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Gallery

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Photos of Manchester people and events

Manchester Players at the British Championships

This year’s championships took place from 27 July to 9 August down the M62 in Liverpool. Many MCF players took the opportunity to take part and this is a brief summary of their efforts.The venue was the splendid St Georges Hall, no need to waste time describing the venue, just have a look at the photos.http://www.britishchess08.com/photos/miscell.htm

The first Rapidplay was won by newly Heywood resident ex Bury player, GM Keith Arkell. Most of the top players saved their energy for the two weeks ahead, but Keith took the opportunity to play whenever he could. Also playing were Brian Slater (Bolton), Dave Newell (East Cheshire), Mark Taylor (Rochdale) and Alan Smith (Stockport).

The following day, the championship proper commenced, along with a large number of supporting events. The 5 day Open pm saw 12 year old Chris Horner (Bolton), son of Jeff, gaining quite a few rating points, finishing mid-table despite being the lowest graded player.Glen Trueman (Marple) took part in the U175 and Jim Nicholson, stalwart county play for Greater Manchester, was undefeated in the U125.

In the Juniors, the U16 saw Tom Clements (3Cs) gaining grading points, Mitchell Burke (3Cs) playing to grading, and a joint sixth finish from Michael Rabbitte (Heywood).The U13 saw Peter Gerlagh (Altrincham) gaining grading points after a difficult start. His 9 year old brother Joris found it tough in the U11, as might be expected against mainly older players. The experience was valuable, as the weekend saw Joris finishing an excellent runner up in the U9, which also featured the Didsbury Dynamos duo of Ravi Mahapatra and Nathan Campbell.

The weekend U140 saw top ten finishes from Tom Clements (3Cs), Mick Connor (Great Lever), Mark Taylor (Rochdale) and Dave Newell (East Cheshire). In the Open, Bob Newton (Heywood) was joint winner, an excellent performance as his co-winners were all much higher grades.

The second Sunday Rapidplay saw Keith Arkell joint first with fellow GM Bogdan Lalic. Along the way, Keith beat Mitchell Burke (3Cs), who had another great performance gaining many grading points.Week 2 began, and inspired, Mitchell gained some more grading points in the 5 day Open am, as did Chris Horner again in the 5 day Open pm.

In the U100, joint winner was the improving Richard Fox (Atherton). Also taking part were Reyer Gerlagh (Altrincham) and James Waddington (Bolton).In the U12, Nathan Taylor (Bolton) finished joint third with Jamie Horton (Didsbury Dynamos), well done to both players. Peter Gerlagh (Altrincham) gaining grading points and Isobel Cotogni (Worsley) was the only player to hold the wunderkind of British Chess, Felix Ynojosa.In the U10, Bolton’s Joseph McPhillips won undefeated by a clear point, an excellent result and congratulations. Good performances too from Andrew Horton (Didsbury Dynamos) and Joris Gerlagh (Altrincham).

At the other end of the age scale, Jim Nicholson has a tough week in the Seniors.The Major Open is a tough slog of 11 afternoons, like the Championship proper Monday to Saturday in week 1 and Monday to Friday in week two. I’m not quite sure how he found the time to play, but Mitchell Burke (3Cs) managed another grading gain.Heywood’s Rabbitte brothers would be reasonably happy – Liam (17) faired best with good rating gain, finishing just ahead of Michael (15) also gaining points and Dominic.

Turning finally to the main event, IM Jeff Horner (Bolton) started with a draw against eventual champion GM Stuart Conquest. He stayed on the top boards for the first week, despite losing good games against GMs Hebden and Lalic, but faded somewhat in week two.Fellow Bolton player Mike Surtees had an excellent event, losing only to two IMs and a GM. A good rating gain was consolidated by his spectacular round 7 win against eventual Ladies Champion, IM Jovanka Houska. http://www.britishchess08.com/downloads/games.htmThis won the game of the round £100 prize, won the following day by Keith Arkell against IM Lawrence Trent.

3Cs Stephen Gordon finished an excellent joint third, undefeated and gaining rating points but missing the elusive final GM norm. If he had won any of his seven draws, he would have been in the final playoff. Stephen cannot be too downhearted as he became the British U-21 Champion.The playoff was actually contested by Keith Arkell, whose only loss was against Stuart Conquest, who defeated him again to take the Rapidplay playoff. Am I the only one who thinks that joint champions would be fine, and a Rapidplay playoff is no way to settle a longplay event of 11 days duration? Keith has the consolation of being awarded the title of joint English Champion 2008, keeping the title won last year by Stephen Gordon in Manchester.Apologies if I have missed anyone out, well done to all who played and those from Liverpool who worked so hard to make the event a big success. Mick Norris.

IM Andrew Martin (left) with round 7 'Game of the Day' £100 winner Mike Surtees

Winner GM Stuart Conuest (left) discussing the final position immediately after the second play-off game ended with him securing a 1½-½ victory against GM Keith Arkell.

Stephen Gordon deep in thought

GM Nigel Davies (right) against GM Mark Hebden

IM Jeff Horner (left) drawing his game with the new champion

Foreground right is Nathan Taylor (Bolton) and behind him Isobel Cotogni (Worsley) in the Under 12s

Matthew and James Walsh of Bolton (Under 11s)

MCF v Sheffield League

125th Anniversary Match 29th June 2008

Board S&DCA 16½-13½ Manchester

1 Andrew Ledger ½-½ Ben Hague (W)

2 Jonathan Nelson 1-0 Stephen Pickles

3 Paul Blackman ½-½ Richard Beach

4 Aref Vasli 1-0 Shever Mapira

5 David Latham 1-0 Anthony Aspin

6 Yang Guo (J) 0-1 Adam Tyton

7 Mohammad Said ½-½ John Reed

8 Mike Smith ½-½ John Wordsworth

9 Jeremy Hamm ½-½ Ghassan El Gehani

10 David Andrews ½-½ Mitchell Burke

11 Andy George 0-1 Alan Beresford

12 Tom Whitaker (J) ½-½ David Pardoe

13 Steve Bracey 1-0 Matthew Pollard

14 Steve Gibbs ½-½ Jim Nicolson

15 Dave Grobler 1-0 David Kierman

16 Andrew Birtwhistle 1-0 Chris Hodgson

17 John Mercy ½-½ Mark McNulty

18 John Fryer 1-0 Peter King

19 Ashley Littlewood (J) 0-1 David Preen

20 Bill Ward 1-0 David Holt

21 Ian Barwick 0-1 Chris Chadwick

22 Michael Littlewood (J) 0-1 Damian McCarthy

23 Neil Limbert 0-1 Ian Brusby

24 Paul Bailey 1-0 Evan Wood

25 Louis Brijmohun (J) 1-0 Charles Sharpe

26 Miles Edwards-Wright (J) 0-1 Steven Jones

27 Dominic Wong (J) 0-1 Lee Baron

28 Bill Pettigrew 0-1 Peter Gerlagh

29 Bob Lindsay 1-0 Joris Gerlagh

30 Brian Stephenson 1-0 Tom Green

The MCF team

Playing Hall

The Reyner Shield 2007/8

Three Cs 1

The victorious Three Cs 1 team that won this years shield.

Bolton 1 2:5 3Cs1 19th May 2008.

1.

J. Horner

0:1

A. Ashton

2.

M.Surtees

1:0

A. Walton

3.

J. Hall

0:1

D. James

4.

H. Lamb

½:½

J. Bentley

5.

A. Tyton

0:1

A. Jaunooby

6.

R. Middleton

0:1

P. Adams

7.

N. Taylor

½:½

M. Burke

The event was played at the Bolton YMCA and Julian Clissold gave a demonstration of the top three boards play. Using his Laptop, Chessbase and projector he kept the audience well informed and entertained.

Stobo-Bland Trophy 2008

Stretford April 12th.

John Reyes took his mainly young band of warriors to the Stretford Bridge Club to do battle with the Lancaster army of chessplayers. Players from the Lancaster, Morecambe and District Chess League were the opponents in the 5th annual Stobo-Bland Trophy match. Alan Stobo was a founding memeber of the Manchester Chess Federation and would have been proud to see his good work continued with a good win for the Mancunian team. The result was a more than convincing 21½-6½ victory against the defending champions. Below is a selection of photos from the event.

Stobo2

Stobo3

Stobo4

Stobo5

Stobo1

The Bolton Easter Congress 2008

TopTable

The top table players in action

JeffHorner

IM Jeff Horner (centre facing) playing J Hanley. Jeff won the Blitz section with 100% score.

ArbiterandBookstall

Arbiter's table and bookstall.

MikeSurtees

Mike Surtees (hat) deep in thought playing J Wardley.

SHaslinger

GM Stewart Haslinger (right) playing A Jaunouby in round 3. The game was an attacking spectacular, and can be seen on the Games page.

The Open section was the strongest for several years, with two GMs and one IM. After three rounds only two players were on maximum points, GMs Nigel Davies and Stewart Haslinger. Davies defeated Haslinger in a rook and knight + three pawns vs rook + five pawns ending, in their fourth round encounter. A draw between Nigel Davies and James Hanley in round five ensured that Nigel won the event.

RESULTS

OPEN: 1st GM Nigel Davies (ADS/Widnes) 4½/5, 2-3. GM S Haslinger (Formby), James Hanley (Lancaster) 4.

MAJOR U-160 ECF: Mark Whitehead (Rochdale), Paul Evans (Blackpool) 4½/5.

KNIGHTS U-120 ECF: Daniel Broughton (West Bridgeford) 4½/5

BUSY PERSONS BLITZ: Jeff Horner (Bolton) 8/8.

The Manchester Rapidplay 2008

Stadium

The frontage of the City of Manchester Stadium. The games were played behind the centre glass area

PlayingArea

The playing area

Scoreboard

Scoreboards

TopTable

The board one players at work

TrophyCabinet

Trophy cabinet

Chess and the City

The first New East Manchester Rapidplay Chess Tournament was held at the City of Manchester Stadium on Sunday 2 March 2008.

A total of 56 players competed at what is believed to be the first chess event held at a premiership football stadium. The excellent surroundings of the Boardroom Suite were certainly an improvement on the usual venues for chess tournaments, although it did cost £5 for a prawn sandwich and a cup of tea!

The event was organised by Sport4life on behalf of the Eagle Chess Club in association with the Manchester Chess Federation.

We would like to thank the sponsors, New East Manchester Ltd and Equity Solutions, plus all the staff of Manchester City FC and the stadium who helped to make us welcome.

The Junior (U16) Trophies were won by:

Robert Bowler (Copperworks)
Ravi Patel (Checkmate)
James Bowler (Copperworks)

In the U120 section (34 players), the Trophies and prize fund were won by:

Farshad Ai (Sheffield) with a perfect score of 6/6, winning £100
Alan Sime (Macclesfield) winning £37:50
Bashkim Caka (Eagle), also winning £37:50

The U100 grading prize was shared by Ravi Patel (Checkmate) and Jade Stirrup (3Cs), each winning £20

In the U160 section (22 players), the Trophies and prize fund were won by:

M Zahir Aryan (Phoenix Yorks) with a score of 5/6, winning £100
Nick Barnaby (Widnes/Bolton), also winning £100
Phil Olbison (Chorlton), winning £40

The U140 grading prize was shared by Taher Aryan (Phoenix Yorks) and Mark Birkin (Alwoodley), each winning £20

We hope to stage the event again next year, subject to stadium availability, and maybe we can see more competitors if we avoid a clash with Mothering Sunday

Thanks,

Mick Norris

Stephen Gordon Shines at the British Championship 2007

Above: Stephen shaking hands with eventual champion Jacob Aagaard, who he beat in their individual game.

Above: Proudly showing his twin trophy haul.

One for the U-21 Champion and the other for the new English Champion (being the highest placed english player.)

Jeff Horner: International Master

Jeff Horner had a splendid tournament in the 2007 Monarch Assurance I.O.M. International. Not only did he play very well, he finally secured his third norm for the International Master Title. One of Jeffs games is on the games page. A fighting draw against a renound grandmaster.

The Bolton Rapidplay 2007

BR7LeftPhilSeerrightMajorwinnerDominicRabbitte

Right Foregroud: Dominic Rabbitte winner of the Major.

BR5

Right Foreground: Richard Desmond.

BR4

Right: Ian Campbell the Major Runner Up.

BR2

Above: Angel Gonzales the Minor Winner.

BR8

Above: Sam Towse

BR1

Above: Isobel Cotogni of Worsley CC.

BR6

Above: A budding Judit Polgar?

BR3

Above: Bob Newton (L) and Adam Tyton.

RESULTS

MAJOR: 1st. Dominic Rabbitte (Heywood) 5. =2nd. Ian Campbell (Widnes), Philip Seery (Bare Villiage), Peter Mulleady (Atherton) 4½.

U-140: 1st Malcolm French (Widnes) 4.

MINOR: 1st. Angel Gonzales (West End) 5½. 2nd: Sam Towse (3Cs) 5. =3rd. Stephen Lloyd (Chester YMCA), Mark McNulty (Radcliffe), G Lawrence (Macclesfield), Keith Evans Bury) 4½.

U-100: =1st Gerry Whitehead (Salford), Jade Stirrup (3Cs), Jason Widdup (Bare Villiage), Mark Davis (Urmston) 4.

The Bury Rapidplay 2007

BR3 BR4

BR2 BR5

BR6 BR7

BR8

Unlucky for some at 13^th Bury Rapidplay

The Thirteenth annual Rapidplay Congress organised by Bury Chess Club took place yesterday (Sunday 9 December 2007) at Bury Town Hall.

Despite the cramped conditions in round one, and absence this year of sandwiches (though thankfully not tea, coffee and a licensed bar), it is fair to say that most players appreciate playing in such nice surroundings. Non playing parents, partners and friends also enjoy the luxury of the bar area overlooking the playing hall.

Entry was 92, good but not great due to clashes with premiership football at the Reebok and the Hatton fight in the early hours of Sunday morning. We did have one Grandmaster and a couple of foreign visitors, plus a good contingent from both Yorkshire and Merseyside.

MICHAEL WOOD HOMES were again main sponsors of the Bury Rapidplay Chess Congress. Returning sponsors were METCALFE & CO Accountants of Bury and insurance company WINTERTHUR LIFE.

This was a full day congress over six rounds, split into three sections – Open, Major and Minor - with total prize money of £750. Players each had 30 minutes to complete each game.

This was an ECF Grand Prix event.

The Bury & Rochdale League Team Competition

This event is open to clubs playing in the Bury & Rochdale League. Clubs had to submit a team list of 5 players, with the best 4 scores to count.

Heywood had enough players but failed to enter a team and both 3Cs and Bury left out their top scoring player.

Winners of an engraved clock were Bury with 14 points, followed closely by 3Cs A with 13.5 and 3Cs B with 9.

I think this is the first time a Bury team has won a clock, so an excellent performance by all the players, especially given the closeness of the winning margin of only half a point.

The M W Homes Open

This featured 14 players. Joint winners were Ali Jaunooby (3Cs Oldham) and Southport’s Grandmaster Nigel Davies each earning £80 with a score of 5/6.

Nigel finished strongly after a shock defeat by Roger Williamson (Aigburth) in the fourth round. Ali lost to Nigel in round 3, but beat Roger in round 5.

Having won his first 4 games, Roger finished third with 4.5/6.

Grading prizes were won by Jonathan Arnott (Sheffield University) and David Jameson (Colwyn Bay), both on 3.5/6. An eventful last round saw David hold Roger and Jonathan narrowly fail to hold Nigel

The Major

This featured 35 players, more than normal. Joint winners with a score of 5/6 were Philip Armstrong (Oldham), Richard Gavin (Oldham), Mark Birkin (Alwoodley Leeds) and Robert Clegg (Huddersfield).

Robert won his first five games, including wins against Phil and Richard, but fell to Mark in the last round. Mark dropped draws to Robert Dean (Pudsey) and Bury’s Roger Howley.

Grading prizes were won by Chris Booth (Huddersfield) and Mitchell Burke (3Cs Oldham).

The Minor had 43 players. It was won by Will Heyes (Skelmersdale) with the day’s best score of 5.5/6.

Top seeds James Wei (Bramhall) and Keith Johnson (Urmston) tied for second with 5 points, with Jade Stirrup (3Cs Oldham).

Will drew his final round game with Jade.

The U80 Grading prize was shared by Salfordians Philip Cohen and Anthony Carroll, Harry Brookes (Great Lever) and James Waddington (Bolton).

Bury’s Lee Baron won the U65 grading prize.

The Bury Players

Bury’s Lee Baron, Brian Forrest and Jeremy Peach shared the Lodwig Gruchlik Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually for the best score from a Bury Chess Club member, with a score of 4/6 in the Minor.

Bolton’s Julian Clissold smoothly controlled the Congress, as always and there were no significant disputes. Many Bury club members helped to organise and run the event. Andrew Butterworth of Chess Direct provided the Bookstall.

Next year’s event is on Sunday 14^th December 2008.

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