We always expect the numbers to drop during the Easter holidays and half term break, however we still had an enthusiastic 20 budding eager young chess players learning and socialising on this last Saturday of the School Holidays.
It is noticeable we are getting more interest now from senior school students which we are very happy to accommodate and some say there is little or no teaching in schools or chess clubs. Even if there are clubs, they are unmanned and so teaching is limited or non existent.
All our welcome at our club and we will always try to help all ages and standards – chess for all.
With the World Chess Championship in full swing, Eric Sachs with assistance from Simon Fox, took the advanced groups and reviewed the interesting game of Round 4 between Ding and Nepomniachtchi, being played in Khakhstan.
This was won by Ding played over 47 moves and was interesting in the opening development and especially the middle game tactics, patience and eventual breakthrough by the no 3 seed. This game can be viewed in our ‘GAMES’ menu.
Eric gave an overview of the history leading up to the match and a little WCC history.
It is beneficial that all young chess players can see the bigger picture of these top games, they can be seen with a click of the fingers on either Chess.com or Lichess or YouTube. We encourage all to share in some of these games to see how the world’s top players manoeuvre the pieces between strong and quiet moves. We hope they will enjoy the remaining games what will be played over the next two weeks.
Live commentary and recaps of all games can be viewed on YouTube.
Finn Schell kindly gave a lesson to Bertie in the 2nd session to help him along with his improving chess. Finn’s assistance with teaching is appreciated and I hope it will help him to share some of his excellent skills with others in the sessions.
As always, Paul, Steve and Graham M, continued passing on valuable hints, tips and all things chess to the beginners/intermediates of the groups.
Eric Sachs
Handicap Ladder Started Today
We have decided to revise and spice up our ladder competition by introducing a handicap system, the idea being that everyone has a better chance of making an impact, along with a few surprises. There are only two ladders, one for the 10am group and one for the 11.30am group. All play All in each group.
To create a fair handicap system we have compiled a list of players with our own estimated grading figures, these are based on previous results in club and competition games over the past 3 months. They are NOT associated in any way with the ECF (English Chess Federation) grading system.
These will be revised each term, purely for our own use and invaluable performance data. Any new player joining will be graded according to their ability and given 500 points to start on the Ladder.
| Bournemouth Junior Chess Grading List – April 2023 | ||
| Reg.No. | Name | Grade |
| 1 | ZANDER | 1000 |
| 2 | FINN | 1000 |
| 3 | LEO | 950 |
| 4 | NATHANIEL | 875 |
| 5 | HARRY M | 850 |
| 6 | TRISTAN | 850 |
| 7 | JESSE | 825 |
| 8 | MARCEL | 800 |
| 9 | JOEY | 800 |
| 10 | NICOLAS | 800 |
| 11 | WOODY | 775 |
| 12 | KANE | 750 |
| 13 | SHOURYA | 750 |
| 14 | HARRY L | 700 |
| 15 | YASH | 700 |
| 16 | BERTIE | 700 |
| 17 | JIYA | 675 |
| 18 | SWARA | 675 |
| 19 | DAISY | 650 |
| 20 | LELAND | 650 |
| 21 | STEPHEN | 650 |
| 22 | ALVIN | 650 |
| 23 | FABRIZIO | 600 |
| 24 | LATHUJAN | 600 |
| 25 | PAVINA | 600 |
| 26 | RAFAN | 600 |
| 27 | NICO | 550 |
| 28 | SHRIYA | 500 |
| 29 | ALFIE | 500 |
| 30 | LEWIS | 450 |
| 31 | NOAH | 450 |
| 32 | NIRVAN | 400 |
| 33 | KEHINDE | 400 |
| 34 | MAYRA | 350 |
| 35 | MARCUS | 300 |
Bournemouth Junior Chess ‘Handicap’ Ladder Rules
Each player will start with 500 points. A player can challenge any other player present, who is up to 3 steps below or anywhere above them. All games are played on the clock with a minimum of 10 mins each. To choose colours, one person holds a black and white piece in each hand and the other chooses left or right hand.
On completion of the game the player’s points are altered according to grade difference from the table below.
The winner is the person with the most points at the end of term in July. Excessive matches against one person will be rejected and no points given. Tutors will act as arbiters in any disputes. All results to be given to Eric or Graham.
Handicap Points Difference
Ahead Win Loss Draw Behind Win Loss Draw
0-49 30 -20 0 0-49 30 -25 0
50-99 25 -25 -5 50-99 35 -20 5
100-149 20 -30 -10 100-149 45 -15 10
150-249 10 -35 -15 150-249 55 -10 15
250+ 5 -40 -20 250+ 70 -5 20
This may seem a little confusing initially, but I’m sure after a few weeks, all will become a lot clearer on how it works.
Score card explanation
In this example, Leo (Grading 950) playing Black, beat Tristan (850) the difference in points being 100, gives him 20 bonus points, while Tristan loses 20 points.
Today’s results
Harry M 0 v Nicolas 1 ## Tristan 0 v Leo 1 ## Shourya 0 v Finn 1 ## Kehinde 0 v Yash 1
Nirvan 0 v Noah 1 ## Alvin 0 v Rafan 1 ## Nico 1 v Alfie 0 ## Jesse 1 v Kane 0 ##
Marcel 0 v Joey 1 ##
Bertie had tuition from Finn, learning how to mate with lone King, Knight and Bishop.
Ladder Positions after todays games:-
