Christmas rapidplay

This event was held on Thursday December 19th, with 12 club members participating. There were 5 thirty-minute rounds, with the time divided between the two players on a handicap system, meaning that in some cases the weaker player had 27 minutes and the stronger one 3 minutes. Nonetheless the cream still rose to the top, with the 3 strongest players all finishing on 4/5. Tim Wrigley got the nod over son David and Peter Crichton by virtue of some arcane information on Peter’s pairing programme, thus avoiding the need for an Armageddon play-off. Well done, Tim!

Tynedale Chess Club Christmas rapidplay

This was held at Corbridge on December 13th. 6 members took part in a 5-round all-play-all event. Games lasted 30 minutes, with the time split unevenly between the two players where the difference in their ECF grading warranted it. This form of handicap led to a spate of unexpected results, and when the final round was over  the scores were as follows:

Dave Humphreys, Steve Larkin, Bruce Reed and Tim Wrigley all on 3/5

Dave Foster 2/5

Peter Crichton 1/5

It was an enjoyable evening, helped along by a good supply of Christmas fare.

Christmas Rapidplay

Thanks to Steve & Peter for organising a really entertaining evening, sociable, with light-hearted and yet fiercely competitive chess. Congratulations to Christine, our worthy winner with 5.5 out of 7.

Players	Bruce	Christine	Dave	Peter	Ralph	Ron	Steve	Tim	Total
Bruce	x	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	4
Christine	1	x	1	Draw	1	1	1	0	5.5
Dave	0	0	x	1	1	1	0	0	3
Peter	1	Draw	0	x	0	1	1	1	4.5
Ralph	0	0	0	1	x	1	0	0	2
Ron	0	0	0	0	0	x	0	0	0
Steve	1	0	1	0	1	1	x	1	5
Tim	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	x	4

Christmas rapidplay

Nine members took part in this event, held at the Church Cottage, Riding Mill on Tuesday December 20th. With no fewer than three prizes on offer, competition was fierce, but top-seeded Gary Murphy was quickly into his stride, returning a perfect 7/7. In second place was Peter Crichton, on 5/6. But star of the evening was undoubtedly David Scott. With a grading of just 35 placing him way below the next lowest graded player, David returned an excellent 3/7 to clinch a share of fourth place and the final bottle of wine. With some light refreshments to help the chess down, a good time was had by all, even if it was sometimes a bit masochistic – those queen throwaways really hurt! A pleasant way to end our brief stay at the Church Cottage, Riding Mill.

Full results:

1. Gary Murphy 7/7
2. Peter Crichton 5/6
3. Tim Wrigley 4.5/7
4. David Scott and Steve Larkin 3/7
5. 6. Dave Humphreys 2.5/7
6. 7. Peter Booker, Dave Foster jr and Bruce Reed 2/7

Christmas Special

Santa gave us no respite on Tuesday, as the club had a time handicap Christmas special.

There were 12 of us in total, two guests (Steve’s son-law Karl & Matthew Taylor) plus (Alex, Bruce, 2 Davids, 2 Peters, Phil, Stephen, Steve & Tim).

Santa’s little helpers declared the format would be 30 minutes a game, with the time split as much as 27 mins to 3 mins, depending on gradings.

Three minutes does not seem much, but Karl waltzed through the evening and won 5 out of 5. Next year we could try 2 mins. Sadly Karl lives in London, so will not appear regularly at the club.

Second was Phil (4 out of 5), followed by a large group on 3 out of 5.

Finally a big thank to you to Peter for organising a very enjoyable evening.

Does anyone have a photograph of Alex’s jumper ?

 

 

 

Xmas Rapidplay

The delayed Xmas Rapidplay took place last Tuesday and attracted a large turnout of members [15]. The time handicap system that was adopted was interesting but, with the exception of David Wrigley who suffered as the sole category A player, did not prevent the higher graded players from succeeding; in the event there was a tie for first place between 3 category B players with our overseas visitor Mark, after beginning with a storming 4 wins, being caught at the post by Tim and Jeremy. It was an enjoyable, if very hot, evening. With the arrival of the pool table I fear that we will have to start looking for an alternative venue!?