(Newcastle Chronicle, 29 March 2024)

Zhang’s victory was an amazing defensive effort, as he survived a classic Greek Gift bishop sacrifice, marched his king to white’s side of the board under enemy fire from queen, rook and knight, won a piece and then coolly converted the endgame win.

Northumberland qualify as Northern Counties champions, as although they finished level on match and game points with Yorkshire, Northumberland won their individual match.

Northumberland now progress to the national semi-finals on June 8, where, according to seeding, they are due to play second-placed Southern Counties team Kent. Yorkshire, as the second-placed northern team, should play Surrey, who finished top of the Southern Counties competition.
The national final is on July 6, and Northumberland will be hoping for a repeat of their 2022 triumph.

Northumberland county chess has revived dramatically over the past few years. Despite being the northernmost county in England, Northumberland (which in chess terms covers Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside, plus clubs affiliated to the Northumbria League) has coped with long travelling distances to compete successfully at a national level.

The resurgence actually began during the Covid pandemic, when Northumberland won the 2020 Online Open Counties Championship, thanks to the sterling efforts of Gosforth’s Mick Riding as team manager.

This was followed by winning the over-the-board Open Counties Championship in 2021-22. Beating Yorkshire 8-8 on board count in the final, it was Northumberland’s first-ever National Counties Championship trophy.

In 2023, Northumberland again won the Northern Counties title, and reached the national semi-finals, losing narrowly to Surrey.

David Watson Memorial

Closer to home, this week Morpeth Chess Club hosted a very successful memorial tournament for David Watson, a highly respected former Northumberland Chess Association secretary who passed away recently at the age of 79.

Thirty-eight players took part, and a total of £225 was raised for Whitley Bay Food Bank and Cancer Research.

The winners of the tournament were:
1 Tim Wall (Newcastle) 5.5/6;
2-4 David Ambruster (Gosforth), David Walker (Leam Lane), Phil Eastlake (Alnwick) 5;
Andy Trevelyan (Jesmond) 4 (best Under 1900 performance);
John Liddle (Gosforth) 3.5 (best Under 1700 performance);
James Charlton (Morpeth) 3 (best Under 1500 performance).
Phil Eastlake was the winner of the David Watson Memorial Trophy for best performance by a Morpeth or Alnwick player.

puzzles

This week’s puzzles are taken from one of the book prizes from the Morpeth Rapidplay: ‘The Complete Chess Workout’ by IM Richard Palliser.

Puzzle A: Alexey Fedorov (White) to play:

Puzzle B: Miklos Galyas (White) to play:

Puzzle C: Normunds Miezis (Black) to play:

Puzzle D: Alexander Ivanov (White) to play:

Answers:

A: 1 Ng6+! Rxg6 2 Qxh7 checkmate.
B: 1 Qxh7+! Nxh7 2 Ng6 checkmate.
C: 1…Nh3+! 2 gxh3 Qxd2 wins.
D: 1 Rxh7+ Kxh7 2 Qh4+ Qh6 3 Ng5+ Kh8 4 Qxh6 checkmate.

(Newcastle Chronicle, 15 March 2024)

The North East’s top player, grandmaster Danny Gormally of Alnwick, won the British Open Rapidplay Championship ahead of a strong field of 216 players, including four GMs, at Peterborough over the weekend of March 2-3.

Gormally, 47, finished first equal on 9/11, and then won a blitz playoff against Ireland’s No. 1 woman player, Trisha Kanyamarala, to take the title and first prize of £600.

In the regional final of the National Schools Championship, RGS beat St Cuthberts High School Newcastle 4-2. The match was closer than the scoreline suggests, as if the final game on Board 2 had gone to St Cuthberts they would have won 3-3 on board count.

Scores in full:

RGS 4-2 St Cuthberts
1 Ben Robinson 0-1 Tom Weinstein
2 Prachi Arora 1-0 Daniel Tong
3 Naman Berry 1-0 Isaac Lancaster
4 Ethan Ross 1-0 Joseph Messer
5 James Phillips 1-0 Aazmeer Ansari
6 James Reid 0-1 Jan Ericho-Briones

In the Northumberland Individual Championships, Tim Wall (Newcastle) leads the Zollner (Open) Championship with 5/5, followed by Gosforth’s Gustavo Leon Cazares (3/4) and Tynemouth’s David Henderson (2.5/4).

In the Sell (Under 1950) tournament, Paul Bielby (South Shields) is leading with 4/5, followed by Mick Riding (3.5), and Raj Mohindra (Forest Hall), James W Ross (Gosforth) and Dalil Bencheba (Leam Lane) on 2.5.

And in the Gilroy (Under 1700) event, Mark McKay (Gosforth) leads with 5/6, ahead of Dave Peardon (South Shields), Andrew Robinson and Alex Blake (both Gosforth) and Kevin Cox (Gateshead) on 4.

In the 2023-24 Northumbria League, Division 1 has been won decisively by Newcastle A, with 10 match wins out of 10 for a maximum 20 points.
The Newcastle team members also feature high on the individual leaderboard, with Tim Wall and Andy Burnett (8/10), Zheming Zhang (7/9) and Nathan Ekanem (5.5/6).

The Division 2 title looks likely to go to Newcastle University A, who have 14 points from 8 matches. Although Gosforth Salters are just ahead on 15 points from 10 matches, the University are expected to overhaul them in their final two fixtures.

Division 3 has been won by Tynemouth B (17 points from 9 matches), ahead of Gosforth Centurions (15 points from 10 matches).

It’s still undecided in Division 4, where Gosforth Hawthorns have 16 points (11 matches), ahead of Leam Lane Bullets (10 matches) and Gosforth Woodbines (11 matches) both on 14 points.

Division 5 looks set to go to Newcastle University B (16 points from 10 matches), even though Forest Hall Owls (12 points from 9 matches) could still mathematically overhaul them.

In Division 6, Newcastle B (12 points from 7 matches) ae close to wrapping up the title, but Alnwick C (10 points from 9 matches) could still theoretically catch them.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: White to play.

Puzzle B: White to play.

Puzzle C: White to play.

Puzzle D: White to play.

Answers:

A: 1 Qxh6+ Kxh6 2 Rh4 checkmate.
B: 1 Qxh6+ gxh6 2 Rxh6+ Rh7 3 Bxf6 checkmate.
C: 1 Qxh7+ Kxh7 2 Rh4+ Kg8 3 Rh8 checkmate.
D: 1 Qxf7+ Kxf7 2 Nh6+ Kf8 3 Rg8+ Ke7 Rg7+ Kf8 5 Rf7 checkmate.