York League Cup Competition
The Scarborough Chess Club Team travelled to York with some trepidation to face the strong Acomb Dragons Team in the final of the knock out competition. The team had lost both matches in the league and expected to be out graded by some margin on most boards. The total rating difference was 9615 points against 8863 points. In a tense and fluctuating match befitting the final the score was three points each. The draw was then decided in Scarborough by grading/board count.
The Scarborough Team have therefore finished the season winning the cup. Congratulations to all players who participated in the matches for the club.
Congress Success
Local chess player Colin Weller triumphed at the recent Hull Chess Congress scoring an undefeated four out of five points in the under 1700 grade section and picking up a prize £185.00 and joint second place.
One of his best games from the event may be demonstrated at one of the Clubs training evenings in the near future.
He followed this up with a further undefeated four out of five points at the Scarborough Chess Congress which picked up a more modest prize of £20.
Doug Rawlinson Trophy - 2022
The new 2022/2023 season for the Chess Club started with the now traditional Doug Rawlinson Rapid Play event. This was the twenty-first holding of the event which was first held in 1989. Doug Rawlinson was a member of the chess club for many years who particularly liked rapid and lightening chess.
The event was won by Neil Pennock but the most entertaining chess was probably provided as usual by Simon Dixon. In one game as white he looked to escape a series of checks by a bishop in the middle game by moving his king from c2 to d3 to e4 to f5 and considered continuing to g6 and h7! This might have won with King to h8! but would have lost if it had come back to g6. The draw was agreed as the king came back e4 to d3 to c2 and back again but only as far as f5. His final game of the evening resulted in an ending with his two rooks against a rook and knight looking to support some dangerous past pawns. Most players had an opinion on how best to win the game which led to a lively exchange at the end of the evening.
End of Season Round-up
Scarborough Chess Club has completed another season in the York and District Chess League. In the first division Acomb deservedly retained the championship title with the strength in depth. The draw which Scarborough made in the first match was one of only two matches in which they dropped points. Scarborough was able to retain its place in the first division thanks to the performance against the University.
In the Second Division the University was much stronger this season than the other teams with Scarborough finishing a clear second. A total of fourteen different players contributed to this performance and had experience of competitive chess for the club.
This was the first season after the Covid break and the flexibility of the league with the number of players helped greatly in allowing matches to take place rather than having defaults.
York University v Scarborough - Again
Scarborough played the return match against the University over six boards. Simon Dixon made a tactical change to the board order only to discover that the University had also made a change to their order. Scarborough got off to a flying start with wins by Malcolm Kirby and Colin Weller. This was followed by a win by Brian Stevens which guaranteed at least a draw in the match as Scarborough were under pressure on the other boards. Neil Pennock was facing a dominant Knight on d5 from a typical English structure but found a perpetual attack by his knight on a rook to gain the draw. The final result of three and a half points to two and a half should ensure the club's place in the first division for next season.
Match Report: York University v Scarborough
Scarborough Chess Club faced its first match of the season against the University which would be likely to go a long way to decide the regulation place in the first division. The match was played over five boards and Scarborough got off to an excellent start with a convincing win by Malcolm Kirby and a steady draw from Colin Weller. Neil Pennock's attempt for the brilliancy prize failed as it was only worth a draw but resulted in a pawn up endgame which was gave him an eventual win.
This gave Scarborough two and a half points and at least a draw in the match. Simon Dixon then made a tactical offer of a draw in a game to secure the match where his opponent had given up an exchange but with castling on opposite sides any result could happen. His opponent declined the draw and when all in for the win which resulted in him getting two connected pawns on the seventh rank but this was not enough to win as Simon found a mix of defensive and counter attacking moves and won. This gave the Club a win in the match with three and a half point out of five.
Reports from Scarborough's Match at Ye Olde Starre Inne
Scarborough travelled to York to play the return match against Ye Olde Starre Inne having lost the home match by a convincing score. The strength in depth of Ye Olde Starre has always proved a significant challenge to Scarborough and the team again faced an overall grading disadvantage.
The match was played over five boards. Scarborough prospects improved significantly when Brian Stevens produced a convincing early win with the black pieces on board four. Neil Pennock took advantage of a slight error from his opponent to offer a draw which was declined on the basis of the other games looking to be going to towards Scarborough, only for the draw to be offered back two moves later and accepted. Malcolm Kirby also obtained a draw against an opponent who had proved difficult in the previous two games between them played this season. Simon Dixon had one last trap left in the ending against the very experienced Tony Slinger had been avoiding for a number of moves. The match came down to the top board game where Paul Hutchinson was able to exchange queens into an ending where the bishop was able to demonstrate its strength against a poorly placed Knight with pawns been won and with them the game and match for Scarborough. Simon then resigned the last game to give a match result of three points to two points to Scarborough.
York League – First Team Opening Match
Scarborough Chess Club had a challenging start to the new season for the first team in the York and District Chess League with a home match against the reigning division one champions, Acomb.
The team had to play without its Captain and was significantly out graded on all the boards. The first game to finish was Neil Pennock when his opponent had a perpetual check. His opponent pointed out later that the computer gave a clearly winning line a few moves before the end but there was no way that Neil would have found this. A further draw was achieved by Brian Stevens when the position became completely blocked. On board three Simon Chester had lost a piece but had three not very dangerous pawns as compensation. With some deft manoeuvring and probably some help from his opponent a pawn was advanced to the sixth rank and then the seventh forcing the win of a piece and a won ending. Scarborough were now in the lead in the match, although it was not looking good on the other boards as all the Scarborough players were under pressure. Matt Conner, making his first appearance for the team, had won the exchange but his opponent had a powerful bishop for it and started to win pawns. Very short of time he lost the exchange and had to face an army of four space invader pawns moving down the board. The match was now level with both remaining games with players short of time. Paul Hutchinson gained a draw against Gavyn Cooper quickly followed by Malcolm Kirby 's opponent taking a draw by perpetual check with 15 seconds left on his clock. This left the match as a draw with the score three all.
Doug Rawlinson Trophy
The Scarborough Chess Club held the twentieth edition of the Doug Rawlinson Rapid Play Competition on the 27 September 2021. The clear winner was Colin Weller with four and a half points out of five and a whole point clear of the players in joint second place of Simon Dixon, Jon Ayres and Neil Pennock. This followed Colin Weller's three and a half points in the Minor at the Northumberland Minor which was half a point off the group winning the first prize.