AGM and Quickplay Competion
Scarborough Chess Club held its Annual Meeting at the end of May marking another successful season in the York and District League. The first Team came joint third in the First Division and the Second Team came third in the Second Division, whilst winning the knock out cup in a very close final match. The members are now looking forward to the British Chess Championships which this year will be held in Hull at the end of July. This competition has events for all levels of chess player and a number of members of the club are planning to participate.
The club will be holding an evening event on the 19 June which will give players of all levels the opportunity to play five games in the evening. Anybody is welcome to attend. The event will commence at 7.30 pm at the North Riding Public House, North Marine Road, Scarborough.
Club Championship Result - 2017/2018 Season
The Scarborough Club Championship has been won by John Jarmany for the 7th consecutive year. John scored 9 points from a possible 10, winning 8 games and drawing against Simon Chester and the second placed Chris Dossett. Chris finished with 8.5 points and remains unbeaten for the last 2 years.
The Club Championship has been running for over 100 years and all club members can enter. This season it was an "all play all" format.
Match Reports from 29th March 2018
There was an exciting night in prospect at the Scarborough Chess Club on Thursday as the first team were playing a vital league game and the second team were completing in the reserve team Cup Final, this year only open to teams not in the top division.
A difficult decision had to be made first, as only 10 players were available for 11 boards. Simon Dixon, who normally plays bottom board for the first team and top board for the second team, decided that the Cup Final had to take priority.
This meant that the first team started a player short. Coupled with this, Brigantes 1st team had a rating advantage of 831-788, or 8 ˝ points a board. The Seasiders had the proverbial mountain to climb.
All the games were long and hard fought, with several swinging forward and backwards as each side strived for an advantage. Simon Chester had to settle for a draw, despite having pressure, but his opponent defended stoutly. Stan Lovell, making his seasonal debut for the first team was playing an old foe in Michael Jackson, but at the end of a “thriller” of a game, Stan succumbed to pressure and lost. This put Scarborough ˝ - 2 ˝ down with the top three boards still playing, needing a comeback akin to Lazarus.
Next to finish was Neil Pennock who continued his excellent season with a fine win after his opponent dropped a piece. Chris Dossett then applied pressure, with his opponent’s king caught in the open and won with a neat ending. Top board John Jarmany then applied the coup-de-grace after being under pressure for most of the game, to seal the win for Scarborough.
York League Division One 29/03/18
Scarboro Castles 3˝ - 2˝ Brigantes 1
1 196 John Jarmany B 1 0 Gavyn Cooper 191
2 167 Neil Pennock W 1 0 Richard Cowan 168
3 160 Chris S Dossett B 1 0 Peter R Harrington 179
4 146 Simon Chester W ˝ ˝ Paul May 152
5 119 Stan Lovell B 0 1 Michael Jackson 141
6 0 Default W 0 1 Richard Mounce 144
Meanwhile Scarborough second team were also facing a ratings disadvantage of 8 ˝ points a board, as Brigantes third team lead that particular battle by 608-566. As we all know though, the tension of a Cup Final can do strange things to people and favourites on paper do not always come out on top.
First to finish was top board and captain Simon Dixon. His highly rated opponent took a pawn with queen and announced checkmate, only to find that Simon had a knight protecting the pawn, and it was not checkmate at all. It was a crazy blunder for a beginner to make, yet alone someone graded 157. This win for Scarborough was followed by two draws from Nigel Yates and Malcolm Kirby. Bottom board Ronnie Noble could not weather the storm of pieces invading his position and lost, but Colin Weller stayed calm in his opponent’s time trouble and scored the win that brings the cup to Scarborough.
York League Division Two Cup Final 29/03/18
Scarborough B 3 - 2 Brigantes 3
1 146 Simon Dixon B 1 0 Bob Maltby 157
2 121 Malcolm Kirby W ˝ ˝ Ashley Carr 124
3 127 Colin Weller B 1 0 Sri Sriharan 114
4 86 Nigel Yates W ˝ ˝ Rodney Mitchinson 99
5 86 Ronnie Noble B 0 1 James Dessent 114
With one game to go in the top division, Scarborough have an excellent chance of their highest ever finish of third. In their last game of the season, they play Railway Institute Cavaliers, who are just behind them in the table.
League Table