Looking forward to chess in 2023
Happy New Year, and good luck in your games!
As usual, you can check my calendar at www.chessengland.com for all the dates. Scroll down for news of weekend tournaments at the Mindsports Centre in Hammersmith, courtesy of the London League.
Thursday, 5 January 2023
19:30 Hendon FIDE Blitz at Hendon Chess Club https://form.jotform.com/51261943542958
Saturday, 7 January 2023
11:00 Golders Green FIDE Rapid Chess - http://goldersgreenchess.blogspot.com/ - all the dates for 2023 are now published and on the website!
Tuesday, 10 January 2023
10:30 Muswell Hill FIDE Rapid Chess @ The Clissold Arms - http://www.muswellhillchess.blogspot.com/
Sunday, 15 January 2023
12:30pm start Kensington FIDE Rapid Chess @ Holiday Inn - https://form.jotform.com/220936914493968 - please note that the entry fee is £32.00 if you pay in advance but £35.00 to pay on the day.
Thursday, 19 January 2023
19:30 Hendon Chess Club FIDE and ECF Rapid - https://form.jotform.com/223182956138966 - the tournament is 5 rounds, 7.30pm to 10pm.
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 January 2023
Mill Hill Under 2400 congress www.chessville.co.uk/coming-up/
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
10:30 Muswell Hill FIDE Rapid Chess @ The Clissold Arms - http://www.muswellhillchess.blogspot.com/
Saturday, 28 January 2023
10:30 Docklands Under 2000 Rapidplay - www.spanglefish.com/docklandschessclub/
Sunday, 29 January 2023
10:30 2nd Kentish Rapidplay - http://congress.org.uk/congress/221/home
London League are hosting three (!) FIDE and ECF rated weekend chess tournaments over the next sx months. The time control is 90+30, and the first one is to be held on Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th February - at the Mindsports Centre in Hammersmith. You can sign up now for any event, but only if you are a Gold or Platinum member of the English Chess Federation. Space is limited and you must pay your entry fee in advance. Tournaments will be held on 03-05/Feb, 31/Mar-02/Apr and 02-04/Jun. Register here - https://form.jotform.com/223566285096970
Do you like Sudoku? Do you like chess? then you might like this - Chedoku! Try it here - www.chedoku.com - and let me know what you think. It’s safer than Chess Boxing. You can contact the developer via email: hamid.ebadi@gmail.com.
Guess the year! This is from the British Chess Magazine, but from what year?
only one person guessed right - 1968! thanks to Gary Senior for this article
"Dear Adam, HAPPY NEW YEAR.
I don't remember Ian Stenhouse's letter, but I guess it was about 1967-8 as Peter Clarke played in the Islington Open, I think in 1967.
I started that event in Islington on my return from the US in 1965. It attracted 24 entrants to the December tournament, the first weekend Swiss in Britain, that took place at the En Passant Chess Salon in the Strand, London.
Peter also wrote, 'People seem to be playing for the sake of playing chess.' Well, yes.
This grew every year until in 1971 it attracted 500 entries. We were prepared for the chess explosion from the Fischer-Spassky match in 1972. By then you could play a tournament somewhere in Britain, practically every weekend.
Islington took place in December. One year I was getting small presents for my staff and suddenly thought, 'But nobody will get me one!' After consultation, I gook a fee of £50. That was the start of fees for chess administrators in Britain.
1972 Islington became the Evening Standard London Chess Congress and attracted 1200 players. In 1973 there were 1500 players and this was the peak. One year there were 250 entries to the open. An IM from Belgium said to me, 'More than one player will get 6/6.' I responded, 'That won't happen.Nobody even had 4/4. The IM came back to me and said, 'It's magic.' Of course, it was extremely accelerated Swiss Pairings. Bojan Kurajica (who I still see in Tenerife) won with 5.5/6. At its peak, the first prize was £1200.
We are still reaping the benefits of the English Chess Explosion. We first gained the silver medals in 1984 in the Chess Olympiad behind the Soviet Union. 2022 we gained three of the four team Gold Medals in the World 50+, Women's 50+ and World 65+ Team Championships. Several of our players also secured individual gold medals for their board. John Nunn not only got gold on board 1 of the 65+, but also won the World Individual 65+.
Leonard Barden celebrated his Platinum Jubilee as a chess correspondent in 2022. I celebrate my Platinum Jubilee as a chess administrator in September this year, having started at 14.
Stewart Reuben, written while on a Caribbean cruise, arriving back 5 January,"