HA2/3 Vs Hinckley in Minor League Cup

We won the toss and opted for white pieces on the odd numbered boards. Grade difference meant a one point head start for us. It was quite a while before the first result when Ray succumbed to Jason Smith.  Michael put up an excellent fight against Terry Clay staying equal on material almost into the endgame, but as Terry is a renowned for losing on time, he did exactly the right thing in not resigning until defeat was inevitable. Pete then won with the white pieces against Barry Bailey. The final game to finish was my own against Brian Radesk. There hade been time scrambles at the first and last time controls. I offered Brian a draw (for our game and the match) in what was a lost position for me, and around three moves later, Brian left his queen en pris. The final result including handicap, therefore, was a 3-2 win for us in what should have been a 3-2 defeat. That is two wins out of two for us in the Minor League Cup.

Radesk,Brian - Ross,Colin

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.c3 f6 9.Qg4 Qe7 10.f4 Nc6 11.Bd3 0–0–0 12.Nf3 Nh6 13.Qg3 Rdg8 14.Qh4 Nf7 15.Qf2 g5 16.exf6 Qxf6 17.fxg5 Qe7 18.h4 e5 19.dxe5 Nfxe5 20.Nxe5 Nxe5 21.Kd2 Rf8 22.Qe3 Bf5 23.Bxf5+ Rxf5 24.Kc2 Rhf8 25.Re1 Qd7 26.Qc5+ Nc6 27.Re2 d4 28.Qc4 Rf2 29.Rd2 Qf5+ 30.Kb2 Rxd2+ 31.Bxd2 Qf2 32.Rd1 Qxg2 33.cxd4 Rf2 34.Qg8+ Kc7 35.Qxh7+ Kb6 36.Qd3 Rf3 37.Qc4 Rf5 38.Ka1 Rb5 39.d5 Na5 40.Be3+ Ka6 41.Rb1 Nxc4 0–1

23 Nov		Heathcote Arms 2		v	Hinckley 1		GD
				2 - 2			49
Handicap				1 - 0
				3 - 2
1	W	138	Harrison, Peter	1 - 0	Bailey, Barry	129	-9
2	B	102	Ross, Colin	1 - 0	Radesk, Brian	113	11
3	W	90	Beach, Ray	0 - 1	Smith, Jason	102	12
4	B	60	Bubb, Michael	0 - 1	Clay, Terry	95	35

Upcoming Matches and Events.

MAJOR LEAGUE CUP
Wednesday 24th November HA1 away against Melton Mowbray 1.


LEICESTER LEAGUE

HA1
Tuesday 7th December at home against Scraptoft Valley 1.
Thursday 13th January away against Wigston1.

HA2
Tuesday 30th November at home against Syston 2.
Tuesday 7th December at home against Wigston5.
Tuesday 4th January at home against Braunstone 3.

HA3
Thursday 16th December away against Spinney Hill 2 (Spinney want to play 5 boards)
Tuesday 11th January at home against Oadby 1.

Christmas Pairs Competition

We will be having a Christmas friendly match against The Red Admiral, on Wednesday 22nd December, at the Heathcote Arms. This is a pairs competition without confering. We will be playing to Harrod Cup time controls, and like the Harrod Cup, each pair play one game with the white pieces and one with the black. This evening will not be too serious and we will be laying some food on.

London Chess Classic

Ray and i will be visiting the London Chess Classic on Friday 10th December. If anyone wants to tag along and see the world's and the English elite in action, there may still be tickets available at  http://www.londonchessclassic.com/

Club Night

There will definitely be a club night on Tuesday 30th November.

Well done everyone,

Colin

Shepshed 1 (2-3) HA1

Graham B reports:

Always tough at  Shepshed. They start clocks at 7.15 and only play 30 in 60 mins.

We all started 5 mins down on the clock, Graham equalised on time after 10 moves and then his opponent took 40 mins to make the next 10 moves, something you can't afford to do on these time limits, as his opponent found out and lost on time at 1st time control.

Dave took a draw as the clock ticked close to the time control.

Raj, although an exchange up, couldn't break down his opponent's pawn structure and had to settle for draw.

Mike's opponent blundered in the time scramble, I heard whilst in my own time struggle Mike's voice 'YOU TOOK YOUR FINGERS OFF THAT' and he subsequently won.

I lost another 5 mins on clock looking for Raj as he hadn't been there before, so I was 10 mins down, made 1st control with seconds to spare, 2 pawns down in rook/bishop v rook/knight I fought on only to have my flag drop just as i made the move that gave me a drawn ending.     

 

18 Nov		Shepshed 1		v	Heathcote Arms 1
				2 - 3
1	B	170	Toothill, Andrew	0 - 1	Sharpe, Graham	192
2	W	167	Bowley, Rupert	½ - ½	Bray, Dave	168
3	B	171	Henfrey, Robert	½ - ½	Ganger, Rajan	167
4	W	164	McDermott, Patrick	0 - 1	Cowley, Michael	156
5	B	165	Farrall, David	1 - 0	Booley, Graham	153

Graham

Braunstone 3 Vs Heathcote Arms 2

I was just about to head out to the Club night when i received a call from Pete asking if i could play at Braunstone. Everything went according to plan.

16 Nov		Braunstone 3		v	Heathcote Arms 2
				0 - 4
1	B	117	Lathwood, Roy	0 - 1	Ensor, Rob	139
2	W	108	Khawaja, Okash	0 - 1	Harrison, Peter	138
3	B	104	Read, Barry	0 - 1	Manger, John	122
4	W	94	Martin, Paul	0 - 1	Ross, Colin	102

Meanwhile at the Heathcote, there were Drew, Michael, Ray and Dave.

Next week, it is the League Cup matches. HA2/3 play at home against Hinckley on Tuesday 23rd November, and HA1 play away against Melton on Wednesday 24th.

Well done everyone,

Colin.

Kirby Castlers 2 Vs HA3

Our first visit to Leicestershire's newest Chess Club provided a great result.
The first result was a win for me with the white pieces as my opponent blundered a piece and then allowed me to swap everything off. Michael had two queens towards the end and converted a huge material advantage into his first graded win. Drew took a bit longer, but also took the whole point. Ray had the hardest job of the evening against Les Bowles, but an even-ish game swung towards Ray in the ending.

I had predicted that Drew and Michael would be winning competetive games this season, but i doubt if they expected to manage their first wins on the same night and on only their third or fourth games.

11 Nov		Kirby Muxloe 2		v	Heathcote Arms 3
				0 - 4
1	B	100	Turner, Scott	0 - 1	Ross, Colin	102
2	W	100	Bowles, Les	0 - 1	Beach, Ray	90
3	B	80	Gonzaga, Edda	0 - 1	Bubb, Andrew	80
4	W	50	Brown, Audrey	0 - 1	Bubb, Michael	60

Paul Gray and Ray Townsend, both formerly of Wigston, have been very busy over the summer organising their new club at the Bowls Club in Kirby Muxloe (if you have trouble finding it - as i did - find Station Road, and look behind the Village Hall).

The club has been built around a club night with lots of internal competitions. All Swiss - no knockouts - and often with handicaps. One of the competitions involves two hour games with the time allowed to each player determined by their grade e.g. if Paul with the Club's highest grade against Audrey with the lowest grade - Paul would have six minutes on the clock to Audrey's one hour and 54 minutes.

The venue was warm and the lighting was good. The home team operate the bar themselves. Things were pretty noisy to begin with, but this soon settled down. There were lots of players at the venue playing friendlies, and after all the games except Ray's (which was the last to finish) there was some analysis.

Next week, there will definately by a club night on Tuesday as HA3 has no matches. HA1 plays away against Shepshed on Thursday 18th, and HA2 plays away on Tuesday 16th against Braunstone.

Well done everyone, especially to Drew and Michael. Congratulations to Paul Gray and Ray Townsend on their excellent new chess club.

Colin.

Melton Mowbray 3 Vs HA2

10 Nov		Melton Mowbray 3		v	Heathcote Arms 2
				3 - 1
1	B	153	Jex, Alan	½ - ½	Booley, Graham	153
2	W	147	Wallace, Robert	1 - 0	Ensor, Rob	139
3	B	139	Peters, Simon	1 - 0	Harrison, Peter	138
4	W	110	Toon, Roy	½ - ½	Manger, John	122

HA1 Vs Wigston 2

Graham B says:

I wasn't at the match so can't give a report but it seems quite a weak wigston 2 team, however we can only play what is put before us and it's nice to get a good win and back on track in our fight for survival in div 1.

09 Nov		Heathcote Arms 1		v	Wigston 2
				4½ - ½
1	B	192	Sharpe, Graham	1 - 0	Dodds, Iain	157
2	W	168	Bray, Dave	1 - 0	Galyov, Ed	163
3	B	167	Ganger, Rajan	1 - 0	Harlow, Phil	145
4	W	156	Cowley, Michael	½ - ½	Daniel, John	131
5	B	138	Harrison, Peter	1 - 0	Wilkins, Denis	110

Graham B

HA3 Vs Red Admiral 2, and HA1 Vs Braunstone 1

There were two matches at home again this Tuesday.

HA3 Vs Red Admiral 2
HA3 was outgraded on every board. The first result was a loss for Gary against Stan. Gary lasted longer than in previous matches and is showing signs of improvement. The next result was a draw for Brian against Amber. This had looked equal for a long time, although Amber began to take control in the end game. Brian fought back and was able to force a draw be perpetual check. Great result. In my game, Andy blundered a piece quite early on, but made me work for the win. Ray had been a piece for a pawn down, but regained the piece during extra time. After some swaps, it was Ray's King and Pawn against King and he could not be stopped - Ray, yet again, snatching victory from the jaws of seemingly inevitable defeat. With the final result being 2.5 to 1.5 in our favour, this was HA3's first League victory of the season.

02 Nov		Heathcote Arms 3		v	Red Admiral 2
				2½ - 1½
1	B	102	Ross, Colin	1 - 0	Carter, Andy	111
2	W	90	Beach, Ray	1 - 0	Slater, Mick	108
3	B	80	Martin, Brian	½ - ½	Carter, Amber	94
4	W	80	Sanders, Gary	0 - 1	Parsons, Stan	92

HA1 Vs Braunstone 1
Grandmaster Mark Hebden was in action for Braunstone. I did not see a lot of this match and cannot really add much - although there is a match report on the new Braunstone website http://www.braunstonechessclub.org.uk/

02 Nov		Heathcote Arms 1		v	Braunstone 1
				2 - 3
1	B	167	Ganger, Rajan	0 - 1	Hebden, Mark	242
2	W	168	Bray, Dave	½ - ½	Colburn, Paul	167
3	B	156	Hewitt, Sean	½ - ½	Robinson, John	170
4	W	156	Cowley, Michael	0 - 1	Salisbury, Michael	167
5	B	153	Booley, Graham	1 - 0	Bingham, James	157

Christmas Do
The Red Admiral have suggested a Christmas challenge. Last Easter we played a pairs competition, with some food laid on, at their place, for the George Winterton Trophy. This was a good night and Christmas seems like a good excuse to do it again - it would also be good to show some support for our new landlord. Further details will appear on the blog when we have them.

Upcoming Matches.
HA1
Tuesday 9th November at home against Wigston 2.
Thursday 18th November away against Shepshed 1.

HA2
Wednesday 10th November away against Melton Mowbray 3.
Tuesday 16th November away against Braunstone 3.

HA3
Thursday 11th November away against, new club, Kirby Castlers, then a long break before -
Thursday 16th December away against Spinney Hill 2.

Keith Arkell Simul
If you would like to try your hand against a Grandmaster, Keith Arkell will be playing a simultaneous display at Braunstone Civic Centre on Friday at 7.30PM. Cost £10 and includes some refreshments. There are still some boards available. If you don't want to join in, you can still go along and watch.

Well done everyone,

Colin

Leicestershire Under 160s Match away against Nottinghamshire

Report from Graham B:

3 heathcote players. Mike Cowley managed the only win in the whole team, Rob a creditable draw, and I lost.

Graham

Board	Name	Grade	Score	Name	Grade	Score
1	LEVENS, David G	159	.5	Bingham, James T	157	.5
2	HAYWARD, Brian M	158	.5	Dodds, Iain F	157	.5
3	BROUGHTON, Daniel	158	0	Cowley, Michael H	156	1
4	WALTERS, J Keith	158	.5	Pattinson, John	155	.5
5	LANE, Tim A	156	1	Jimenez, Alfonso	154	0
6	PLACE, William	156	.5	Adcock, Gregory	154	.5
7	HUNTER, Steve	155	1	Booley, Graham M	153	0
8	WILLIAMSON, Eric	155	1	Watkinson, Phil K	152	0
9	ROPER, Keith W	152	.5	Turvey, Steven S	146	.5
10	LONDON, Nick J	148	1	Glover, John	145	0
11	TASSI, John	148	1	Harlow, Phil	145	0
12	CRANMER, Stanley E E	148	.5	Tate, Michael J	145	.5
13	MORGAN, D Philip	147	.5	Ensor, Rob	139	.5
14	ALI, Hamzah	145	1	Reynolds, David	137	0
15	RADFORD, Mark S R	145	1	Adcock, Terry D	136	0
16	TAYLOR, Robert P	144	.5	Farquharson, Ian	134	.5
			11			5