Monday 20 December 2010

Merry Christmas


Hope that you all have a good Christmas and here is a little something that I made specially for the chess blogs. Its easy to do if you have a bit of time on your hands. I used the words from 'I wish it could be Christmas every day' - it does this automatically. You can find the lyrics here (and the program seems to have added the word chess by itself). How clever!

You will notice that I have chosen purple to please a certain purple-prone person. :-)

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Congratulations to Jamie Kearney

Now that Jamie is the joint under 12 Warwickshire Closed Champion there is even more reason to challenge him on the Rugby Junior Chess Club ladder, then after Christmas we should do well as a club when we enter the UK Chess Challenge.

Sunday 28 November 2010

Warwickshire Junior Chess Tournament


Four Rugby players took part in the WJC Tournament in Knowle on Saturday. Jamie did particularly well with no losses over his six games (4 wins and 2 draws), coming joint 2nd in a very competitive field. As the winner of the U-12s (Joseph Friar is from Worcs) Jamie was joint winner of the Warwickshire Under-12 category, with Ashwin Kalyana from Edgbaston. They share a lovely trophy and are joint age-related Warwickshire Champions. Congratulations to Jamie on a chess triumph.

Leo won four games of his six, again against strong competition, losing first and last game - the last to the age group winner I think. He won a medal. Sam Elks was also there, but not sure what his score was. (Sam, if you let me know I will update this information). We need a banner of some sort to muster Rugby players at large tournaments :-)

Rhys was playing in the 14-21 age group, which contained some very experienced players. He won two games, gained one draw and declined another draw (which he then went on to lose). His first match was against Astghik Stepanyan, a very good U-18 female player with a 156 rating. Several of the older players in this category were very strong, one with a rating of 191 (near Jonn Naylor's own) showing how talented Junior players can be.

Saturday 27 November 2010

Warwickshire Junior Chess Championship - U12 section

Jamie Kearney had a fun time at the Warwickshire Junior Chess Championship today. There were 42 competitors in the U12 category. Jamie's first three matches were all long fought games but Jamie was triumphant in all three. He then met Ashwin Kalyana from Edgbaston in the fourth round match; another good battle and a draw was agreed upon. Jamie’s fifth round match also ended in a draw as did Ashwin’s. Going into the final round Joseph Friar and Matthew Fergusson, both with 4.5 points were pitted against each other. Jamie and Ashwin with 4 points each were both against players also having 4 points.
Joseph Friar won against Matthew Ferguson to finish the day on 5.5 points and win the Under 12 category.
Both Jamie and Ashwin triumphed in their games to end the day undefeated on 5 points and share the runner up trophy.

Monday 22 November 2010

Northamptonshire Junior Congress - U-14

Adding to Phill's magnificent post here are the U-14 results. There was only one U-14player (Rhys) and his first game was the highlight of his day as he won on time against English Junior Team player, Marcus Rose (Marcus's only loss of the day). After that excitement Rhys settled into another long game (lost) to Henry Lambley, then quicker wins against Elliott Jackman, Kieran Sullivan and Lewis Newton, another loss against another Lambley brother (Daniel, who came second overall) and a final rapid loss (12 moves)to Alex Gibson. Overall 4 wins from 7 games.

The organisers gave Rugby a special mention for travelling out there, and with Ethan the club was well represented with seven players (compared to two last year). Only one raffle prize won between us though.

31st Northamptonshire Junior Congress

Several of the junior players entered the under 12 section of the 31st Northamptonshire Junior Congress on 20 November and had a very good day. Chris Harling gained a respectable 2 points and Kai Cockerell took 3 points in his first tournament. Kieran Roberts lost his first two games but then took 3 points from the last four games and won the prize for “U12 slow starter”. Jamie Kearney slipped up in his first game and lost when he should have really won. But there were no mistakes in the next four games that Jamie won confidently to qualify for the London Junior Chess Championships. Jamie’s last game against Seth Tsang was a long battle lasting almost the full hour on the clock before Seth triumphed.
Well done to all!
Jamie’s last four games are posted here. Anybody got any tips that might have led to a different outcome in Jamie’s last game against Seth?








Tuesday 26 October 2010

Junior player does game for Rugby D (and wins)

This season with four teams it is possible that junior players can be asked to play the odd chess match for the Coventry and Distict Chess League. This happened over half-term when Rhys played for the D team alongside his Mum (a regular D team player, Jim MacDonald (captain), and Joe Oswell (former team captain). With no high expectation, Rhys won, which helped the team to an overall win.

The match is noted below. It was Rhys' longest ever match he says and although he was chewing his pen a time or two Chis thinks he did better than she would have. To prove it she played Gordon immediately afterwards and was thrashed me convincingly! A convincing win by the D team against a strong side.

Thursday 21 October 2010

Rugby Junior Chess Ladder

We will be starting the Rugby Junior Chess Ladder on 1st November.
To begin with it is in reverse surname order so Zac Ward is at the top.
A player can challenge anyone 1,2 or 3 places above them on the ladder.
If the challenger wins they take their opponent's place on the ladder.
A challenge cannot be refused but it might have to wait a week or two.
Matches will be adjudicated by Bob or another adult if time runs out.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

London Chess Tournament 8-15 December

The 2nd London Chess Classic will be the strongest chess tournament ever to be held in Britain, with eight of the world’s best players attending from 8-15 December 2010 at the Olympia Conference Centre.

Junior attendance is free, adults are £10 for weekdays and £15 for weekend

It is a great opportunity to get close to some of the best chess players in the world and there will be all sorts of demonstrations, commentaries and an open contest.

Some players from Rugby Chess Club will be going so let us know if you are thinking of going too.

Visit www.londonchessclassic.com for details

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Chess Ladder

It was lovely to see so many junior players this week. We are soon going to start a chess ladder then players will be able to challenge each other to improve their position on the ladder. After Christmas we will prepare for the UK chess challenge so keep on practising. Why not challenge your Mum and Dad?

Friday 3 September 2010

Map and details for the new venue for Rugby Juniors Club

Here is a map which has already been set up elsewhere for the Rugby Workers club:

Map for the Rugby Workers club

(Beware : there is a slight error on their map - the club is on the other side of the road to that shown, on Oliver Street between Parnell Close and Bridget Street)

For those of you travelling from the North, South, Western sides of Rugby you should find it easier than the LMRCA. For those of you coming from the Hillmorton / Northamptonshire directions it is a bit more further but hopefully you will still enjoy it when you get there!

Essential information:
- The street is called Oliver Street and the postcode is CV21 2ET
- There is good parking all round the venue on its own ground.
- The door entry system is just like the LMRCA so you will need to press the bell and wait. (We are sorting out individual cards with the club staff at the moment)
- There is a spacious lounge adjoining our chess playing area where parents can relax if they wish.
- Nominal times are from 7.00 pm until 8.30 pm but the idea is for you to come and go at whatever time suits you.

And thats about it!
We are looking forward to seeing you on Monday

Bob and Sue

Saturday 28 August 2010

Change of venue and new earlier start time

From September we will be meeting at Rugby Workers Club on Oliver Street and starting at the earlier time of 7pm.

Thursday 10 June 2010

Algebraic Chess Notation

If you would like to record your chess matches you could find out more by searching for Algebraic Chess Notation on Wikipedia. Leo if you are reading this check out the section on Disambiguating Moves.

Tuesday 25 May 2010

UK Chess Challenge Congratulations

Congratulations to the junior players from Rugby Chess Club who played at the Megafinals last weekend and have qualified for the next round. Good luck for the Gigafinals in July.

Friday 16 April 2010

Play chess against the computer to improve your game

Visit www.chess.com and select Play Against The Computer

Monday 22 March 2010

Magnus Carlsen gains sponsorship deal worth $300, 000

Not bad for a 19 year old chess player!

Tuesday 9 March 2010

34th Rugby Schools Chess Championships results

Here are the results from the 34th Rugby Schools Chess Championships 7 March 2010, held at Rokeby Primary School. There was a total of 43 entrants and the competition was supported well by the primary schools, in particular Northlands and Cawston Grange.

Congratulations to all the champions prize winners and medallists and if you were one of the unlucky ones not to win a prize we hope you enjoyed the day. (One or two champions became champions even though their scores weren't so good in previous years!)

Under 18 competition
Alistair Galt Champion King Henry 5.0

Under 14 competition
Rhys Davies Lawrence Sheriff Jt Champion 5.0
Sam Tiller Lawrence Sheriff Jt Champion 5.0
Michael Johnson Bilton Grange 3rd 4.0
Mark Loraine Bilton High 3rd 4.0

Also taking part were:
Karan Dusara Lawrence Sheriff
Gavin Wood Bilton High
Danny Uruchurtu Bilton Grange

School having ‘Best 3’ combined results:
Winners: Lawrence Sheriff 10 points.

Under 11 competition
Jamie Kearney Cawston Grange Primary Champion 7.0
Christopher Harling Cawston Grange Primary 2nd 5.0
Parth Joshi Rokeby Junior School 2nd 5.0
Chelsea Ward Long Lawford Primary 2nd 5.0

The medal winners were:
Kian Taylor-Jackson Northlands Primary Gold 4.5
Callum Moriarty Cawston Grange Primary Silver 4.0
Lucy Tiller Northlands Primary Silver 4.0
Phoebe Hewitt Dunchurch Junior Bronze 3.5
Kieran Roberts St Maries Junior Bronze 3.5
Bridget Tiller Northlands Primary Bronze 3.5

Also taking part were:
Rosie Forder Northlands Primary
Sean Huxley Cawston Grange Primary
Holly Smedley Northlands Primary
Jamie Townsend Northlands Primary
Lewis Murphy Clifton Primary
Luke Silver Northlands Primary
Andrew Goldsmith St Matthews Bloxam
George Bowers Northlands Primary

School having ‘Best 3’ combined results:
Winners: Cawston Grange 16 points.
Also: Northlands 12 points

Under 9 competition
Sean Fernando St Maries Junior Jt Champion 4.0
Leo Johnson Bilton Grange Jt Champion 4.0
Marcus Nicholson Bilton Grange 3rd 3.5

The medal winners were:
Vishan Dusara Northlands Primary Gold 3.0
Felix Sewing Cawston Grange Primary Gold 3.0
Zac Ward Long Lawford Primary Gold 3.0
Alice Tittley Dunchurch Junior Silver 2.5
Jack Tittley Dunchurch Junior Silver 2.5

Also taking part were:
Alfie Bowers Northlands Primary
Samuel Mortimore Northlands Primary
Ryan Roberts St Maries Junior
Pierce Ryan St Maries Junior
Adam Hewitt Dunchurch Junior

Schools having ‘Best 3’ combined results:
Winners: St Maries and Bilton Grange each with 7.5 points.

Monday 1 March 2010

Puzzle 1: How can white win the game on the next move?

Click on the Next arrow |> to display the answer

Thursday 25 February 2010

Two junior chess events for your diary

Saturday 6th March
Warwickshire Junior Chess Championships in Coventry
For more information call Nick Thomas on 01926 316894

Sunday 7th March
34th Rugby Schools Chess Championships at Rokeby school
For more information call Bob Wildig on 01788 860509

Good luck and have fun

Tuesday 23 February 2010

Magnus Carlsen Official Fan Club on Facebook

If you are on Facebook then you can join the official fan club of the world's number 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=7467797717&ref=mf


Friday 19 February 2010

Rugby Junior Chess Tournament

We have had a fantastic week of chess in Rugby Art Gallery, Museum and Library this week and we hope you have all enjoyed it. Now we are looking forward to the 34th Rugby Schools Championships at Rokeby Primary School on Sunday 7th March. We hope to see you there.

Watch this space to find out who won the chocolate chess sets...

Friday 29 January 2010

February is chess month in Rugby: Find out more

For those who like chess EVERY month is a chess month! But February is shaping up to be very special for junior chess players in Rugby. Come and visit the Rugby Art Gallery and Museum or Rugby Library during February half-term to get the whole chess experience.

* There will be an exhibition in the Mueseum from 2nd Feb to 14th March
* Special creative art and craft activities on a chess theme (various dates over half term)
* King of the Castle hunt for chess peices (half term)
* Learn chess with Rugby Chess Club: Tips and Hints and learn the basics (17th Feb, 10-12pm)
* Word Hunts in Rugby Library (organised by Sue!) on 18th Feb with CHOCOLATE CHESS SETS AS PRIZES!
* Junior chess tuition and games in the Library (18th Feb, 11am - 6.30pm)

This last event will be particularly useful to anyone wanting to get some practice playing other juniors before the 34th Rugby Schools Chess tournament.

Lots of these activities are listed in the SMART programme. But note that this leaflet says the 18th Feb event in the Library is a tournament. This is not correct. Its less formal, but helps prepare for the real tournament on the 7th March. See poster and entry form.

This month really is about chess for all ages. A very special time. (Note that the Art Gallery and Museum are not open on Mondays).

Sunday 3 January 2010

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen from Norway became a chess grandmaster at the age of 13 making him the third youngest grandmaster in history. In November 2009 at the age of 18 he became the youngest ever player to be ranked world number 1. Will he be the next world champion?