North East county teams aim for national titles

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 2 February 2024)

Northumberland’s teams are gearing up for another crack at the national county championships, two years after winning the 2022 Open Championship for the first time in the county’s history.

Northumberland, which also includes players from Newcastle, North Tyneside and clubs south of the Tyne, is playing in the Open and Under 1650 competitions.

The Northumberland teams play northern qualifying matches against Manchester on February 17, at the York Quaker Meeting House, and against Yorkshire on March 24, at Darlington’s Dolphin Centre.

Anyone interested in playing for the Northumberland teams should contact the county captain, Tim Wall: timpeterwall@gmail.com. New players are always welcome.

Wall is also in action in the 2023-24 Northumberland Individual Championships, which this season include players aged from eight to 87.

Wall is leading the Zollner (Open) section after four straight wins.
Full scores:
1 Wall (Newcastle) 4/4; ahead of
2 David Henderson (Tynemouth) 2.5;
3 Andy Trevelyan (Jesmond) 2;
4-5 Gustavo Leon Cazares & David Armbruster (both Gosforth) 1;
6 Chris Izod (Jesmond) 0.5; 7 Gary Murphy (Jesmond) 0.

Eighty-seven year-old veteran Paul Bielby (South Shields) is currently the joint leader with Mick Riding (Gosforth) of the Sell (Under 2000) competition.
Full scores:
1-2 Bielby & Riding 3/4;
3-4 Raj Mohindra (Forest Hall) & James Ross (Gosforth) 2.5;
5-6 Stuart Skelsey (Forest Hall) & John Clarke (Tynemouth) 2;
7-8 Morgan French (Forest Hall) & Dalil Benchebra (Leam Lane) 1.5;
9-10 Ian Chester & Alex Blake (both Gosforth) 1.

In the Gilroy (Under 1700) event, Jeff Baird (Forest Hall) is clear leader, while eight-year-old Lev Drobiazko (Gosforth) is making his debut.
Full scores:
1 Baird 3.5/4;
2-7 Dave Peardon (South Shields), Andrew Robinson, Mark McKay, Alex Blake, David Pritchard (all Gosforth), Kevin Cox (Gateshead) 3;
8 David Simm (Morpeth) 2.5;
9-13 Morgan French (Forest Hall), Denise Mosse (Gateshead), Andrew Hardy (Alnwick), Joseph Miller (Leam Lane), Drobiazko 2;
14-18 Bob Heyman, Aaron Cheung, Gautham Sathishkumar (all Gosforth), Jonathan Solomon (Forest Hall), Steve Downey (Leam Lane) 1.5;
19-20 Albert Griffiths (Gosforth), Ethan Tatters (Forest Hall) 1;
21-22 Robert Appleby (Leam Lane), Sanjay Sathishkumar (Gosforth) 0.

For those who like their chess fast and furious, the next 9-round Newcastle FIDE-rated Blitz is on Monday February 12 at the Tyneside Irish Centre. Kickoff is at 7:15pm, with a time control of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. Entry is £5 on the door, with entry fees returned as prizes. To enter, contact timpeterwall@gmail.com or 0750 372 2366.

This week’s puzzles are from the recent Tata Steel Congress.

Puzzle A: Anish Giri (Black) to play & win

Puzzle B: Alireza Firouzja (White) to play & win

Puzzle C: Hans Niemann (Black) to play and win.

Puzzle D: Parham Maghsoodloo (White) to play & win

Answers:

A: 1…Qf6! 0-1. If 2 f3 axb3 3 fxe4 Qxd4+.
B: 1 Qd3! 1-0. If 1…Bc5 2 Rxe4 dxe4 3 Qd7 checkmate.
C: 1…Qxe2+! 2 Kxe2 Bxf4+! 3 Ke1 Bxg3+ 4 Kf1 Rxd1 checkmate.
D: 1 Rc8! Qxc8 2 Nb6+! Ka5 3 Nxc8 wins.