North East clubs welcome new players

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 18 October 2024)

Chess clubs around the North East are staging their biggest recruitment drive of recent years as new players are taking up the game in droves. Encouraged by playing online, many new players are joining chess clubs – in schools, libraries, social clubs and pubs. Clubs are reaching out more to recruit new members – offering a mix of friendly and competitive chess.

Newcastle Chess Club is actively recruiting new players of all levels, from beginner to expert. It meets on Tuesdays 7pm-10.30pm, at The Old George Inn off the Bigg Market, for league chess and friendly games, plus internationally rated blitz tournaments on the first Tuesday of each month.

Newcastle also runs a free drop-in club at Newcastle City Library, 11am-1pm on Saturdays, and a Junior Club at Jesmond Library on Sunday afternoons, 2:30-4:30pm. Go to https://newcastlechessclub.com or contact Tim Wall on 0750 372 2366 for full info.

South Shields has recently moved to The Customs House, Mill Dam, South Shields NE33 1ES. Club nights are on Thursdays, and there is a drop-in club at The Word library on Saturdays, 10am-12 noon. For more info, contact Chris Sayers on calexsayers79@gmail.com.

Gosforth, the region’s biggest club, meets at Gosforth Empire Club, Salters Road, from 7pm-11pm, and a Junior Club on Saturdays, 10am-12 noon. For more details, go to: https://www.gosforthchessclub.co.uk.

Cramlington, the region’s newest club, meets on Fridays from 6:30pm at the council offices in Manor Walks Shopping Centre. For more info, contact: cramlingtonchessclub@gmail.com.

Forest Hall, which meets at the Forest Hall Ex-Servicemen’s Institute, runs adult and junior chess activities on Friday evenings. For more info, contact foresthallchessclub@gmail.com.

Leam Lane meets on Tuesdays at Leam Lane Working Men’s Club, contact johnmarsh1948@hotmail.co.uk.

Gateshead plays on Thursdays from 7:15pm at the Carlton Club, 11 Bellevue Bank, Low Fell NE9 6BQ. Info from: peterdwells@btinternet.com.

Newcastle University’s club is open to students and staff and meets on Thursdays from 6.00pm at the Barbara Strang Teaching Centre. Contact: James-Flint@outlook.com for joining details.

Jesmond play at the Punch Bowl, 125 Jesmond Rd on Thursdays from 7:15pm. To take part, contact: andytrev@gmail.com.

Tynemouth meet on Tuesdays at The Hunting Lodge, Earsdon Road, near West Monkseaton metro. Enquiries to davidslk@btinternet.com.

Tynedale meet on Mondays at Ovington Social Club, The Old School House, Ovington, NE42 6DN. Contact: colin.ripley@gmail.com.

Morpeth plays at Morpeth Rugby Club on Wednesdays. Contact: morpethchessclub@gmail.com.

Alnwick meet at Alnwick Rugby Football Club. Drop a line to gellames@yahoo.com for full info.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: White to play and win.

Puzzle B: Black to play and win.

Puzzle C: White to play and win.

Puzzle D: White to play and win.

ANSWERS:

A: 1 g6! Rxh5 2 g7! Rh1 3 g8(Q)+.
B: 1…Rh1+! 2 Kxh1 Kg3! 3 Rf7 (or 3 Bc4) Re1+.
C: 1 Bh5! gxh5 (or 1…Bd5 2 Bxg6 Bg8 3 Bxf5) 2 g6 hxg6 3 h7 wins.
D: 1 Rd1+ Rg1 2 Rf1! Rxf1+ 3 Kxf1 a5 4 bxa5 b4 5 a6 b3 6 a7 b2 7 a8(Q or B) checkmate.

Gormally storms to blitz victory

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 11 October 2024)

Alnwick Grandmaster Danny Gormally enjoyed a handsome victory in the North East Qualifier for the 2024 UK Blitz Championships, held on Sunday 6th October at Gosforth Empire Club. Gormally scored 14.5 points out of 15, well ahead of the field.

He conceded his only draw to Supratit Banarjee (London) who scored 13. Along with Gormally, Banarjee also qualified for the UK Open Finals in Leamington Spa on November 16. The top two female players qualifying from the North East Zonal were Madara Orlovska (Latvia, 9 points) and Irina Briggs (Leam Lane, 4 points).

Gormally and Banarjee will be competing for a first prize of £1,000 in the National Finals, while the Women’s Championship has a first prize of £500.

The other leading scorers were Husain Nakara (Newcastle University) 10.5, Jude Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka) 10 and FIDE Master Andrew Burnett (Newcastle) 9.5. Twenty-eight players took part.

The event, with a time control of all moves in 3 minutes, plus a bonus of 2 seconds added per move, has been run since 2018. The UK Open Blitz this year attracted a total of 501 players, with two players qualifying from each of the zonals for the Open Finals, and two for the Women’s Finals.

The London zonal attracted the biggest field (176 players), followed by South West (Bristol, 73), Midlands (Birmingham, 64), North West (Manchester, 60), Edinburgh (48), Cardiff (35) and Belfast (17).

The first round of Northumberland Chess Association’s main winter competitions, the Northumbria League and Northumberland Individual Championships, are now underway. Divisions 1, 4 and 6 have been playing their first matches this week.

In Division 1, Newcastle Dragons beat Tynemouth A 4-0, Newcastle University beat Leam Lane 3-1 and Gosforth Empire beat Gosforth Salters 3-1. Jesmond Monarchs have the bye.

In Division 4, Tynemouth C beat Tynedale A 4-0 and Newcastle University B beat Alnwick B 3-1.

And in Division 6, Newcastle Cavaliers beat South Shields Custodians 3-1.

In the Zollner (Open) section of the Northumberland Individual Championships, the early leaders with 1/1 are Tim Wall, Andy Burnett and Nathan Ekanem (Newcastle), and Paul Dargan (Tynemouth). Ekanem pulled off a fine victory over FIDE Master David Walker, who is returning to playing in the competition after several years as its organiser.

PUZZLES

This week’s puzzles illustrate four famous checkmate patterns. For a bonus question, three of the checkmates are named after real chess players from history, and one is named after a fictional character. Which one is the odd one out?

Puzzle A: Black to move (Anastasia’s Mate).

Puzzle B: White to move (Boden’s Mate).

Puzzle C: White to move (Cozio’s Mate).

Puzzle D: White to move (Damiano’s Mate).

ANSWERS:

A: 1…Ne2+ 2 Kh1 Qxh2+! 3 Kxh2 Rh5 checkmate.
B: 1 Qxc6+! bxc6 2 Ba6 checkmate.
C: 1 Qh7+ Kg4 2 Qh3 checkmate.
D: 1 Rh8+! Kxh8 2 Qh5+ Kg8 3 Qh7 checkmate.

Odd one out: ‘Anastasia and the Game of Chess’ was the title of an 1803 novel by Johann Heinse.

Against All Odds: My First Battle in the Zollner

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09/10/2024
by Nathan Ekanem

I may have just played my finest chess game of the year. Despite never entering the Northumbria Individual Championship before, I decided to leap into the deep end and compete in the prestigious Zollner section for the first time.

The championship is divided into three sections, each consisting of a 7-round tournament: the Gilroy (ECF rating under 1700), the Sell (ECF rating under 2000), and the Zollner (no rating limit!). The Zollner is where the crème de la crème of the region battle it out!

My round 1 pairing was the stuff of nightmares. When I opened the message from Mark Mckay (the tournament director) in my inbox, my heart sank. I was paired with the black pieces against the rock-solid and formidable FM David Walker (FIDE 2226)! David needs no introduction in these parts — he’s the top board for the county team (where I usually play bottom boards), top board for Leam Lanes chess club, and has been the individual county champion countless times. No wonder I felt dispirited. But, as we say here, I had to accept my fate and crack on.

The game held yesterday at the Old George, and against all odds, I managed to win! As expected, the famed FM played 1. c4 (The English Opening), and I immediately followed with Nf6, heading towards an Indian formation with the Gufeld Bishop perched on g7. Before the game, I received some pearls of wisdom from FM Tim Wall. He said, “One little piece of advice: Everyone in the Zollner prepares for their opponents. Dave will be looking at your published games :)”. Unfortunately, and as usual, I didn’t prep much, but I did take a cursory glance at what the internet had to offer, if I’m honest 🤪 and found a treasure trove of David’s games dating back to 1999!

I was genuinely impressed with my level of play, maintaining a 93% accuracy and sustained focus throughout (even though my scattered brain is usually all over the place). It’s games like this that make me think I might have the potential to be more than just a chess enthusiast — perhaps a decent player worthy of that knightly pat on the back. 😊 True to my style, I decided to mix things up by sacrificing a pawn, and FM Walker upped the ante by sacrificing his knight on c6, overlooking my brilliant Nf4!! — undoubtedly the move of the game. This led to an exchange of queens that left me a piece up, but I still had to earn my win.

For those who have played solid titled players or strong opponents in general, you’ll know you have to practically finish them to secure a win. The phrase “I was winning” is all too common. With this in mind and with less than 2 minutes on the clock, I managed to keep my cool and make the right moves. After my Bg2, David’s clock slowly dripped down to less than a minute. You could hear him muttering to himself and shaking his head. Shortly after, he looked up at me and extended his hand in resignation.

With this round 1 win against David Walker, I’ve painted a target on my back, but I’m not worried. It’s an incentive to keep playing well. I eagerly look forward to round 2 and hope that lady luck will shine on me again. 😊

Nathan

Gormally fends off young guns

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(Newcastle Chronicle, 4 October 2024)

Alnwick grandmaster Danny Gormally won the 60th Northumberland Weekend Congress, but only after seeing off a strong challenge from three seriously under-rated junior players.

Gormally, rated 2414, won the Open section with 4.5/5. In equal second place on 4/5 were nine-year-old Louis Cheng (Scotland, rated 2047), 13-year-old Fedir Dyshliuk (Ukraine, rated 1855) and 19-year-old Husain Nakara (India, rated 1591).

In Round 2 Gormally was somewhat fortunate to beat Cheng from a worse position, and he only overcame Nakara (a Newcastle University student) after an intense battle. In the final round, Gormally took a quick draw with Dyshliuk to secure sole first prize. Dyshliuk has lived in County Durham since 2022, when his family left Ukraine to escape the war with Russia.

Two of the North East’s strongest veteran players, FIDE Masters David Walker (Leam Lane) and Tim Wall (Newcastle) struggled to keep up with the pace, finishing in the group in joint fifth place on 3.5/5 alongside Theo Khoury (Oxford) and Tommaso Penna (Tynemouth).

A total of 140 players took part in the congress, held at The Parks Leisure Centre, North Shields over 27-28 September. The winners of each section were:

Open

1st: GM Danny Gormally 4.5/5 (£350 and Tyne & Wear Trophy)
Joint 2nd: Fedir Dyshliuk, Louis Cheng and Husain Nakara 4 (£100 each)
U2000: Sean Gordon (£25)
U1900: Mark B Waterfield 3 pts (£25)

Major

1st: Mark Taylor 4.5/5 (£350)
Joint 2nd: Utku Deniz Demir (Newcastle University) and Joel Tofield-Brown (Tynemouth) 4 (£150 each). Tofield-Brown wins the Ian Lambie Trophy.
U1800: Dave Patterson (South Shields) 3.5 (£25)
U1700: Martin Baxter 3.5 (£25)

Minor

Joint 1st: Daniel Williams and Stephen Williams 4.5/5 (£275 each). Daniel Williams wins the Nora Hunter Trophy.
Joint 3rd: Gary Hunter, Noel Boustred (Forest Hall) and Reese Wright (Gosforth) 4 (£33.33 each)
U1500: Gautham Sathishkumar 2.5 (£25)
U1400: Mark Edmundson 2 (£25)

Foundation

Joint 1st: John Thompson and Zac Aynsley 8/10 (£75 each)
3rd: Joey Pramana (Gosforth) 7.5 (£30)
Best Unrated: Sam Cornwell 7 (£25)

The Stanowski Team Trophy went to Newcastle University, who edged out South Shields on tie breaks.
Outstanding performance by a North East Junior was awarded to Daniel Stewart (Newcastle, 1391 ECF).

The next tournament on Tyneside is the North East Qualifier for the UK Open Blitz Championships, which takes place at Gosforth Empire Club on Sunday 6th October. For last minute entries and further info, contact organiser Mick Riding: mickriding@hotmail.co.uk.

Meanwhile, the 2024-25 season gets underway next week with the start of the Northumbria Chess League. A total of 44 teams participating from 13 clubs will take part in six divisions.

PUZZLES

Puzzle A: White-Gormally, 2024. Black to play.

Puzzle B: Wall-Gordon, 2024. White to play.

Puzzle C: Henderson-Wall, 2024. White to play.

Puzzle D: Gormally-Makkar, 2024. White to play.

ANSWERS:

A: 1…Qxd5 2 Rxd5 Bb7 0-1.
B: 1 Qh6! 1-0.
C: 1 f6+! Nxf6 2 Nxf6 Qxf3 3 Nxe8+ Rxe8 4 Rxf3 and White won.
D: 1 Rd6! 1-0. If 1…Bxd6 2 exd6 wins.