PAWNS
QUARTERLY |
|
Editor: Kevin Staveley,
57, Treharne St.., Cwmparc, Rhondda, CF42
6LH. Tel: (01443) 772 750 e-mail: Kevin.staveley@btinternet.com January
2002 |
|
In this issue news on……… Welsh Grand Prix
World Youth Championship Welsh Junior Rapid play
Championship Reports written by Russell Dodington Brian Gregory Kevin Staveley Kevin Thomas plus other items |
Over
200 players registered so far!
It
started at Gladstone Primary School in Cardiff, with a “mere” 68 competitors.
Then it moved to The Grange School, Monmouth, and attracted a “massive” 104
competitors.
Slightly
fewer attended the Carmarthen event at Ysgol Bro Myrddin – “only” 92 this time,
but with many new players entering for the first time.
It
is no lie to say that the Welsh Junior Grand Prix is the biggest thing to hit
Welsh junior chess in Wales for years! At it’s going to be the best thing to
hit Welsh junior chess as well – thanks to YOU and YOUR support. We now have a
playing base from which we can really expand and improve!
But
getting the player base is only part of the story. We’ve got the QUANTITY
– now we need the QUALITY. Part of that will come from the extra
competition. There are more people chasing those previous places in the squads,
and if YOU have the TALENT and the AMBITION, one of these
places could be yours! The rest will come from taking you chess seriously. Are
you determined to do well? Are you prepared to fight every inch? Are you ready
to learn from your losses and come back a better player next time? That’s the
sort of junior Welsh chess is looking for!
Let’s
show our “friends” from across the border that the days when they can just swan
over here and beat us with their 3rd or 4th team are
going to be over very soon! WELSH JUNIOR CHESS IS ON THE MARCH, AND THE
DRAGON IS AWAKING! BE PART OF IT!
It’s
been good to see a lot of players taking part in EVERY event so far. The WELSH
JUNIOR GRAND PRIX is an ALL-WALES event not a regional one. We hope to expand
within two years with two further events in North Wales.. Players are
encouraged to take part in as many events as possible, not just the one in
their area. In any case, you need to play in 4 events to have the best chance
of gaining a high Grand Prix score and a trophy, or to bring yourself to the
attention of the selectors.
BISHOP
HEDLEY HIGH SCHOOL,
PENYDARREN,
MERTHYR TYDFIL
(SUNDAY,
28th APRIL)
(PLEASE
NOTE CHANGE OF DATE)
ST
BRIDES MAJOR PRIMARY SCHOOL
(SATURDAY,
25th MAY)
SPONSORSHIP
Others are also noticing the success of the Welsh Junior Grand Prix. We are delighted to announce a three year sponsorship deal with “Tournament Chess Supplies” of London. They will be providing trophies for the prize winners at the end of the season as well as contributing towards the money prizes. A bookstall supplied by Tournament Chess Supplies will also be available at all Grand Prix events and many others. Initially this will be a three year contract.
Tony Corfe writes…….
Tournament Chess Supplies has been established in London
since 1970. Firstly, with Peter Morrish
and now with Tony Corfe we have long been connected with Junior Chess in
England. We are delighted to be able to
sponsor the Welsh Junior Grand Prix and hope that it will encourage more Welsh
young people to learn the game and to play competitively. Do let us know how our sponsorship has
helped you with your chess.
Do you play chess at school? Tony Corfe organises national team competitions for children from
the same school…. Under 9’s, Under 11’s, Under 12’s, Under 14’s, Under
16’s. Teams of 5 plus one reserve.
Tournament Chess Supplies provides all chess goods for sale including, books, our own London Set, clocks, chess computers and software. Please remember us when you make your next chess purchase. Give us a call 01707 659080. You can also purchase items from Tournament Chess Supplies by contacting either Kevin Staveley (01 443) 772750 (e-mail: Kevin.staveley@btinternet.com) or Brian Gregory (01600) 714953 – if you do this the Welsh Junior Grand Prix will could get further benefits
Four of the six rounds have now been played this season. The 4th was the Rapidplay championship at Newport on 4th January, and it counted double points (as this was such an important event).
Final scores in the Grand Prix will depend on your best 4 events, and the leading players in each age group are now:
Under 8 Under
12 Under
14
Hamish
Clayton 23 (4 events) Sioned
Rees 18.5 (4) Gruffydd
Johnston 16.5 (3)
Harry Oliva 15.5 (3) Jonathan Cowhey 16 (3) Gareth Harris 16 (4)
Jack Scarr 11.5 (3) Calum Kinloch 15.5 (3) Nathaniel Inskip 15.5 (4)
Alex Roden 7.5 (3) Ben Clayton 15.5 (3) David Bucknall 12.5 (3)
Jacob Tucker 15 (4) David Lovell 10 (3)
Under 10 Joseff Thomas 14.5 (2)
Jac Thomas 24 (4 events) Jack Chapman 14 (4) Under 18
Matthew Kinloch 21 (4) William Coulton 13.5 (3) Ioan Rees 22.5 (4)
Ifan Johnston 18 (4) John Hardie 22 (4)
Oliver Clayton 17.5 (4) Chris Arnold 14.5 (3)
Ross Evans 13 (3) Slava Burenkov 11 (3)
Rachel Jury 10 (4)
We
need a logo to use of all publicity concerned with the Welsh Junior Grand Prix,
and we felt it would be a good idea to let you design it. The design should be
based on Wales and must feature AT MOST TWO COLOURS. There will be a prize of
£30 awarded to the child whose design is chosen. All entrants must be under 18
on 1st September 2001. Please send you design to Russell Dodington,
153, Waltwood Park Drive, Llanmartin, NP18 2HG to arrive by the end of
February.
In
July 2002 Wales is due to host the Glorney Faber Under 18 Team International
Championship. Enclosed with this newsletter is a letter to your parents asking
for their help in the fund raising. PLEASE SHOW THIS LETTER TO THEM.
A
report on these Championships will be given in the next issue.
Held at Newport Leisure Centre in early January this event attracted over 80 competitors. The age group winners were:-
Under 18: Ioan
Rees, Caerphilly (for the second consecutive year)
Under 16: Chris
Arnold (Newport), Olivia Smith (Peterston-Super-Ely)
and Douglas Spencer (Abergavenny)
Under 14: Gruffydd
Johnston (Carmarthen)
Under 12: Jac
Thomas (Monmouth)
Under 10: Joseff
Thomas (Monmouth)
Under 8: Hamish
Clayton (Monmouth)
The
prizes were presented by Mr Roger Broome, Events Manager at Newport Centre. We
thank him and his staff for their help.
FUTURE
EVENTS:
26th
January WALES V SCOTLAND
JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL
The
Heronston Hotel, Bridgend.
9th
– 10th February WELSH
UNDER 13 – UNDER 10 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bishop Vaughan School,
Swansea.
Contact Ian Eustis (01792)
862115
Also enclosed are entry forms for the next two Grand Prix
events.
It has become noticeable that numbers at Congresses PARTICULARLY IN THE BOTTOM SECTIONS have diminished. These sections were designed especially for beginners. IF THEY PROVE TO BE UNPOPULAR THE ORGANISERS WILL HAVE NO OTION BUT THE AXE THESE SECTIONS> If you wish to have the opportunities they provide, please support them The next Congresses are
DYFED: 15th – 17th
February (lowest section Under 1500)
WELSH
CHAMPIONSHIP: over Easter Weekend (Lowest section Under 1300) This will be a
two day six round event.
MONMOUTH: July: Lowest section Under 1250.
A team of 8 players traveled to Spain, performing
creditably as follows[all scores out of 11]:
Ben Clayton
U10 5: Joseff Thomas U12 3.5
Ioan Rees U14
4: Olivia Smith U14
5.5
Douglas Spencer U16 3.5: Richard Jones U18 4.5
Olivia therefore the only player to reach the elusive 50%, with Sioned & Ben in close pursuit. As a member of the party I was very impressed by the standard of play, and also by the sense of team spirit that helped everyone along. This was a tribute to the management of Gwynfor Rees, and to the generosity of spirit of the players themselves: Richard Jones & Douglas Spencer, for example, spending time with the younger members. We shared each other’s disappointments, and celebrated together. Thursday 25th October should be inscribed as a glory day in Welsh Chess History : as we waited for the games to finish the players emerged one at a time. Win, win, win, draw, win – the results were amazing. The final tally was six wins & two draws! We had taken the precaution of chilling some champagne, though sadly this could not of course be shared with the under 18s. Here is a nice miniature from the event:
Joseff
Thomas[Wales] - Abhishek Narain[India]
World Under 12 (round 8), 29th October 2001
1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.e5 d5? [6...Nfd7] 7.Bb5+ Nfd7 8.e6! fxe6 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qe5 Rg8 11.Qxe6 Rg7 12.Nxd5 Qa5+? [12...Rf7] 13.Bd2 Qxb5 14.Nc7+ Kd8 15.Nxb5 Nc6 16.Bf4 Nc5 17.Bc7+ Ke8 18.Nd6# 1–0
To
gain a WELSH RATING next September you must play AT LEAST TEN
graded games before the end of April. These can be played in Congresses,
or league games (BUT YOU CANNOT COUNT RAPID PLAY GAMES OR GAMES PLAYED
WITHOUT A CLOCK). The Welsh Junior Championship held at Gladstone in
Cardiff (U18/15/10) sections will count towards this total, as will the Junior
Championship at Bishop Vaughan in February. YOU MUST ALSO BE A REGISTERED
MEMBER OF THE WELSH CHESS UNION. If you have any queries regarding grades
please contact the junior organizer for your area who will make the necessary
inquiries.
The
INTERNATIONAL RATING SYSTEM is organized by the world governing body,
FIDE. The mechanics of this system are slightly more complicated because only
certain games can count. If you play in a competition which is FIDE rated ONLY
GAMES PLAYED AGAINST FIDE RATED PLAYERS CAN COUNT, AND YOU MUST PLAY AT LEAST
FOUR FIDE RATED PLAYERS. However, if you play in a FIDE RATED all play all,
ALL GAMES COUNT. To achieve a FIDE RATING you must play at least NINE FIDE
RATED games (these can be played in two or more events) and gain a performance
based on the FIDE RATING SYSTEM of at least 2001. We are told that in July 2002
the lower limit for FIDE grades will become 1801. Listen out for more details.
WE
REGULARLY HOST FIDE RATED ALL PLAY ALLS, IF POSSIBLE OVER TWO WEEKENDS,
ALONGSIDE OTHER EVENTS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PLAYING IN ONE OF THESE
EVENTS, HAVE A WELSH RATING OF AT LEAST 1750 AND ARE USED TO PLAYING AT OPEN
STANDARD, PLEASE CONTACT KEVIN STAVELEY. ONCE WE HAVE ENOUGH INTEREST WE WILL
ORGAINSE THE NEXT EVENT.
We
hope this will become a quarterly magazine. In the next issue, published around
Easter we would like to include some games or positions that have happened in
YOUR GAMES. Please send games or positions with notes to Kevin Staveley, 57,
Treharne St., Cwmparc, Rhondda, CF42 6LH. e-mail kevin.staveley@btinternet.com
£5 will be given to anyone who a game or position published.
Below,
and over page, are the key people involved in junior chess. Please contact them
with any queries.
David
Griffiths, 9, Dan-y-Graig Drive, Talbot Green, Llantrisant, CF72 8AG
(01443)
228 142
Russell
Dodington, 153, Waltwood Park Drive, Llanmartin, Newport, NP18 2HG
(01633)
411 369
EAST GLAMORGAN: Gwynfor
Rees, 14, Glen View Tce., Llanbradach, Caerphilly, (029) 2088 4507
GWENT: Russell
Dodington (as above)
WEST
WALES: Adrian Davies, 2, Pwlldu Lane,
Bishopston, Swansea
(01 792) 232 877
DYFED: Dafydd
Johnston, “Talarlas” Heol Henfwlch, Carmarthen,
SA33 6AA. (01 267) 237 803