HA2 Vs Loughborough 2

My opponent left her king in the centre of the board - leaving me a target to aim at.

The other games all, more or less went the distance.

John's game was complicated and fell apart in the ending. I missed the end of Mike's game, but he had been a pawn up for most of it and had turned down a draw, but lost the game in the dying seconds.

Pete's game against Terry Adcock was a good one. Pete had been material up throughout, but Terry's pieces were more active and Terry had looked as though he would win despite being a bishop down in the closing stages. Pete was able to salvage a draw, however.

Ray and Gordon came down for a club night and Stan Parsons showed up to reclaim his butterfly.

Andy the landlord bought 8 tickets for John's Chess Set Raffle.

23 Apr		Heathcote Arms 2		v	Loughborough 2
				1½ - 2½
1	B	151	Peter the President	½ - ½	Adcock, Terry	122
2	W	147	Cowley, Michael	0 - 1	Gallant, Sam	128
3	B	131	The Grinder	0 - 1	Hickman, Peter	113
4	W	119	Not Quite As Big Boss	1 - 0	Kueppers, Christina	80

Here is my game against Christina Kueppers:





Graham B tells me that:


'Heathcote 1 still have a rearranged match against Shepshed 2, to be played at The Heathcote on Tuesday 7th May. This will probably be a winner takes all relegation battle, winner stays in div 1 loser is relegated.'

Well done everyone,

Colin.

HA2 Vs Kirby Muxloe 1; Red Admiral Vs HA3

We had several players unavailable this week, so on Tuesday we fielded a stronger HA2 than usual:

16 Apr		Heathcote Arms 2		v	Kirby Muxloe 1
				3 - 1
1	B	151	Harrison, Peter	1 - 0	Gray, Paul	138
2	W	152	Booley, Graham	½ - ½	Townsend, Ray	130
3	B	147	Cowley, Michael	1 - 0	Walker, John	129
4	W	131	Manger, John	½ - ½	McEachran, Ewan	118

On Wednesday, Stan had asked us if we could play up to six boards, but we could only manage four. Andy Johnson was back from the channel islands. Expecting to be facing me on board one, he had been using this site to study my games.

Drew lost, John fell victim to some tactics, i offered a draw in an even looking position. Paul was in a better position, but offered Ray a draw.

17 Apr		Red Admiral 1		v	Heathcote Arms 3
				3 - 1
1	B	136	Johnson, Andy	1 - 0	Manger, John	131
2	W	117	Wylie, Paul	½ - ½	Ross, Colin	119
3	B	115	Findley, Paul	½ - ½	Beach, Ray	91
4	W	98	Slater, Mick	1 - 0	Harbidge, Drew	60

Here is my game:



In the bar afterwards, we discussed the possibility of a joint club championship with the Red Admiral over the summer. Nothing was definitely agreed, but both clubs have players who would like additional rated games over the summer.

This was HA3's last League match of the season. HA1 has already had its last match. HA2 has its last match next Tuesday - a club night for the rest of us.

Well done everyone,

Colin.

Willowbrook 2 Vs HA2

11 Apr		Willowbrook 2		v	Heathcote Arms 2
				2½ - 1½
1	B	152	Hart, Gavin	½ - ½	Booley, Graham	152
2	W	158	Pattinson, John	½ - ½	Harrison, Peter	151
3	B	158	Deacon, Paul	½ - ½	Manger, John	131
4	W	142	Tate, Michael	1 - 0	Beach, Ray	91

This week:

HA2 Vs Kirby Muxloe 1 on Tuesday,
and Red Admiral Vs HA3 on Wednesday.


Colin

HA3 and HA1 at home.

Everybody managed to fit into the dining room, and the Grinder and Sajan also found room to give us support.


HA3 Vs Kirby Muxloe 3

Drew scored an early win. I started off badly but was able swap off material and improve. Ray had looked alright in a game where there were material imbalances, but went on to lose. Gordon was our last man to finish.

09 Apr		Heathcote Arms 3		v	Kirby Muxloe 3
				2 - 2
1	B	119	Ross, Colin	1 - 0	Lund, Malcom	95
2	W	91	Beach, Ray	0 - 1	Shaw, Peter	75
3	B	60	Harbidge, Drew	1 - 0	Slater, Tony	80
4	W	43	Milner, Gordon	0 - 1	Bowles, Les	52

Here is my game with the black pieces against Malcolm Lund.





HA1 Vs Wigston 1

I did not see much of these games, but did watch Graham B trying to hold out against Andy Morley two pawns down in a bishop and pawn endgame - it was not to be.

Post match analysis showed that Pete accepted a draw offer from Phil Horspool in a game that Pete should have gone on to win.

09 Apr		Heathcote Arms 1		v	Wigston 1
				1½ - 3½
1	B	196	Sharpe, Graham	0 - 1	Byron, Alan	193
2	W	174	Ganger, Rajan	½ - ½	Burrows, Martin	191
3	B	151	Harrison, Peter	½ - ½	Horspool, Philip	178
4	W	152	Booley, Graham	0 - 1	Morley, Andrew	173
5	B	147	Cowley, Michael	½ - ½	Cohen, Gerry	179

This Thursday, HA2 play away against Willowbrook 2.

Well done everyone,

Colin.

2013 Laws of Chess

Edit: I have been asked to point out that this was an April Fool Joke, Colin

Please find below the rule revisions due to take place from July. Many thanks to Graham B for forwarding this to me on Monday:

'I have been made aware of the changes to the Laws of Chess to be implemented from July 1st, 2013.

A full text of the Laws will be made available within the next few days. The main focus has been to reduce the number of draws in the game, along with other measures in a bid to make the game more attractive to non-players and the wider media. The main changes are:

(1) The rules of a competition may no longer specify a default time other than 0 minutes. Players in breach of this will be disqualified from the event. His opponent will win the game by default, and not be re-paired.

(2) To avoid having to explain the concept of check, checkmate, and stalemate to non-players, they are being removed from the Laws as concepts. Instead, players are free to move into check. A player will win the game by actually capturing his opponent’s King. If the player leaves his King in check, but it is not captured, then the game shall continue with the King remaining in check.

(3) The penalty for an illegal move shall be the immediate loss of the game. This rule already applies in Blitz chess, but is now being applied to chess with any time control.

(4) Games may no longer be drawn by agreement at all. If a game “ends” in this way, then both players shall score 0 for the game in question.

(5) Players will not be permitted to repeat the position on the board within two moves of its previous occurrence. If a player does so, then it shall be treated as an illegal move, and so the player who repeats shall lose the game. This rule is already used in Go, a board game popular in Japan and China.

(6) Games may no longer be drawn by the “fifty-move rule”, which has been removed from the Laws.

A full copy of the final text of the Laws will be e-mailed to all organisers once they have been made available by FIDE. These exciting changes are sure to enhance chess in the 21st century, and increase the strategy of the game. They are quite radical, so players will have to tread carefully to avoid falling into foolish traps.

- Alex Holowczak, Director of Home Chess – 1st April, 2013'