___

Updated 22/02/20

Swale Chess Club enjoyed another session last night following the recent closure of our venue due to storm damage last week. The club welcomed Duncan back with a Championship game against our top graded player, Keith Nevols, which Duncan unfortunately went on to lose. We also hosted a new member against whom Andrew and Nick played some training games.

Championship results

NEVOLS 1–0 MARSH
SIMPSON 0–1 WOOLACOTT
JEFFERIES 1–0 POPA
GILLARD P–P POLLARD

Dennis—despite getting himself into a winning position with a piece up in an endgame—succumbed to time pressure and blundered away his Rook to eventually lose on time. The other Championship game between Tyrone and Alin included a devastating Queen sacrifice combination.

When you sacrifice your lady in a chess game you need plenty of compensation as this position demonstrates:

Alin as Black is already a piece down when White (Tyrone) decides to put his own Queen to the slaughter on his 28^th move from the diagrammed position:

28 Qxe6! Rxe6 29 Nf7+ Kg7 30 Nxd8 Re7 31 Ne6+ 1–0

Current league positions including last night's results

01 PAGE David 146 P14 W9 D5 L0 GP11.5
02 NEVOLS Keith 164 P13 W9 D3 L1 GP10.5
03 GILLARD Andrew 113 P14 W8 D3 L3 GP09.5
04 HYDE Keith 153 P10 W6 D4 L0 GP08.0
05 GEDMINAS Vytautas 125 P11 W7 D1 L3 GP07.5
06 JEFFERIES Tyrone 114 P13 W5 D4 L4 GP07.0
07 SIMPSON Dennis 134 P13 W4 D4 L5 GP06.0
08 WOOLACOTT Rob 131 P09 W4 D1 L4 GP04.5
09 POPA Alin 078 P13 W2 D1 L10 GP2.5
10 MARSH Duncan 099 P07 W2 D0 L5 GP2.0
11 FRENCH Kevin 103 P13 W2 D0 L11 GP2.0
12 POLLARD Nick 039 P12 W0 D0 L12 GP0.0

___

Updated 07/02/20

Swale 2020 Championship

The results from last night's Swale Championship games

JEFFERIES 1–0 FRENCH
WOOLACOTT 0–1 PAGE
GILLARD 0–1 NEVOLS
POPA 1–0 POLLARD

Current league standings as at 6^th February 2020

01 PAGE David 146 P14 W9 D5 L0 GP11.5
02 NEVOLS Keith 164 P12 W8 D3 L1 GP09.5
03 GILLARD Andrew 113 P14 W8 D3 L3 GP09.5
04 HYDE Keith 153 P10 W6 D4 L0 GP08.0
05 GEDMINAS Vytautas 125 P11 W7 D1 L3 GP07.5
06 SIMPSON Dennis 134 P12 W4 D4 L4 GP06.0
07 JEFFERIES Tyrone 114 P12 W4 D4 L4 GP06.0
08 WOOLACOTT Rob 131 P08 W3 D1 L4 GP03.5
09 POPA Alin 078 P12 W2 D1 L9 GP02.5
10 MARSH Duncan 099 P06 W2 D0 L4 GP02.0
11 FRENCH Kevin 103 P13 W2 D0 L11 GP2.0
12 POLLARD Nick 039 P12 W0 D0 L12 GP0.0

Featured game of the week

A tactical game where it turns out to be all about the dark squares.

___

Updated 31/01/20

Swale 2020 Championship

Due to the postponed KCCA Stevenson League match Swale versus Weald of Kent, there were three Championship games played that involved each member of the Swale Stevenson team; the fourth was postponed due to illness.

The results were:

PAGE 1–0 JEFFERIES
SIMPSON 0–1 HYDE
FRENCH 0–1 GILLARD

POPA P–P POLLARD

The game between David and Tyrone was curious as both players failed to spot Tyrone's illegal 20^th move Qxg6 when his King
was in check from David's Queen on h5, resulting in mate the next move.

The game's opening moves:

20 Bg6+ Qxg6?? Illegal move!
21 Qxg6 Rf6 1–0

The league table as at 30^th January 2020

(The new January 2020 grades are shown in brackets)

01 PAGE David 144 (146) P13 W8 D5 L00 GP10.5
02 GILLARD Andrew 109 (113) P13 W8 D3 L02 GP09.5
03 NEVOLS Keith 157 (164) P11 W7 D3 L01 GP08.5
04 HYDE Keith 149 (153) P11 W6 D4 L00 GP08.0
05 GEDMINAS Vytautas 117 (125) P11 W7 D1 L03 GP07.5
06 SIMPSON Dennis 135 (134) P12 W4 D4 L04 GP06.0
07 JEFFERIES Tyrone 114 (114) P11 W3 D4 L04 GP05.0
08 WOOLACOTT Rob 141 (131) P07 W3 D1 L03 GP03.5
09 MARSH Duncan 100 (099) P06 W2 D0 L04 GP02.0
10 FRENCH Kevin 104 (103) P12 W2 D0 L10 GP02.0
11 POPA Alin 076 (078) P11 W1 D1 L09 GP01.5
12 POLLARD Nick 042 (039) P11 W0 D0 L11 GP00.0

Tyrone is in the unique position of having his new grade the same as his old grade.

Back to Top

___

Updated 24/01/20

Swale 2020 Championship

There were five Championship games played last night, and the results were:

Round One Games

WOOLACOTT 1–0 POLLARD
FRENCH 0–1 JEFFERIES
HYDE 0.5 PAGE

Round Two Games

NEVOLS 0.5 SIMPSON
POPA 0–1 GILLARD

Swale Championship league table as at 23^rd January 2020

01 PAGE 144 P12 W7 D5 L0 GP9.5
02 NEVOLS 157 P11 W7 D3 L1 GP8.5
03 GILLARD 109 P12 W7 D3 L2 GP8.5
04 GEDMINAS 117 P11 W7 D1 L3 GP7.5
05 HYDE 149 P09 W5 D4 L0 GP7.0
06 SIMPSON 135 P11 W4 D4 L3 GP6.0
07 JEFFERIES 114 P10 W3 D4 L3 GP5.0
08 WOOLACOTT 141 P07 W3 D1 L3 GP3.5
09 MARSH 100 P06 W2 D0 L4 GP2.0
10 FRENCH 104 P11 W2 D0 L9 GP2.0
11 POPA 076 P11 W1 D1 L9 GP1.5
12 POLLARD 042 P11 W0 D0 L11 GP0.0

___

Updated 17/01/20

Swale 2020 Championship

Three games were played last night in the Swale Championship following rescheduling of the KCCA EP League match: Swale2 versus Folkestone2, which will now be played on Thursday 13^th February 2020. The previous evening Swale drew their En Passant League match 3–3 against Rainham3.

The results from last night's Swale Championship games were:

POPA 0–1 JEFFERIES
NEVOLS 1–0 GILLARD

Second round game

PAGE 1–0 FRENCH

Current league standings as at 16^th January 2020

01 PAGE David 144 P11 W7 D4 L0 GP9.0
02 GEDMINAS Vytautas 117 P12 W8 D1 L3 GP8.5
03 NEVOLS Keith 157 P10 W7 D2 L1 GP8.0
04 GILLARD Andrew 109 P11 W6 D3 L2 GP7.5
05 HYDE Keith 149 P08 W5 D3 L0 GP6.5
06 SIMPSON Dennis 135 P10 W4 D3 L3 GP5.5
07 JEFFERIES Tyrone 114 P09 W2 D4 L3 GP4.0
08 WOOLACOTT Rob 141 P06 W2 D1 L3 GP2.5
09 POPA Alin 76 P11 W2 D1 L8 GP2.5
10 MARSH Duncan 100 P06 W2 D0 L4 GP2.0
11 FRENCH Kevin 104 P10 W2 D0 L8 GP2.0
12 EDWARDS Rufus 86 P03 W1 D0 L2 GP1.0
13 POLLARD Nick 42 P11 W0 D0 L11 GP0.0

___

Updated 10/01/20

Swale 2020 Championship

Three games were played last night in the Swale Championship and the results were:

PAGE 0.5 NEVOLS
SIMPSON 0–1 GEDMINAS
GILLARD 0.5 WOOLACOTT

League table as at 9^th January 2020

01 GEDMINAS Vytautas 117 P12 W8 D1 L03 GP8.5
02 PAGE David 144 P10 W6 D4 L00 GP8.0
03 GILLARD Andrew 109 P10 W6 D3 L01 GP7.5
04 NEVOLS Keith 157 P09 W6 D2 L01 GP7.0
05 HYDE Keith 149 P08 W5 D3 L00 GP6.5
06 SIMPSON Dennis 135 P10 W4 D3 L03 GP5.5
07 JEFFERIES Tyrone 114 P08 W1 D4 L03 GP3.0
08 WOOLACOTT Rob 141 P06 W2 D1 L03 GP2.5
09 POPA Alin 076 P10 W2 D1 L07 GP2.5
10 MARSH Duncan 100 P06 W2 D0 L04 GP2.0
11 FRENCH Kevin 104 P09 W2 D0 L07 GP2.0
12 EDWARDS Rufus 086 P03 W1 D0 L02 GP1.0
13 POLLARD Nick 042 P11 W0 D0 L11 GP0.0

Mini-puzzle!

Two Swale players, Vytautas Gedminas and Alin Popa, travelled to the recent Hastings Chess Congress, only to find themselves facing one another across the board in Round 1! From a later game, Vytautas's opponent intended to reach the following position as Black after 22. …Bxh3, 23. gxBh3 QxNf3, and winning a pawn in the process. What is now the best move for White?

___

Updated 03/01/20

Happy New Chess Year!

Four games were played last night in the Swale Championship and the results were:

POPA 0–1 FRENCH
JEFFERIES 0–1 GILLARD
NEVOLS 1–0 POLLARD
PAGE 1–0 GEDMINAS
HYDE P–P EDWARDS

League table as at 2^nd January 2020

01 PAGE David 144 P09 W6 D3 L00 GP7.5
02 GEDMINAS Vytautas 117 P11 W7 D1 L03 GP7.5
03 GILLARD Andrew 109 P09 W6 D2 L01 GP7.0
04 NEVOLS Keith 157 P08 W6 D1 L01 GP6.5
05 HYDE Keith 149 P08 W5 D3 L00 GP6.5
06 SIMPSON Dennis 135 P09 W4 D3 L02 GP5.5
07 JEFFERIES Tyrone 114 P08 W1 D4 L03 GP3.0
08 POPA Alin 076 P10 W2 D1 L07 GP2.5
09 WOOLACOTT Rob 141 P05 W2 D0 L03 GP2.0
10 MARSH Duncan 100 P06 W2 D0 L04 GP2.0
11 FRENCH Kevin 104 P09 W2 D0 L07 GP2.0
12 EDWARDS Rufus 86 P03 W1 D0 L02 GP1.0
13 POLLARD Nick 42 P11 W0 D0 L11 GP0.0

___

Updated 20/12/19

Swale Christmas 212

Another fantastic night at the club last night, where the Swale Christmas 212 was contested by eight players who produced some exciting blitz chess games.

The tournament confirmed why chess loves the number eight, by producing seven rounds of all-play-all chess games to fit the limited time schedule for a club night.

The tournament was jointly won by Keith Hyde and Rainham member Chris Marshall, who both scored an unbeaten 6/7. The book prize The Moves That Matter, by Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson, was awarded to Chris Marshall on a tie-break rule. Chris then graciously went on to award the book to the most improved player in the club, Vytautas Gedminas. By coincidence, Chris already had a copy of the same book as an early Christmas gift.

The final league table positions were:

1=) HYDE Keith P7 W5 D2 L0 GP6.0
1=) MARSHALL Chris P7 W5 D2 L0 GP6.0
3) NEVOLS Keith P7 W5 D1 L1 GP5.5
4) JEFFERIES Tyrone P7 W4 D0 L3 GP4.0
5) PAGE David P7 W3 D1 L3 GP3.5
6) FRENCH Kevin P7 W2 D0 L5 GP2.0
7) GEDMINAS Vytautas P7 W1 D0 L6 GP1.0
8) GILLARD Andrew P7 W0 D0 L7 GP0.0

The club is now closed for Christmas festivities and will reopen again on Thursday 2^nd January, 2020.

Dates for the diary

If you want to play competitive chess during the Christmas break:

• 28^th December 2019 to 5^th January 2020

  Hastings Chess Congress

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Chess Year.

___

Updated 06/12/19

KCCA Stevenson league match result

Swale1 2–4 Maidstone2 05/12/19

See the website result service ecflms.org.uk for details of the Stevenson match—Swale versus Maidstone—played last night.

Swale 2020 championship

Two games were played in the Swale Championship, and the results were:

EDWARDS 0–1 POPA
FRENCH 0–1 SIMPSON

___

Back to Top

Updated 29/11/19

Swale 2020 Championship

There were no KCCA League matches this week for Swale, meaning that there were lots of games played in the Swale Championship.

The league leaders Vytautas and David lost match points, which allowed others to catch up; the results were:

1/4 WOOLACOTT Rob 1–0 JEFFERIES Tyrone 4/7
7.5/9 GEDMINAS Vytautas 0–1 HYDE Keith 5.5/7
4/7 SIMPSON Dennis 0.5 PAGE David 6/7
2/5 MARSH Duncan 0–1 GILLARD Andrew 5/7
1/10 POLLARD Nick 0–1 POPA Alin 0.5/7
2/3 EDWARDS Rufus P FRENCH Kevin 1/7
0/3 LELYS Tomas P NEVOLS Keith 5.5/7

League Standings as at 28^th November 2019

01 GEDMINAS 117 P10 W7 D1 L2 GP7.5
02 HYDE 149 P08 W5 D3 L0 GP6.5
03 PAGE 144 P08 W5 D3 L0 GP6.5
04 GILLARD 109 P08 W5 D2 L1 GP6.0
05 NEVOLS 157 P07 W5 D1 L1 GP5.5
06 SIMPSON 135 P08 W3 D3 L2 GP4.5
07 JEFFERIES 114 P08 W2 D4 L2 GP4.0
08 EDWARDS 86 P03 W2 D0 L1 GP2.0
09 WOOLACOTT 141 P05 W2 D0 L3 GP2.0
10 MARSH 100 P06 W2 D0 L4 GP2.0
11 POPA 76 P08 W1 D1 L6 GP1.5
12 FRENCH 104 P07 W1 D0 L6 GP1.0
13 POLLARD 42 P11 W1 D0 L10 GP1.0
14 LELYS 30 P03 W0 D0 L3 GP0.0

Keith H and David are still preserving unbeaten records in this competition.

___

Updated 22/11/19

A great week!

It has been a great week for Swale Chess Club with their away matches at Tunbridge Wells on Monday in the En Passant League and Medway on Wednesday in the Harvey League; Swale won both matches 1–5 and 2–4 respectively. Swale 2 and 3 teams are currently leading the En Passant and Harvey Divisions.

Details can be found on the ecflms.org.uk website.

Last night four Championship games were played and the results were:

6.5/8 GEDMINAS 1–0 EDWARDS 2/2
5.5/6 PAGE 0.5–0.5 GILLARD 4.5/6 (Game featured below)
4.5/6 HYDE 1–0 POPA 0.5/6
1.0/9 POLLARD 0–1 FRENCH 0.0/6

The Championship League Standings at 21/11/19 following the results of the above games are:

01) GEDMINAS Vytautas 117 P9 W7 D1 L1 GP7.5
02) PAGE David 144 P7 W5 D2 L0 GP6.0
03) NEVOLS Keith 157 P7 W5 D1 L1 GP5.5
04) HYDE Keith 149 P7 W4 D3 L0 GP5.5
05) GILLARD Andrew 109 P7 W4 D2 L1 GP5.0
06) SIMPSON Dennis 135 P7 W3 D2 L2 GP4.0
07) JEFFERIES Tyrone 114 P7 W2 D4 L1 GP4.0
08) EDWARDS Rufus 86 P3 W2 D0 L1 GP2.0
09) MARSH Duncan 100 P5 W2 D0 L3 GP2.0
10) WOOLACOTT Rob 141 P4 W1 D0 L3 GP1.0
11) FRENCH Kevin 104 P7 W1 D0 L6 GP1.0
12) POLLARD Nick 42 P10 W1 D0 L9 GP1.0
13) POPA Alin 76 P7 W0 D1 L6 GP0.5
14) LELYS Tomas 30 P3 W0 D0 L3 GP0.0

Featured game of the week

A surprise weapon deployed in last night's league—the Elephant Gambit!

___

Updated 19/11/19

Hat trick of 5–1 wins for Swale

Swale had another fantastic win last night in the away En Passant match against Tunbridge Wells, beating the home side 1–5. This is the second 5–1 win for Swale in this division, and the third for the club this season, on the back of the 5–1 win against Weald of Kent in the Harvey last Thursday. Go to ecflms.org.uk for details.

___

Updated 15/11/19

KCCA Harvey League Match: Swale3 5–1 Weald of Kent2

Weald of Kent Chess Club brought a team—including four new players—to Sittingbourne to play a KCCA Harvey League match, and were given a tough lesson in competitive chess by the Swale team. Swale went on to win the match 5–1, with only Keith N playing on board one losing to the very experienced James Hart-Dyke. Full details of the match card feature on the ecflms.org.uk website.

Whilst the Harvey League match was being played, there were three Swale Championship games under contention and the scores were:

1.0/1 EDWARDS 1–0 POLLARD 1.0/8
3.5/5 HYDE 1–0 FRENCH 0/5
3.5/6 JEFFERIES 0.5 SIMPSON 3.5/6

League Standings after games played 14^th November 2019

01) GEDMINAS 117 P8 W6 D1 L1 GP6.5
02) PAGE 144 P6 W5 D1 L0 GP5.5
03) NEVOLS 157 P7 W5 D1 L1 GP5.5
04) GILLARD 109 P6 W4 D1 L1 GP4.5
05) HYDE 149 P6 W3 D3 L0 GP4.5
06) SIMPSON 135 P7 W3 D2 L2 GP4.0
07) JEFFERIES 114 P7 W2 D4 L1 GP4.0
08) EDWARDS 86 P2 W2 D0 L0 GP2.0
09) MARSH 100 P5 W2 D0 L3 GP2.0
10) WOOLACOTT 141 P4 W1 D0 L3 GP1.0
11) POLLARD 42 P9 W1 D0 L8 GP1.0
12) POPA 76 P6 W0 D1 L5 GP0.5
13) FRENCH 104 P6 W0 D0 L6 GP0.0
14) LELYS 30 P3 W0 D0 L3 GP0.0

___

Updated 08/11/19

Swale 2020 Championship

Six Championship games were played last night:

(4.5/5) PAGE 1–0 WOOLACOTT (1/3)
(3.5/5) JEFFERIES 0–1 NEVOLS (4.5/6)
(2.5/4) HYDE 1–0 SIMPSON (3.5/5)
(5.5/7) GEDMINAS 1–0 POPA (0.5/5)
(1/7) POLLARD 0–1 MARSH (1/4)
(3.5/5) GILLARD 1–0 FRENCH (0/4)

Current League Standings as at 7^th November 2019

01) GEDMINAS 117 P8 W6 D1 L1 GP6.5
02) PAGE 144 P6 W5 D1 L0 GP5.5
03) NEVOLS 157 P7 W5 D1 L1 GP5.5
04) GILLARD 109 P6 W4 D1 L1 GP4.5
05) HYDE 149 P5 W2 D3 L0 GP3.5
06) SIMPSON 135 P6 W3 D1 L2 GP3.5
07) JEFFERIES 114 P6 W2 D3 L1 GP3.5
08) MARSH 100 P5 W2 D0 L3 GP2.0
09) EDWARDS 86 P1 W1 D0 L0 GP1.0
10) WOOLACOTT 141 P4 W1 D0 L3 GP1.0
11) POLLARD 42 P8 W1 D0 L7 GP1.0
12) POPA 76 P6 W0 D1 L5 GP0.5
13) FRENCH 104 P5 W0 D0 L5 GP0.0
14) LELYS 30 P3 W0 D0 L3 GP0.0

Mini-puzzle!

From the League: Andrew, as White to move, preempts Black's back row mate threat with an unstoppable checkmate in 3 moves.

___

Back to Top