ECF County Championship Finals
Scarborough Chess Club member Colin Weller was successful in playing for Yorkshire in the ECF County Championship Final for Under 1650 players. His win contributed to the 10 -6 victory of Yorkshire over Greater Manchester. The match was played at the at Bradford Latvian Club.
York and District Chess League
Scarborough Chess Club completed another successful season in Division 2 of the York and District Chess League. The number of teams had increased to ten resulting in 18 matches with each team played home and away. Scarborough almost achieved the perfect mid-table result winning six matches, drawing six matches and losing six matches with 50 points for and 51 against. Tom Hall achieved the best result with 7½ out of 9.
Scarborough Chess Congress 2023
The Scarborough Chess Congress was held over the weekend 27 to 29 October 2023 with well over 300 players from all over the country participating. The Club was well represented with six members participating in different sections and two former members of the club also returning to play. None made it into the prize list but Tom Hill was awarded for the best performance by a Scarborough Club player.
Club News
Scarborough Chess Club has made a good start to the new season in the York Chess League winning its first match.
The Club will be running the Doug Rawlinson Rapid Play competition on Monday the 16 October commencing at 7.30pm at the Roscoe Rooms, Roscoe Street, Scarborough. Entry on the night for existing members or anybody who wants to give it a go. This will be a good warm up event for the weekend of the 27th-29th October 2023 when Scarborough will be playing host to the annual Chess Congress at the Spa. About 300 people are expected to participate making it one of the largest competitions in the country. It is anticipated that a number of players from the club will be competing. This year there will also be a special one day competition for juniors on the Saturday.
Chess Fest - London
Local Players Rafal Rogowski and Neil Pennock separately attended the Chess Fest event in Trafalgar Square London on Sunday 17 July. Rafal played the following game in a simultaneous display given by International Master Thomas Rendle gaining a memorable draw.
Rendle,Thomas - Rogowski,Rafal [C01]
Chess Fest Simul London, 16.07.2023
[pennockneil]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Bd6 6.0–0 c4 7.Be2 Nf6 8.Re1 0–0 9.Nc3 h6 10.Ne5 Re8 11.Bf4 Nc6 12.Bf3 Be6 13.Qd2 Qc7 14.Nb5 Qb8 15.Nxd6 Qxd6 16.Nxf7 Qd7 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Rf8 19.Re2 Bg4 20.Bxg4 Nxg4 21.Bg3 Nf6 22.f3 Rfe8 23.Rae1 Rxe2 24.Qxe2 Re8 25.Qd2 Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 Qe8 27.Qxe8+ Nxe8 28.Be5 Kf7 29.Kf2 b5 30.Ke3 Ke6 31.h4 a6 32.Kf4 g6 33.g4 Kf7 34.h5 gxh5 35.gxh5 Ke6 36.c3 Nf6 37.Bxf6 Kxf6 38.Kg4 Ke6 39.f4 Kf6 40.f5 Ke7 41.Kf3 Kf7 42.Kf4 Kf6 43.a3 a5 44.a4 bxa4 45.Kg4 Kf7 46.Kg3 Ke7
½–½
ECF 24 Hour Blitz Tournament
The English Chess Federation held a 24 hour blitz tournament in support of British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal on the 20/21 May 2023. Club member Neil Pennock decided to enter with a plan of giving the London system a go with the white pieces and play the Spink Gambit against 1 e4. Geoff Spink was a member of the club for many years and he favoured this gambit, particularly in blitz games. The gambit goes 1 e4 d6 2 d4 e5?! 3 de Nc6!? 4 ed Bd6 and Black gives up a pawn for a lead in development. He managed to score 50% with this opening. Black does not get enough compensation for the pawn but it can be played in blitz chess.
He did get to play against three grandmasters but was unable to cause any upsets. This included playing Keith Arkell, the eventual winner of the tournament.