Junior comp 12-13 final round

This year's competition reached an exciting climax with three players sharing first place.  Aidan, Dylan and harry all finished on 17 points and all beat each other at some point.

A play off has been arranged to find the sole winner.

The two Lukes finished jointly in the new starter section and played a two game play-off which Luke J won.  All the winners will receive either the trophy for their section or a consolation medal.

Below is the final standings

No	Name	r1	r2	r3	r4	r5	r6	r7	TOT
1	Dylan	3	3	3	3	3	1	1	17
3	Aidan	3	3	1	3	1	3	3	17
4	Harry	3	2	3	2	3	3	1	17
2	Joe	3	3	3	0	1	3	3	16
5	Tom F	3	1	0	3	3	3	3	16
6	Luke	3	1	3	2	1	1	3	14
25	Luke J	1	3	2	1	3	1	3	14
8	Jude	3	0	2	2	3	0	3	13
19	Ewan	1	1	3	2	3	1	2	13
22	Ryan	1	2	1	2	3	3	1	13
24	James S	3	2	0	3	3	1	1	13
18	Eshaan	1	3	0	3	1	3	1	12
28	Samuel	3	1	1	1	3	1	1	11
29	Oliver	1	2	0	1	2	3	2	11
10	Esmee	1	0	2	3	2	0	2	10
21	James J	1	1	3	0	1	1	3	10
9	Tamara	3	0	3	0	0	0	3	9
11	Jade	3	0	1	1	1	0	3	9
20	Pattrick	1	2	3	1	1	1	0	9
26	Isaac	3	3	1	0	2	0	0	9
12	Tom W	1	1	0	1	2	1	1	7
17	Azraq	1	0	0	0	3	3	0	7
7	Antonio	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	6
27	Sam	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	6
30	Abbey	1	2	1	2	0	0	0	6
31	Dhillan	3	0	0	0	3	0	0	6
32	Euan s	0	0	3	0	3	0	0	6
33	Nicky	0	0	0	1	1	0	3	5
15	William b	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	4
16	William F	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	4
23	Isabelle	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
34	Tom J	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2
13	Estella	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
14	Ruben	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Junior comp 12-13

The junior competition is reaching an exciting finale.  Dylan won a very good game against the super-strong Aidan, while Harry defeated Joe in the shock of the round and has earned himself a match-up with younger brother Dylan.  Dylan needs to avoid defeat in one of his last two games to retain the trophy.

No	Name	r1	r2	r3	r4	r5	r6	r7	TOT
1	Dylan	3	3	3	3	3			15
4	Harry	3	2	3	2	3			13
24	James S	3	2	0	3	3			11
3	Aidan	3	3	1	3	1			11
25	Luke J	1	3	2	1	3			10
2	Joe	3	3	3	0	1			10
6	Luke	3	1	3	2	1			10
5	Tom F	3	1	0	3	3			10
8	Jude	3	0	2	2	3			10
19	Ewan	1	1	3	2	3			10
22	Ryan	1	2	1	2	3			9
26	Isaac	3	3	1	0	2			9
28	Samuel	3	1	1	1	3			9
18	Eshaan	1	3	0	3	1			8
20	Patrick	1	2	3	1	1			8
10	Esmee	1	0	2	2	2			7
31	Dhillan	3	0	0	0	3			6
29	Oliver	1	2	0	1	2			6
11	Jade	3	0	1	1	1			6
21	James J	1	1	3	0	1			6
32	Euan s	0	0	3	0	3			6
9	Tamara	3	0	3	0	0			6
27	Sam	3	3	0	0	0			6
30	Abbey	1	2	1	2	0			6
12	Tom W	1	1	0	1	2			5
15	William b	1	3	0	0	0			4
17	Azraq	1	0	0	0	3			4
16	William F	3	1	0	0	0			4
7	Antonio	3	0	0	0	0			3
33	Nicky	0	0	0	1	1			2
23	Isabelle	1	1	0	0	0			2
13	Estella	1	0	0	0	0			1
14	Ruben	1	0	0	0	0			1
34	Tom J	0	0	0	0	1			1

Junior Comp 12-13

This year 31 juniors have taken part in the first two rounds of the junior competition.  Below are the standings after two rounds.

No	Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total
1	Dylan	3	3						6
2	Joe	3	3						6
3	Aidan	3	3						6
26	Isaac	3	3						6
27	Sam	3	3						6
4	Harry	3	2						5
24	James S	3	2						5
5	Tom F	3	1						4
6	Luke	3	1						4
15	William B	1	3						4
16	William F	3	1						4
18	Eshaan	1	3						4
25	Luke J	1	3						4
28	Sammuel	3	1						4
7	Antinio	3	0						3
8	Jude	3	0						3
9	Tamara	3	0						3
11	Jade	3	0						3
20	Pattrick	1	2						3
22	Ryan	1	2						3
29	Oliver	1	2						3
30	Abbey	1	2						3
31	Dhillan	3	0						3
12	Tom W	1	1						2
19	Ewan	1	1						2
21	James J	1	1						2
23	Isabelle	1	1						2
13	Estella	1	0						1
14	Ruben	1	0						1
17	Azraq	1	0						1
19	Esmee	1	0						1

Aidan, Dylan and Joe are the clubs best players, so its no surprise to see them on perfect scores.  Scoring by the way is 3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 point for a loss and 0 for a no show.

Some of the new players couldn't convert some massive material advantages, or were able to after many moves of shuffling the pieces.  The aim over the next few weeks will be checkmating with 2 rooks, or rook and queen and then hopefully the new players will be able to finish off their opponents.

One game I watched arrived at this position.

Play continued   99.Ra7+ Ke6, 100.Ra6+ Ke7 repeat to a draw.

After play had finished I showed them 99.Nd4 Kf7, 100.e6+ and the pawn is marching up the board with ample protection from the knight and rook and it will either promote in a few moves, or cause a mate. e.g. 100...Ke7, 101.Ra7+

When Black has to decide on either allowing mate 101...Ke8, 102.Nf5 or the pawn to queen.

Allowing the kids to play is a good way to see where we need to coach and gives them good experience.

Junior news

The Darlington Junior chess club is very busy these days. Last meet there were 27 children playing chess!  Ages run from 6 to 12.  Below is a recent game between two of the best players, as you can see these two can play decent chess.

Our aim is to provide a club for children to experience chess both competitive and friendly play and develop a basic understanding of the game through informal coaching.

Play online chess

And there off

The new chess season started on the 10/09/12 at Darlington with the AGM.

Pictured above Jonathan Sams accepts the magnificent E.D.Walker Shield.

 The meeting unanimously agreed that in the coming season we will have 3 teams in the Durham league: 3 teams in the Cleveland league and 1 team in the Darlington league as follows:-   
                                   “A” team in the Durham league  - J Sams elected as captain.

                         “B” team in the Durham league – W Metcalfe elected as captain.

                         “C” team in the Durham league – Peter McKay elected as captain.

                         “A” team in the Cleveland league – Steve Dauber elected (in absentia) as captain.

                         ”B” team in the Cleveland league – W Metcalfe elected as captain.

                         “C” team (Cavaliers) in the Cleveland league – James Garner elected as captain.

                         “Quakers” team in the Darlington league – Brian white elected as captain. (in absentia)

The following Monday was the annual lightening where players must move on the sound of a buzzer, which goes off every 10 seconds.  Part skill part luck, this year was won by Kevin Wilson in a final against Steve Dauber.  Rod Gilpin, as always, proved almost unbeatable and forced Kevin Wilson to a group playoff which after drawing the first game conceded.

Next is the annual friendly with Durham followed by the start of the season proper.

Don't forget the juniors meet every Monday at 18:00.

New season is nearly here

The new season is nearly here!  The junior club recommences on 10/09/12.

This blog has been quiet for a while, hopefully we will have more posts during the season.

During the summer the North East was host to the brilliant British chess championships.  Eight Darlington players were able to make the short trip to North Shields to play.  The graded tournaments are played in the mornings while the main championships kick off at half two.

Most players stay to watch the GMs battle it out and with expert analysis can learn something too.

Below is a game from the North East's best player:


Chapman,Terry P (2290) - Hawkins,Jonathan (2499)
British Championship The Parks, North Shields, ENG (7.3), 30.07.2012

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.0-0 c6

The fianchetto variation of the King's Indian defense.  c6 blunts the White Bishop on g2, but Black is preparing to play the KID in a more strategical style, usually Black looks for a king side attack.
.
7.Nc3 Qa5 8.e4 e5 
White builds a big centre and Black plays to undermine it.  The queen may look a little exposed on a5, but practice has shown she is quite safe.

9.h3 Nbd7 

After h3, to stop Ng4, I expect the natural 10.Be3.  After Be3 Black is unlikely to break up White's centre with 10...exd4 as 11.Bxd4 sees the two dark squared bishops toe to toe along the same diagonal, which is better for White.

10.Re1 This is the main move Karpov has played some games in this line, so we can be assured its a good move.

10...exd4 11.Nxd4 Ne5

Black has eroded White's centre and now hits the c-pawn.  How does White respond?

 12.Nb3?! The main move is the odd looking Bf1.  I'm sure almost all club players would be very tempted to play Nb3.  It introduces a threat to the Black queen and, in many lines, will allow c5 defending the pawn.  However, the game soon becomes very complicated.  Perhaps not the wisest strategy for White playing a ruthless slayer of weaker playes!
12...Qb4 I would be too scared to play this and would have gone for Qc7.
13.c5 dxc5 14.a3 White could try f4 here, Ned7 e5 sees White making progress on the kingside. 14...Qb6 15.Be3

Looks like Black will lose the pawn and may end up worse, but Johnny keeps his cool

Rd8 16.Qc2 Nd3 The Black knight supported by the rook enters the White position.  The helpful stead protects c5 while spreading panic inside the White camp.
17.Red1 will the knight have to move?
17...Be6!

No the obvious move is best.  The bishop and queen gang up on the Knight on b3, if it moves to d2 for example allows Qxb2 when the White's position collapses.  White is more-or-less forced into 18.Nxc5 Nxe5, but what does Black play after 19.b4?  Does Black have to return his knight?

  

18.Nxc5 Nxc5 19.b4

19...Bb3!!  The Hawk obviously has it all under control
20.Rxd8+ Qxd8  Removing the queen from the pin, White has to move his queen allowing the knight on c4 to move for example Nxe4 winning a pawn.
21.Qb1 Qd3! 0-1  Black finds a strong move to keep the pressure on.  Qxd3 leaves Black a piece up. Qb2 allows Ncxe4 and Black will win the c3 knight or the exchange.

Junior Club - 2012 competition Final round

Round 5 is the final round of the junior club's competition.  Dylan only had to turn up to win, which he did and is therefore the club's champion for 2012.  There was, however a serious match to play.  Aidan had missed a week, but otherwise had a perfect score.  Top of the table was going to be a heavyweight clash.  The games were:

Dylan    Aidan
Harry   James
Joe      Tom
Raj      Dhillan
Leia     Nicola

Game one: Aidan seemed to win a pawn early, but had moved his f-pawn, with Dylan's bishop on b3 Black couldn't castle, even though he did, but very honestly pointed out his mistake!  With his king stuck in the centre Aidan couldn't fend off Dylan's 'hack' attack.  Yes Dylan is a bona fide hack attacker, which I think is rung one of the chess development ladder.  I remember my own junior days attacking with similar vigour, now I grind out 80 move draws...
Aidan is aiming to skip rung one, as he plays more strategically, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this boy will develop into a very strong player.

Game Two: Harry methodically outplayed James.  Nothing fancy, just won more material and James is now good enough to recognise when a game is hopeless and resigned.  Harry goes about his business with calm determination and is developing into a fine junior player.

Game Three: Joe was too strong for the improving Tom and quickly won his game.  Joe is one of the oldest at the club and has improved the quickest out of all the players.  If he keeps improving he will challenge Dylan's and Aidan's supremacy next year and then it could be adult games for him....

Game four: Raj has just started coming to the club and is good friends with Dhillan.  Dhillan has been coming for longer and that extra experience helped him win the game, just.

Game five: Battle of the girls, which the determined Leia won.  Both players are decent players and I had no idea who was best.  Perhaps they equally matched.

Well done Dylan club champion 2012.

The final standings are:

	Name	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Score
5	Dylan	W,6      3	B,1          3	B,3         3	W,4     3	W,2    3	15
3	Joe	B,9       3	B,4         3	W,5        1	B,2      1	W,6    3	11
4	Harry	B,10     3	W,3        1	W,11      3	B,5       1	W,9    3	11
2	Aidan	W,7     3	X	B,6          3	W,3     3	B,5     1	10
9	James	W,3     1	Bye        3	B,7          2	W,6     3	B,4     1	10
7	Leia	B,2      1	X	W,9         2	B,12    3	W,11  3	9
11	Nicola	Bye     3	X	B,4          1	W,8     2	B,7     1	7
12	Dhillan	X	X	Bye          3	W,7     1	B,13   3	7
6	Tom	B,5      1	W,8         2	W,2         1	B,9      1	B,3     1	6
8	Caroline	W,1     1	B,6          2	X	B,11    2	X	5
13	Raj	X	X	X	Bye     3	W,12  1	4
1	AJ	B,8      3	W,5       1	X	X	X	4
10	Jamie	W,4     1	X	X	X	X	1

Round boxes show Colour, Opponent and score gained.

3 = win, 2 = Draw, 1 = loss.  X = No show