Summer Cup groups promise last-round thriller

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 28 June 2024)

As any England football fan can tell you, the final matches of group stages in knockout competitions are when things get really tense. In the Northumberland Chess Association Summer Cup and Plate, the group stages are now nearly concluded.

With two qualifying places in each group up for grabs (one for the Cup semi-finals, and one for the Plate semi-finals) there is one round to go before the semi-final places are decided.

The thriller will come in Group A, where four teams – Gosforth Empire, Gosforth Regents, Jesmond and Forest Hall Magpies – are joint leaders on 6 points from four matches. In Round 4, Gosforth Jedis lost 3.5-4 to Jesmond, Gosforth Regents beat Forest Hall Magpies 3-1, and Gosforth Empire beat Newcastle C 4-2.5. The fifth and final round will see crucial matches Gosforth Empire v Forest Hall Magpies and Gosforth Regents v Jesmond, with the winners in each match going through to the semi-finals in September.

Things are now clearer in Group B, where Gosforth Ivy lost 3.5-4 to Newcastle A, and Gosforth Salters lost 3-4.5 to Forest Hall Badgers. Regardless of the Round 5 results, leaders Forest Hall Badgers on 8 points will go through to the Cup semi-finals, thanks to their lower average rating. But second-placed Gosforth Salters (6 points) face a tough battle in the last round with Newcastle A (4 points) for the Plate qualification spot.

In the smaller Northumberland-based Group C, where the matches finished in early June, Morpeth A (6 points) are through to the Cup Semi-Final, while second-placed Morpeth B (4 points) face a playoff match with the highest third-placed team from the other groups for a place in the Plate semi-finals.

In Group D, Gosforth Centurions (8 points) beat Gateshead (6 points) 3.5-2 to go sole top, while Newcastle B beat Tynedale 2-1. No other team can catch Gosforth Centurions or Gateshead, so the final round will decide which of those two teams goes into the Cup semis and which team goes into the Plate semis.

This Saturday, June 29, sees the English Open Counties Final over 16 boards between Northumberland and Surrey at Newark-on-Trent, where the North East team will be trying to secure their second national title in three years. Fans wishing to follow the games remotely can watch the games live on a big screen at Gosforth Empire Club, 32-24 Salters Road, Gosforth from 1:30pm, or online at: https://lichess.org/broadcast. The English Chess Federation is also aiming to broadcast live commentary of the match.

The next major event in the regional chess calendar is the Northumberland and Durham Blitz Championships, which take place at The Word, South Shields, on Sunday 7 July from 11am-3pm. To enter, contact: eddie@southshieldschessclub.co.uk.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: Garry Kasparov (white) to play

Puzzle B: Paul Morphy (white) to play

Puzzle C: Nigel Short (white) to play

Puzzle D: Akiba Rubinstein (black) to play

ANSWERS:

A: 1 Rd7! Rxd7 2 Bxc4 bxc4 3 Qxh8 and white wins.
B: 1 Qb8+! Nxb8 2 Rd8 checkmate.
C: 1 Kf4! Bc8 2 Kg5! 1-0. If 2…Bxd7 3 Kh6, or 2…Kh7 3 Qxg6+.
D: 1…Rxc3! 2 gxh4 Rd2! 3 Qxd2 Bxe4+ 4 Qg2 Rh3 0-1.

Juniors and veterans shine at North East rapidplay

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 21 June 2024)

The annual Northumberland and Durham Rapidplay Championships attracted a strong field last Saturday, with players of all ages and strengths taking part.

The championships, held at the Forest Hall Social Club in Palmersville, included separate tournaments for adult and junior players, and resulted in wins for Charlie Storey (Morpeth) and Lev Drobiazko (Gosforth), respectively.

The Open Championship was won by Storey with 6/6, ahead of David Walker (Leam Lane) on 5. In joint third place were Bill Wilson (Hartlepool), Fedir Dyshliuk and Ian Chester (Gosforth), John Marsh (Leam Lane), Hanif Zaman and Raj Mohindra (Forest Hall) on 4 points.

The Major Championship was shared four ways between Chester, Marsh, Zaman and Mohindra, while the Minor Championship was shared by James Flint (Newcastle University), Long Phan (Newcastle), Heorhii Polonskyi (Gosforth) and Michael Smalley (Newcastle) on 3 points.

In the Junior (Under 18) competition, all four top places were occupied by Gosforth players: Drobiazko (8 points out of 10), Jiatong Wu (7.5) and brothers Gautham and Sanjay Sathishkumar (both 7.5).

The Rapidplay Championships are one of many events going on in the North East this summer. The fourth round of the Northumberland Summer Cup takes place in the next few days, with six matches at Gosforth Empire Club on Monday 24 June, and three more matches at The Old George, Newcastle on Wednesday 26 June.

The Northumberland County Team will play at Newark, Nottinghamshire, in the National Open Counties Final on Saturday June 29, where they take on Surrey. Northumberland will be trying to emulate their previous title win in the competition in 2022.

The Northumberland and Durham Blitz Championships will take place at The Word in South Shields on Sunday 7th July. Entries are being accepted by Eddie Czestochowski at: eddie@southshieldschessclub.com.

North East juniors will also be in action in the EJCOA National Youth Championships in Nottingham over the weekend of 5-7 July, and the following Sunday, July 14, Gosforth Junior Chess Club is hosting a junior tournament open to all players under 18 at St Mary’s Catholic School, Longbenton. For more details, contact: mickriding@hotmail.co.uk.

The big event at the end of summer is the Northumbria Masters, which this year is being held at the Dolphin Centre, Darlington, from August 22-26. There are three different FIDE rated tournaments for North East players to enter, and entries are being taken at: https://northumbriamasters.com.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: White to play and win

Puzzle B: Black to play and win

Puzzle C: White to play and win

Puzzle D: Black to play and win

ANSWERS:

A: 1 Qxf6+! Kxf6 2 Nd7+.
B: 1…Rd2! 2 Qxd2 Nxf3+.
C: 1 Rxh6! gxh6 2 Qg6+ Kf8 3 Nh7 checkmate.
D: 1…Nb3+! 2 axb3 Rfc8+ 3 Bc3 Rxc3+! 4 bxc3 Ba3 checkmate.

Underdogs Northumberland reach national finals

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 14 June 2024)

Northumberland have qualified for the equivalent of the FA Cup Final of chess for the second time in the county’s history, thanks to a thrilling win over higher-ranked Kent.

The Northumberland Open team beat Kent in the National Counties Championship semi-finals by the narrow margin of 6.5-5.5 on Saturday 8th June, and now go on to play Surrey in the final on June 29. In the other semi-final, Surrey beat Yorkshire decisively by the margin 10-6.

Northumberland’s victory over Kent, at Newark, Nottinghamshire, was achieved by an all-round team performance, even though Northumberland were the underdogs on rating. Northumberland’s wins were scored by Tim Wall (Newcastle), Graeme Oswald (Leam Lane), David Armbruster (Gosforth) and Ed Dodds (Jesmond). With the help of draws by David Walker (South Shields), Andy Burnett (Newcastle), Andrew Dunn (Ashington), Zheming Zhang (Newcastle) and Nathan Ekanem (Newcastle), the North East team were able to come back from being two points down at one stage to emerge as winners at the end of the four-hour match.

Even if Kent had managed to draw level on 6-6, the match would have gone to Northumberland on tie-break, due to their winning games on higher boards. The surprise on the top boards was achieved by Wall, the Northumberland captain, who was playing against a much higher rated player, Grandmaster and renowned chess author Neil McDonald (Gravesend).

The final on June 29, also to be played at Newark, will be a tough fixture for Northumberland, as Surrey are likely to field a team that includes five experienced International Masters: Graeme Buckley, Susan Lalic, Peter Large, Chris Baker and Nigel Povah. The Counties Championship Final has been brought forward a week to allow the Surrey IMs to play for England in the Over 50s and Over 65s sections of the World Senior Team Championships in Poland.

In the North East, this weekend sees a good opportunity for Northumberland’s county players to get some match practice in before the national final. The Northumberland & Durham Rapidplay Championships take place at Forest Hall Social Club, Palmersville on Saturday June 15. The Open & Major and Minor tournaments start at 11:00am and run until 6:00pm. A junior tournament, for players under 18 years old, runs from 12:30pm to 6pm. Games will be played at the time control of 20 minutes plus 10 seconds for the adult tournaments, and 10 minutes plus 5 seconds for the junior tournament. Entries are being taken online at https://northumbriamasters.com and via email by writing to: timpeterwall@gmail.com. Cash entries will also be accepted on the day.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: McDonald (white) v. Wall (black). Black to play.

Puzzle B: Yoo (white) v Vachier-Lagrave (black). White to play.

Puzzle C: Aronian (white) v Keinanen (black). Black to play.

Puzzle D: Bortnyk (white) v Firouzja (black). Black to play.

ANSWERS:

A: 1…Be5! 0-1.
B: 1 Rxe6! Qxe6 2 Nxc5+ 1-0.
C: 1…e3! 2 gxh6 (if 2 Qxe3 Qxd1+, or 2 Nf3 Qxg2 checkmate) exd2 3 Qe2 Qxd1+! 4 Qxd1 Ra1 0-1.
D: 1…Nxd4! 2 Bxd7 Rxe1+ 3 Rxe1 Nf3+ 4 Kh1 Bg2+! 5 Kxg2 Nxe1+ 0-1.

Gosforth teams dominate Summer Handicap

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 7 June 2024)

Whether it is the football Euros or the T20 Cricket World Cup, the group stages of any sporting competition are all about the hope and the glory. The underdogs hope of qualifying, while everyone wants the glory of ultimate victory.

After three out of five World Cup-style group stage rounds of Northumberland Chess Association’s Summer Handicap, the favourites to qualify are emerging, with four Gosforth teams in the running for a total of eight Cup and Plate semi-final places.

In the Handicap, lower-rated teams are given extra points to balance out the matches, so a higher-rated team may often have to win 3.5-0.5 or 4-0 to win the match.

Group A is being led by three teams on 4 match points: Gosforth Empire (who play in Division 1 in the Northumbria League), Gosforth Regents (a Division 2 side) and Forest Hall Magpies (a third-division team this season).

In Group B, Gosforth Salters (a Division 2 team) are on 6 points, with their nearest rivals Forest Hall Badgers (a Division 5 team) on 4. The dark horse for a qualifying spot is Newcastle A, currently on 2 points from two matches, who faltered against a strengthened Newcastle University team in Round 2.

Group C, which only has four teams, has been won by Morpeth A on 6 match points. The lowest rated of Alnwick, Tynemouth or Morpeth B (who all scored 2 points) now go into a playoff match for a Plate semi-final place with the highest scoring third placed team in the other three groups.

In Group D, it’s a tie so far on 6 points between 4th Division Gateshead and 3rd Division Gosforth Centurions, clearly ahead of South Shields, Leam Lane and Tynedale on 2, and Newcastle B on 0.

Two Group A matches and one Group B match were due to be played on Thursday evening at the Punch Bowl Hotel in Jesmond. One of the outstanding matches had been rearranged from Monday to accommodate football-mad players from Forest Hall, who went to see England beat Bosnia 3-0 at St. James’ Park on Monday.

The fourth round of the Summer Handicap takes place in the week beginning June 24.

Entries are still being accepted for the upcoming Northumberland & Durham Rapidplay Championships, which take place at Forest Hall Social Club on Saturday June 15. The Open & Major, Minor and Junior tournaments start at 11:00am and run until 5:00pm. Entries are being taken online at https://northumbriamasters.com and via email by writing to: timpeterwall@gmail.com. Cash entries will also be accepted on the day.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: Stuart Skelsey (white) to play.

Puzzle B: David Walker (white) to play.

Puzzle C: Stuart Skelsey (black) to play.

Puzzle D: Magnus Carlsen (white) to play.

ANSWERS:

A: 1 Qxf7+! Rxf7 2 Re8+ Rf8 3 Bd5+ Kh8 4 Rxf8 checkmate.
B: 1 Rxf6+! Bxf6 (1…Qxf6 2 Bxc5+) 2 Bh6+ Qg7 (2…Bg7 3 Rf1+) 3 Qxg6 1-0.
C: 1…Qxd4! wins a pawn, as if 2 cxd4 Rxc1+ 3 Nf1 Rxf1 checkmate.
D: 1 Nxf7! Bxf7 2 e6 Bg8 3 Kd7 1-0. If 3…Bf7 4 exf7 Kxf7 5 Kd6 wins.