mark Mallard has sneaked into 43rd position on the leader board with a score of 214 points. All is not yet lost as he has 4 tournaments in hand over the leading pack, a late charge is possible. If his scores achieved so far can be repeated for the remainder of the season a top ten position could easily be achieved. York Congress will be his next tournament outing where he is to be joined by Andy Barber & James Taylor.

Preston Congress November 4th - 6th 2011

2011-11-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

Yet again only Mark Mallard and Andy Barber in attendance, although this time Andy was representing his Newer Club in north Wales.

After starting with two good wins Mark lost his 3rd game, drew the fourth and won the final one. Finishing on 3.5/5 in the minor with a very respectable grading score of 153.2 and won a share of third and a grading prize and also added 75 points to his grand prix total. Playing speed was again a problem. Still not enough club night practice.

cross table link below.

http://chess.popmalc.org.uk/sites/chess.popmalc.org.uk/files/congress/2011/minor2011.txt

Andy finished on 3/5 in the major.

cross table link below.

http://chess.popmalc.org.uk/sites/chess.popmalc.org.uk/files/congress/2011/major2011.txt

Whitaker Cup 1st Round 28th Oct 2011

2011-11-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

Played at Carlisle versus Carlisle C.

The Whitaker is a handicap event. Due to a mix up by Carlisle they only had 3 players and so they defaulted on bottom board. This had little bearing on the result as Sasra outgraded Carlisle C heavily and still needed to get 2.5 points out of the remaining 3 to guarantee victory. James Taylor, being our board 4, sadly had made the trip to Carlisle for nothing.

The match started badly for Sasra with Phil Almond on Top board and Mark Mallard (captain) on board two only level after an hour of play and Fiona Wright the Sasra board 3 going a minor piece down very early on. All three of the Sasra players had a significant grading advantage over their opponents so maybe time would tell.

After another hour Phil Almond was still being held level but Mark Mallard had gained a positional advantage over his young opponent. Fiona Wright had also recovered her Piece.

As the games went well into the second half of alloted time Phil Almond agreed a draw with his opponent. This meant that Mark and Fiona needed to win.

Fiona was the next to finish, securing the required win. It was all down to the Captain now. Mark converted his positional advantage into a material one but with less than 10 minutes on the clock against his opponents 30+ it could be tricky. After some simplification moves Mark had an unasailable passed pawn and a safe king and he started farming pawns his opponent could not defend, resulting in resignation and the match win for Sasra.

First League Match of 2011-2012 Sasra v Cockermouth

2011-10-02T08:50:00.001-07:00

Result 2- 2

Northumberland Chess Congres 23rd - 25th September 2011

2011-09-26T02:19:00.000-07:00

Only myself (Mark Mallard) and Andy Barber in attendance again.

Andy drew his first game, i saw little of it as i got into difficulties quite early on and was struggling with a lack of time. I managed to gain a pawn advantage but the cost in time was far too high with about 20 moves to make in 5 minutes. As i struggled to make the time control three moves from relative safety (and 30 minutes added on to my clock)i dropped my queen and resigned.

Andy drew his second game. In a french style endgame i eventually snaffled the backward queen pawn and won fairly swiftly after that.

In the third round andy drew again. I appeared to be coasting the third game going four pawns up. The problem i faced was that my opponent still had a queen that i could not exchange off and that my king was exposed. My opponent could easily draw by repetition if i made a wrong move. My pawns fell one by one as i tried to push one through, eventually i was almost out of time and possibly going to lose. Draw offers had been refused by my opponent. With one pawn left each i managed to force the queens off and the pawns would fall too, so a draw was agreed.

In the fourth round Andy drew yet again, i was by now playing much better and more importantly quicker, but i was up against a dubiously extimated graded player of just e93 who must have scored over 120 in the previus three rounds. I was heading for an early positional advantage when my opponent decided to give me a pawn instead, little realising he had actually given me a bishop. He had some counter play for a while but after weathering that i comfortably entered the endgame a bishop and pawn up. He could see where things were going and resigned.

The final game saw Andy win after his opponent over stretched some passed pawns. I played the English Opening and broke through on the queen side fairly quickly isolating two of my opponents pawns. I kept the pressure on for some time before snatching a pawn and threatening further gains. Eventually my opponent lost a rook attempting a clever combination that did not quite work with correct play from me. Another piece swiftly followed as did his resignation.

So to sum up, Andy finished on 3/5 and i on 3.5/5. I left before all results were in, standing in joint third but there was a possibilty/likelyhood of two players ending on 4 points pushing me down to fourth or fifth. So a cash prize is probably unlikely. Edit - i finished fourth and out of the money.

My tournament grade score was 137.4 even including the estimted player so it will probably be modified upwards at some point (edit modified to 140). Andy playing in a higher section than me this year had a tournament grade score of 155.

Some over the board practice between the two tournaments could have helped but sadly cannot get anyone down to the club night at the moment. Two nights drinking until 3am could possibly have reduced our performance according to Andy.

mark mallard

Leyland Chess Congress 27th-29th August 2011

2011-09-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

Only Mark Mallard (me) and Andy Barber representing Sasra in attendence. After five of the six rounds i was in joint 3rd but needing a win in the final game for a podium finish.

The final game started well, after a couple of hours i was definately positionally ahead with a supported passed pawn on the fifth rank. At some point the previous 20+ hours of over the board chess and the two very late nights began to weigh on me. I lost my way and seemed to have no plan. Eventually my opponent took advantage of my aimlessness and succeeded with an attack. I eventually lost and slipped down the leader board with 3.5 out of 6. Scoring 126.5 with a current grade of 133. On the positive side both my losses could easily have been wins.

Andy had a mixed bag of a tournament finishing on 3 out of 6.

End of Season - June 2011

2011-06-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Appologies for lack of postings over the last eight months. Real life has been hectic.

It has been a hard season for the chess team, ultimately avoiding relegation from the first division by the narrowest of possible margins.

We now have the Chess Prix to focus on until the league starts again in September. I hope i can play in enough tournaments during the next 12 months to get a reasonable prix ranking having failed in previous seasons to get enough results.

New gradings are also due in August(i believe). I am of the opinion that my grade will not fall (or if it does by only a few points) as i have had quite a respectable season again.

Match reports or other articles from other members are very welcome.

mark mallard

Sasra v Cockermouth B 16th October 2010

2010-11-03T04:49:00.000-07:00

Sasra 3 - 1 Cockermouth B

Phil Almond 1 0 Ian Stone
Mark Mallard 0.5 0.5 Bill Henderson
Fiona Wright 0.5 0.5 Peter Blackmore
James Taylor 1 0 Peter Hornak

A good solid result.

16.10.10

Northumbria Major 2010

2010-10-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

Only me and Andy Barber in attendance, both of us in the prize money last year.

With my grade increase there are consequences. The main one being that i am going to be in tougher tournaments. This one being a prime example having moved up into the Major.

I decided to take a bye in the first round to lessen the shock somewhat seeing as i was hardly match ready.

In the second round i was drawn against a 157 (i am 137) so i knew it would be hard. It was, in the end game i sacked a minor piece for a passed pawn and some positional advantages. Eventualy i sacked a rook too to get the pawn to queen. As we both ran short of time i could not force a win with my queen and 2 pawns versus knight, rook and 2 pawns so a draw was agreed.

In the next two rounds i played against a 158 and 160, i lost both eventually.

I caught an early train home.

Andy Barber too had a fairly tough time failing to get into the money.

Carlisle Rapidplay

2010-10-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Only myself for Sasra in attendence. I did not expect much due to poor preparation over the summer months.

First game went as expected when i dropped a minor piece early on. Losing eventually.

The second and third games were a suprise to me, in that i played well and won them both.

The fourth game was now of some relevance. It was quite a tussle but i was ground down in the end.

The final game having no real consequence i decided to try some fairly outlandish moves. For a while it was interesting but my poor development resulted in a quick loss.

A real shame that the chess club did not meet regularly over the summer months.

mark mallard

2nd October @ Seascale V Carlisle B

2010-10-13T05:55:00.000-07:00

Our first match of the season.

SASRA 1.5 2.5 Carlisle B

Phil Almond 0.5 0.5 Michael Green
Mark Mallard 0 1 Bruce Wallace
Fiona Wright 0.5 0.5 Daniel O'Dowd
James Taylor 0.5 0.5 Syd Cassidy

A mixed bag from the off. Phil seemed to have the edge for much of the later stages but due to the open position of his king a draw was agreed.

Fiona and James appeared to be under the cosh for much of their games but fought on doggedly to grab draws.

I lost my way in the middle game and my position fell apart after leaving my king too exposed.

Fixtures

2010-09-08T01:13:00.000-07:00

2nd October @ Seascale V Carlisle B
16th October @ Seascale V Cockermouth B
30th October Whitaker (draw not yet made - so location not known)
13th November @ Seascale V Penrith
4th December @ Cockermouth V Cockermouth A
11th December Whitaker (draw not yet made - so location not known)

Chess Tournaments in September 2010

2010-08-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

I am planning on playing in the following tournaments.

Carlisle Rapidplay 19th September

http://www.cumbriachess.org.uk/TempDocs/2010CarlisleRplayEntry.pdf

Northumberland Chess Congress 24th - 26th September

http://www.cumbriachess.org.uk/TempDocs/2010SepNCAentry.pdf

2010 Chess Gradings

2010-08-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

New grades are as follows. James (+11)and Mark (+7) had the biggest increases.

Phil Almond 181
Mark Mallard 137
Fiona Wright 135
Wes Bell 115
James Taylor 108

Upshot of my increase means my tournaments will be Majors where i will be one of the weakest players and in the league i have moved up a board so my games are likely to be much tougher so a good showing in the Prix and league performance table will be difficult for me. I will try though, lol.

I have modified the text and James's grade as the ECF grader has just increased James's grade by a further 1 point.

Durham Chess Congress 23rd - 25th April

2010-05-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

James Taylor & Mark Mallard attended. Paul Calvert came along for the drinking.

Lovely weather.

Mediocre chess results.

James 2.5 out of 5
Mark 2 out of 5

Whitaker Trophy Final Winners

2010-05-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

played @ keswick conservative club 28th April

Result was

Mark 0
Wes 0.5
James 1
George 1

Kendal, who won the toss and played white on the odd boards, outgraded us
on all 4 boards so had a handicap of 1.5 meaning they had to win 3-1 or
better, so as we won 2.5 - 1.5 the nett score was 2.5 - 0 to us.

It was a night were we always looked like we had a chance to get the 1.5
pts we needed, but the actual result was rather less predictable.

For much of their games James and George looked to be in serious trouble,
however I looked like a win could be possible and Mark looked capable of at
least a draw.

George's opponent was a pawn up and had the opportunity to take the g7
pawn and then the rook on h8, giving him the overwhelming advantage of rook
and 2 pawns, for some reason he went playing on the king side and lost the
opportunity, George was still a pawn down but in a Q+R+pawns ending it was
entirely possible to hold to a draw.

Meanwhile Mark still looked capable of getting at least a draw but James
was down some serious material, there was some imbalance in the game as
James had queen against 2 rooks and some cheking opportunities, however his
opponent had a passed pawn on the seventh protected by a bishop and a rook
about to play check on the 8th. Not long after seeing this position I
noticed that the game had finished, I expected James to have lost, but
could just about have believed that he had found a perpetual check, no, to
my utter astonishment he had won, his opponent had allowed James to pin,
fork and skewer his way to winning both rooks.

Not long after this George finished and mouth the words 'I won', I
didn't see how this finished but I understand it was an outright blunder by
his opponent.

So we stood 2-0 and the cup was in the bag.

In my game my Colle opening had gone very well I then played what I now
know was an unsound bishop sacrifice on h7 (it looked like a greek bishop
set up but he could actually have played his king to g6, f6 and escaped
into e7, I may have got his rook for the cost of bishop knight and pawn but
he would have been able to grab my h2 pawn) as it happens he retreated his
king back after the line Bxh7+ Kh7 Ng5+, and my attack led to me being able
to play a nice series of checking combinations wtih knight and bishop to
win his queen for my knight. I then drfited a bit and got myself tangled up
and had to give up my queen for bishop and rook, I was still ahead on
material, effectively exchange and two pawns but having spent over 40mins
trying to calculate out lines on the initial bishop sac I was short of
time, had the match depended on it I would have played on, also had it been
a Saturday match then the extra 30mins would have been sufficient for me to
play on and win (horrible blunders permitting), so I accepted his draw
offer.

Mark, who had played his usual French defence, still had the draw in hand
until he blundered giving his opponent the win. It was a shame as until
that point Mark had comfortably held his own, and may even have had a
slight edge for most of the game.

So an excellent finish to what has been a tough season.

wes bell

Best Performance Trophy

2010-04-19T00:46:00.001-07:00

With the league games completed the qualifying scores (minimum 50% of
league games played) are:

Pld Pts %
1 Mark Mallard 6 3.5 58.33333
2 Phil Almond 7 3 42.85714
3 Fiona Wright 5 1 20.0
4 James Taylor 7 1 14.28571

Non-qualifying scores are

Wes Bell 3 1 33.33333
Peter Tipper 2 0 0.0
George Nicholson 1 0 0.0

Congratulations to Mark on winning the league best performance trophy.

wes bell

SASRA v Barrow 10th April

2010-04-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Phil Almond 1/2 1/2 Mathew Mackenzie
Fiona Wright 0 1 James Woodburn
Mark Mallard 1/2 1/2 George Horne
James Taylor 1/2 1/2 Alan Llewellyn

First to finish was James Taylor (again!). A very hairy game which james did well to convert into a draw through repetition after earlier losing/gambiting some material.

I went all out against George Horne but could not quite break through. In a bishop and pawns end game i needed the king to defend against a pawn majority so i could not use it to push through one of my two passed pawns.

Fiona lost/exchanged a piece for 3 pawns, but over time her opponent picked off her extra pawns with the extra piece.

Phil seemed to be coasting for win. An extra pawn (passed) in the end game appeared to seal it. An simple error resulted in a draw. Very unlike phil to blunder like the rest of us.

SASRA v Carlisle B 20th March 2010

2010-04-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

Phil Almond 1/2 1/2 David Siddall
Mark Mallard 1/2 1/2 Paul Rivers
James Taylor 0 1 Alan Hiatt
George Nicholson 0 1 Bruce Wallace

Played at seascale. Appologies for missing names - will rectify.

George's first match since rejoining the chess club after a quite a few years.

Prix

2010-02-28T04:31:00.000-08:00

Due to poor performance and inactivity Mark Mallard has slipped down from 19th to 22nd place in the 120 - 139 section.

Update - Further inactivity ( missing blackpool ) has pushed Mark down to 27th.

Andy Barber has just sneaked into 48th place on the 140 - 159 section.

Frodsham Congress Feb 12th - 14th 2010

2010-02-17T05:51:00.000-08:00

I made a very poor showing at frodsham. I would like to blame my results on the strong painkillers i was taking but i was probably just not on form. I lost my first three games before winning the fourth and then calling it a day to travel home on an early train.

Andy Barber (ex Sasra) was also in competition, as I left he was on 2 out of 4.

Mark Mallard

Best League Performance Table

2010-02-08T00:52:00.000-08:00

With 2 matches to go Mark leads the best league performance table

Player Pld Pts % Score

Mark 4 2.5 62.5%
Phil 5 2.0 40%
Wes 3 1.0 33.33%
Fiona 4 1.0 25%
James 5 0.5 10%
Peter 2 0.0 0%

Statistics by Wes Bell

Carlisle B v Sasra 2pm 6th February 2010

2010-01-31T03:13:00.000-08:00

Venue is Carlisle Working Mens Club in Fisher St just down from the Kings Head.

Result 2 - 2

1 Phil Almond (182) 0.5 0.5 Stephen Barnes (154)
2 Mark Mallard (130) 1 0 Paul Rivers (154)
3 Wes Bell (110) 0.5 0.5 Bruce Wallace (135)
4 James Taylor (97) 0 1 Ian Mackay (134)

Ritalin & Chess

2010-01-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

The recent episode of Horizon - Pill Poppers, has certainly opened my eyes to the possibility that opponents could be cheating by taking the concentration enhancing drug Ritalin.

I myself would never take drugs (except the odd pint or five) as anyone who knows me well enough knows but there must be a fair number that have already cottoned on to this potential advantage. My opponents can of course easily gain a similar advantage without taking ritalin by buying me a pint!

There will no doubt be side effects of taking Ritalin that may only become apparent years later.

I am interested in your views.

Prix

2010-01-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

The leader boards of the Prix have been updated and extended. This is a national competition.

Mark Mallard is currently in joint 19th place in the 120 to 139 graded section with a quite a number games in hand so a top ten finish is being aimed for. I expect to see James Taylor and Andrew Barber appear on these lists after our next tournament. If only we had been able to get to York!

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=43

Stockport Rapidplay 7th February

2010-01-11T23:47:00.000-08:00

Possible Accommodation for saturday 6th February.

http://www.superbreak.com/search/geocode/53.4098,-2.1576/20-Miles/06-02-2010/1-nights/1-rooms/2-adults,0-children/2,3,4,5-star/sortby-PriceAscending/page-1-False-8a0d6ff16dca4bf1b39d62dc1b94affc-stockport

5th League Match @ Seascale v Windermere 2pm 16th January 2010

2009-12-23T06:33:00.001-08:00

Result

SASRA 1.5 Windermere 2.5

Phil Almond 0.5 John Toothill 0.5
Fiona Wright 0 Bartlomiej Kaszynski 1
Wes Bell 0 David Phillips 1
James Taylor 1 Default 0

A brief report from Wes Bell

Our game against Windermere was closer than it might look, Fiona missed a chance for what was probably a win and I missed a move in time trouble in a game where he had the play but nothing really tangible to show for it, it might then have been possible for me to hold the draw.

Chess Grand Prix

2009-12-23T06:28:00.000-08:00

Latest Grand Prix tables.

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=43

I have been in discussion with a few ECF officers and am hoping to see an extended list in future. So we may see a few familiar names further down on the new extended lists in the new year.

SASRA meeting 15th December 2009

2009-12-19T02:59:00.000-08:00

A meeting was held between the SASRA executive and representatives of the various clubs at the Falcon Club at 7pm.

Mark Mallard attended.

Whitaker Trophy 2nd Round 12th December at Windermere

2009-11-22T07:39:00.001-08:00

This match took place in a cottage in a little village near Kendal. The host kindly provided refreshments and a warm open fire.

To guarantee victory Sasra who were outgraded on all boards required an over the board score of 2-2. After about an hour Sasra appeared to be ahead on virtually all the boards. As usual James Taylor was to be first to finish. He piled on the pressure after losing a pawn and came up with a nice finish for a win.

An hour or so later Mark Mallard's opponent offered a draw, it was declined as mark had an advantage and Sasra still needed a full point for victory. As all the remaining players began to run out of time mark made a few poor moves in haste. The other two games were agreed drawn though so mark resigned in a lost position as Sasra had already won the match.

Fourth League Match v Cockermouth - 21st November 2009

2009-11-22T04:42:00.000-08:00

It was touch and go wether this match would go ahead due to the weather, with bridges out of use all over Cumbria. Ultimately the match went ahead against the current county champions with Sasra missing their strongest player, Phil Almond (182). The upshot of this was that Sasra were heavily outgraded on all 4 boards instead of just 3.

For the first hour of the match everything seemed fairly even. During the second hour the fast playing James Taylor was entering the end game in what appeared to be no less than a drawing position. A draw would have been a good result. Peter Tipper was by this time down a pawn and probably being overwhelmed by Bill Henderson's vast experience. On top board all appeared even while on board two Mark Mallard against the gradings had won the exchange in an unbalanced position.

Entering the third hour James made an error and resigned in a lost position, Peter followed suit 30 minutes later. Mark consolidated his king's open position and then piled on the pressure on his opponent until his opponent resigned before being mated. Fiona played on in a cramped position until defeat was inevitable.

Sasra 1 - 3 Cockermouth

1 Fiona Wright (135) 0 - 1 John Jarmany (177)
2 Mark Mallard(130) 1 - 0 Roger Hart (163)
3 James Tylor (97) 0 - 1 Philippe Gleizon (145)
4 Peter Tipper(e63 ) 0 - 1 Bill Henderson (141)

3rd Match of the Season Sasra v Carlisle 14th November

2009-11-17T03:27:00.000-08:00

Sasra struggled to field a team for this match due to illness and other commitments. A full albiet weakened team was fielded against a stronger Carlisle squad. The big difference in grade was felt on the lower boards with losses for Sasra. James Taylor on board 3 started off well but made an error in the middle game which lost material and ultimately the game. Peter Tipper drafted in on board 4 fought on a little longer against another much higher graded opponent. Mark Mallard fought on for 3 hours but ultimately lost in the endgame probably due to errors earlier in the game. Phil almond on top board was the last to finish, also losing, to Carlisle's new eastern european recruit. Not a good day for Sasra.

Sasra 0 - 4 Carlisle

With a match coming up on the 21st against the current leage champions and still problems fielding a team it looks like Sasra will again be attempting to avoid relegation this season rather than chasing trophies as i had hoped.

Scarborough Chess Congress Results

2009-10-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

Only two SASRA members went along. Mark Mallard stepping up in class into the Intermediate (middle of 5) section and James Taylor in the Foundation.

Mark scored 2/5 but in doing so by playing 5 people graded higher than himself scored a tournament grade equal to his existing grade of 130. Two of the games could very easily have had minor improvements that could have taken his score to 3/5. So on the whole a promising result.

James scored a very respectable 3/5 and was in the running for a podium finish until the last round. I don't have his tournament grade score to hand but it was an improvement on his existing grade.

The venue was good with a bar open during most of the tournament. The weather was fairly kind. Plenty of alcohol consumed.

Preston Chess Congress November 27th - 29th 2009

2009-10-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

Andy Barber, James Taylor and Mark Mallard are going and booked into Preston travelodge.

Had a look at the travelodge website again today. Twin rooms are £32 per night at the moment but there are very few left.

Mark Crellin is coming for a drink on saturday night.

Result - Mark Mallard came joint first in the u140 section.

Next Match November 14th v Carlisle @ Seascale

2009-10-19T09:12:00.001-07:00

Whitaker First Round

2009-10-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ulverston have withdrawn from the league so it looks like we get a bye into the next round.

Second League Match of 2009 - 2010 Season

2009-10-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

Away v Barrow. 17th October 2009

Results

1 Phil Almond 1 v 0 George Horne
2 Fiona Wright 0.5 v 0.5 James Woodburn
3 Mark Mallard 0.5 v 0.5 Martin Gawne
4 James Taylor 0.5 v 0.5 Alan Llewellyn

Outgraded on boards 2,3 and 4 draws were good results on paper although it is possible James missed a win in an exciting position on board 4. My game was very even from start to finish. Phil on top board ground his opponent down and got the win we needed for the victory.

Club Night

2009-10-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

After much discussion thursday has become the new club night.

First League Match of 2009 - 2010 Season

2009-09-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday 3rd October @ Penrith 2pm

Now at the Beacon Social Club, Duke Street, Penrith, CA11 7NB. http://www.penrithchess.org.uk/eca2.html

Result loss 3- 1

1 Phil Almond 0
2 Fiona Wright 1/2
3 Wes Bell 1/2
4 James Taylor 0

Scarborough Chess Congress

2009-09-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

23rd - 25th October 2009

http://scarboroughchesscongress.co.uk/default.aspx

Going by car friday morning - return monday.

James is staying here (a bit expensive).

http://www.crownspahotel.com/

I am staying here. (3 nights for £45) fri/sat/sun

http://www.valleybar.co.uk/accommodation.php#reservation

Chess Game Database

2009-08-24T16:43:00.001-07:00

http://www.chessgames.com/

This site seems to be quite useful, although full use of the site requires a $25 annual subscription. Any views on getting a subscription we could all share?

Carlisle Rapidplay Sunday 13th September 2009

2009-08-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

I came equal first in the Intermediate section.

Newcastle Chess Congress 25th & 26th September 2009

2009-08-19T00:48:00.000-07:00

Mark Mallard won the upto 130 section with 4.5 out of 5. Picture taken at start of final game.

Andy Barber came joint second in the upto 160 section with 3.5 out of 5.

The team including James Taylor only just missed out by tie break on the team trophy.

http://www.northumberlandchess.co.uk/ - for full results

Grading List Update

2009-08-10T03:14:00.000-07:00

Here are the new grades for those that have them;

Almond Phil 182
Bell, I Wes 110
Haig, Paul 121
Mallard, Mark A 130
Taylor, James 97
Wright, Fiona J 135

amended again 4th september 2009

Looking back to 1995

2009-07-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

I found this link today. A good year for me in a higher than usual tournament too. Bill McFarlane did even better than me.

http://www.blackpoolchess.org.uk/blackpool_1995.html

2009-07-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

Future Competitions

2009-06-29T03:36:00.000-07:00

4th Chillingham Rapidplay Chess Congress Saturday 14th August

at Chillingham Arms, 89-91 Chillingham Road, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne.Download travel and competition details and an entry form.

Carlisle Rapidplay Sunday 13th September 2009

http://www.cumbriachess.org.uk/TempDocs/09CarlisleRapidplayEntry.pdf

Northumberland Chess Tournament ( Newcastle ) 25th - 27th September 2009

http://www.chessdirect.co.uk/download/Northumberland%20entry%20form.doc

ECF Chess Calendar

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/index.php?option=com_simplecalendar&view=simplecalendar&catid=0&Itemid=55

Chester Chess Tournament Results

2009-06-29T03:30:00.000-07:00

James finished on 4 out of 5, Andy and myself on 3 out 5. We left before the end of the competition but James was guaranteed either second or joint second, so congratulations to him.

Paul Calvert (non player) retired early unwell, he is ok now.

Further information here when i have it.

Chester Chess Tournament Travel Update

2009-06-25T00:54:00.000-07:00

I leave whitehaven on the barrow train on friday at 10.48 pm arriving lancaster 13.15 pm. Leave Lancaster for warrington bank quays at 13.39 pm, and leave warrington bank quays at 14.26 pm due to arrive at chester at 14.53 pm.

At around 4pm I suggest the four travelling by train all meet up at The Square Bottle (wetherspoons), which is less than half a mile from the station.

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/87/8796/The_Square_Bottle/Chester

It also makes sense that this is our meeting/eating/starting place for friday evening (early), congregate as soon as ready.

Also useful as a meeting place on saturday. On saturday evening the three chess players could arrive here quite late so i suggest an hourly attempt to meet from 10pm onwards. ( ie at 10pm, 11pm and even 12pm for the laggards ).

Martin is staying here (below).

http://www.cheltenhamlodge.co.uk/

Chess For Schools

2009-06-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

As part of a new Chess for Schools initiative, Holloid Plastics will finance and project manage the manufacturing and distribution of 100,000 free chess sets to 10,000 schools.

May 2009: The English Chess Federation’s flagship project for the coming year is Chess for Schools – an endeavour to put chess sets in every school in England, and then follow up with the objective of establishing new school chess clubs. The original concept for the project came from the child of a Holloid employee bemoaning the lack of chess facilities at their school.
“This is a chess project on a scale never previously attempted in England, involving the delivery of thousands of free chess sets and supporting material – an opportunity that comes thanks to the generous leadership and sponsorship of Holloid Plastics”, says the ECF’s Chief Executive, Chris Majer.
Holloid Plastics has put together a specialist team to work on the Chess for Schools project. Project Manager Caroline Morris is supported by Emily Watts as Project Assistant. Public relations is being conducted by Clive Couldwell (Account Director, SE10) and sponsorship coordination by Jonathan Steffen (Managing Director, The Corporate Story). The project’s Production Manager is Keith Elliott, Holloid Plastics’ Technical Sales Director.
During the first year of the project it is planned to provide approximately 100,000 free chess sets to those schools that have registered. The proposed method of distribution is to hold regional launch days during which the recipients of the sets will collect their sets. Three or four small preliminary events in Surrey, Hampshire and Oxfordshire will be held in May and June 2009. Further details will be published in due course. The events will officially start in September 2009 and the chess sets will be manufactured by Holloid Plastics.
Henning von Spreckelsen, Holloid Plastics’ Executive Chairman, says “Working with the English Chess Federation and our sponsors, we are committed to making the Chess for Schools project a resounding success. Uniquely, this project offers me an ideal opportunity to give something back for the support I have received from others in the past.”
Says Chris Majer: “This initiative is the largest sponsorship that English chess has received. Thanks to Holloid Plastics’ meticulous planning I am confident that the Chess for Schools programme will be a great success.”

English Chess Federation The Watch Oak Chain Lane Battle East Sussex TN33 0YD Tel: 01424 775222
office@englishchess.org.uk

Caroline Morris
caroline@holloid-plastics.co.uk

Chester Chess Tournament

2009-06-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

James Taylor, Mark Mallard and Andy Barber (ex SASRA) are going to be playing in the tournament this coming weekend at Chester.

http://chesterchess.org/default.aspx

Guesting (non players) on this trip are Mark Crellin, Paul Calvert and Martin Southward.

Some of the group are staying at the Pear Tree Guest House.

http://www.a1tourism.com/uk/a9101.html

End Of Season Report

2009-06-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

The SASRA Chess Club team finished fourth in division 1 of the Cumbria league after a reasonable season. Phil Almond continued to outperform retaining the best performance title once more.

The Club continues to meet in the Cons Club on Lowther street in Whitehaven on a tuesday evening at 7pm. Numbers attending can be very low especially during the summer so telephoning in advance can be an advantage .

All are welcome (including members of other chess clubs).

Contact Mark Mallard 01946 591012

Link for Cumbria Chess Website
http://www.cumbriachess.org.uk/