TEAM RESULTS UPDATE

02 December 2011

Dear All,

I thought it was appropriate that I update the results for the season so far for all of the teams. As the last update was at the start of the season and a few matches have now been played. Please note for specific match reports from Captains I have put these under the Captains Blogg section for each team. Hopefully this will encourage each Captain to make a full match report for each game which they can email to me (PLEASE!!!!!!)

Anyway here goes!!

1st Team

The 1st Team started off with two wins against Basildon and Southend and over the last few weeks have found the going a lot tougher. They have now lost to both Barking 5-3 and Writtle 5 1/2- 2 1/2. These are games we were always expected to lose anwway as we were outgraded. This keeps us above both Basildon and Southend in the league and so far out of any relegation battle.

2nd Team

The second team started off with two close loses to Ilford 1 but over the last week have noow posted some better results. They have managed to draw with Brentwood 1 4-4 with a great result for Aidan on board 1 with a draw against David Haydon. Then they managed to beat Barking 2 4 1/2 -3 1/2 in a close fought game. Details are in the blogg section so thank you Steve.

3rd Team

The 3rd team is currently languishing at the bottom of Division 3 this year. With a hard fought promotion last year it was always going to be tough for our 3rd team this year. At the moment it would seem that the bottom places are between us and Thurrock 2. Hopefully we can pick some wins up later on in the season. The results are losses to Ilford 2, Thurrock 1 and Brentwood 2. With a draw against Thurrock 2 who are on the same points as us.

4th Team

The best until (second)last as the 4th team are currently sitting on top of Division 4. They have so far got 3 wins out of 3 with a total of six point. The wins have been against Upminster 5 , Thurrock 3 and Brentwood 3. So far so good and hopefully they can keep this up throughout the season.

5th Team

This is our newest team and they have only played the one game so far with a loss to our 4th Team. So at the moment we cannot acess the strength of the team. But good luck for the up coming games.

LONDON CHESS CLASSIC

26 October 2011

London Chess Classic 2011

This entry is part 1 of 1 in the series London Chess Classic 2011

The timetable for the third London Chess Classic has been announced. The strongest tournament in the history of British chess will be complemented by a chess festival with tournaments for all levels and of course free chess coaching for schools.

The tournament runs from 3-12 December 2011 and falls on two weekends so we expect even more spectators as well as more players in the FIDE Open as amateur players will only have to take one full week off work. It also means there will be two sets of weekend tournaments and blitz tournaments every evening.

Viktor Korchnoi has agreed to come back again as guest of honour and will give two simultaneous displays. We will have at least one Women’s all-play-all.

There will be training courses for chess teachers and for those who would like to become chess teachers, both organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC). Since the last London Chess Classic, CSC has expanded and works in 70 schools in 13 towns and cities in England and Wales. See www.chessinschools.co.uk

The London Chess Classic now comes under the Chess in Schools and Communities umbrella and there will be five days of free school activities. Each day, schools can bring children to learn from top coaches and play in a tournament or a simultaneous display. There will also be a chess arbiter’s training course, and on the rest day, Wednesday 7 December, a chess cultural day with film screenings, lectures and more simultaneous displays.

Timetable, course details and tickets are available here: www.londonchessclassic.com

PLAYER NUMBER NINE: LEVON ARONIAN

Picture by Ray Morris-Hill

Armenian star Levon Aronian has been confirmed as the ninth participant. This completes the line-up of 2800+ rated stars in the line-up alongside the world chess champion, Viswanathan Anand from India, and the teenage sensation who currently outranks him on the world chess rating list, Magnus Carlsen from Norway; not to mention Anand’s immediate predecessor as world champion, Vladimir Kramnik from Russia.

GOOD START FOR UPMINSTER TEAMS

26 October 2011

As the league has started and a number of matches have been played I thought I would update you on the good start to the season enjoyed by a number of our teams.

1st Team

Last year it was a bit of a struggle for the 1st Team to hold there own in divison 1 as we seemed to be constantly outgraded by most opponents and a few games went against us. So relegation was a battle between us and Ilford where we just about survived.

This year we have seen the promotion of a strong Southend Team (on paper) so we did seem to be relegation favourites again. However we have played 3 matches so far and we have won two out of three. Which really sets us up for a good season. Especially as two of those wins were against possible other relegation battlers.

We beat Southend by 5-3 and Basildon last night by 4 1/2 to 3 1/2. The game last night was down to the last game with a great win by Jim Howson on top board. His opponent is reknowned for not accepting draws and beating players in a quick play finish. However Jim has managed to beat him twice in the last two games he has played him on a quickplay finish. As Jim Also playes for Thurrock in the Southend League I believe he may well play him again next week.

Last nights result was

Bd	Upminster I		4½-3½	Basildon I
1	172	Howson, James B	1-0	Kraszewski, David	178
2	170	McCall, Martin	½-½	Gedvilas, Arunas	164
3	166	Brock, David	½-½	Laundy, Peter R	158
4	167	Robertson, Andrew E	½-½	Savin, Paul A	160
5	160	Crane, Leslie J	0-1	Clarke, Sean A	155
6	159	Harding, Charles F J	1-0	Lutton, J Arnold	155
7	158	Corish, Aidan T	½-½	Gardiner, David	145
8	157	Abbott, Stephen J	½-½	Hardy-Wallace, Daniel A R	136

The game we lost was against a very strong Barking side and we only lost that 5-3 . So omens are good.

2nd Team

The second team have not played any games yet due to re-arranged fixtures but their first game is on Monday 31st October away to Ilford. So good luck to you all.

3rd Team

The third team are yet to play any games in Division 3 with their first game scheduled for tonight (so watch this space). So good luck to them as they were newly promoted to Division 3 this year after winning Division 4 last year.

4th Team

The fourth team have started this season like a house on fire with three wins out of three and are sitting pretty at the top of the division. So far they have beaten Upminster Five 3 1/2 to 1 1/2 (with one default), Brentwood Three 4 1/2 to 1 1/2 and Thurrock Three a massive 5 to 1.

This is a great start and so far they are looking favourites to win the division. So keep up the good work boys.

5th Team

This is a new team for Upminster. So new in fact that we only formed it after the elague had started. I still remember when we only had three teams so to have five teams is brilliant and a credit to Upminster. Not only that it I think omens are good to hold our own in this league. The only game they have played is against Upminster 4 who are top of the league. So as of yet we have not seem the team preform on the bigger stage. Good luck to everyone involved.

So there we have it a good start to the season for Upminster Chess Teams. Also I understand we may have had some new players which are not on the members details list. So if somebody could up date me with the details I will add them to the list.

New Fixture Amendments

26 October 2011

Hi All,

Firstly just to let you know that I have now amended the fixtures list to reflect the fact that some of our match dates had changed. This now includes our newly formed 5th Team. However the fixtures for the 5th team have not been set as yet so further updates will be needed shortly.

I wish theme well in the weeks ahead and I am sure they can hold there own in the 4th Division.

Any further amendments you need me to make please let me know and I will attend to them in due course.

Thanks

David

19 September 2011

WEBSITE UPDATE

The website has undergone a change as in my infinite wisdom I thought flashing bits would look good . However I have been advised (quite rightly) that not everybody can look at it in this format as it makes viewing uncomfortable.

Therefore I have changed the flashing bits and at the same time I have made a few other amendments. Now you should have all of this years games up to date in the League Fixtures section.

I have also added some more games and videos and bitsand pieces in the training section.

Carlsen Wins Chess Oscar

01 August 2011

Magnus Carlsen wins Chess Oscar for second year running

Mark Crowther - Saturday 30th July 2011

64-Chess Review organises a revived "Chess Oscar" with voting taking place on the journalists player of the previous year about this time. In voting I always take into account both the player's results, the quality of their games, their contribution a favourable image for the game and all round entertainment value. This year Magnus Carlsen just edged out Viswanathan Anand, only the second time a World Champion didn't win it in the year of a title win. It was very close with 20 points separating the winner and second. The number of Anand 1st places is not available.

Magnus Carlsen being interviewed at the King's tournament.

Chess Oscar 2010 Press Release by Misha Savinov 30th July 2011

16 years ago Alexander Roshal and 64-Chess Review magazine revived the Chess Oscar - a special award for the best chess player of the year. Garry Kasparov won it in 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, and 2002, Vishy Anand was the winner in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2008, Vladimir Kramnik won in 2000, and 2006, Veselin Topalov took the Oscar in 2005, and Magnus Carlsen won in 2009.

The Chess Oscar 2010 iis awarded based on 111 lists from chess journalists of 36 countries (1st place in the list gives 13 points, 2nd place - 11 points, 3rd place - 9 points, 4th place - 7 points, 5th place - 6 points... 10th place - 1 point).

For the second year in a row the Oscar goes to Magnus Carlsen, who scored 1264 points. The gap between Carlsen and the runner-up - the World champion Vishy Anand - is mere 20 points! Only for the second time in history of the trophy it is not given to the World champion who successfully defended his title - in 1978 Viktor Korchnoi lost the championship match to Anatoly Karpov, but nevertheless received the Oscar.

The young Norwegian grandmaster was the world's highest rated player by the end of 2010 (2814 Elo), and won four supertournaments - Wijk aan Zee, Bazna, Nanjing and London. Even rather mediocre results at the Chess Olympiad and in the Grand Slam final did not overshadow these achievements. In addition, Carlsen was highly successful in speed chess - he tied for the first in the Amber tournament and took the bronze in the World blitz championship in Moscow. Magnus Carlsen was mentioned as the best player of the year in 53 submitted lists.

.

Chess Oscar 2010
Rk	Name	1sts	Pts
1	Magnus Carlsen	53	1264
2	Viswanathan Anand	N/A	1244
3	Levon Aronian	4	767
4	Vladimir Kramnik		570
5	Sergey Karjakin		535
6	Veselin Topalov		437
7	Ian Nepomniachtchi	2	435
8	Vassily Ivanchuk	1	428
9	Hikaru Nakamura		215
10	Alexander Grischuk		169

New Grades Out-Officially

24 July 2011

Hi All,

If you look at the Members Grades tab you will see that the new grades for 2011 are officially published.

It would seem that those players who played for the 2nd team last year have benefited most from the new grades. So this years teams should be interesting.

With bars in place for the following players and teams. (please correct me if I am wrong).

1st TEAM

Jim Howson, Martin McCall, Andy Robertson, David Brock, Les Crane, Robert Gill

2nd TEAM

Charlie Harding, Aidan Corish, Steve Abbott, Mustapha Rahaman

3rd TEAM

Robert Iannetta, Peter Biggs, Satnam Johal, Phil Foley

What I do not know is where Roy Watts fits in as he has no official grade on the list and previously he has been a barred player?

British Chess Championships

23 July 2011

BRITISH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011

The British championship, which starts in Sheffield on Monday, is the strongest in the event's 107-year history, with almost all of England's top grandmasters taking part. There will also probably be a rare head-to-head between the former world finalists Michael Adams and Nigel Short, who are both in good form. Adams tied first at the World Open in Philadelphia, Short at the Commonwealth Open in South Africa.

The other interesting prospect is a clash of generations as the long supremacy of Adams, 39, and Short, 46, is challenged by the ambitious and fast-rising David Howell, 20, and Gawain Jones, 23, who aim to take over the top boards in the national team.

It is hard to see beyond these four as potential winners, as some of the other eight GMs in the field are comparative veterans. Two players who could provide a shock are Jonathan Hawkins, 28, who has surged from nowhere to international level, and the Croydon schoolboy Yang-Fan Zhou, the UK's youngest master at 17.

Short and especially Adams have psychological edges in that their losses to other Englishmen in classic games are very rare. True, most of their chess is played abroad, but they also have an aura of invincibility. Short recently lost to Jones in Bunratty, Ireland, but Adams has not been beaten by an English opponent for more than a decade.

A possible achilles heel for the big two is that the large field of 82 players means that the winning total should be at least 8½/11, with the risk that Adams and/or Short may concede too many draws.

The impressively strong entry reflects sponsor backing by Darwin Strategic and the work of the English Chess Federation president CJ de Mooi (CJ from BBC2's Eggheads quiz programme). First prize is £8,000, nearly double 2010's, with extra fees and conditions for the top players.

Games will be shown free live on the internet, starting daily at 2.15 pm.

Extract from the Guardian Newspaper

A number of Essex players are taking part at this event and these are listed below:-

Essex Entries -

British Championship - 25 July - 5 August (Rest day 31 July)

Richard Pert

George O’Toole

British Senior Championship - 30 July - 5 August

Ivan Myall

Peter Doye

British U180 Championship - 25 July - 29 July

None

British U160 Championship - 1 August - 5 August

David Smith

Peter Nickals

British U140 Championship - 25 July - 29 July

Trevor Dickerson

British U120 Championship - 1 August - 5 August

None

British U13 Championship - 25 July - 30 July

Adam Taylor

British U9 Championship - 30 July - 31 July

Aditya Verma

British U8 Championship - 29 July

Aditya Verma

There are also Junior sections at U16, U14, U12, U11, U10 and U9, but I don’t profess to be familiar with Essex junior names, so can’t answer for other sections.

Major Open - 25 July - 5 August (Rest day 31 July)

Howard Grist

Adam Taylor

5 Day Open – AM Week 1 - 25 July - 29 July

None

5 Day Open – PM Week 1 - 25 July - 29 July

None

5 Day Open – AM Week 2 - 1 August - 5 August

Mark Murrell
Colin Ramage

5 Day Open – PM Week 2 - 1 August - 5 August

Colin Ramage

Weekender Atkins - 29 July - 31 July

None

Weekender Soanes - 29 July - 31 July

None

Weekender Yates - 29 July - 31 July

None

1st Rapiplay - 24 July

Adam Taylor
Natalie Taylor

2nd Rapidplay - 31 July

Mark Murrell
Brian Chan

All of these players can be followed on the main website for the event if you click on the link below.

External Link

New Grades For Upminster Players 2011/2012

18 July 2011

Dear All,

I have managed to acquire the new Grades for Upminster players for next year prior to the official publication.

These would see to be accurate and although unofficial are from the central grading system.

So here goes in Grade order for next year:-

Jim Howson 172

Martin McCall 170

Andy Robertson 167

David Brock 166

Les Crane 160

Rob Gill 159

Charlie Harding 159

Aidan Corish 158

Steve Abbott 157

Roy Watts 154

Mustapha Rahaman 146

Robert Iannetta 142

Satnam Johal 140

Phil Foley 135

Nigel Nice 131

Geoff Cooper 125

Bryan Gaze 115

Scott Robson 114

Peter Saunders 110

Stephen Wicks 110

Mike Sullivan 108

David Hurst 107

David Watkins 104

Tony Mcguire 93

Ron Hodgson 88

Alan Mercado 86

Andy Swetsun 84

Fred Burton 68

Johnathan Newby 68

Robin Newby 63

If there is anyone I have left off please let me know.

I will endeavour to up date the website a lot more often now and if match Captains want to let me know results I will add this to the site.