Please note these grades may move about a little until the system settles down. Players who don’t have a grade will be given one when they enter the Grand Prix. 

Any news or events or corrections let me know and I will respond. Let me know via e-mail or at the club your intentions regarding the Grand Prix. 1^st Round July 23^rd.

 Regards Steve Rigby

For Information

I will be uploading some of the photographs taken at the Oldham Championships which took place at Knowsley School shortly on a separate page of the website after I have looked through and picked out the best of them.

Regards John Walton

3C’s Chess Club Update 27th June 2009 

Dear Players and Members,

Another update on yesterday. I hope this info is correct (unlike the rumour that Mitchell got 0/5 in an event he didn’t even enter). I did mention that Aaron Rogers was playing for The Rest of England against the South East and London. He was of course joined by Jacob Manton and they seemed to have done well. The information I have at the moment is that Aaron scored 1.5 out of 2 on board 10. Jacob played board 2 losing his first game but beating Peter Andreev on board one in the afternoon. Well played to both players and their families for their support.

The end of season best player results in the Manchester league are.

1st Team Ali Jaunooby – Congratulations to Ali for his efforts and he has also won the Bramley Harker – League prize for best performance of any player in A Division.

Thomas Clements was the clubs best performer in the 2^nd Team, John Walton the 3^rd Team and Lara Buckley 4^th Team. Thanks to all of you and well done in what has been a mixed season with successes and relegations going hand in hand.

Mitchell will be representing the club in the simul that Keith Arkell is arranging in July to promote the Rochdale and Bury League. Mitchell qualifies as he has played as Board 1 in this league and captained the team that won the cup on Thursday.

One or two people have asked will the club be open during the summer holidays. The short answer is most definitely yes. Not only will it be open but you will all be receiving an entry form for a Grand Prix event that will run each week at the club through the six weeks holiday. This event will be geared to link into your grades and also accommodate holidays so I hope you will all enter.

Lastly I am waiting for the grading and results sheets from the Oldham Championships and will provide everyone with their provisional club grades ASAP.

The 3C’s website is easy to find just put 3C’s Chess into your Google search page and there you are.

The 3C’s Codgers will be entering a team in the league this year with such notable characters as Tony Ashton, Don Gordon, Dave Monaghan, Roger Glover, John Walton, Me and we are looking to recruit other notable such as Alan Burke, Glynn Towse, John Rogers, If you qualify for this team and want to come and enjoy yourself you don’t need to let us know we will come looking for you!!!

3C’s Chess Club Update 26th June 2009 

Dear Members,

This has indeed been very busy month chess wise. Firstly congratulations to Lucy Towse who played in the All England Girl’s qualifier and qualified for the Gold Final. She came third in the U10’s and won a trophy for the best player from Lancashire. Some of our players will be playing in a range of competitions in the next few weeks. Aaron Rogers will be playing for the Rest of England against London this weekend. Two of our top players Stephen Gordon and Adam Ashton will be playing in Benasque in Spain for 10/11days in a Masters Open Event and of course we wish them every success.

Mitchell Burke was successful at the Heywood Inter event winning £93 after scoring 4/5 beating the leader in the 5^th round. But it’s not always winning and roses he did manage to get 0/5 in a recent U135 tournament in Manchester finishing with a grade of 50!

The 1^st team in the Bury and Rochdale League won the Cup final on Thursday. The team was Mitchell Burke, Tom Clements, Sam Towse and Jade Stirrup. They won 3-1 against an experienced Oldham team. Tom kindly jotted a few notes which I share with you.

“3C’s 1^st v Oldham A in the cup final. Mitchell Burke on Board 1 was getting crushed but managed to come back with a flukey draw (as usual). Tom Clements was on Board 2 and was also losing but managed to cheapo his opponent forcing a resignation. Sam Towse was on Board 3 and had a good position but quote Adam Ashton “It’s gone a bit wrong here Sam” but his opponent made a mistake and quote Sam “It worked out alright”. Jade Stirrup on Board 4 blundered in the opening but after a few inaccuracies by her opponent managed to squeeze a draw with accurate play.” Sound like a bit like a victory snatched form the jaws of defeat four times. Well done to the team.

The annual pilgrimage to Pontins for some of our Oldham school teams took place last weekend. Roger Glover sent me a brief report on what is always a fun/ serious event. Oldham had four representative schools competing in the semi finals of the English Primary Schools Team Competition at Pontins in Prestatyn. The Competing schools were Friezland a mixed U11 team with three U9 players. Christ Church, Hulme Court U11’s and U9’s. St Chad’s U11 and U9’s and a St.Chad’s team in the plate competition. Some of the best performances being Ben Manton achieved 6/6, Jake Manton 5/6, Connor Atherton 5/6. There were other excellent performances with all the players from all the schools battling hard for every point. Hulme Court U11 qualified for the final and St.Chad’s just missed out in the last round. All of the players learnt a lot with the younger ones gaining invaluable experience for next year. All were a great credit to Oldham and our grateful thanks to the many parents who along with Dale, Adam and Roger gave up the weekend for the children and gave them the opportunity to compete.

The recent blitz competition in Chadderton’s Blue Club was great fun and something we will do again in the autumn. The results were as follows 1^st Mitchell Burke. 2^nd Sam Towse 3^rd Lance Fox. Andrew Hargreaves and Aaron Rogers best U11. Best girl Phoebe Price and Lydia O’Connor. Best U9 Abdullah Naveed and best U8 Ben Manton and Arvind Shivshankar Well done to the Dad’s who also joined in I hope they enjoyed the experience.

Thanks to Martin Butler for his photographs from the recent events they are on the 3C’s website.

On a different note I have acquired on behalf of the club an invitation for some of us to attend at Granada Studios the recording of one of the Mastermind If you want to go let me know a.s.a.p. There is no charge for the tickets, it should be interesting.

Any other ideas are more than welcome.

 Regards Steve Rigby 07850015163

3C’s Chess Club Update June 2009 

Dear Members,

May I first of all remind everybody who hasn’t already entered the Oldham Championships to do so before Friday. You can enter on Thursday at the club. We will take your name and age after that its just turn up and enjoy yourself. I have provided you with the other details below.

Oldham Schools Championships – 3C’s Chess Club - U8, U9, U10, U11, U12, U13 & U14. 

Saturday 13^th June 9.30am – 5.30pm. 

Controlling team - Glynn Towse ECF Arbiter - Stephen Rigby -I.M. Ravikumar (Coach)

There is ample parking for cars. Light refreshments will be on sale throughout the event. A bookstall is available and I.M.Ravikumar will be available to provide a few tips and conduct a training session.

Event One: A seven round tournament on the Saturday 30min each on the clock

Venue @ Knowsley Junior School, Springhead, Oldham

Entry fee £5 - Schedule: Arrive 9.15am for 10.00am start - Prize giving 5.30pm

Players will play in their own age –group, except when it is necessary to merge groups based on the entries received. Small prizes will be awarded. Those children who win their section or score at least 50% will be invited to play in the Blitz / Training event on the Sunday.

We will be providing everyone who enters with a grade. This grade or rating is very useful to all our players as you will be able to see your progress against other players. You will be able to build on this grade/rating throughout the year so it’s a useful thing to have. We will obviously be able to use this information to invite players to play in a whole range of teams/competitions that are suitable to their abilities.

It was great to see Phil Adams at the club on Thursday. Phil as many of you know now lives in Spain with the sunshine and wonderful food. Phil will be at the club this Thursday so I’m sure many of his friends would like to take the opportunity to see him.

On a different note I have acquired on behalf of the club an invitation for some of us to attend at Granada Studios the recording of one of the Mastermind programmes on either 15^th to 17^th July (Wed – Fri) at the afternoon or evening recording. 1.00pm or 5.30pm. If you want to go let me know by Friday. There is no charge for the tickets and it should be interesting. I thought maybe two cars full would be plenty.

Thanks to John Walton for a projector to help us with coaching. He also informs me that he has a photocopier that he will donate for our use so coaching notes will become more available. Please remember if anyone is upgrading an old computer let us know as we can use it to help with coaching. We have been given the all clear to use the club on a Wednesday for small group coaching and matches. In addition, we will be personalising the back room. We intend to have a display of silverware, and an honours board for all our titled and international players over the years. We will also fit a notice board and photographs of players past and present. Any other ideas are more than welcome.

Clearly the use of the club during school holidays was successful with around 40+ players attending each week. We will be arranging a six week Grand Prix over the summer holidays so watch this space for details in the next few weeks. I hope to see you all on Thursday.  

Regards Steve Rigby 07850 015163

3C’s Chess Club Update 29th May 2009 

Dear Members, 

Thanks for the large number of you who attended last night during your holidays I hope you enjoyed the evening. We had a number of visitors last night including our own Grand Master Stephen Gordon. Stephen joined in a small simultaneous playing a few of the younger players. Worth noting that he thought Connor Atherton had a good idea of what he was doing for quite some time during the game. Thank you Stephen for your time and he informs me he will be more than happy to play a more formal simultaneous display in the near future.  

The 1^st team deserve our congratulations for winning the 1^st Division Championship this week and also making the final of the cup competition. They will be playing Urmston in the final so let’s wish them well. 

Please remember to enter the Oldham Schools Championship at Knowsley School on Saturday 13^th. We will be providing everyone who enters with a grade. This grade or rating is very useful to all our players as you will be able to see your progress against other players. You will be able to build on this grade/rating throughout the year so it’s a useful thing to have. We will obviously be able to use this information to invite players to play in a whole range of teams/competitions that are suitable for their capabilities.

Regards Steve Rigby

ADVICE TO CHESS PARENTS

As a chess coach, I spend my time preparing juniors for the most challenging weekend of their lives. What role do the parents have? How should a parent behave at a chess tournament?

To start out, you should prepare your child with the necessary food and rest before and during the weekend. Make sure to get plenty of sleep; an extra hour of sleep will help a lot during the last games at the end of each long day. Of course, the kids need something big and healthy to eat for breakfast (very important) and between each game. Those players in the older sections tend to have longer games and may wish to take a bottle of water and a small snack (chocolate, candy, or gum) with them for each round.

Somewhat more challenging is to strike a balance between keeping your child focused between rounds while not draining all their energy. Refrain from chess activities, except for reviewing the tournament games briefly with a coach or a computer. Avoid blitz and bughouse between rounds because both games cause the children to play impulsively instead of carefully thinking about the best move. Older kids may wish to bring a book or a deck of cards to play with their friends. Younger kids may prefer video games. Another idea may be to bring a ball and go outside for a little while—enough to relax but not too much to drain all of their energy.

What should the parent say right before the round? My advice is simple: try your best and have fun! For example, one big aspect to trying your best is to take your time during the game. Of course, when you get to the board, make sure to be respectful to the opponent and parent. While chess is a war game, the battle should take place only on 64 squares.

The hard part about the motto “try your best and have fun” is to stick to it afterward. If your child tried their best, then you must encourage them no matter what the result. Never get angry with your son or daughter simply because they lost, even to a lower rated opponent. A few common and legitimate reasons to get upset include moving too fast, lack of focus by looking at other games or failure to record the moves. Most children will be eager to talk about the game afterward and even parents who aren’t strong chess players may pick up key details (e.g. “I blundered” or “I had a win but I lost” or “I didn’t see his piece”). Be aware that even chess players who try their best might blunder and miss a move that they should have seen.

Let me close by profiling four kinds of parent behaviors that I hope to discourage.

1. Parent measures performance merely by wins, losses and rating points. They become upset when the child draws or loses to a lower rated player, without considering whether the game was well played or the opponent simply had a good day. My response: Chess ratings are based on a statistical formula that predicts your winning percentage. For example, a player rated 200 points higher should win 75% of games and one rated 400 points high should win 90%. We must come to expect an occasional bad result against a lower rated player. Even an improving player may have one bad game or a disappointing tournament. As I’ve told many people, progress typically comes through two steps forward and one step backwards. Look at the big picture instead of every single game.

2. Parent relies on Fritz too much. I have seen many cases where a parent reviews a game with Fritz or another computer program and finds out that the child missed one or more key tactics. The parent will typically quote a computer evaluation, often mentioning scores like +5. My response: No human can play like Fritz and even top Grandmasters sometimes overlook mate in 1 (Kramnik) or hang a piece for no reason at all. Fritz is merely a tool to get better but an impossible standard to measure your performance against. Parents (and even coaches) sometimes forget or never realized how much more difficult it is to play the game with the clock ticking than to review it afterwards with a computer.

3. Parent hates child’s rival(s). Unfortunately, I see all too often when a parent measures his or her own child against the result of the rival. It is important to score more points or achieve a milestone first. The child is often forbidden to socialize with the rival, purely for competitive reasons. My response: In recent years, the best young players in the Bay Area have benefited from the interaction with their closest rivals. Masters Nicolas Yap, Drake Wang and Daniel Schwarz, who all graduated from High School last year, competed for the same trophies at the CalChess Scholastics for an entire decade, yet also forged strong friendships that included many hours of chess analysis and blitz games. The benefits of having friends in the chess community and someone to study with far outweigh any competitive disadvantage. Take the opportunity this weekend meet your child’s rivals and their parents. Set a positive example for the children to follow.

4. Parent lives for their child’s achievements. Most parents are proud of the success by their son or daughter, but a few take it to another level by bragging. They seek success, often even more than the kids. Those same parents become resentful when the result was not quite as good. My response: It is always of utmost importance that your child has fun. Juniors who don't truly enjoy chess (independent of their parents) simply will not improve as rapidly. You can lead a camel to water, but you cannot force it to drink. Unfortunately, these youngsters, who often have been pushed hard for many years, become prime candidates to drop out of chess entirely as they turn 13 or 14.

Source: http://fpawn.blogspot.com, the blog of Michael Aigner, one of the top scholastic chess coaches in the USA

Regards Phil

News Update - May 2009.

Just a reminder that the club will be open this Thursday as usual. So if you are still here and not gone on holiday for a week or two I will see you there.

Phil Adams will be returning from Spain on June 4^th for a couple of weeks and I have no doubts he will be visiting the club to meet many of his friends.

Last week a number of parents enquired about the Oldham Schools Championships the details of which are below. If you have a form to hand in regarding registration that then pass it onto me at the club. Please pay on the day as and when your child attends. It just helps me with administration and saves me recording who has and who hasn’t paid.

We are going to hold a Club Grand Prix over the summer holidays that everyone can enter. It will be over six weeks and an all play all. There will be cash prizes for all sections from U8 to open age. The entry fee will be £5 and you will receive a half point bye if you are on holiday or default a game. More details after the Oldham Schools Championship. We also have some new ideas in the pipeline such as a “Chilli and Chess Night” and a Lightening tournament in the club (5min on clocks) and also, a simultaneous match with Stephen Gordon which I hope to arrange a date with him soon. We are also looking at Wednesday evening coaching in small groups or one to one so keep watching this space. 

Refreshments 

I would like to thank our adults for the wonderful support they have given the club over the last year. In particular Lorraine Towse who purchases the food and organises the tuck shop each week. Lorraine has done this for a number of years now and we all benefit from her efforts. The money she and her colleagues raise supports the club in a host of ways. Thank you Lorraine for your time and effort. Thanks also must go to Ann and Alan your helpers who I know also provide invaluable support in making our club an enjoyable place to be each week. 

I.C.T. 

Are any of our members upgrading their computer systems? We are looking for two of three computers, screens and printers to install our new chess software onto. We don’t need internet connectivity as the machines will only have chess software that the players can use for coaching activities. We have already been offered a photocopier so we will be able to provide players with notes to help them understand lessons and practice at home. The last part of the begging is for a projector again to help show games to the main group of players on Thursday. If anyone can help or provide us with any contacts everyone would benefit. The other way is to let me win the pools and I will buy the lot and donate. 

Oldham Schools Championships - Date: Saturday 13^th June and Sunday 14^th June 

For quite some time we have wanted to hold a full day competition for all interested Oldham players. We will organise prizes for U14, 13’s, 12’s, 11’s, 10’s, 9’s, 8’s and 7’s. In addition, we will provide provisional grades for all players for the first time. The intention is so that players can see how they are improving when they are playing others with grades.

On the Sunday afternoon we will hold a Blitz tournament that we will invite junior players outside of Oldham to attend. Coaching will also be provided on the day free of charge. More details shortly please make an effort to attend it will be fun, local, and cheap and it will help you improve your chess. Thanks to all those who have already committed themselves to the day. 

Lastly, if you are receiving this information for the first time I hope you are a little more aware of the opportunities the 3C’s offers to help you with your interest. If there are any other players in Oldham who maybe interested let me know. If however, you would wish to be removed from my newsletter mail list let me know.

Best wishes Steve Rigby (07850015163)

News from Vigo - Phil Adams

Dateline - April 14-20 2009 Steve Rigby visited the Adamses in Vigo.
 
Phil Adams is a member of one of the strongest chess clubs in Galicia, called Xadrez Galego, the top players of whom are GMs and IMs. The club has its own premises and a full-time secretary. It is open six days a week, 10:00-13:00 and 16:00-22:00.
 
Phil has been playing matches, mostly for their second team, and has scored 6.7 undefeated this season, which runs from Christmas to Easter. Matches are played every Saturday, starting at 17:00. The time limit is one that is now usual in Spanish events: 1h30 each for the game, plus 30 seconds increment per move. The use of digital clocks in Spain is now almost universal.
 
The Xadrez Galego club is very much involved with junior chess and coaching in the Vigo area. IM Roberto Paramos has put together a series of structured course-books which run from beginner to about 2100 so far.
 
Steve and Roberto (see photo) met twice and discussed possibilities of cooperation between Three Cs and Xadrez Galego, including exchange visits and possible adaptation of the Xadrez Galego training course.
 

Cheers Phil
 

News Update - May 4th 2009

Megafinal Results.

Congratulations to all the players listed below for either being a Suprema or a Supremo champion in the Megafinals on Saturday at North Chadderton. The other players listed have also qualified for the Gigafinals to be held in Failsworth Oldham. You will all be receiving an invitation for this event from Mike Basman. The event ran reasonably well and everyones behaviour was excellent. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed it.

Supremo  U7-  Matthew Miller - Hulme Kindergarten, Suprema – U7  Jennifer Reece – St Chad’s

Supremo – U8 Ben Manton – St Chad’s, Suprema – U8 Megan Brierley – Greenfield

Arvind Sivishanker – 3C’s, Isaac Thompson – St Chad’s, William Tierney – 3C’s

Supremo U9 – Lucas Casey – Hulme Court, Suprema  U9– Aine Robinson – St.Chad’s

Matthew Downey – Christ Church, Alannah Williams – 3C’s, Jay Taylor – Greenfield, Abdullah Naveed – Hulme Court

Suprema – U10 Lucy Towse – Chadderton Hall

Daniel Manton – St.Chad’s, Thomas Townson – 3C’s, Jack Brierley – Greenfield, Thomas Leadbeater - Knowsley, James Mallinson – St.Mary’s Greenfield, Becky Kerton – Chadderton Hall, Mark Williams – St Chad’s, Jacob Manton – St Chad’s, Lara Buckley – St. Chad’s, Aaron Rogers – Hulme Court, Ryan Brogan – Delph, Connor Atherton – Friezland, Charlie Maslen – Hulme Court, Harry Aaronson – Hulme Court, Danyaal Kamran – Broadfield, Adam Ahmed - Broadfield

Supremo –U12 Daniel Lea – MGS /3C’s, Suprema -  U12 Phoebe Price – MGS /3C’s

Lance Fox - Radclyffe,

Supremo – U14  Nathan Gittens

Abdul Mugaddin - Radclyffe, Mitchell Burke – 3C’s, Sam Towse – 3C’s

Suprema – U18 Jade Stirrup – 3C’s 

English Primary Schools National Championship Final - Date; Saturday May 9^th  2009

Venue: Wycombe High School, Marlow Road, High Wycombe, HP11 1TB.

Meeting at Mumps Railway Station Car Park at 6.30am on Saturday.

The cost will be £8 that will go towards the cost of the coach. There will be room on the coach for parents and they are most welcome. Food and drink are to be brought but there will be opportunities for food to be bought at the venue. Roger Glover and Adam Ashton will be the main persons in charge for the day.

The team are as follows. If for any reason you are unable to attend please inform me a.s.a.p. (07850015163). Obviously, we don’t want to go down to this prestigious event without a full compliment of players. 

Jacob Manton - St.Chads, Aaron Rogers - Hulme Court, Dominic Kerrison - Hulme Court, Lara Buckley - St. Chads, Lucy Towse - Chadderton Hall (U10), Becky Kerton - Chadderton Hall (U10), Leah Nuttall - Christ Church (U10), Connor Atherton - Friezland, Daniel Manton - St.Chads (U10), Jason Law - Hulme Court, Harry Arrinson - Hulme Court, Bradley Cruse - Hulme Court, Vipram Shrivistran - Hulme, Court, Lydia O’Connor - Friezland, Charlie Maslen - Hulme Court, Adam Ahmed - Broadfield, Jack Brierley - Greenfield (U10), Mark Williams - St.Chad’s, James Gartside - Limeside (U10), Ryan Whalmsey - Broadfield, Danyaal Kamron - Broadfield, Jack Munday - St Chad’s (U9), Ben Manton - St Chad’s (U8), Lucas Casey - Hulme Court (U9), Zidane -  Hulme Court, Nathan Roebuck - Friezland (U9), Emma Butler - Estcourt, Matthew Downey - Christ Church (U9) 

Club News 

As the league season starts drawing to a close may I take the opportunity to congratulate a number of players who have improved considerably during the year. Mitchell Burke, Jade Stirrup and Tom Clements have all been vital members of teams in the higher divisions and their efforts have been invaluable. Jacob Manton and Aaron Rogers have also pushed themselves into the England U11 squad through some excellent results throughout the season. The girls haven’t been idle either with Lara Buckley, Leah Nuttall, Becky Kerton and Lucy Towse scoring heavily during the year. These are of course only a few of the improvers as the Megafinal list shows. Undoubtably   one to one coaching helps and we intend to extend the opportunity for players to access this coaching in the near future. We will be holding coaching clinics on a Wednesday in the club for the most ambitious who want to get better fast. More of this in the next newsletter but it really is a fast track way forwards and upwards. If you want to look at the website for 3C’s look just enter 3C’s Chess Club on Google and you will have easy access to the work of John Walton who runs the site imputing results, league tables and current news. 

I.C.T. 

Are any of our members upgrading their computer systems? We are looking for two of three computers, screens and printers to install our new chess software onto. We don’t need internet connectivity as the machines will only have chess software that the players can use for coaching activities. We have already been offered a photocopier so we will be able to provide players with notes to help them understand lessons and practice at home. The last part of the begging is for a projector again to help show games to the main group of players on Thursday. If anyone can help or provide us with any contacts everyone would benefit. The other way is to let me win the pools and I will buy the lot and donate.

 3C’s v Vigo v Porto 

Some of you are aware that I have been visiting Phil Adams in Vigo recently. The club have been challenged to play in Spain in the October half term. We are hoping to take ten players of various strengths for a few days to play in a local chess competition then play a triangular tournament then experience some coaching with a local IM. We will need to pay for the airfare but will be looked after by the families of the Spanish players. Obviously, we will be hoping to return the hospitality at a future date. It’s a wonderful way to make links with other players and look at how they approach a game that both of you have a common interest in. I will be speaking to a number of players personally to invite them and give them plenty of time to prepare. 

Oldham Schools Championships - Date: Saturday 13^th June and Sunday 14^th June 

For quite some time we have wanted to hold a full day competition for all interested Oldham players. We will organise prizes for U14, 13’s, 12’s, 11’s, 10’s, 9’s, 8’s and 7’s. In addition, we will provide provisional grades for all players for the first time. The intention is so that players can see how they are improving when they are playing others with grades.

On the Sunday afternoon we will hold a Blitz tournament that we will invite junior players outside of Oldham to attend. Coaching will also be provided on the day free of charge. More details shortly please make an effort to attend it will be fun, local, cheap and it will help you improve your chess. Thanks to all those who have already committed themselves to the day. 

Lastly, if you are receiving this information for the first time I hope you are a little more aware of the opportunities the 3C’s offers to help you with your interest. If there are any other players in Oldham who maybe interested let me know. If however, you would wish to be removed from my newsletter mail list let me know.

Best wishes Steve Rigby (07850 015163)

****************************

News from Vigo - Phil Adams

Jacob Manton wrote to me: 
 
First Story -  I recently played for England in the Czech Republic. I got 5 and a half out of 9 in the Under 12's section and I played against Czechs, Belarussians and Slovenians. I came 7th equal out of 49 which I think is a great achievement! There were lots of children from lots of different countries in Europe playing. I had a great time as we also played football a lot and went bowling!

 
Please let me know any news from your end. Hope the new club venue is working out well and everything going smoothly.
 
We are planning to be back for two weeks June 4th-18th.
 
Phil
**********************************

New FIDE Laws for Chess

Phil Adams has informed us that the revised FIDE Laws of Chess are now available at the ECF website
 
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/

It is advisable for our players to ensure that they are aware of any changes to laws especially when playing in tournaments and congresses in the future so we advise that they go to the ECF website and check for themselves.

Stephen Gordon (GM Elect ) Title Update - 22nd March 2009

Congratulations to Stephen Gordon. He has scored 7/8 so far in the 4NCL. The last 3 rounds take place 2-4 May in Daventry. His score is so good that, even should he lose to an unrated player in Round 9, he would still achieve a 9 round Grandmaster norm. Thus he has achieved all the requirements for the grandmaster title. He will not actually be awarded the title until July as there is a certain amount of justifiable bureaucracy.
 
Source: ECF website: http://www.englishchess.org.uk/national/index.html
 

News Update - March 23^rd 2009

 Congratulations to our U11 Team on reaching the British Championships final. It was very tough going on Saturday to qualify with one of the championship favourites Nottinghamshire deciding to join us here in the north. Well done to everybody you have been really tested and it was hard going. Kera, Vipran, and Becky couldn’t be beaten on the day and came away with maximum scores. Others found that we may have placed them on too high a board and that’s our fault and adjustments will be made. Just take consolation in that you made life easier for those below you and in so doing helped the team. As always we are the only town to compete with the counties but our players came through and have the right to compete with the very best.

 The Championship final will be on Saturday May 9^th and the following players have been selected. Please make sure you can attend.

 Jake Manton, Aaron Rogers, Charlie Maslan, Bradley Cruse, Lara Buckley, Leah Nuttall, Connor Atherton, Dominic Kerrison, Daniel Manton, Vipran Srivitara, Jason Law, Lucy Towse, Ryan Warmsley, Mark Williams, Jack Brierley, Harry Aaronson, Lydia O’Connor, Becky Kerton, Kyra Homan, Jack Munday, Emma Butler, James Gartside, Nathan Roebuck, Ben Manton, Danyaal Kamron, Adam Ahmed, Callum Leniaha 

Our attention must now be focused on our U11 Girls team who will be playing at Bolton on Saturday March 28^th. We will be using cars on this occasion to cut down on expenses and although we have had a number of offers of transport already from parents could you please confirm on Thursday with me please. Please note you must have comprehensive insurance.  We will be meeting at Mumps Railway Car Park at 10.15am returning at 5.30 approx. Bring a packed lunch. I will be attending so any questions call me on the usual number 07850 015163.

The players selected are:-

Lara Buckley, Lucy Towse, Becky Kerton, Lydia O’Connor, Leah Nuttall, Kyra Homan, Freya Upton, Rebecca White, J. Woodward, Alana Williams, Lydia Entwistle, Emma Butler, Saher Ahmed, Megan Brierley, Courtney Tunnicliffe, Moina Khan 

Our U9 team will be playing in Northampton on April 25^th. Transport will be by minibus and details will follow. The following players have been selected to play.

 Lydia Entwistle, Megan Brierley, Luke Kometa, Ben Manton, Matthew Downey, Arvind Sivishanker, William Tierney, Alistair Perry, Jack Mundy, Nathan Roebuck, Lucas Casey, Jay Taylor, Abdullah Ahmed, Zidane Khan, Rebecca White, Daniel Warmsley, Logan Aspinall

 Congratulations to Jake Manton and Aaron Rogers for being selected for the England training squad. I will keep everyone informed of any news etc as and when I know it. The back room of the club should be completed this week and the kitchen units have already been fitted as of Saturday so we continue to move forward.

Stephen Rigby

Cappelle la Grande Open - France

Stephen Gordon scored an undefeated 6.5/9 in the strong annual open in Cappelle la Grande. The winner scored 7.5 and there were three who finished on 7. Stephen was in a large bunch who tied for 5th. There were over 600 competitors!

From the ECF website:

"Stephen was very unfortunate not to make his final GM norm and therefore the title. Had his opponent in round 9 been three rating points higher then he would have performed at 2600 and therefore become England’s latest GM. Nevertheless, this was still a fine performance; he remained undefeated and gained rating points."

Report from Phil Adams

News Update - 13th March 2009

Dear Members and Players 

Just a quick update on recent news regarding the club and Town Teams. On Saturday the Under Nine’s will be playing in Nottingham in the Northern Zonals. Next Saturday 21^st March our Under 11’s will be playing at North Chadderton School in their zonal competition to see if they can qualify for the British Championships.

The following week it’s the turn of the Girls Team who will be travelling to Manchester. Obviously we wish them all well and hope they increase their overall chess knowledge and get an opportunity to play in the British Finals against the best. Congratulations to the teams that have qualified for the national semi finals in the National Schools Championships at Prestatyn in the Summer Term. Especially good to see Friezland on the rise again.

I have already provisionally booked North Chadderton for May 2^nd for this years Megafinal with the Terra Finals (I think that’s right).also in Oldham.

Welcome to the representatives from other schools that have started attending the club its good to see them and they will of course take ideas back to school to raise overall standards.

The building continues to be developed with the new roof on the kitchen, with the team room having been plastered and is now ready for decorating. We have also purchased more tables to ensure everyone has a seat and room to play. New locks and notice boards on the way and new storage cabinets have also been bought. As soon as we have finished we will be organising a diary for our top players to provide regular coaching for our up and coming players. More later when I know the building is complete.

Lastly, if anyone has any time a week on Friday to help organise North Chadderton School for the championships could you let me know as your help would be invaluable. If you have any further news let me know and I will circulate the details.

Best wishes Steve Rigby (078500151630

English Chess Federation - email received by Phil Adams

The following email was received by Phil in January with regards to The Right Move, ECF Junior Magazine asking for articles and reports from junior players to be entered in the magazine. So if you want to please contact Sophie Hare at the ECF and get your articles published in this junior magazine.

Dear Chess Player

The January issue of The Right Move, the English Chess Federation junior magazine is available here: www.englishchess.org.uk/private/rightmove/  we hope you enjoy it.

Please send us your reports about tournaments, your best games, any chess related stories are welcome.
Please accept my apologies for the delay in sending this.
 

Sophie Hare, English Chess Federation
 

News - 25th January 2009

Dear Members

As you know we are moving to our new base and leaving Christ Church School. The first meeting will be on Thursday, 19th February 2009 from 7.00 - 10.00pm. The new address is St. Edwards Church Hall, Spring Lane, Lees. Oldham. OL4.

This is the week of half term so our last club in Chadderton will be on Thursday, 12th February.

We hope to put on a few refreshments to celebrate the occasion. I will organise along with other members the movement of the chess equipment, storage and furniture. In addition we will organise some advertising for the local area to tell them we have arrived, more later.
 

Broadgreen Quickplay. We took over 60+ players to the event. For many it was their first event and the vast majority did very well. Behaviour was excellent and it was great to see so many parents in support. The main winner was Leah Nuttall in the U10A Section.

Elite Coaching Sessions. just to remind those who have been chosen about their attendance. You do need to make arrangements amongst yourselves to get there. If you haven't already done it the next meeting of the club maybe a good time to do so.

Oldham Town Teams at U9, Girls U11 and the Under 11 team to follow shortly. We aleady have most of the squads sorted out but we are still looking  at fringe players who are very keen and may have the right desire to improve.

Please note: U9 match at Nottingham March 14th, Under 11 Match 21st in Oldham (North Chadderton School). Girls match 28th March in Manchester.

Best Wishes Steve Rigby.
 

Last update for December 2008

Dear Members,

I hope you all have a Happy New Year. Some of our players are currently playing in a range of tournaments. Stephen Gordon is playing at Hastings (look at www.hastingschess.org.uk website) and Adam Ashton in Poland. (Look up http:/www.cracoviachess.net/en/index.html for the current scoreline).

Well done to Mitchell Burke who has been chosen to play in the Czech Republic in the New Year for an England squad. The squad of 20 players will be travelling to Frydek Mistek on Monday 6th April and will be returning on Tuesday 14th April 2009. Mitchell is currently involved in the London Championships.

Most of the players for the Masters coaching squad have replied. If not could you let me know your intentions as it helps me in making sure that no places are wasted.

I hope to be sending out a list for Broad Green Quickplay shortly.

Enjoy your new year. Steve Rigby

The results for the highly competitive London Junior Championships are now available at
http://www.ljcc.co.uk/2008.htm - As far as I am aware, the only Three Cs players to take part this time were Mitchell Burke, Thomas Clements and Jacob Manton. This annual event is often stronger than the ECF age group championships!

Phil Adams

December New Update

First of all may I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks to everyone who has been working behind the scenes ensuring teams and trips are organised. The new club is now being decorated and then we simply have to have the new floor covering laid then we are ready to go. We will be holding a fundraising when we open to help purchase some new furniture so please do your bit and support us. Many thanks to Tony Ashton for all his hard work organising contractors etc. Tony has supported our club for many years and I am pleased to say he tells me he is going to play some more chess in the New Year. Phil Adams is back for a short time and will be playing for the 1^st team before he returns to Spain. I saw him this week and we spent time sharing some coaching ideas for the forthcoming year.

As soon as the festive period is over I will be arranging the Broad Green competition on January 17^th for all our U9 and U11 .players. I enclose a number of fixtures that we will be involved with this year. If you have any questions/queries regarding any arrangements contact me and I will either know or get the information for you ASAP on Mobile: 07850 015163.

Chess Calendar for 2008/9 Season.

January ’09.

Saturday January 17^th EPSCA Quickplay Broadgreen. Liverpool – All Oldham U9 & U11 Town Team players.

Sunday 25th Renaissance Academy Bradford. (contact me about this group of Congresses as we may very well be organising a minibus they are very welcoming and good rates of play).

February ’09.

February 7^th Pontins Qualifier (Approx date – I believe Dale has booked Hulme for this event)

February 28^th ECF U18 & U13 County Championship. Derbyshire.

March ’09.

Saturday March 14^th 2009 Under 9 Inter Zonals. - All Oldham U9 Town Team players.

Saturday March 21^st 2009. Under 11 Inter Zonals. – All Oldham U11 Town Team players.

Sunday March 22^nd Renaissance Academy Bradford

Saturday March 28^th Girls Under 11 Championship. – All Oldham Girl Town Team players.

April ’09.

Saturday April 25^th Under 9 Finals – Oldham Town Team

Saturday & Sunday April 25^th England Under 11 Trials.

May ’09.

Saturday May 2^nd Megafinal – Provisional date.

Saturday May 9^th Under 11 Final. – Oldham Town Team.

Sunday May 24^th Renaissance Academy Bradford

June ’09.

Sat & Sun June 20^th/21^st – Pontins Finals weekend.

July ‘09.

Sunday July 26^th Renaissance Academy Bradford.

September ‘09

Sunday September 27^th Renaissance Academy Bradford.

November ’09.

Sunday November 29^th Renaissance Academy. Bradford.

Please note: this list is going to be regularly updated. If you want to attend any congresses or if you receive any data that you think the other members might be interested in e-mail me and I will include them. I do have the B.C.F Calendar if you need any information just ask.

Steve.

Pennine Cup Inter-Association Championship - 6^th December 2008

The annual Pennine Cup competition was held yesterday, between Oldham and Cheshire and North Wales.

The tournament was held at the home of Grappenhall chess club, Grappenhall Community Centre. The high standard of play and excellent attitude displayed by the players was a credit to the efforts of Steve Rigby and Dale James of Three C’s chess club, whose players formed the Oldham team, and to George Davison  of Grappenhall chess club, whose players formed the backbone of the Cheshire and North Wales team.

As often happens at this time of year, both teams were weakened with absences, particularly Oldham, who had players competing in another competition on the same day. However, the determination of the sides to press on regardless was rewarded with excellent experience gained by all who attended.

 Both rounds saw some extremely close and well-fought out matches,  with experienced members of the National Junior Squad battling it out on the top boards, and the less experienced players on the lower boards taking their time and fighting hard on every board.

In the end, the experience of the Cheshire and North Wales team, with seven players all aged 15 at the start of the chess year, paid off. They ran out worthy winners, claiming the trophy for the third year in succession. Oldham, however, had performed with credit, and will undoubtedly be far stronger next year.

 Many thanks to everyone for their contribution to the event –particularly George Davison and Steve Rigby for supporting the teams on the day, and to Lorraine Towse and George Manley for their help with the buffet.

 In summary, it was great to see the event held in such a competitive yet sporting manner, and enjoyed by all who attended.

Judy Brown     December 2008

A little news item from Phil in Spain, hopefully he will give us more details:

Can you find him?

GM Sergey Tiviakov visited our club week before last. I just happened to be in the background of that particular shot.
 
PS: If you want pictures of me being showered with glory and a hideous trophy here in Spain, try this one from last year, winning a small tournament (and a large trophy in Pontevedra.
 
http://agal-gz.org/blogues/index.php/revira/2007/08/06/alto_nivel_no_torneio_de_xadrez#more3203

Reported by Phil Adams - Spain

Brief club news and update on the new Club Night Venue

at St Edwards Church Hall, Lees, Oldham

Dear Members

Firstly it was great to drop in and see so many faces last week. I will be there again this evening to hopefully share in a little of the coaching and ease the burden for Dale. I also wanted to thank Alan for keeping me up to date with 2nd Team results. Remember we have a lot of teams and if you send the results to me I will ensure that they are passed on. I am going to sort out a calendar as best I can this evening and let players know what's in the pipeline.

 I have been meeting with Tony Ashton today regarding the new venue. Lots of very positive things going on to share with you. We have had new windows fitted, a rewire ad new ceilings installed. We are now in the throws of sorting out a little bit of plastering and painting. after that we are having a new floor covering laid and then we are ready to move in. We are buying two new safes to store all the equipment and we will be organising a fund raising event after Christmas to raise money for the tables and forms we currently are using at Christ Church. Just think we have been doing all that and all you've had to do is enjoy playing chess. You now know as much as me regarding the new building.

 As for correspondence, Peter Purland has sent a reminder about Broad Green that we are all going to if you are U11. Julian Clissold has asked for a list of players for further coaching. He has asked Alan Walton and Adam Ashton to help with coaching so I will need to speak to them. Halifax is this coming weekend and good luck to those who are looking for an England nomination.

 I hope to see you at the club this evening regards Steve Rigby.

A number of our players have now taken to travelling to international tournaments and here are some of their results:

Cap d'Agde (France) - Grand Prix CCAS - 26th October to 1st November 2008

Stephen Gordon IM and Adam Ashton FM travelled to Cap d’Agde to participate in the Cap d’Agde – Grand Prix CCAS taking place alongside the 8th Cap d'Agde Rapid Chess Tournament. Here are there results and a brief summary of the rapidplay tournament.

Stephen J. Gordon IM (2521) Score: 6.5/9 Position: =5th

Adam G. Ashton FM (2325) Score: 5.5/9 Position: =26th 

Report from  the 8th Cap d'Agde Rapid Chess Tournament

This event took place from October 26 to November 1 2008 in Cap d'Agde, a seaside resort belonging to the town of Agde. It is one of the largest leisure ports on the French Mediterranean. The event was a closed rapid chess tournament in two groups, with the winners playing in quarter-finals, semi-finals and then finals.

Hikaru Nakamura wins Cap d'Agde 02.11.2008. The twelfth World Champion Anatoly Karpov and the world's number three player GM Vassily Ivanchuk were in contention, likewise the youthful GMs Magnus Carlsen, 17, number four in the world, and Fabiano Caruana, 16, of Italy. But in the end it was the 21-year-old American GM Hikaru Nakamura who snatched victory in the French Mediterranean invitational. Europe Echecs report.

XX Festival Internazionale di Scacchi

Porto San Giorgio Open (Italy), Palasavelli  - 21-29 August 2008

Results from Stephens tournament in Porto San Giorgio - Italy

Stephen J Gordon IM  Score: 6.5/9 Position: =3rd

Granaldi, Alessandro (2082) CM 0 - 1 Stephen J Gordon

Stephen J Gordon 1 - 0 Piva, Giorgio (2167) CM

Estremera Panos, Sergio (2394) IM 0.5 – 0.5  ( 2  ) - Stephen J Gordon 

Stephen J Gordon 0.5 – 0.5 Aleksic, Nenad (2371) IM

Tomescu, Vlad (2405) IM 0 - 1 Stephen J Gordon  

Stephen J Gordon 0.5 – 0.5 Farago, Ivan (2482) GM

Stephen J Gordon 0.5 – 0.5 Tugui, Adrian (2375)

Dragojlovic, Andjelko (2400) IM 0 – 1 Stephen J Gordon

Stephen J Gordon 0.5 – 0.5 MAIOROV Nikita (2535) GM

 Stephen drew in the final round in the Porto San Giorgio Open (Italy), while the overnight leader Fedorchuk lost against Erdos. 

Since Vuelban also won, joining Erdos in joint first place, Stephen finished in a multiple tie for 3nd place on 6.5. 

=1st - Erdos, Viktor & Vuelban, Virgilio  7/9

=3rd - Fedorchuk, Sergey A -  Naumkin, Igor - Maiorov, Nikita - Hera, Imre Jr - Gordon, Stephen J -Farago, Ivan - 

Tomescu, Vlad - Jovanic, Ognjen - Ortega, Lexy - Caprio, Guido - Cioara, Andrei Nestor.

First Prize is 2,000 euro, 2nd 1,100 euro, 3rd 800 euro, going down as far as 19-20th prize 100 euro.

IV Calvia Chess Tournament - Amateur Open

Magalluf Calvia Mallorca - 10^th October – 18^th October 2008 

Alan Walton CM travelled to Mallorca to play in this Amatuer Open tournament which had an unusual set up in that all the games started in the evening, finishing around midnight and allowing the players to have a lie in the follow day. Alan got off to a bad start drawing to his first three opponents who he would have expected to beat, he then finally got his game working winning his next three games and then drawing his last three games. He was undefeated in the tournament and managed to finish in equal eighth position.

Alan Walton CM (2193) Score: 6/9 Position: =8^th 

 British Chess Championships

held in Liverpool 28th July - 8th August 2008

The British Chess Championships were held at the St Georges Hall venue in Liverpool with a number of 3Cs players taking part. Players that took part were - in the Open Championship IM Stephen Gordon, Major Open - Mitchell Burke - U16 Championship Mitchell Burke and Thomas Clements - U11 Championship Daniel Lea. Some of our players also took part in different tournaments through the second week of the championships. For a full breakdown of the results please go to the website http://www.britishchess08.com

The Czech Open

held in Pardubice 18th July - 26th July 2008

Two of our 3Cs senior players FM Adam Ashton and CM Alan Walton travelled to the Czech Republic to take part in the Czech Open to participate in the A Tournament which had 339 Players in their section of which over half of them were titled FM to GM. They travelled their with a number of British players who took part in the A and B Tournaments. Adam played 7 titled players and Alan 5 titaled players they had mixed results as follows:

FM Adam Ashton - Rating 2303 - Results each Round: ½, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, ½, 0 ,1 - Total Score 5/9 - Rating Performance 2434

CM Alan Walton - Rating 2220 - Results each Round - 0, 1, 0, ½, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 - Total Score 2.5/9 - Rating Performance 2071

For a full breakdown of their results visit the following website: http://chess-results.com

EPSCA England Trials

A number of 3Cs players participated in the England Team Trials this year with Daniel Lea pre-selected and scoring 4.5 in the closed section. Jacob Manton did well and scored 3.5 and was selected to represent thee England team.

There was disappointment for Phoebe Price and Alan Truman who unfortunately did not qualify but did well to get the chance to attend the trials.

Bolton Easter Congress 2008

Playing in the U120 Section Mitchell scored 4/5 (3 wins and 2 draws) which place =2nd winning £40.
In the busy persons he scored 4.5/8 ( 3 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses) which included a draw against Jill Barber and against a 170 grade. I managed to tie with Martin Peim for the 125-106 GP so I got another £10.
 

Other 3Cs player results:

Jade Stirrup - U120 scored 2.5/5 and 3.5/8 in the Busy Persons.
  Sam Towse - U120 scored 3.5/5 winning the U100 Grading Prize

Ali Juanooby - OPEN scored 3/5 and 5/8 in the Busy Persons.

Report from Mitchell Burke.

Blackpool Congress 2008

Report on Mitchell Burkes results from the Blackpool Congress. Mitchell entered the Challengers (under-175) section as he wanted to begin his quest for a FIDE rating and finished the tournament undefeated with a score of 3 out of 5 (1 win and 4 draws). His scores were as follows:
 

Round 1 v. Ian Kingston  (West Nottingham) (155)  Draw
Round 2 v. David Wedge (Hebden Bridge)  (153)  Draw
Round 3 v. Richard Bryant (Telepost,Shrewsbury) (156) Won
Round 4 v. John Gorman (Caergwle, Wales) (155)  Draw
Round 5 v. Dominic Rabbitte (Heywood) (155) Draw
 

Therefore Mitchell ended with a tournament grade of 165 and got a part FIDE rating of 1958 (that will mean more to you and him than it does to me of course !) He also certainly made sure he got his money's worth at the event as all five matches lasted more than 3 1/2 hours.

We had a large group of juniors entering the tournaments which were taking place with Jade Stirrup finishing in 2nd place in her tournament on 4.5/5, Sam Towse got off to a fine start on 3/3 but unfortunately lost his last two games.

If any other of our juniors would like to give me their results I would be pleased to publish them on our website.
 

BWCA National Girls' Championships & Women's Rapidplay 2008 - 9-10th February 2008

Congratulations to Phoebe Price in winning the BWCA National Girls U11 Championship at this annual girls tournament.

Nine new champions emerged at this year’s National Girls’ Championships held by the British Women’s Chess Association in the unique Art Nouveau surroundings of the Elmbank Hotel in York on the 9th and 10th February.

Winners & Champions

Women’s Rapidplay: 1st = Sarah Hegarty and Amy Officer,

Under 21 Champion: Sarah Hegarty
Under 16 Champion: Amy Officer
Under 14 Champions: Evie Hollingworth and Abigail Pritchard
Under 12 Champion: Jennifer Ehr
Under 11 Champion: Phoebe Price
Under 10 Champion: Katherine Shepherd
Under 9 Champion: Fiona Howard
Under 8 Champion: Rebecca Swestun

10th York Rapidplay - 26 January 2008

Jacob Manton (Three C's & St Chads Primary School Uppermill) entered the Junior Section of the York Rapidplay and came first unfortunately I don't have his score.

The junior section had 30 entries which was played over six rounds and Jacob was the clear winner.