The club where your moves matter
Worsbrough Common Primary School are the 2009 Barnsley Primary School Chess Champions having beaten Barugh Green Primary in an exciting final played at Worsbrough Common on Friday 19th June.
Five teams took part in the knockout competition Burton Road , Oxspring, Barugh Green, Penistone St.Johns and Worsbrough Common.
Worsbrough's winning team included Lamal Arnold, Rohan Chitoriski, James Moore, Taylor Jackson,
Jamie Goodliffe and Kledis Octovic.
Elisha Bates played in the semi final win against Burton Road.
Amazingly both semi finals and the final initially ended in 3-3 draws.
The Barnsley Chess Club Trophy was presented to the winners by John Stevens of Barnsley Chess Club at a special assembly on Friday 26th June.
Feedback from those taking part was very encouraging with everyone keen to continue to play chess.
Click here for full details of the Barnsley Blitz including team and individual results tables, reports and photos.
Barnsley Chess Club organised a ten minute four player team event called the Barnsley Blitz on Wednesday 6th May 2009 at Birdwell Methodist Church.
The event consisted of 16 teams. Each team comprised of four players. Each team player had 10 minutes to complete their game.
The teams were split into two groups of eight called gold and silver according to the average team grade. Each team competed in six rounds against six other teams in their group.
The team winners of the gold group were Nomads I (Jonathan Nelson, Kieran O'Driscoll, Chris Shephard, Mohammad Said) with 36 points out of a possible 48 points.
The gold group individual top scorers were Chris Shephard (177), Mohammad Said (165) both Nomads I and Tony Pogson (153) Barnsley I with 10 points out of a possible 12 points.
Since tie-breaks went to the least graded player Tony Pogson collected the gold individual award.
The team winners of the silver group were Barnsley II (Gary Hinchcliffe, Ken Hunter, Dave Greensmith, Tony Farrell) with 35 points out of a possible 48 points.
The silver group individual top scorers were Thomas Pitcher (141) Wombwell and Tony Farrell (119) Barnsley II with 11 points out of a possible 12 points.
Since tie-breaks went to the least graded player Tony Farrell collected the silver individual award.
The event was run with the aim of making a donation to 'The Barnsley Builders' a local charity supported by the hosts Birdwell Methodist Church. The event raised over £250 for the charity including £100 donated by South Yorkshire Police to Jan and Barry Eldred of the Barnsley Builders whose next project is building homes in Comanesti, Romania.
Barnsley Chess Club would like to thank all who made the event a success - Tony Farrell for organising the event, Birdwell Methodist Church who provided the venue, hospitality and refreshments, Mary and Paul Horswill who kept the tournament scores up to date, Chess Direct for sponsoring the event, all the Barnsley Chess Club members who helped run the event and all the other players and teams who participated on the night.
Hopefully there will be another Barnsley Blitz next year. If you have any comments or suggestions can you please contact Richard Hall here.
The last chance saloon had arrived! Needing only two points from their last three games and gaining only one point from their last two games meant that your heroes had to draw this final match to ensure first division safety. Our opponents Ecclesall on the same number of points faced the same predicament.
Woodseats A who came equal first last year before losing a play off for the championship had done what was needed of them earlier in the week. A 6-2 win against Rotherham Juniors A meant a play-off waited either defeated team in this fixture.
Barnsley hoped to line-up with their strongest side fielded the previous week which drew with Chesterfield. Alas Andy Butterworth contracted a case of the trots. Although able captain John stepped in on bottom board all boards apart from the top board had to 'move up'.
All eyes were on Ecclesall - what team would they field? In the end they produced almost their strongest team so honours were about even, a close match was expected. With the stakes so high who would lose their nerve first?
Every player from both teams was aware of the situation. They kept one eye on their game and another on the remaining boards to try to evaluate the match score. It seemed the unsung order of the day was not to lose!
Having assessed the other games as two unclear, two better, one worse and two even, first to draw was yours truly on board three. With most of my pawns being on the same colour as my bishop I had a marginally worse position but no serious weaknesses and difficulties. With mass exchanges on the horizon hands were shaken.
Next to finish was board six in an unclear tactical complex position with chances for both sides. Neither player wanted to risk resigning.
On top board White had sacrificed a bishop for three connected passed pawns and some attacking chances. Black managed to manoeuvre his king to safety on the other side of the board and successfully blockade the pawns. Unfortunately this was all he could achieve and a draw was soon agreed.
Board two saw a bit of monkey business with Whites orang-utan (1.b4) opening winning a pawn with the better game. No sooner had white won the pawn he blundered it back ! Pieces were then exchanged and each team gained another half point from an equal ending.
Nearing the time control two other games on boards four and five were drawn. In both cases White had pressure on the Black position. However both Blacks defended carefully and whittled down Whites advantage in both instances before splitting the points.
Two games were left. Black had the advantage in both games. On bottom board blacks pressure led to the win of a pawn, extra material and the game despite being low on time. Ecclesall had taken the lead ! Barnsley needed to win the last game to draw the match!
The last game on board seven saw Barnsley had the advantage. Blacks pressure finally won him a pawn and then another. Going into the time scramble Black had three pawns against Whites one in a rook and pawn ending. Black after missing one clear win allowed White to counter with the chance of winning a pawn. This pawn was taken but allowed Black to set has own passed pawn in motion costing White his rook and the game.
The match had ended up a draw and both teams were safe!
We went into this match still seeking the precious two points needed to guarantee Divison One survival. Our chances were dealt a serious blow before the match even started, when poor Martin found that the lock to his house had seized up and he could not open his door !
Fireman John tried his best to rescue Martin but to no avail, so we began the match a board down and with everybody below board two moving up a board.
Both teams top boards, Andrew Drabble and Jonathan Arnott, were absent but otherwise all regular players were available. Fortunately the University did not see a need to field either of their IM.
We lined up Andy, Tony Pogson, Gary, Ken, myself, Tony Farrell and John against Prasun Chakravorty, Mithun Chakravorty, Youra Taroyan, Suzy Blackburn, Azmiddin Mohammad, Omar Veledar and Mark Atherton.
We were heavily outgraded on every board except boards 5 and 6.
I finished fairly early, playing a good active game with black against Mohammad's awkward Trompovsky (1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bg5). He achieved a slight space advantage but dithered and dallied, allowing me to open the key g-file with advantage and threaten mate with a powerful Queen and Bishop combined attack. He failed to find a defence and lost on time.
The first time I saw John's game he was aleady two pieces down; not sure what had happened but it was obviously very bad.
The most unfortunate result occurred on Board 6, where Tony missed a clear and immediate win after playing a strong game.
Veledar somehow grovelled out of the attack and emerged a safe piece up.
There was some explosive chess on Board 3, where Taroyan brilliantly offered up an unacceptable rook sacrifice which blew Gary away. Taroyan's great tactical awareness looked hugely impressive to me as a casual spectator, but was it all sound?
Board 4 saw a major disappointment. Ken totally outplayed Blackburn in one of my own favourite openings, the King''s Indian Attack, leaving her in a hopeless position two pawns down in a single rook ending. Then things started to go badly awry. Ken seemed unable to develop a clear winning plan, and Blackburn raced well ahead on time in the blitz play-off. Finally, Ken raised the white flag and offered a draw, which his opponent of course immediately accepted.
On Board 1, Andy seemed under a lot of pressure from Prasun in a Two Knights, but he stuck doggedly to the defensive task and eventually held on for a draw, while on Board 2 Tony once again comfortably defeated Mithun positionally, to complete a notable double over his 181-rated opponent.
So the final result was a 5-3 defeat, in a game which we could certainly have drawn and maybe even won had we taken our chances.
The event will take place on Wednesday 6th May 2009
at Birdwell Methodist Church.
The event will be an all play all team event.
Depending on team entries there will be one or two groups
split according to strength using the average team grade.
Each team must consist of four players from the same club.
Each team player will have 10 minutes to complete their game
Team Entries are invited from local chess clubs.
Initially each club can enter two teams.
There is a limit of 16 teams.
Entries will be accepted on a first come first served basis
- so get your entries in early to reserve your place !!
There is an entry fee of £10 per team.
In each section the winning team will recieve a chess clock
and the player with the most points will receive a cash prize.
The closing date for entries is Monday the 4th May 2009.
You can enter by email or by post.
If you are interested in taking part in the first Barnsley Blitz
more details are given in the entry form
here
alternatively you can email the event secretary here.
Remember to get your entry in early to avoid disappointment !
Click here for latest details.
Report by David Greensmith
Move over Van der Sar, Reina and Cech !! The best save of the (chess) season, clearly occurred on Monday March 30th when your heroes travelled to Chesterfield. We were without top board Andrew Drabble, but this was balanced by the absence of Chesterfeld's new, very powerful, top board Hubert Mossong (rated over 200) so honours more then even. We lined up Andy, Tony Pogson, Martin, Ken, Gary, myself, Tony Farrell and John against Dave Latham, Mike Alcock, Mike Johnson, Steve Housley, Andrew Mort, Martin Howard, Steve Bracey and that well known regular campaigner, A.N. Other. Chesterfield outgraded us by around 10 points or more, on every board.
Your scribe achieved a "goal-less draw" fairly rapidly against Howard, and I make no apologies for stodging around as I remember Howard being rated 188 at his best. Surely he must retain some of that great ability - at least enough to see me off ?
Finishing early allowed me to view the remaining games at length, and it became apparent that Andy, both Tonys, Gary (maybe still mentally on holiday ?) and Ken were all getting pasted, with only Martin and John holding equality. In the event Tony Pogson manged to somehow salvage a draw from what looked like a hopeless position with Alcock crashing through in the centre, and then Andy Mort remarkably dropped a piece to Ken in clearly won position from his usual d4 bore. With Mort still two connected pawns up for the piece, Ken got the three white feathers out and agreed a draw. Bracey duly finished off Tony Farrell in good style - a fine attack in typical Bracey "take no prisoners" style - and Housleys relentless pressure defeated Gary comfortably. John then agreed a draw in a very even position on bottom board.
So at this stage we stood 2-4 down, with Andy under massive tactical mating pressure on Board One where Latham had chucked the kitchen sink at Andy's K-side castled king in a hairy Sicilian. Running away seemed an eminently sensible option, and Andy somehow got his King clean away to safety on the Queenside, after which a ferocious Queen and Bishop threat along the a8 to h1 diagonal rapidly finished Latham off. A fascinating game worthy of publishing on the website.
Still 3-4 down, we now needed Martin to somehow win his apparently dead drawn game in the time scramble (Martin was a pawn up, but a doubled pawn and very limited chances). However, in a classic "Portillo moment" (see **) Martin managed to checkmate Johnson with 20 seconds left on his clock, to complete a remarkable recovery to draw 4-4 and further enhance our chances of Division One survival.
In summary, a great save against much stronger opposition !
(** A Portillo moment describes a situation when, when you think things surely cannot get any better, they suddenly do. Named after the Tory MP Michael Portillo. In the 1997 General Election when the Tories were trounced and, for centre-left voters at least, things could surely get no better, Portillo lost his seat at 3 AM).
Unfulfilled Vacancies. The proposal to compel promotion (where nobody applies for the vacancy) was defeated. The vote actually went 12-11 in favour of the new change but required a two-thirds majority so the motion was defeated.
The rule to change Division 1 to 6 players caused considerable intense debate. The motion was eventually defeated by 14 votes to 12 so Division 1 stays at 8 players.
Nomads A did not accept promotion to the 1st division - the casual vacancy went to Rotherham Juniors A (uncontested). Division 1 will therefore comprise :- Nomads A, Woodseats A, University A, Chesterfield A, Ecclesall A, Phoenix A, Barnsley A, Worksop A, Rotherham Juniors A.
Worksop had declined promotion the previous year but, having secured the services of Jim Burnett, they have now accepted.
Barnby Dun have left the League altogether!
Nomads C accepted promotion to Division 2.
The Division 2 line-up is:- Ecclesall B, Nomads B, Nomads C, SASCA A, Phoenix B, Stannington A, Clay Cross A,
Aughton A, Barnsley B.
All Fees and subscriptions stayed the same.
Resignations.
Bill Ward, who has been very ill, tendered his resignation as General Secretary but nobody volunteered to take his place. Bill eventually said he would carry on.
Mike Brumby stated he was also resigning as Treasurer at the end of the season - again nobody volunteered to take his place.
| Event | 07 Apr | 12 May | 02 Jun | 04 Aug | 01 Sep | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Hall | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 40 |
| Vlad Shaposhnikov | 15 | 10.5 | 11 | 12 | 38 | |
| John Stevens | 12 | 8.5 | 12 | 32.5 | ||
| Tony Leon | 11 | 8.5 | 8 | 11 | 30.5 | |
| Andy Butterworth | 15 | 15 | 30 | |||
| Robbie Merc | 9 | 10.5 | 9 | 10 | 29.5 | |
| Tony Pogson | 15 | 14 | 29 | |||
| Tony Farrell | 14.5 | 14 | 28.5 | |||
| Richard Desmedt | 14 | 13 | 27 | |||
| Gerry Thickett | 10 | 7 | 10 | 27 | ||
| Ken Hunter | 14.5 | 14.5 |
Click here for the previous results of the five minute quickplay grand prix.
Note: The points totals do not match the progressive round scores.
| Round | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Butterworth | 0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 8 | 15 |
| Tony Farrell | 1 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 14 |
| Richard Hall | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 6 | 13 |
| Vlad Shaposhnikov | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| Tony Leon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| Robbie Merc | 0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 10 |
Click here for the previous results of the five minute quickplay grand prix.
| Event | 07 Apr | 12 May | 02 Jun | 04 Aug | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Hall | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 40 |
| Vlad Shaposhnikov | 15 | 10.5 | 11 | 36.5 | |
| John Stevens | 12 | 8.5 | 12 | 32.5 | |
| Tony Pogson | 15 | 14 | 29 | ||
| Robbie Merc | 9 | 10.5 | 9 | 28.5 | |
| Tony Leon | 11 | 8.5 | 8 | 27.5 | |
| Richard Desmedt | 14 | 13 | 27 | ||
| Gerry Thickett | 10 | 7 | 10 | 27 | |
| Andy Butterworth | 15 | 15 | |||
| Tony Farrell | 14.5 | 14.5 | |||
| Ken Hunter | 14.5 | 14.5 |
Click here for the previous results of the five minute quickplay grand prix.
Note: The points totals do not match the progressive round scores.
| Round | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Farrell | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14.5 |
| Ken Hunter | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14.5 |
| Richard Hall | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4.5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 13 |
| John Stevens | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 12 |
| Vlad Shaposhnikov | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 11 |
| Gerry Thickett | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| Robbie Merc | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 9 |
| Tony Leon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
Click here for the previous results of the five minute quickplay grand prix.