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Issues from 2004–05 and 2005–06 are also available.
Archived news from earlier in the season will appear here. For the latest news, visit the Home page.
News from 2004–05 and 2005–06 is also available.
The Extinction Chess tournament (games are won by capturing all of the pieces of one type, such as both of the enemy bishops) duly twisted everyone’s brains inside out. The winner, neatly demonstrating the flexibility of young minds, was Jordan Nicholson, with a perfect 5/5. Sixteen players took part. Details
The Junior Problem Solving Championship, run by John Crawley, was won by Michael Zhang. Mohammed Mozaffari was second and Ella Macleod came third.
The 2007 grading list is now online at the ECF grading page, or you can go directly to the West Nottingham grades.
As usual, we note a few performances. Most improved adult: Ian Kingston (155; up 12 points); Most improved junior: Aarav Gupta-Kaistha (73; up 30 points). Gavin Nguyen (183) remains the club’s top player. Amisha Parmar (166) is now the English Girls No. 1; Lateefah Messam-Sparks (137) is ranked 8th in the country.
Update (28 July): The ECF has been swift to correct the accidental misgrading of the 2007 Nottingham Rapidplay as a standard play tournament. Several WNCC grades have altered, mostly upward.
Sixteen players competed in this year’s Lightning Championship, which ended in a four-way tie for first place between Phillip Burley, Andrew Garside, Ian Kingston and Sohum Dhir. Phil won the title on tie-break, with the Under 16 and Under 13 championships going to Andrew and Sohum, respectively. Full details and report.
More success for WNCC juniors, this time in the Nottingham Junior High School team, which tied for first place in this year’s National Primary Schools Championship. Details aren’t yet available. The WNCC contingent were Andrew Garside, Arun Maini and Tom Wild.
West Nottingham’s juniors were once again well represented in the successful Nottingham High School team, which won the National title for the third successive year, Michael Keetley, Jonathan Day and Daniel Lin forming half of the team. In the absence of anything on the ECF’s web site, details can be found on the SCCU site.
The Nottinghamshire Chess Association’s AGM was held at the club on 2 July. David Levens was re-elected unopposed as President; Ian Kingston continues as Records Secretary, Bulletin Editor and Webmaster; David and Ian continue as County Championship organisers and will jointly handle the Publicity Officer’s role; and the Special Events portfolio (now including the Handicap KO) remains with West Nottingham.
West Nottingham Nightmare fell at the final hurdle, losing 7–2 to Mansfield in the final.
The Club Championship concluded on 25 June with the final game between Ian Kingston and Jonathan Day. Ian won a tense, fluctuating struggle to take the title. The game is now online.
The rapidplay phase of the Club Championship concluded on 18 June with the final two rapidplay games. Ian Kingston and Jonathan Day qualified for the final, to be played on 25 June.
Jonathan also won the Under 16 Championship. Andrew Garside won the Under 13 Championship.
The Club Championship began on 11 June with the first two rapidplay games. Ian Kingston and Phillip Burley are the early leaders with 2/2.
Several West Nottingham members took part in the NCA Blitz Championship on 4 June. The best WN score came from David Levens (4/6). Tracey Clegg took the U100 prize with 3/6, having begun with 3/3. Jonathan Day also scored 3/6 to win the junior prize.
This year’s club championship starts on 11 June. More details soon.
A new issue of the club newsletter is now available. Copies have been emailed out or can be collected at the club.
West Nottingham Daydream came within a whisker of joining West Nottingham Nightmare in the final of the Handicap KO, losing 5–4 to Mansfield. The date and (neutral) venue for the final have yet to be arranged.
Many of the club’s junior members were among the 348 competitors in the Trent Megafinal of the British Land UK Chess Challenge. They reached the Megafinal either through competitions held at school or through a qualifying round run by John Crawley during junior sessions at the club.
Five of our juniors took first place in their age group, and most of the rest scored the necessary 4 points to qualify for the next stage – the Gigafinal. The West Nottingham qualifiers are listed below (section winners in bold):
With the division won (thanks to results elsewhere), WNA were looking to improve on the lacklustre show against the same opposition the previous week. Instead, the wheels all but came off.
WN3’s season came to a disappointing close after a good start.
Lateefah Messam-Sparks represented England in the Girls Under 15 section of the World School Championship, from 27 April to 6 May. She got off to a flyer – 3/3 – but ran into the top seed in Round 4 and the second seed in Round 6. However, wins in Rounds 7 and 8, followed by a last round draw pushed Lateefah into a fine 3rd place – congratulations! Round by round:
| Round | Opponent | Rating | Result | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Precious Flaharty (Virgin Islands) | – | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Jessica Thilaganathan (England) | 1906 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Ilinca Vericeanu (Romania) | 1619 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | WFM Irina Bulmaga (Moldova) | 2149 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Natalia Kopylova (Russia) | 1851 | ½ | 3½ |
| 6 | WFM Bika Bulatkhanova (Russia) | 2054 | 0 | 3½ |
| 7 | Despina Babageorgopolou (Greece) | 1663 | 1 | 4½ |
| 8 | Victoria Chan Wei-Yi (Singapore) | 1891 | 1 | 5½ |
| 9 | Maria Manelidou (Greece) | 1885 | ½ | 6 |
This was supposed to be the title decider, but with Derby & Mickleover D slipping up in their previous match the result was academic. Just as well – WNB also faltered.
Despite a fast start from David Levens, the rest of the team struggled to finish off a much weaker side. Ultimately, a win on time in a lost position kept WNA on course.
No problems for WNC as they wrapped up a very satisfactory season.
Michael Zhang coolly converted a tricky endgame to earn WN5 the final point necessary to clinch the Division 5 title. Earlier, Tracey Clegg scored a quick win to set the team on its way.
A fine comeback by Nikolai Berdunov snatched a point in the final minutes, consigning Gambit 3 to Division 4.
West Nottingham’s players performed strongly on the first day of the Nottingham Congress, but couldn’t sustain the effort to take a major prize. David Levens finished strongly to share 4th place in the Open, while Daniel Lin took a three-way share of 3rd place in the minor.
Individual WN scores (maximum 5 points):
Ross Mackay played one round to help the organisers avoid a bye in the Minor. He won against a player graded 92.
WNB carefully negotiated the tricky domestic fixture to claim the Division 4 championship with a match to spare.
The long trip to Lichfield was rewarded with a point to keep WNA as favourites for the title.
WN Nightmare reached the KO final with a consistent performance coupled with the requisite slice of luck. Phillip Burley’s exploitation of the time handicap proved decisive.
Needing just a draw to finish in second place, WN4 suffered a miscommunication resulting in a defaulted board and the team playing out of order to avoid further penalty. It was too much to overcome.
WN6 wrapped up a satisfactory season with a final defeat.
The team made heavy weather of beating the bottom side – only Lateefah managed to win with style. Nevertheless, this win, together with other results from this division, takes WNA up to Division 1 with three matches to spare.
Michael Zhang put in another strong performance, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a missing player.
A strong performance by WNB that keeps them on course for the Division 4 title.
WN3’s promotion hopes all but vanished as chances were missed in a disappointing defeat.
WN1 returned to the top of Division 2 with a solid win that at least forces Long Eaton to avoid defeat in their final match if they want to take the title.
WN7 made WN5’s task easier by holding three-man Grantham to a draw. Chris Ford scored the important win. WN5 now only need a draw in their last match.
WN2’s season ends with a fluctuating draw. Late substitute Michael Zhang delivered a major upset on Board 4.
The late addition of Dominic Heining, home from university, tipped the balance in what may well prove to be the title decider. A win in the final match will secure the Division 5 trophy.
WN7 just missed out in a close match.
WN4 all but eliminated Gambit 4 from the promotion race with a narrow win that makes them favourites to take second place.
WN2 did their best to give WN1 a fighting chance to win the division, but despite a strong performance the match slipped away.
Another powerful performance by WNA, who are now within touching distance of Division 1.
One of those matches that really should have gone the other way – a draw was the least that WNC deserved.
Despite the captain’s regulation defeat to Nick Payne, the rest of the team won comfortably to keep up the pressure at the top of Division 2.
With two regular players away on school duty, a makeshift WN3 drifted to the fringe of the promotion race.
All dressed up and nowhere to go: University 4 got their dates in a muddle and cried off 20 minutes before the scheduled start. With the Easter vacation looming there was no way to reschedule.
WNA seized the opportunity to move to within a point of the lead by beating the first place team. It could have been 4–0 – both of the draws were winning at one stage.
Update: John Collins’ entertaining win from this match is now online.
WN6 proved unable to do WN5 a favour.
University 3 turned up with a team worthy of Division 2, and despite strong resistance on the top boards WN4 had to concede the leadership of Division 4.
Nomads turned up with their weakest team of the season – but nothing went right.
Lateefah Messam-Sparks finished joint first with a score of 4½/5 in the U130 section of the Warwickshire Congress, held on 17–18 February.
Despite contriving to lose a point to the mobile phone gambit and conceding a draw instead of delivering mate in 2, WNB delivered the win that guarantees promotion to Division 3.
Combine a long away journey with two more clashing fixtures on the same night and you have a real problem finding eligible and available players. Three travelled in the end, and they came back with a point.
An excellent win for Yash Gupta, but WN7 were unable to build on it.
The expected win against the bottom team. It might have been tighter had West Bridgford claimed a win when Nikolai arrived late.
A bad day at the office, almost handing the Division 2 title to Long Eaton.
Ouch! WN3 suffer one of those nights.
No change at the top, as all four of the top teams drew. WN5 are closing in on promotion.
The odds can only be defied for so long, particularly when the team defaulted a board for the first time in three years.
Promotion rivals despatched in no uncertain terms.
Foremarke’s second visit of the week ended with the expected result, but it was a surprisingly tough contest.
A slightly unlucky WN4 nevertheless maintained their position at the top, holding off a significant rival.
A regulation win maintains WN1 at the top of the table.
A vital win against Fiveways’ strongest team of the season.
WNC take a grip on third place with a comfortable win, courtesy of the ladies.
Lateefah Messam-Sparks took second place in this event, on 10 February, scoring 5/7.
A close match between the top two tips the wrong way for WN3.
Anything WN1 can do.... Six days on, WN2 beat Ashfield 3 by the same score as the first team.
Chances were missed, but in the end newcomer Nikolai Berdunov scored the winning point.
WN1 brought far too much firepower for Ashfield’s struggling third team.
Arun Maini, fresh (if that’s the word) from playing eight games at the weekend, dug in to win the last game and earn a point.
Two new games for your enjoyment: Tony Wright–David Levens and Ian Kingston–Nick Payne.
The latest issue of The Passed Pawn is now available. Copies have been emailed to everyone on the mailing list.
West Nottingham provided many of the players for Nottinghamshire’s all-conquering Under 11, Under 9 and Girls teams in the Midlands Championships. Not only did Notts win all three titles by big margins, they also finished second in the Under 11 and Girls competitions, and only missed out on second place in the Under 9s because of an adverse tie-break.
WN2 continue to ride shotgun for WN1, this time gaining an upset victory over Grantham’s strongest team of the season to date.
WNB consolidated their position at the top of Division 4 with an easy win.
WNC moved up to third place with a comfortable win.
Ross Mackay coolly converted a material advantage against strong opposition to level the match.
Heather Garside claimed second place in the Under 12 section of the 3rd Girls’ Day School Trust Championships, held at Oxford High School on 20 January.
Proof that too big a grading difference can’t be overturned by the handicap.
A good solid win for WN7. Jordan Nicholson continues to impress with yet another win.
An inspired WN2 (temporarily abandoned by their captain) put the first team under real pressure and could easily have won.
Bunkers prove just a bit too good. Jordan Nicholson scored the win.
WNA exchanged places with Derby & Mickleover D at the top of Division 4 with a comfortable win.
WN1 returned to the top of the division courtesy of this victory and Long Eaton’s slip at Grantham.
A solid draw kept promotion rivals Fiveways at bay and moved WN3 to the top of Division 3.
No slip-ups this time against club opposition for WN5, who moved to the top of Division 5 with this win.
WN3 strengthen their position in Division 3 with a good win away from home.
A convincing win over promotion rivals that puts WN5 right back in the promotion battle.
The Daydream put a rocky start behind them to join the Nightmare in the semi-finals.
It’s been a while since any new games were posted. Here are a couple of quick wins against the Sicilian Defence by Daniel Lin and Ian Kingston. More please!
Two West Nottingham members competed in this year’s Hastings Masters. Amisha Parmar scored 2/6, gaining a few rating points, and Lateefah Messam-Sparks scored 3/9. Lateefah also played in the New Year Morning B competition, winning the event with a perfect 4/4.
Everything a KO match should be: tight games, tight finishes, and a tie-break favouring the West Nottingham team. The Nightmare reach the semi-final again.
WN4 returned to the top of Division 4 in a very tight match. It looks like a three-way battle for two places.
Despite giving away an average of 20 grading points per board, WNA pushed all the way, only to be eliminated on board count.
WNA fielded their strongest side of the season to date and won very comfortably to move to the top of Division 2.
Much closer than the score suggests, since WNC had winning chances on Boards 3 and 4 before eventually losing both games. WNB are now well clear of their rivals for second place.
The 2006 Christmas Quiz on 18 December had a good turnout, with seven teams of varying sizes pitting their wits against David Levens’s questions. The winners were the Robin Hood Cluster, beating the Repton Road Rowdies by a single point.
The results of the children’s Christmas Quiz (organised by John Crawley) were:
WN2 put up a better show against Ashfield 2 than the first team managed, ironically picking up wins on Boards 1 and 2.
The last thing in the world that WN5 needed: an almost complete collapse against WN6, whose bottom three boards had played precisely one previous league match between them. But great news for the future!
WNA won a critical match to move to within one point of first place.
Another patched-up team struggled to make an impact, but the point keeps WNB in first place.
Derby’s strong team proved too much for a makeshift WNC.
A predictable result with only one experienced player available.
WN3 dropped a point in a tight match, but will be happy to have avoided the fate of the other teams playing during this week.
Desperate measures were necessary to raise a full team, but they weren’t enough to avoid defeat.
A bad result against the second place team sees the two swap places.
WNA swept into the semi-finals, but WNB missed out by half a point.
With player shortages starting to bite in the run-up to Christmas, Long Eaton was the last team WN2 wanted to face. In the end, the score exceeded expectations.
WNB joined the club’s set of divisional leaders with a third overwhelming win.
WN5 bounce back from last week’s defeat to go to the top of Division 5.
A weakened Nomads team ran into WN2 on top form, keeping the second team in a comfortable third place.
A narrow win secured by Steve Thacker’s coolness in the rapidplay finish consolidates WN4 in first place.
A single mistake cost WN7 the chance to take a point and stay in mid-table.
An unrepresentative team travelled to Grantham and received an unexpected present in the shape of a default on Board 2. Ian and Phil scored the wins that maintained WN1’s 100% record.
WNC moved up the table with the expected win over a weak Spondon side.
WN Daydream go through, joining WN Nightmare and WN Fantasy in Round 2.
The captain’s attempt to play the mobile phone suicide gambit failed – twice! An excellent win by Jonathan Day on top board put the team on top of the division in some style.
This was a chance to stake a real claim for promotion by taking top spot. Sadly, the match tipped the wrong way, but the team remains in the hunt.
WN7 fought hard, but were short of firepower.
A new issue of The Passed Pawn, summarising the first couple of months of the season, is now available.
Several West Nottingham players took part in the British Rapidplay Championships in Halifax on 4–5 November.
David Levens didn’t play, but was there as an arbiter and as an England Junior selector.
The top three boards of a half-strength team all wrapped up comfortable wins to move the team up the table.
Gambit’s Board 3 got lost and couldn’t find the venue, but even with a late substitute they still outgraded WN2 on every board. No matter: the second team took the fight to Gambit and won well.
Grantham bounced back after losing to WN7 the previous week.
So eager, they turned up a week early! When the true date came round, the team was more than ready, scoring a good win.
Two teams through, one team out, one yet to play.
Both teams score 5/8 in the first session and have good chances to reach the semi-finals.
The showdown between the two 100% teams went our way, giving WN1 a clear lead at the top of the division.
Another table-topping clash between 100% teams. WN5 held their own, but an errant mobile phone and a graceless opponent cost us a point.
No problems at all for WN4, as they brushed aside the bottom team to move clear at the top.
A powerful WNB swept aside Long Eaton’s third team in only 90 minutes, taking the early lead in Division 4.
WNC were cruising to victory until an unfortunate mishap switched the result around.
A straightforward win, even for a below-strength side.
Confusion between captains led to an emergency substitution and (separately) the use of an ineligible player in a tough match.
Nomads proved no match, as WN3 get back on track.
Eric scores a fine win on top board as WN4 stay top.
WN5 prove far too strong, as they maintain their 100% record.
Off the mark at last: WN6 do what they’ve been threatening to do.
WN7 put up a good fight.
No direct fixture clashes for WN2, but three of the team had played the night before, so there was a tiredness factor. The junior pair scored the wins as WN2 won more comfortably than the scoreline suggests.
Even a below strength WN1 was too much for Ashfield’s second string, as they posted their third win of the season to set the pace in Division 2.
WN4 were also affected by the fixture clashes, with potential members being drafted into other teams. Nevertheless, a makeshift side notched their third straight win to take the lead in Division 4.
A fixture clash with WN1 meant that a weakened team travelled to Burton. Outgraded, the team fell to a predictable defeat.
WN2 put right the damage inflicted by WN1 in the opening match by despatching a four-member Grantham side.
WN4 made their intentions for the season clear with a big win over their potential promotion rivals. Two wins from two matches puts them on top of the table.
WN6 slipped up in a match that they should have won comfortably. The highlight was a hard-fought battle between Ashton Alfred and Arun Maini, which swung the match in WN7’s favour.
Unable to field anything like a full strength side, WNA nevertheless completely dominated the match. Sadly, a couple of blunders let Belper off the hook.
There should have been no problems for WNB, but for a while it looked as though a draw was most likely. Fortunately, Eric turned a bad endgame into a winning one to round off a comfortable victory.
WNC made short work of the last match in the Friday night triple-header, cruising to a very easy win.
Despite lending a couple of players to WN3, WN1 always looked too strong for Ashfield 3, and so it proved as the team cruised to victory. Only a blunder prevented a 5–0 whitewash.
WN3 opened their season with what looked like a tough test against the second-placed side from last season. However, with Mansfield a player short, and the team able to borrow a couple of players from WN1 and WN2, a comfortable win was secured.
Something of a near miss for WN6, with a single blunder turning the match from a win to a loss.
WN4 sent out a strong team to try to ensure a good start to the season, and it worked out well. Wins from Lateefah and Robert, followed by a solid draw from Phil, left Ian with the task of converting his extra pawn into an endgame win, which was duly achieved to earn a comfortable victory.
A strong WN5 proved too much for WN6 to handle, resulting in a whitewash. WN6 shouldn’t worry too much though: most of the WN5 team will be playing for WN4 for the rest of the season.
Chaos reigned at the start of the evening as the captains tried to figure out who was present and what the most appropriate line-ups would be. Eventually things settled down, and despite two early losses it looked for a while as though WN2 might steal a draw. However, all three games turned in WN1’s favour, and it was left to the captains to fight out a fluctuating draw on top board for WN2’s only score in a good win for the first team.
The European Youth Championships took place in Herceg Novi, Montenegro, from 9–20 September. Amisha Parmar represented England in the Girls Under 14 tournament.
| Round | Opponent | Result | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Z. Edes (SVK) – | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | D. Nesic (BIH) – | ½ | 1½ |
| 3 | K. Kulon (POL) 2109 | ½ | 2 |
| 4 | S. Vombek (SLO) 1822 | ½ | 2½ |
| 5 | D. Batkovskyte (LTU) 1897 | 1 | 3½ |
| 6 | M. Butuc (MDA) 2008 | 0 | 3½ |
| 7 | E. Kaya (TUR) 1933 | ½ | 4 |
| 8 | G. Hitter (HUN) 1836 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | S. Kolaric (SLO) 1836 | ½ | 4½ |
The latest issue of the club’s newsletter is now available for download. It will also be distributed to all members along with the membership renewal form during the next week.
The final stage of the UK Chess Challenge – the Terafinal – took place in Sheffield on 19–20 August. West Nottingham’s qualifiers all performed well, especially when you bear in mind that players of all ages competed together, so the younger players were up against some of the best juniors in the country. In the Terafinal itself, Lateefah Messam-Sparks scored 3½/6 to finish =15th of 56 competitors. In the Challengers A tournament, Daniel Lin scored 4½ to finish =6th of 60 competitors and Andrew Garside scored 3 (=25th). In the Challengers B (a tournament of similar strength to Challengers A), Billy Grewal scored 5 (=3rd of 61 players), Toby Thurgood 4 (=7th) and Ella Macleod 2½ (=39th).
The British Championships, held at the University of Swansea from 6–19 August, proved a huge success for Lateefah Messam-Sparks, who walked off with not one but two titles: Girls Under 16 Champion and Joint Girls Under 14 Champion.
Two other WNCC members were playing: Billy Grewal scored 5½/11 in the Major Open, while Ian Kingston scored 3/5 in both the 5 Day Morning and Afternoon Opens.