Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Monday, 23 November 2009
Fuller - Sidcup v Lewisham Match Report
Captain's Report
Sidcup v Lewisham
Played at Lewisham on Wednesday 18th November 2009
Last Wednesday our Fuller team lost to Lewisham.
The game was played away at Catford Cricket Club in their Pavilion where we were playing black on boards 1 & 3 and both boards 1 & 3 lost.
Board 2 finished first when I (Keith Thompson) accepted a draw from a position which I thought was going to be hard to win; neither of us making any grave errors in the game. My only chance came on move 17 when I could have played a pawn move to g4 which could have given me a pawn up. I saw the move but having lost a bad game the previous week decided that my confidence was at a low and needed to play safely. COnsequently, I didn't want to take too many chances, where playing g4 could have led to opening my king to attacks which I did not feel confident of repelling. So the game petered out into a draw which at the time I thought may be quite good.
Then unfortunately, Ken (playing on board 1) made an error in castling on move 18, which immediately lost him a pawn and he went on to lose in 27 moves to Ian Moody.
Stephen Moon then lost, surprisingly, to Ken Smith.
Lastly, Peter Houching then won a fine game (which at one stage looked as though it was heading for a draw) playing an endgame in which he created a passed pawn which black was not able to stop from queening. He won the game after a hard 58 moves played.
Keith Thompson
Sidcup v Lewisham
Played at Lewisham on Wednesday 18th November 2009
Last Wednesday our Fuller team lost to Lewisham.
The game was played away at Catford Cricket Club in their Pavilion where we were playing black on boards 1 & 3 and both boards 1 & 3 lost.
Board 2 finished first when I (Keith Thompson) accepted a draw from a position which I thought was going to be hard to win; neither of us making any grave errors in the game. My only chance came on move 17 when I could have played a pawn move to g4 which could have given me a pawn up. I saw the move but having lost a bad game the previous week decided that my confidence was at a low and needed to play safely. COnsequently, I didn't want to take too many chances, where playing g4 could have led to opening my king to attacks which I did not feel confident of repelling. So the game petered out into a draw which at the time I thought may be quite good.
Then unfortunately, Ken (playing on board 1) made an error in castling on move 18, which immediately lost him a pawn and he went on to lose in 27 moves to Ian Moody.
Stephen Moon then lost, surprisingly, to Ken Smith.
Lastly, Peter Houching then won a fine game (which at one stage looked as though it was heading for a draw) playing an endgame in which he created a passed pawn which black was not able to stop from queening. He won the game after a hard 58 moves played.
Keith Thompson
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Monday, 16 November 2009
Fuller - Sidcup v Beckenham Match Report
Captain's Report
Sidcup v Beckenham
Played at Sidcup on Wednesday 11th November 2009
With both Beckenham and Sidcup having won their first matches and only 4 teams in the league this year, this was a match between the top two teams at this stage of the tournament.
The evening started off well for Sidcup with Stephen Moon playing on Board 3 (white) beating a very experienced player in Alan Fraser.
Keith Thompson (black) on board 2 then missed a winning chance on move 18, but never really got back into the game and should have had at least a draw. He went on to lose, playing badly from thereon in.
Ken Grist playing board 1 (white) against Richard Putham, agreed a draw on move 40.
Unfortunately for Sidcup and Peter playing on board 4 (black), time for the evening ran out and at the end, a draw was agreed, although there was still a lot a play in the game and white had just made a mistake which could have proved costly if play had carried on.
In the end, a draw for both teams was a fair result, but I am disappointed that Sidcup did not secure all the points.
Keith Thompson
Sidcup v Beckenham
Played at Sidcup on Wednesday 11th November 2009
With both Beckenham and Sidcup having won their first matches and only 4 teams in the league this year, this was a match between the top two teams at this stage of the tournament.
The evening started off well for Sidcup with Stephen Moon playing on Board 3 (white) beating a very experienced player in Alan Fraser.
Keith Thompson (black) on board 2 then missed a winning chance on move 18, but never really got back into the game and should have had at least a draw. He went on to lose, playing badly from thereon in.
Ken Grist playing board 1 (white) against Richard Putham, agreed a draw on move 40.
Unfortunately for Sidcup and Peter playing on board 4 (black), time for the evening ran out and at the end, a draw was agreed, although there was still a lot a play in the game and white had just made a mistake which could have proved costly if play had carried on.
In the end, a draw for both teams was a fair result, but I am disappointed that Sidcup did not secure all the points.
Keith Thompson
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Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Club Member Profile - Ken Grist
I have been playing chess since 1986 originally with the former Swanley Club. During this time we won the final of the Harvey Cup in 1979. We also ran a Junior Grand Prix tournament for 10 years in St Peters Church, Hextable.
I used to go and play in tournaments around the country, Hastings, Portsmouth and Nottingham being the main ones. I found this better than the Kent League as over a weekend you usually won a few games whereas if you lose in the league it's a long time often to trying to win in the next match. I have had some fluke wins, sneaky draws and sickening losses.
At Portsmouth I enjoyed the ambience of this seaside city in between games, my grandfather lived here and was a member of the Portsmouth Chess Club at one time.
My sister lives near the venue in Nottingham so I used to call to see her and also make a visit to Carsington Water where we spent a family holiday one summer. At Hastings I played games in the mornings, enjoyed the resort in the afternoons then prepared the annual accounts for our church in the evenings.
Ken Grist
Kent League
This is a game played by Peter Houching for the Kent League. Some comments have been made within the game.
Keith Thompson
Keith Thompson
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Fuller - Sidcup v Petts Wood Match Report
Captains Report
Petts Wood v Sidcup
Played at Petts Wood on Friday 6th November 2009
Sidcup had a good win against a good Petts Wood side, which on paper looked a very evenly matched game; the average rating being only 1 point difference with Sidcup 104 against 103.
After winning the toss, Jack Hollands (board 1) decided to play black. Sidcup got off to a good start after about 1 hour's play when Keith Thompson (white) won the first game in 36 moves on board 2 and Stephen Moon (black) won on board 3 about 10 minutes later.
The win for Sidcup looked on the cards; it was just a question by how much the margin was going to be.
Peter Houching's (white) game on board 4 could have turned out very differently if Roy Ellis (Petts Wood) had taken advantage of an early mistake by Peter on move 11. After Roy missed this chance, Peter fought his way back into the game and in the end could have won it. Peter finally secured the win for Sidcup accepting a draw (from what looked like an advantage for white with a pawn up) to give the half point Sidcup needed to take home the win for the team.
Jack Hollands drew the last match on board 1 after what was a 2 hour struggle of 64 moves, finishing at 10.30pm with only the 2 Kings, a rook and a pawn each, on the board.
Petts Wood v Sidcup
Played at Petts Wood on Friday 6th November 2009
Sidcup had a good win against a good Petts Wood side, which on paper looked a very evenly matched game; the average rating being only 1 point difference with Sidcup 104 against 103.
After winning the toss, Jack Hollands (board 1) decided to play black. Sidcup got off to a good start after about 1 hour's play when Keith Thompson (white) won the first game in 36 moves on board 2 and Stephen Moon (black) won on board 3 about 10 minutes later.
The win for Sidcup looked on the cards; it was just a question by how much the margin was going to be.
Peter Houching's (white) game on board 4 could have turned out very differently if Roy Ellis (Petts Wood) had taken advantage of an early mistake by Peter on move 11. After Roy missed this chance, Peter fought his way back into the game and in the end could have won it. Peter finally secured the win for Sidcup accepting a draw (from what looked like an advantage for white with a pawn up) to give the half point Sidcup needed to take home the win for the team.
Jack Hollands drew the last match on board 1 after what was a 2 hour struggle of 64 moves, finishing at 10.30pm with only the 2 Kings, a rook and a pawn each, on the board.
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Monday, 26 October 2009
Want to be a Master?
I heard about this today and thought it was a joke, but alas, no. If you would like to attain a title from the ECF, such as Regional Master, County Master or even Chess Maestro, go to this website, send £5 and assuming you meet the criteria, you get it.
ECF Master Points
Stephen
ECF Master Points
Stephen
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Addictive game
I came across this game today which is based on knight moves on a grid. I warn you that it is incredibly addictive so think twice before beginning to play it!
Troyis
Stephen
Troyis
Stephen
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Grading results are out
Results are now out and can be found at: the ECF grading website.
A direct link to the club members grades can be found at the bottom of the members page.
Stephen Moon
A direct link to the club members grades can be found at the bottom of the members page.
Stephen Moon
Friday, 7 August 2009
2009 Grading List
There has been a slight delay to the grading list being published this year. They expect to have it available no later than the 10th of August.
Read more about it here.
Read more about it here.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Intro Cup Semi Finals - Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club
It was an interesting (and sunny) afternoon at the famous Hastings Chess Club for our Intro Cup Semi Final's match. We had defaulted on board 4, leaving three players: Myself, John and Jim on boards 1 through 3. If we won two of our matches, we could still win, depending on which boards did so.
Jim won his match and John lost. Had I played on (and won) we would have won the semi-finals. My opponent offered a draw and after some consideration, I accepted.
It was a tricky decision for me:
Here is the game for you to play through -- would you have accepted the draw? Ignore the annotations on your first pass through so you aren't biased by Chessmasters cutting remarks ;-)
Stephen Moon
Jim won his match and John lost. Had I played on (and won) we would have won the semi-finals. My opponent offered a draw and after some consideration, I accepted.
It was a tricky decision for me:
- I felt really hemmed in, in my position,
- I was dying a time death (I had 19 minutes left whilst my opponent had about 47) - my only hope was to move much quicker, leading to more damning mistakes,
- He was rated much higher than me,
- I really didn't think I could turn the game around and better a draw and
- I was absolutely busting for the toilet!
Here is the game for you to play through -- would you have accepted the draw? Ignore the annotations on your first pass through so you aren't biased by Chessmasters cutting remarks ;-)
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Stephen Moon
Friday, 17 April 2009
Interesting Game
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Come across this position which I though was quite interesting.
It's white to play and win. The reason I find it interesting is that white played what I would have considered a fair move and lost not because of the move but perhaps because he missed a great chance of winning. These ratings are just below the GM level they are both good players.
The situation is white to play and win.
Read from move 26 Qe4.
1. Qe4 (1. Qh4 {Played move and went on to lose.}) 1... g6 2. Rxh7 Re6 {best
move but black cannot hold out for too much longer.} (2... Kxh7 {White quickly
mates.} 3. Qh4+ Kg8 4. Rh1 Kg7 {Or any other move.} 5. Qh7#) 3. Bxe6 Kxh7 4.
Qh4+ {Interesting Rh1 is not quite so good Black can hold on for a bit longer.}
(4. Rh1+ Kg7 5. Qh4 {In this case Black can escape.} Qxe5 6. Qh7+ Kf6) 4... Kg8
5. Rh1 fxe6 (5... Qxe5 6. Qh7#) 6. Qh8+ Kf7 7. Rf1+ Ke8 8. Qxf8+ *
Keith Thompson
K. Thompson v A. Aidyn, Harvey League
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Keith Thompson
Semi Finals 2008-2009
| | Home | | Away | ||
| | LEWIS CUP | | | ||
| Club | MET 1 – Beckenham 2 | | MID 2 – Rainham 1 | ||
| Club | MID 1 – | | MET 2 – Lewisham 2 | ||
| | STEVENSON CUP | | | ||
| Club | MET 1 – | | MID 2 – Sevenoaks 1 | ||
| Club | MID 1 – Folkestone 1 | | MET 2 – Chislehurst 1 | ||
| | EN PASSANT CUP | | | ||
| Club | MET 1 - Lewisham 4 | | MID 2 – Folkestone 2 | ||
| Club | MID 1 – | | MET 2 – Chislehurst 2 | ||
| | | | | ||
| Club | MET 1 – Petts Wood 2 | | MID 2 – Medway 1 | ||
| Club | MID 1 – | | MET 2 – Sidcup 1 | ||
| | TOM FULLER CUP | | | ||
| Club | MET 1 – Charlton 3 | | MID 2 – Weald of | ||
| Club | MID 1 – Snodland 3 | | MET 2 – Beckenham 5 | ||
| | INTRO CUP | | | ||
| Club | MET 1 – Beckenham 6 | | MID 2 - Weald of | ||
| Club | MID 1 – Hastings & St.L 3 | | MET 2 – Sidcup 3 | ||
Current Rankings 01.04.09
| Metropolitan inter-club competitions | 2008/9 | 31.03.09 | ||||||||
| grading | ||||||||||
| P | W | D | L | Adj | penalty | GP | MP | Pos. | limit | |
| County Cup | ||||||||||
| Lewisham 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 22 | 5 | 1 | ||||
| Charlton 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Beckenham 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 2.5 | 3 | |||
| Maidstone 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 1.5 | 4 | |||
| Lewis | 160 | |||||||||
| Beckenham 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 21.5 | 4.5 | 1 | |||
| Lewisham 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18.5 | 3.5 | 2 | |||
| Dartford 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17.5 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Phoenix 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13.5 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Stevenson | 140 | |||||||||
| Dartford 2 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 22 | 5 | 1 | ||||
| Chislehurst 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 3.5 | 2 | |||
| Phoenix 2 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Lewisham 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 1.5 | 4 | |||
| En Passant | 120 | |||||||||
| Lewisham 4 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 6 | 1 | |||||
| Chislehurst 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 4.5 | 2 | |||
| Phoenix 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 18.5 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Dartford 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 17.5 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Petts Wood 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14.5 | 2 | 5 | |||
| Charlton 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 1.5 | 6 | |||
| Beckenham 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 13.5 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| Harvey | 100 | |||||||||
| Petts Wood 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17.5 | 3.5 | 1 | |||
| Sidcup 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 3.5 | 2 | |||
| Lewisham 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -0.5 | 15.5 | 2.5 | 3 | ||
| Chislehurst 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| Phoenix 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13.5 | 2 | 5 | |||
| Beckenham 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13.5 | 1.5 | 6 | |||
| Tom Fuller | 80 | |||||||||
| Charlton 3 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 6 | 1 | |||||
| Beckenham 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 3.5 | 2 | |||
| Sidcup 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Lewisham 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 2.5 | 4 | |||
| Phoenix 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 2.5 | 5 | |||
| Lewisham 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8.5 | 2 | 6 | |||
| Petts Wood 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10.5 | 1.5 | 7 | |||
| Intro. | ||||||||||
| Beckenham 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10.5 | 3 | 1 | 60 | |||
| Sidcup 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5.5 | 1 | 2 | ||||
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