Brave 'B's hold their own

Martin Syrett and his team donned their best war paint
for Monday's match with Hebden Bridge 'A'

On Monday night the Trades Club hosted the first derby clash of the season as Hebden Bridge ‘A’ played against Hebden Bridge ‘B’ in Calderdale League 1. In the past these ties have been the first to take place in the fixture list in order to avoid any suggestion of collusion later in the season. This season the sides met in round 3. If there had been any sceptics invigilating this fixture they can rest assured that the ‘B’ team gave their comrades no quarter and were rewarded for their trouble as they ended up stealing a hard earned point.
Both sides fielded changed lines ups from their previous fixtures. The ‘A’ team have been handed a blow to their title hopes by the withdrawal from league competition of their top board, Matthew Parsons. The side still have a strong line up but it looks very different from the team that finished runners-up last season. Dave Wedge, Matthew Wedge-Roberts, Alastair Wright and now Matthew Parsons have all gone. As a result of this new set-back ‘A’ team Captain has drafted in Dave Sugden from the ‘B’ team to play on board 5 and everyone else has moved up the board order.

Martin Syrett’s ‘B’ team thus had to deal with the loss of Dave Sugden and, furthermore, the unavailability of several regular selections due to the fixture being played in half-term week. In the end Martin recruited three ‘C’ team stalwarts in the form of Josh Blinkhorn, Steve Priest and Neil Bamford. They repaid his faith in them by performing admirably on the night.

An early warning shot was fired across the bows of the ‘A’ team has Dave Sugden perished at the hands of Neil Bamford after barely half an hour’s play. Playing a Vienna Gambit, Dave made an uncharacteristic tactical oversight and was dispatched instantaneously by Neil, who is having a wonderful start to this season.

This surprise result left the ‘A’s needing to win 3 out of the last 4 boards to take the match. They weren’t able to do this. First of all in the battle of the team Captains on board 2 Dave Shapland and Martin Syrett agreed to a draw in a lifeless pawn ending. Dave and acceded to the exchange of all the heavy pieces on the basis that he felt the resultant ending was winning for him. He was wrong and Martin held the draw easily.

The remaining three fixtures went right to wire at the end of the evening and could have gone either way. At one point it even seemed that the ‘B’ team would clinch an astounding victory. On board one Darwin Ursal was held to a draw by Andy Leatherbarrow who defended himself stoutly and took advantage of Darwin’s exposed king by giving him perpetual check. Shortly afterwards Pete Leonard and Josh Blinkhorn also agreed to share their point in fascinating, fluctuating battle. The endgame of this encounter is worthy of study as it contains lots of interesting points. Both players had to play very accurately in order to maintain their chances and a draw was a fair result.

This meant that the ‘A’ team had to win the final game of the tie in order to draw level. On board 4 Nick Sykes kept hold of a strong initiative throughout his game against Steve Priest. He developed a raging attack in the middle game and, although he missed a couple of quicker kills, the result was never really in doubt and he duly collected the point at the end of the evening.

The final match score card looked like this then:

Hebden Bridge ‘A’ vs. Hebden Bridge ‘B’

D.Ursal ½-½ A.Leatherbarrow

D.Shapland ½-½ M.Syrett

P.Leonard ½-½ J.Blinkhorn

N.Sykes 1-0 S.Priest

D.Sugden 0-1 N.Bamford

2½-2½

Congratulations to the ‘B’ team for this excellent result. All their players were all out-graded by 20 points or more so this really is a tremendous achievement.

At the end of the evening the next question to ask was “how much has this draw hurt the ‘A’ team’s title challenge?” The answer was, “not as much as it might have”!

Champions Huddersfield ‘A’ have had a terrible start to the year with consecutive loses to Brighouse and Courier ‘A’. They needed to win to have any chance of fighting their way back into contention and they did just that in a heavy-weight encounter away to Todmorden ‘A’. Both sides fielded phenomenally strong line-ups but it was the visitors who took the spoils. Wins for Chris Booth against Andrew Clarkson, Mitchell Burke against Alastair Wright and Richard Boylan against Chris Edwards were enough for Huddersfield to win 3½-1½.

The season’s early leaders, Courier ‘A’ and Brighouse, both pinched their third successive wins to maintain their 100% records. Courier beat Belgrave 3½-1½ at home and Brighouse, also at home, beat Huddersfield ‘B’ 3-2. Courier and Brighouse now share a 2 point lead at the top of the table although both sides are still to play Hebden Bridge ‘A’ and Todmorden ‘A’. The two race leaders play each other next Monday for the rights to sole leadership.

Hebden Bridge ‘A’ climb over Todmorden ‘A’ into third place in the league. The ‘A’ team must next face Huddersfield ‘A’ away and could therefore soon be caught again. Already this next match is set to be crucial to Hebden’s title challenge. Win, or even draw, and they will be right in the battle. Lose and the champions will draw level with them. If Huddersfield turn up with the same side that won this week it will be an uphill struggle.

Hebden Bridge ‘B’ occupy the lower reaches of the table but should take heart from the fact that they have now played Courier, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge ‘A’ and can look forward to an easier run of fixtures before Christmas. The fact that they have taken a point from these first matches should be a source of some consolation to Captain Syrett. Their next match is away to Huddersfield ‘B’ and they should be optimistic about getting a result against one of their fellow strugglers.

Tune in again next week for further updates as both leagues are in action next week. Our division 2 teams play on Monday and our division 1 teams are in action on Thursday.

Round up

There’s a lot going on across the Calderdale and Yorkshire chess circuit at the moment. Today I’d like to take a short pause for breath to round up some of the news and results you may have missed.

Calderdale Individual Championship 2011-12

This year’s championship is being hosted by the Belgrave and Courier Chess Clubs at the Belgrave Social Club on Claremount Road in Halifax. As always there are 5 rounds and these take place on the first or second Monday of the month from November through to March. This year’s schedule is as follows:

• Round 1: 7th of November, 2011
• Round 2: 12th of December, 2011
• Round 3: 9th of January, 2012
• Round 4: 13th of February, 2012
• Round 5: 12th of March, 2012

Pairings for each round will be posted at 19.30 and play will begin promptly at 19.45. Entry for this year’s competition costs £3.50 and £2.50 for juniors.

Anyone interested in registering to play in this event should contact this year’s organiser, Paul Edwards, by e-mailing him at: clic2012@gmail.com

Entry fees can be paid on the night of the first round but you must pay before the start of play.

As an aside from the details of the competition I must say that it’s great to see another club other than our own hosting this year’s competition and I’d like to wish Paul the very best with the organisation. Here’s hoping that Hebden Bridge players will continue to support the championship just as enthusiastically as we have done in recent years. I am hoping to once again provide extensive coverage of the competition as it progresses right here. Get yourselves signed up.

Yorkshire Chess Association website

Hot off the press is this new website that acts as a hub for chess players across the county and, in particular, the Yorkshire League. YCA President, Ihor Lewyk and his assistant website editor, Matthew Webb, have done a fantastic job to get this up and running. I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops over the coming months.

Yorkshire League Results

Adrian Dawson has once again been swift in furnishing me with the latest efforts from our two Calderdale teams.

“A mixed day for the Calderdale teams on Saturday. A great result for the ‘A’ team who thrashed Bradford ‘A’. It has to be said that Bradford had to split their side in an effort to keep their ‘B’ team in the First Division but it was still a very strong team as the grades prove.”

Bradford ‘A’ vs. Calderdale ‘A’

W.Williams (190) ½-½ P.Watson (189)

I.Lewyk (178) 0–1 R.Newton (181)

D.Barlow (176) 0-1 M.Hamer (177)

C.Wright (170) ½-½ M.Whitehead (173)

M.Bramson (170) 0-1 J.Morgan (173)

I.Hunter (165) ½-½ D.Ursal (166)

M.Ashdown (158) 0-1 D.Patrick (165)

J.Holliday (126) 0-1 M.Corbett (138)

1½-6½

“Calderdale ‘B’ were out-gunned on all boards and suffered a severe defeat. If they continue to play teams of the strength of the first two in this season’s campaign, they will struggle for sure.”

Bradford Central vs. Calderdale ‘B’

P.D.Rooney (203) ½-½ M.I.Connor (154)

M.D.Crowther (174) 1-0 N.Suttie (148)

J.D.H.Milnes (169) 1-0 D.Colledge (143)

D.Breen (167) 1-0 A.Leatherbarrow (140)

N.J.Edwards (163) 1-0 M.Syrett (139)

P.G.Day (153) 1-0 D.Sugden (137)

DEFAULT 0-1 D.Milton (132)

G.Laszlo (130) ½-½ S.Priest (121)

6-2

Calderdale League 2 Results

Hebden Bridge ‘C’ were the only side in action in Calderdale League 2 on Monday night. Calderdale ‘D’ had a walk over as a result of Wheatley’s withdrawal from the league earlier this season. The ‘C’ team faced up to Courier ‘B’ and were unusually depleted for the match with regular Captain, John Kerrane, being away on holiday. As a result, stand Captain, Neil Bamford, led the side to a superb victory under the circumstances. After the match he was moved to remark, “The good guys came out on top thanks to some inspired performances from the ‘D’ team refugees”.

Here is the full match scorecard:

Hebden Bridge ‘C’ vs. Courier ‘B’

J.Blinkhorn 1-0 P.Hughes

S.Priest 0-1 D.Colledge

N.Bamford 0-1 J.Smith

C.Greaves 1-0 J.Whitehead

D.Crampton 1-0 R.Bottomley

3-2

Hebden Bridge Chess Club database

Last, but by no means least I would like to draw members’ attention to Nick Sykes’ blog on which you will now be able to find the latest version of this year’s games database. This is up to date to the 17th of October.

Special delivery from Courier

Huddersfield 'A's title defence now looks even more fragile
than this parcel thanks to Courier's win on Monday night

On Monday night it was the turn of Calderdale's Division 1 teams to wade into action for round 2 of this year's competition. But, before we turn to our own teams' results, I should first relate the seismic result that has reached our ears from Halifax where Courier 'A' overwhelmed the reigning league champions Huddersfield 'A' by a score of 3½-1½.

In itself this would not necessarily mean all that much (Courier also beat Huddersfield in the second round last season) but, coming on the back of the champion's defeat away to Brighouse in round 1, this result leaves them bereft and cut adrift from this year's title race after only two matches! Last year they recovered from a draw and a loss to claim their victory with an perfect run of 12 won matches. This year they will have to do that again and it still may not be enough to save them.

Courier's excellent win deservedly leaves them top of the table with two wins from two matches. Brighouse join them on 4 points (they are second on board score) after they saw off Belgrave away in a tight match. The other two fixtures both featured Hebden Bridge teams and so, without further ado, over to John Kerrane who reports on the action from the Trades Club.

“Hebden Bridge Chess Club’s A team confirmed their status as contenders for the Calderdale Chess League first division championships on Monday evening at the Trades Club, Holme Street, when they hosted newly-promoted Huddersfield B, and beat them 4½-½.
The individual results were:

Hebden Bridge ‘A’ – Huddersfield ‘B’

M. Parsons 1-0 N. Hepworth

D. Ursal 1-0 N. Hepworth

D. Shapland 1-0 B. Corner

N. Sykes ½-½ E. Mellor

D. Sugden 1-0 M. Rojinsky

4½-½

Meanwhile, one of their rivals, Todmorden ‘A’, was dealing out similar harsh treatment to Hebden Bridge ‘B’ at the same venue. The 4-1 score line does not reflect the closeness of the match, as several of the Hebden players came close to causing an upset, but only Steve Priest on board five could win a point for the home side.

The individual scores were:

Hebden Bridge ‘B’ – Todmorden ‘A’

A.Leatherbarrow 0-1 M.Hamer

M.Syrett 0-1 A.Clarkson

J.Blinkhorn 0-1 A.Wright

J.Kerrane 0-1 R.Tokeley

S.Priest 1-0 C.Edwards

1-4

On the same evening, Hebden Bridge ‘C’ was playing away against Halifax ‘A’ in one of the semi-finals of the Calderdale Summer Team Knock-Out Competition. In this time–handicap competition, lowly Hebden Bridge ‘C’ had a genuine chance, but the Halifax side won the match in the end. The match featured the debut for the Hebden Bridge league teams of 9-year-old Kyle Sharpe, who came away with a creditable draw against old campaigner John Nicholson.


The individual results were:

Halifax ‘A’ – Hebden Bridge ‘C’

C.Velosa 1-0 T.Sullivan

R.Cully 0-1 N. Bamford

H.Wood 1-0 T.Wilton-Davies

J.Aldridge 1-0 D.Crampton

J.Nicholson ½-½ K.Sharpe

3½-1½

Halifax ‘A’ will now play Hebden Bridge ‘A’ in the final of this competition.

Hebden Bridge 'A's assured victory has left them in third place in the table hot on the heals of Courier and Brighouse and with Todmorden for company. These four sides have already pulled clear of the rest of the division and poor old Hebden 'B' find themselves rock bottom and with the unappetising prospect of facing their colleagues in the 'A' team in the next round of fixtures. Anyone interested in seeing the current league table can do so at the league website.

This just leaves me to introduce a few more of the games from Monday night. These ones all come with a little commentary. First up is another combative victory for Darwin Ursal on board 2 for Hebden Bridge 'A'. He showed his young opponent no mercy has he brushed him aside early on in the evening. I've used the "Show/Hide" function on Chess Flash here to try and ensure this post loads as quickly as possible. Just click below for the second and third game viewers to be revealed!

Next up, and also a board 2 clash, here is Andrew Clarkson's victory of 'B' team captain, Martin Syrett. My thanks go to Andrew for taking the time to send us this game.

Finally, here is 'A' team captain Dave Shapland's effort against Brian Corner.

Thanks to all the players who took the time to send me their games by e-mail this week.

Yorkshire League under way

Today’s post comes from Adrian Dawson who reports on the first round fixtures from the Yorkshire League which began last Saturday with two tough away fixtures for Calderdale’s two teams.

"In this article it is time to give grateful mention to some of Calderdale's heroes for their out-standing work in, not only representing our League, but in the way they have shown out-standing fortitude by organising teams that can not just compete at the highest level but can compete at all! People such as David Patrick, who for years has kept a team in the Woodhouse Cup by consistently finding strong players who are happy to represent us and is also the Fixtures Secretary to the League; Dave Colledge who does a sterling job as the League's Secretary and also captain's the Calderdale 'B' team, who also perform admirably in the I.M.Brown (Yorkshire's Second Division). Both 'A' & 'B' teams finished mid-table last season and promise to improve this term. Finally, Dave Milton, a former Yorkshire Secretary, who has done what no chess player has done for many a year in organising, not just one Todmorden team but a thriving club that now boasts 3 teams, all of which are showing great promise in the local league.

The Calderdale teams had perhaps the toughest matches they will face in their campaign in the first round of the Yorkshire Saturday League. The 'A' team travelled to face the champions for the past 3 years, York, and it has to be said, gave a very good account of them selves, especially in the middle order. Being out-graded on all boards bar one the 'A' team battled hard and the score, although looking like a heavy defeat, does not give a true reflection of how the match went.

The Woodhouse Cup, Round 1

York 'A' – Calderdale 'A'

C.Ross (189) 1-0 P.Watson (189)

J.Weller (192) 1-0 R.Newton (181)

D.Adams (198) ½-½ M.Hamer (177)

J.Nicholson (183) ½-½ M.Whitehead (173)

A.Combie (185) ½-½ J.Morgan (173)

M.Carpenter (177) 1-0 D.Patrick (165)

R.Mounce (160) 1-0 M.Corbett (138)

R.Cowan (164) 1-0 M.Huett (123)

6½-1½

Although the 'B' team's result was the same this match showed the 'B' team can do battle with the strongest. Hull used to be the largest club in Yorkshire and won the Woodhouse Cup 13 years in succession, from 1987 to 2000. They soon after had some internal problems and withdrew from playing in Yorkshire. The present team is now fighting to try and replicate those glory days. Our 'B' team were heavily out-graded on all boards and had to default on bottom board. In the match Neil Suttie and Dave Sugden both had their opponents on the rack but couldn’t convert. Dave Milton was much better against his opponent but lost on time. Last to finish was Steve Priest who turned down a draw offer and tried to squeeze out a win but in the end had to give a perpetual check to avoid defeat. The rest of the side were outplayed by a much stronger team that seems to be on its way back to Division 1."

The I.M.Brown Shield, Round 1

Hull D.C.A. – Calderdale 'B'

E.Gardner (179) 1-0 M.Connor (154)

D.Stephenson (175) ½-½ N.Suttie (148)

J.Thackray (172) 1-0 D.Colledge (143)

I.Bell (163) 1-0 M.Syrett (139)

B.Hesler (157) ½-½D.Sugden (137)

R.Callis (162) 1-0 D.Milton (132)

A.Grice (133) ½-½ S.Priest (121)

D.Mills (153) 1- 0 Default

6½-1½

Thanks to Adrian for sending us this report. I hope to continue to update readers on the progress of both Calderdale teams as the season progresses. Both team Captains are always on the lookout for new recruits so if you are interested in representing Calderdale in the Yorkshire League leave a comment here or e-mail me at hebdenbridgechessclub@gmail.com and I'll send your contact details on to them.

League 2 Champions take control

Neil Bamford: Strong start to the
season

John Kerrane has filed us this report on Monday night’s league 2 fixture.

"The players of Hebden Bridge Chess Club’s D team set off on Monday evening to play away against the current Calderdale Chess League second division champions, Todmorden B, knowing they had a tough task ahead of them. Their own senior colleagues in the C team had only managed a draw against them in a home match a fortnight before.

The games all followed a similar pattern – after getting into difficulties in unfamiliar openings, the D team players fought back, but only Neil Bamford, on board 2, managed to overcome his initial disadvantage and won a complex rook-and-pawn endgame against his highly-rated opponent, Paul Logan. Finally, Todmorden emerged winners by a score of 4-1, which reflected the much greater experience of the Todmorden side."

The individual results were:

Todmorden ‘B’ – Hebden Bridge ‘D’

P.Edwards 1 – 0 J.Blinkhorn

P.Logan 0 – 1 N.Bamford

M.Huett 1 – 0 C.Greaves

R.Stoelman 1 – 0 M.Levy

R.Pratt 1 – 0 P.Dearden

4 – 1

I should add that both Josh Blinkhorn and Neil Bamford on the top two boards would normally have expected to play for the ‘C’ team. Unfortunately, Wheatley’s late withdrawal from League 2 has left only 7 teams in the competition and so Hebden Bridge ‘C’ had a walkover this week as their scheduled fixture was against Wheatley. I understand they will be awarded a 5-0 win.

Elsewhere in League 2: Courier B put an early dent in Halifax ‘A’s plans to return to League 1, after relegation from the top flight last season, by beating them 3½-1½. Courier won on all of the top 3 boards to seal the match.

Todmorden ‘C’ won their match at home against Halifax ‘B’ by an impressive 4-1 margin with Tom Webster, Dave Milton, Geoff Bowker and JP Ellis all winning their games. This win carries Tod ‘C’ to the top of the table as the only side in the league to have managed 2 wins from their opening fixtures. Their next match is away at Halifax ‘A’ in a tie one suspects Halifax are already under pressure to win.

I’ll end this post by saying “Well done” to Neil Bamford who has started the new season strongly with 2 wins from 2 games. He also won with White against Bob Pratt on board 5 in Hebden Bridge ‘C’s draw at home with Todmorden ‘B’ in the opening match of the season. As I don’t have his game from this Monday and didn’t publish that win at the time I will publish it now.

Neil has a straight-forward and uncomplicated style with an eye for exploiting a tactical opportunity which makes him particular dangerous with the White pieces. In this game he plays sensible developing moves in the opening and gives himself the best chance of capitalising on his opponents mistakes. The nice sacrifice 26.Bxf7+! wins at least the exchange and is the kind of combination some players of higher grade would easily overlook.

Keep up the good work Neil!

Half full or half empty?

Which one are you?

It’s all about your frame of mind isn’t it? I mean, whether you perceive the proverbial glass to be half full or half empty. Sometimes it’s a close call though. Monday night’s first round match of the Calderdale Evening Chess League left me puzzling over which view to take. Ultimately I think I’m a “glass-half-full” kind of chap. Perhaps I should explain my dilemma.

I’m new to this team Captain business and whilst the logistical dealings of organising a team and getting them to a venue come to me easily enough I hadn’t anticipated some of the thoughts and feelings I’d experience on game night itself. I found myself paying quite a lot more attention to the status of my colleagues’ games and at the end of the night I found myself weighing up the value of the result much more extensively than I might have done if I’d just been participating as a player.

As I prepared Hebden Bridge ‘A’ for the season I did so with the goal of winning the League 1 title in my mind. Huddersfield won last season with our team a close second and I wanted to create a team capable of winning the title back from them. I think we have such a team but we’ve had to re-build. Dave Wedge has done sterling service for the ‘A’ team on board 1 for many years, but a career opportunity has taken him away to Cambridge. His son Matthew, coincidentally, has achieved a place at Cambridge University studying Mathematics and he was one of the ‘A’ team’s top performers last season. In addition, last year’s Captain, Alastair Wright, has decided to offer his services to Todmorden ‘A’ this year. That left just Nick Sykes and Matthew Parsons from last year’s squad.

So, we’ve started again. Matthew Parsons is now on board 1. He would have been even if Dave was still here due to his higher rating. We have managed to secure the services of Darwin Ursal on board 2. He was a board 1 player with Halifax ‘A’ last season but, as they were relegated, he wanted League 1 chess so we’ve have him on a “season’s loan”. Darwin hopes and expects to go back to Halifax next year assuming they can get one of their two teams in League 2 promoted. Last season I was in the ‘B’ team but playing on board 1 or 2. This year I’ve switched teams but will operate on board 3. Finally, we have drafted in Pete Leonard who was probably the club’s surprise package last year as he returned to league chess for the first time in many years and performed admirably in the ‘C’ team. In the end, on paper anyway, we actually have a stronger line up than last year so I’m confident that we can compete.

Round 1 took us away to Todmorden for the first tie of the new campaign. I suspected they would be able to generate a strong line up. Martin Hamer and Andrew Clarkeson (both very strong players) were only guest stars last season but this year I suspect they will be regulars. The addition of Alastair Wright on board 3 gives them a powerful top order. And so with my new Captain’s head on I suspected we’d have to win on the lower boards to win the match. In my experience this is always where things are decided in League 1 as the best teams can all field very strong and evenly matched players on the top 2 or 3 boards. Baring in mind that we’d all have the Black pieces this fixture seemed like it would be one of the season’s toughest encounters.

Half way through the evening I admit I was worried. On board 1 Matthew appeared to be under pressure but was holding his own against Martin. On board 2 Darwin was playing his favourite Sicilian Dragon variation but Andrew appeared to know his way about and was playing accurately in the opening phase. My own game against Alastair had begun disastrously as his chosen move order completely flummoxed me. I had ended up with a terribly uncoordinated mess (king forced to f8 by a massive White knight on d6 (!), queen’s bishop trapped at home with no prospects of escape, rooks disconnected and a knight on the h-file) and was reduced to hunkering down to a long night of misery grovelling for a draw.

Boards 4 and 5 appeared to offer the best cause for optimism. Pete had achieved a huge passed pawn on the c-file straight out of the opening against Chris Edwards and seemed in control of things and Nick seemed to have a very satisfactory position from another Sicilian Defence against David Innes.

There was a brief moment mid-evening when disaster seemed imminent. Darwin had his queen trapped in the centre of the board and, to my eyes at least, there appeared no way out without giving up material. As you’ll see from the game analysis below, it turns out my assessment was correct (most unusual) but Darwin found a tricky response and Andrew overlooked the correct reply. Darwin went on to play the resultant endgame very actively and accurately and deserves great credit for overturning a -2 previous score against Andrew (admittedly one of those losses was in the lightning chess format).

By the time Darwin had won his game Matthew had agreed a draw against Martin Hamer, an excellent outcome given he had Black, and I had finally given up the fight against Alastair who played accurately and without fuss to convert his huge positional advantage. My queen’s bishop was still on c8 when it was trapped at the end of the game! All of this left the scores even from the top 3 boards, proving once again my opinion that League 1 games are decided on the lower boards.

Pete Leonard put our noses in front with his first League 1 win against Chris. That left us a point up with one to play and it appeared we would win the match as Nick seemed to be well in control of his game. Sadly he then overlooked a tactic that left him with too much ground to make up and he resigned in disgust.

At the time it felt disappointing to draw the match when we seemed to have it in the bag despite my own abysmal contribution. The glass was half empty. Nick was gutted at blundering in a winning position and I felt thoroughly dispirited from the molestation I had suffered. However, by the time I had gotten home and tucked myself in I was feeling a bit more positive. Looking at the Todmorden line up before the match I’d have taken a draw if you’d offered me one and the other three members of our team had all performed extremely creditably. I also reasoned that other teams (even our closest rivals) would struggle to achieve a drawn match if Todmorden put the same team out for every home tie.

A few days later I’m now convinced that my optimism is well founded for the champions, Huddersfield ‘A’, stumbled to a 3½-1½ defeat away to Brighouse in their first match of the season. Suddenly our draw seemed all the more like a point gained rather than a point lost. Recent history suggests that Huddersfield are more than capable of recovering to challenge for the title. Last year they draw their first match and lost their second but then went on a 12 match winning streak to claim victory. They’ll hope to do the same again but for the moment my glass stays half full.

Whilst we are on the subject of optimism let us pause to appreciate this quality in Martin Syrett, our ‘B’ team Captain, under whom I served with great pleasure last season (and in previous years also). Martin has been the ‘B’ team Captain for a number of years now and he labours under the most difficult circumstances. He knows that the best he can hope for each year is for his team to maintain their League 1 status. He knows that if the ‘A’ team find themselves a player or two short he will be expected to weaken his line up to support their title bid. Yet despite these travails he maintains a jovial and easy-going demeanour no matter how desperate the situation appears to be.

Last year the ‘B’ team appeared doomed for the drop and yet he led the charge to safety as we rallied to win our final two matches and stay up at Halifax’s expense. This season I think he has cause for a little optimism. In contrast to the ‘A’ team he has only lost one player. Me. In addition he also has access to some players who distinguished themselves in League 2 last season. On paper they like a big hitter on board 1 to help protect the rest of the troops but all of his regulars are rated within 5 or 6 points of each other and that should provide him with the chance to rotate them a bit in order to give them all the chance to win some games and test themselves on higher board.

Sadly, on Monday night at least, it didn’t work out for the ’B’s. Matthew Wedge Roberts guest starred on board 1 for his final match before heading off to university and he did well to draw with Courier ‘A’s number 1, John Morgan. John was last season’s individual super star as he collected not only the Calderdale Individual title but also the prize for best individual score in the league. I posted their game in the express report on Monday. John appeared to have most of the pressure in the game but Matthew knuckled down and held his position to prevent his opponent breaking through.

On board 2 Andy Leatherbarrow played tenaciously against Dave Patrick and pushed him all the way to the end of the night’s play (when does Andy ever play a game that is over in an hour or less!) but in the end an extra pawn in a rook ending wasn’t enough for a win.

It was further down the order that the ‘B’ team’s night went sour. Captain Syrett seemed to be doing well but then lost a piece as the endgame approached and went down swiftly to Robert Clegg after that. On board 4 Pete Olley seemed to be a certain winner before he also capitulated in dramatic fashion. Finally, Dave Sugden, so solid and dependable on board 1 for the ‘C’ team in League 2 last season, seems to have had an early catastrophe in his game and also lost.

Hebden ‘B’ matched up favourable grading-wise on the bottom two boards so (having drawn boards 1 and 2) the margin of the 1-4 score was disappointing. They next face Todmorden ‘A’ at home before playing their derby match with the ‘A’ team later in October, so they may already be looking at another slow start to the season. Martin’s side should be able to compete and pick up points against the likes of Brighouse, Belgrave and Huddersfield ‘B’ later in the Autumn. They’ll need to if they are to help Mr. Syrett is to continue performing his little miracles.

Let battle commence!

Today John Kerrane provides us with a report on Monday night’s Calderdale League round 1 matches. Match score cards and some of the games from each fixture have also been added. I'll be publishing some annotated games from these matches later in the week.

To use the game viewers simply select the game you wish to view from the drop down list above each board. Each viewer displays a random game from the selection. The games are presented at a rate of one move every 3 seconds. To play through them at your own pace select the "=" button and then move forward and back with the arrow buttons.

Hebden Bridge Chess Club started the new Calderdale Chess League season with a bang on Monday evening, with all four of their teams in action.

The A team, playing away against Todmorden A, were held to a draw by the home side, who were aided by a win for Alastair Wright, former Hebden A team captain now playing for Todmorden, against the new captain, Dave Shapland. However, a win by new A team member Pete Leonard evened the account. The individual results were:

Todmorden ‘A’ vs. Hebden Bridge ‘A’

M. Hamer ½ – ½ M. Parsons

A. Clarkson 0 – 1 D. Ursal

A. Wright 1 – 0 D. Shapland

C. Edwards 0 – 1 P. Leonard 1

D. A. Innes 1 – 0 N. Sykes

2½ – 2½

The B team, playing at their home venue, the Trades Club, Holme Street found it hard going against Courier A and went down 4-1. Matthew Wedge-Roberts and Andy Leatherbarrow, on boards 1 and 2, managed creditable draws, but the visitors’ lower board players proved too strong for Hebden B. The individual results were:

Hebden Bridge ‘B’ vs. Courier ‘A’

M. Wedge-Roberts ½ – ½ J. Morgan

A. Leatherbarrow ½ – ½ D. Patrick

M. Syrett 0 – 1 R. Clegg

P. Olley 0 – 1 D. Colledge

D. Sugden 0 – 1 G. Thompson

1 – 4

The C team, also playing at home, held a strong Todmorden B side to a 2 ½ - 2 ½ draw, this time with strong play on the lower boards. The individual results were:

Hebden Bridge ‘C’ vs. Todmorden ‘B’
T. Sullivan 0 – 1 R. Tokeley

T. DeLuca 0 – 1 P. Logan

J. Kerrane 1 – 0 G. Bowker

S. Priest ½ – ½ R. Stoelman

N. Bamford 1 – 0 R. Pratt

2½ – 2½

As these game viewers are still relatively new to this blog I'd like some feedback from readers. Can everyone see these ok? Do they display correctly? Do you like them? etc.

Lightning victory for Parsons

The new Calderdale Evening Chess League is just around the corner (it starts next Monday) and, in the time honoured tradition, Hebden Bridge Chess Club held its annual Club Lightning Competition to give club members the opportunity to limber up in a light-hearted yet competitive way.

In addition to this contest several members of the club joined other Calderdale players at the Huddersfield Rapidplay on Sunday the 11th of September.

Today’s post reports on the outcome of both competitions and we begin with John Kerrane’s report for the Hebden Bridge Times.


Report by John Kerrane

 As the new Calderdale Chess League season approaches, Hebden Bridge Chess Club held their regular warm-up, the annual Lightning Chess Trophy competition, on Monday at the Trades Club, Holme Street.

With the current lightning champion, Dave Wedge, retiring from active play for the club, the competition was wide open, and several of the stronger players were in contention from the outset. The early leader was Matthew Wedge-Roberts, but he was overhauled by Matthew Parsons, who finished the evening with 5/6, while Wedge-Roberts, with 4½/6, came second.

This result confirmed Matthew Parsons’s fine form for the beginning of the new season, after he finished second in the Huddersfield Rapidplay Congress the previous weekend in a very strong field. He managed to beat the strongest player in the competition, Peter Shaw, in the first round and was, in fact, the only player not to lose a game.

Next week, the club’s players, after limbering up, must get down to some serious business when the league matches start in earnest, with all four of the club’s teams in action on the first night.

So, Hebden Bridge Chess Club has a new Lightning Champion in the form of Matthew Parsons. He was a worthy winner. The final ranking table of all entrants is published below.

I know that some contestants were very interested in the software I used to generate the pairings and enter the results. It’s a piece of free software called Sevilla and I found it very easy to use. It probably saved us 30 minutes of time working out the pairings in between rounds so I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to run a competition at club level.

The format of lightning chess often leads to some quite comical circumstances that you simply wouldn’t see in any other form of the game. In particular the rules dictate that there is no need to announce check and that any king left enprise can be captured to end the game. Likewise, any illegal move that isn’t picked up on before the next move is due to be made has to stand. When you only have 10 second to make each move these idiosyncratic rules come into play more often than you might imagine. I won two of my games on Monday night by capturing my opponent’s king and I've witnessed a game of Lightning chess that ended with one player having two bishops operating on the same colour squares! Neither player had the slightest idea when the error had occured.

A particularly amusing episode took place on Monday in the final round as two of the club’s less experienced players battled it out for the final point of the round. Tim Wilton-Davis was playing White and was up an exchange and several pawns and appeared to be cruising to a win when Tim Whelan, playing Black, gave check with his one remaining piece, a knight. When the buzzer went 10 seconds later Wilton-Davis advanced a pawn and, immediately realising his blunder, actually got up from the board in disgust to storm off. Meanwhile, Whelan, totally absorbed in proceedings, didn’t seem to notice Wilton-Davis' distress and didn’t notice that his opponent's king was enprise! When the buzzer sounded again he also advanced a pawn at which point Wilton-Davis returned to the board with a smirk to move his king out of check and he went on to win the game. Whelan meanwhile remained completely oblivious of his oversight!

As a parting shot for this post I'd like to publish Matthew Parson's excellent win against Peter Shaw from the Huddersfield Rapidplay. This was a notable scalp for Matthew and he went on to be undefeated for the rest of the day tying for second behind Shaw who managed to win all but one of his remaining games to win with 4.5/6. The game below is published using a new game viewer (yet another!) by Casaschi. I'm hoping to use this viewer more often in future as hopefully I will be able to display all the games in a single league fixture through a single viewer. It's only draw back is that it isn't so good with annotations and commentary (there is a limit to the number of characters one can have in the PGN file) and so for single games with commentary I hope to use another viewer that is best for this purpose. As always I'd value feedback on the viewer below.