1 Birmingham & District Chess League: Bulletin 1, 2008/9

This Bulletin contains the initial player registrations and the quick-play elections for 2008/9 for all Clubs except Aldridge and Kynoch. There are also many news items (and not just on the front and back pages).

Wanted!!: Budding Journalists, Correspondents, Problemists, Game Annotators ...etc.. This year I am hoping to expand the content of the Bulletin to include more input from league members. So if you want to share some news, an opinion, a game, or anything else, then please write to me at 28, Birchwood Road, Birmingham, B12 8BP. I don't promise to publish everything but I will consider printing any submissions that are to do with chess, not libellous or abusive, and of manageable size (Be concise!).

No Home ... New Home County Chess – so near but yet so far

There have been a number of recent changes to club Sadly Worcestershire's Under 125 team perished 10-6 at venues. the hands of Sussex in the Semi-finals of the National County Championship. As reported last season Sussex Mike Rees of Northfield Checkmates writes: "Owing to had earlier put paid to Warwickshire's chances. To add a change of circumstances Northfield Checkmates have insult to injury for both Midlands' teams, Sussex then found themselves without a venue. We have been offered managed to lose to Norfolk in the Finals. joint use of St. George's club rooms on Monday evenings so for the foreseeable future we will be there (see Rumours of Dave Brelsforth's retirement as Captain of handbook for details). All days and dates in the BDCL Warwickshire's U125 side may prove to be premature. handbook are correct". He still wants the Big One!

Halesowen report that they now have a new venue at Individual Tourneys: The Clock is Ticking ... Hasbury Inn, Hagley Road, , B63 4QQ. Tel: 0121 585 8708. This venue is different from that recorded Entries for the individual tournaments must be sent in by in the Handbook Their club night will be Wednesdays. 1st October to Graham Humphreys – his contact details Most of the fixtures have already been re-arranged. (see and details of the tournament itself are in the BDCL elsewhere). Your club secretary should have been Handbook [pp. 5 & 39]. The cost is £2.50 per player. provided with details of how to get to the new venue. Ideally you should enter through your Club Secretary, but N.B. Halesowen's Div 6 Team has been withdrawn. Graham will probably not complain too much if you approach him directly. There are likely to be enough Redditch have also moved (for the second time in 12 places available for everybody who wants to compete. months?). Full details are in the Handbook. Players may enter the tournament for the division in which they play or for a higher division. Rushall moved last season, but if you haven't yet been to their new venue then make sure that you check your Also ..: It has been proposed that the BDCL should Handbook before you set off! organise Individual Tourneys that run over the summer months . What do you think of this idea? Would you be Les Andrews, Secretary of Aldridge & District, has likely to play in such a tournament? (Answers to changed his email address. It is now: Bulletin Ed. or to your Club Secretary as this item may [email protected] . be raised again at a future League Management Meeting). Obituary – Dennis Beckett

“With deep sadness Greenlands CC report the passing of Dennis Beckett, President and founder member of the original St. James Club, in early June after a long and plucky fight against cancer. A sterling example of his generation, brought up in World War 2, he was a robust yet likeable character with a good sense of humour and a keen interest in the game of chess and in encouraging others, especially younger players (notably Keith Arkell, now a G.M.). Dennis's forte was organisation and under his leadership St. James was one of the largest and strongest clubs around, competing in BDCL, Worcester County and District leagues, winning several trophies and one year achieving the “triple”. When he finally laid down the baton he was voted life membership and became our first President. His stalwart presence will be sorely missed”. L J Wheatley 2

Quickplay Elections (by Division and Team)

Quickplay Finish - Teams' chosen options are listed below and can also identified by the addition of the abbreviations "qp" or “adj” in the Registrations section of this bulletin.

Q/P Adjs N/K Q/P Adjs N/K Finish Finish Division 1 Division 2 Bushbury X Birmingham X Halesowen X Boldmere St. Michael's X Kynoch/Barn X Lichfield X Lichfield X Olton A X Olton X Olton B X Shirley & Lucas X South Birmingham X Solihull X Stourbridge A X South Birmingham A X Stourbridge B X South Birmingham B X Tamworth & District A X South Birmingham C X Tamworth B X Sutton Coldfield X Warley Quinborne A X Walsall Kipping X Warley Quinborne B X Wolverhampton X West Bromwich X

Division 3 Division 4 Boldmere St. Michaels X Birmingham X Bushbury X Mercia X Greenlands X Mutual Circle X Halesowen X Northfield Checkmates X Mutual Circle X Olton X Redditch X Rushall X Shirley & Lucas A X South Birmingham X Shirley & Lucas B X St. Georges X Solihull X Sutton Coldfield X South Birmingham X Walsall Kipping X Sutton Coldfield X Warley Quinborne X Walsall Kipping X Westminster X Wolseley X Wolverhampton X

Division 5 Division 6 Aldridge X Boldmere St. Michaels A X Boldmere St. Michaels X Boldmere St. Michaels B X Bushbury X Greenlands X Halesowen X Kynoch/Barn X Kynoch/Barn X Mutual Circle X Lichfield X Olton X Mutual Circle X Redditch X Shirley & Lucas X Solihull X South Birmingham X Tamworth & District X Police X X Westminster X Wolseley X 3

Birmingham 6b adj 6 adj 2 qp 2 qp Berenbaum, Luke Allsop, Brian Farmery, Robin Fender, John Carrington, Malcolm Collett, Richard F Giles, Alan Gee, G Jim French, Barry Hunter, Gareth Grant, Andrew B Karim, Amkar Hillman, Robert Johnson, Stanley Homewood, L Brian McConkey, Chris C Huynh, Sang Lloyd, John E Mieleniewski, Andrew Pearson, Russell Jones, Aaron Smith, David Slobodyuk, Yuri Pready, Alex D Osborne, Giles Smith, Peter Smith, John Sturch, Alan 4 qp Thomas, Colin Halesowen 5 qp Carter, William Andrews, Stuart Hill, John Bushbury 1 adj Brown, Charles L C Hopkins, Brian D Ambrose, Andy R Caithness, Ian Hopkins, Steven 1 adj Bethel, Mark A Cooper, Paul Kingsley, Laurence Cooper, Dave Edge, John A Dodgson, Joe Rowe, David Cooper, Lawrence Fishburne, Stewart K Fone, David W Schroeder, Mark Crombleholme, Alan Hunt, Malcolm Gray, Jackie Scott, Henry Grinsell, Lee Jackson, Dale Griffin, Nicholas Wright, Alan Laight, Derek Hall, Arthur Parry, Richard 3 adj Kirk, Colin Boldmere St. Staniforth, John Clark, Maureen Marriott, John Michael's Curry, Don S Marriott, Nicholas 3 adj Grimes, Robert McLaughlin, Ian B Monks, Gary 2 adj Baggott, Peter Hadley, Mike Short, David Biddle, Michael Button, John Peck, Windsor A Smith, Richard H Fagan, Joe Harris, Steve Wyle, Graham J Smith, Roy E Lake, Andrew Pinfold, Philip Smitton, Stuart Mildenhall, John Podlesak, Mark 5 adj Swain, Jarrod Thomas, Keith Staley, Phil Bessant, Craig Wingrove, D Richard Wilson, Alexander Borley, Martin 5 adj Digger, Derek C 3 adj Booth, Keith Evans, Joyce H Mercia Bennet, Loxley Brodie, Robert Evans, Paul J Brelsforth, David Buckley, David Hadden, Christopher 4 adj Edwards, Steven Collabella, Tony Martin, Daryl J P Bateson, Chris Harrington, Michael Keates, Doug McNeill, Alasdair Butler, Marcus Hussain, Adrian Molineux, David Southcote, John W Francis, Ken A J Loach, Peter O’Donoghue, Paul Taylor, Julian Lane, Chris Pinfold, O. William Taylor, Tony May, Ken 5 adj Schroeder, Alf Vile, Mark Perks, Derek W Dixon, Bill Scott, Phil Wootton, Jason T Phillips, John Fryer, Steven Whitehead, Jeremy Price, Rod Goodby, Eric Lichfield Rich, John Johnson, Alan Greenlands Share, Mike Lakin, John 1 qp Smith, Barry Webb, Dave Phipps, Malcolm 3 adj Collins, Peter M Worthington,Dave Bott, Douglas Keaveney, John S 6a adj Ellis, Ian Lamb, Graham H Choi, Leo Hurney, Kevin Maher, Mike P Harman, Geoff Peters, Roy Staples, Maurice J Smith, Geoff Truscott, Ian Wallace, Paul A Taylor, Ross Wheatley, Laurence J Wyer, Tom Wiggins, Andrew 4

Mutual Circle Lloyd, Alan D Day, Kevin (9/9) 3a qp 3 qp Reynolds, Robert Krzysztof, Krowicki (9/9) Asbury, Jon Boynton, Peter Smith, Richard Ryder, Neil Child, Kieran Evans, Chris Turner, Richard, Dale, Jonathan Evans, Garry 2a qp Wood, Penny Freeman, John Fisher, Dominic Cheshire, David J Long, Matthew (12/9) Huq, Robin Hodgskin, Paul Rushall Purcell, Rob Paffard, Mark Holt, Trevor J Ward, Eric McDonald, Jim 4 qp 4 adj Reynolds, Richard C Allen, Syd 3b qp Goray, Satnam S Wallman, Robert Bell, Darren Christie, Gordon Lewis, Lionel Carr, Matthew Gilbert, Kim Robinson, Sheila 2b adj Colwell, Steve Jimenez, Frank Singhal, Saket Allen, Ken Cooksey, Shane Rawson, Louis Tallis, Mark Brown, David Dolan, Ray Warden, Mike Wells, Phil Chadaway, Steve Greenwood, Matthew Warren, Ken Cottom, Andy Greenwood, Peter 5 adj Liszewski, Richard Hadley, Kevin D 5 qp Al-Samir, Mehdi Llewelyn, John Hancox, Ray J Ball, Roger Homer, John Harris, Phil Cox, Tom Price, Dave 4 adj Hennion, Josh Csepregi, Gabor Thompson, Peter Archibald, Warren Jarnis, David Donovan, John Walker, Mike B A Gillespie, Jim Leary, Peter Foster, Nigel Webb, Andy Goldwater, Tony Parker, Nigel Healey, Roger Woollaston, Alan Kerr, Mick Parker, Richard Hemmings, Howard Singh, Peter Sanders, Gordon Knee, Barry 6 qp Stockwin, David Sangha, Manpreet McGuirk, Peter Aldridge, Chris Styles, Calvin Phillips, Gary Carroll, Colin 6 adj Turner, Peter Purcell, Philip Choudhury, Shakeel Clulee, John Wilcox-Banks, Simpson, Richard Evans, Garth Evans, Tom Charlotte J Heeney, Paul Garner, Bramwell Wilcox, Steve R Solihull Hollows, Robert Kerr, Courteney Iqbal, Joel Lawson, Keith St. George's 1 adj Mills, Craig Simpson, Peter Carpenter, Raymond Syed, Mohammed Thornley, Ian 4 adj Jewsbury, Keith Yeomans, Bill Cambell, Robert McCumiskey, Andrew P Northfield Collier, Lee E. Sadler, Anthony Checkmates Redditch Elkington, Paul Stokes, Geoffrey N Griffin, Christopher E. Tapp, Matthew J 4 qp 3 qp Johnson, Lenny Astbury, Barry Batson, Fred Johnston, Adrian 3 adj Bowen, Steven J Clack, Ian Langston, Ken J. Anderton, Oliver R Gough, Roy Heath, Jeff Lunn, John Anderton, Robin A Hodkinson, Peter Jackson, Gary Macintosh, Robert Brodie, Iain Maddocks, Philip Mitchell, Robert (10/9) Wise, Ken Chillcott, Richard Rees, Michael J Robinson, Tom Harrison, Kegan Willmott, Les Stanton, Giles Shirley & Lucas Howard, Geoff F Towers, Nigel Summerfield, Julian H Olton 1 qp 6 qp Briggs, Stephen 6 qp 1 adj Abrahams, Derek Galloway, Iain Crawford, Stuart Cundy, Mark A Bricknell, Rob Mason, Don Green, John Gostelow, David Clack, Michele Thomas, Dave Horsley, Dennis M Holt, Philip Curzon, David Walker, Aled Peake, Nigel Davis, Ashley Walker, Bob Randall, Dave 5

Solihull 6 cont. Nevin, Mike Folayan, Sola Walsall Kipping Perks, Geoff Stepanyan, Henryk Wall, Connor Szatanik, Anthony J Stewart, Joseph 1 adj Wall, Douglas (Tony) Anderton, David W Willets, Bryan Tidman, Tim R 3 qp Wheeler, Darren P Willets, Lawrence Weber, Ralf (11/9) Dhesi, Iqbal Bellin, Jana Hayden, Lawrence Pritchard, David South Birmingham 5 adj Kent, Arthur Bellin, Christopher J Baker, Ed Lawrence, Roy Groombridge, Michael J 1a qp Davies, Ian J Ortega, Irving Emanuel, Luke A P Owen, Neil 3 adj Emanuel, John L Emanuel, Peter Soszynski, Marek Beasley, Steven Gordon, Stephen J Green, Brian Windows, Glen F Burgess, Phil James, Russell A Johnson, Martin Friend, David J Padilla, Pablo Johnson, Peter 4 qp Jones, Robert G Pitcher, John Luke AP Brown, Edward Patel, Ravi Swindells, Jonathan E MacIntosh, Robert Brown, Mike D Perry, Andrew Malik, Faraz Burgess, Thomas Rea, William 1b qp McClory, Bernard H Carpenter, Grant Savin, Mike W Dunn, David Phillips, Paul Dhesi, Arron Young, Norman C Hearne, RobHylands, Trembecki, Jan Dhesi, Hari Liam M Trinder, Ray East, Christopher 4 adj James, Ann-Marie East, James Anderton, Doreen Malik, Dani Stourbridge Green, Derek Billings, Cyril Malik, Kaiser Jobanputra, Shailesh Davies, Brian 2a adj Stepanyan, Astghik Gavin, Peter 1c qp Fallowfield, Nicholas Godridge, Paul Ali, Golam S Harris, N H Tamworth Hayes, Lance Clarke, Neil Jukes, Steve James, Melvyn H Fallowfield, Jeremy Wilson, Julie 2a qp Jones, Simon A Smyth, Martin D Foxall, John Allen, Ralph M A Moore, Kevin J Whitmore, Darren H Horwill, Eric Bould, Trevor C Nixon, Peter Williams, Simon A Briggs, Philip J Shrimpton, Alan E 2b adj Hern, Kevin Singh, Majer 2 adj Allford, Dan Kimberley, Stephen Drugan, Mark A Cahill, Mark Williams, David Warley Quinborne Glass, Robert Dudley, Brian 2b qp Gonem, Sherif Evans, Ron Hedges, Roy 2a qp Hope, Gary Humphreys, K Graham Hoddy, David Doran, Michael J Lane, Tim A Humphries, Jeremy Hoddy, John D Draper, Adam Lee, Darren Kosted, Towan Kimberley, Mark Gordon, Callum J Loynes, John Oliver Peter J R Singh, Amrik J 3 adj Pearce, John Walton, Simon Southall, Andrew C Boivin, Chris M Pritchard, Mark Whitehouse, Brian Evans, Steve Pulley, Lindsay 6 qp Wildboar, Mike Ralph, Sean Scriven, Dave Clark, Stephen Stockhall, Derek A Webster, John Farrugia, Henry 2b adj Swatridge, G Paul Wilkinson, Richard Howlett, John Agnew, Alan Walker, Terry W McConnell, Peter J Burnet, Alan J Sutton Coldfield Prentice, Derek Fahy, John F 4 adj Smith, Andrew Moxley, Andrew J Dickson, Fred 1 qp Smith, David Moxley, Stephen Hardy, Ron Cox, Tristan Zsigo, Michael Rawlings, Wendel Loat, Michael A Eckloff, Colin Smith, Simon C Escott, Keith Turner, Jon 6

Warley Quinborne cont. West Midlands Police Wolverhampton 5 adj 4 adj 5 adj 1 adj Black, Stuart Cooper, Mark Abrams, Peter Mangwengwende, John Evans, Arthur Hardstaff, Paul Burford, John May, Martin Hughes, Peter J Hathaway, Martyn Burke, John Morrison, Munroe I Kearns, Peter Holman, Robert Cooper, Douglas Porter, Philip D Lewis, John B Phillips, Barrie Goddard, Geoffrey Samanci, Ali Pakenham, John H Quail, Harvey Houston, John Sygnowski, Tomasz Rourke, Joe M Littlehales, David Thompson, Peter I Watkins, Harvey S 6 adj McTernan, Martin Townsend, Michael P Wheeldon, Patricia Butler, Philip Phillips, Stephen Wood, Frank Woodward, Pauline Gough, Philip Shrianne, Hugh Wootton, Max Hathaway, Nicholas Trevis, Robert West Bromwich Higgins, Martin 4 qp Merritt, Alan Wolseley Arorash, Dave 2 qp Panesar-grix, Nathan Bate, Keith Backhouse, Derick Sullivan, Robert 3 adj Bird, Deryl Bryant, Carlos Watson, John Chowdhury, Mohammed Broomhall, Peter Bull, Phil Lawrence, Peter W Dawson, Richard Crump, John Westminster Maciel, Edmond G Fox, Jeffrey Davies, David Maciel, Gavin A Griffiths, Mike P Uddin, Moin 4 adj Sherman, Peter Haughton, Colin Walker, Nick Foy, Stephen Stepanovic, Goran Hubbard, Peter Wesson, Geoff Leaper, Richard Khoshnevis, Bob B Loly, Mark 5 adj Lewis, Barry Millward, Richard Bates, George Marlow, Ben Nichole, Desmond Gazee, Trevor I Sands, Gordon G Steel, Barry Joiner, Paul W Walters, Paul D Nooney, Kevin Wilson, Steve R Parr, Donald E Reeves, David J Spence, Paul

Registrations: A Note of Caution!

Many of the the registration entries in this Bulletin have been transcribed, re-transcribed, cut, pasted, amended, added to, moved, deleted, and generally messed around with, sometimes by more than one person. I and others have occasionally corrected what we considered to be obvious typos and mistakes in the submissions from Club Secretaries, but it doubtful that we have found all the errors, and we may have added extra mistakes of our own. It would be a miracle if there are no howlers in the printed details. I would therefore be grateful if Club Secretaries would check the entries for their clubs, and if individual members would check the spellings of their own names. I will publish any necessary corrections in Bulletin 2. For the first time I have listed member's first names where available. However, for space-saving reasons it is my current intention to revert to initials when listing match results, except where I am aware of possible ambiguities. Ed.

BDCL Web-Site(s)

Mike Rees, Web-site Manager, requests that all Club Secretaries read the relevant entry for their Club on the Midlands Chess Web-site, and send him any amendments that they would like to make. Mike has also raised the question of whether the BDCL would like to establish its own separate web-site, perhaps with commercial sponsorship and/or with paid links to commercial organizations. (These options are banned under the terms and conditions of the current web-site, but they might be a way for the BDCl to generate income plus raise its profile. 7

Grading Bonanza?

Feeling undervalued? Then you could be in luck! The “Dear All', English Chess Federation's graders are likely to be Can I please emphasise to EVERYONE that the upping the grades of most chess-players on their "new" grades on the ECF web site are NOT OFFICIAL for ANY PURPOSE for the current season. database. The reason is a perceived disparity between The Federation's intention is to publish official grades ECF gradings and international ELO grades. The extent on the revised basis in July 2009. The provisional revised of the disparity varies according to the strength of players grades for 2008 were published to give organisers data (the stronger you are the less you will benefit), but many to enable them to decide how they should readjust the of us could be receiving an unexpected early Christmas grading limits for their events taking place in the 2009/10 present of from 1 to 50 grading points. Of course the sad season. thing is that all your club-mates and rivals will be getting I'm afraid that in a misguided rush to meet an arbitrary an upgrade too .... The provisional new gradings can be deadline insufficient care was taken with the drafting of found on the English Chess Federation Website. the explanation, which has led to the current confusion”. However, Dave Thomas, sounds a note of caution: David Thomas E.C.F. Manager of Grading

Changed Fixtures and Withdrawals

Halesowen's Fixtures Division 5 Division 1 WED 10 Sep West Midlands Police (H) WED 10 Sep Wolverhampton (H) WED 24 Sep Wolseley (Trophy) (H) THU 18 Sep Shirley (A) WED 08 Oct Aldridge (A) WED 01 Oct Sutton Coldfield (H) WED 05 Nov Boldmere St.M (A) WED 08 Oct South Birmingham A (H) WED 26 Nov (TBC) South Birmingham (H) WED 22 Oct South Birmingham B (A) WED 10 Dec Westminster (A) WED 29 Oct South Birmingham C (H) WED 14 Jan Bushbury (H) MON 10 Nov Kynoch (A) TUE 20 Jan Mutual Circle (A) THU 20 Nov Lichfield (A) THU 29 Jan Shirley (A) TUE 06 Jan Olton (A) WED 04 Feb Lichfield (H) WED 04 Feb (TBC) Solihull (H) WED 04 Mar Wolseley (H) WED 15 Apr Bushbury (H) WED 25 Mar Kynoch (H) THU 02 April Walsall Kipping (A) Division 6 ** TEAM WITHDRAWN ** Division 3 WED 17 Sep Shirley A (H) Other Changed Fixtures (by Division) WED 15 Oct Greenlands (H) THU 16 Oct Shirley B (A) Div 1 THU 06 Nov Wolseley (A) WED 19 Nov Bushbury (H) 102 Sol v WK Was Wed 3/9/08, Now Wed 15/10/08 WED 26 Nov Boldmere St. M (H) WED 10 Dec Sutton Coldfield (H) Div 3 TUE 16 Dec Redditch (A) TUE 17 Feb Mutual Circle (A) WED 25 Feb South Birmingham (H) 308 SC v Sol Was Mon 6/10/08, Now Mon 2/3/09 WED 18 Mar Solihull (A) 316 BSM v SC Was Wed 22/10/08, Now Wed 3/12/08 THU 26 Mar Walsall Kipping (A) League management Meeting

The next meeting will be downstairs at South Birmingham's venue, at 7.30 p.m. on 16/12/08.

School Chess

The English Chess Federation has received a donation from a wealthy benefactor that should result in all(?) schools being able to apply for a number of free chess boards. Details of how the scheme will work are still unclear. 8

Match and Adjournment Reporting - John Fahy, Joint Records Secretary, writes (with editorial amendments): (1) Emailing: As indicated at the AGM, the Records Secretaries are willing to accept adjournment results (but not initial match results) by e-mail as follows :

(a) for Divisions 1-3 (including the Terrill and Homer Cup competitions) send adjournment results to :- [email protected] (b) for Divisions 4-6 (including the Townshend and Barrington Cup competitions) send adjournment results to :- [email protected]

A suitable e-mail adjournment card template is printed below for ease of use.

(2) Fixture changes: In addition, changes of fixture dates may also be notified by e-mail as above.

(3) Match Cards: However, please note that emails are still not acceptable for reporting the initial results of matches. Match Cards are required from every Club in respect of ALL matches – even in the event of a match default by that Club.

(4) Late Results Penalties: It was unfortunately necessary to enforce Rule 9.1 (see Handbook) on two occasions last year. Please help the Records Secretaries by sending in match cards promptly. The Records Secretaries do not put a 5 day clock on each match and it is only the seriously late cards that will be flagged up. In addition, on the third occasion of a Team submitting a late card, that Team’s Club Secretary will be notified – so as to help the Team/Club avoid a penalty under Rule 9.1. It is therefore entirely the Team’s and Clubs responsibility if they fail to avoid such a penalty.

Birmingham & District Chess League: Sample E-Mail Adjournment Result Card

Division : (1) Match Number : (1.01)

Trophy : Terrill – Homer – Townshend – Barrington (Delete as appropriate)

Board Home Team Result Away Team Number “XYZ Chess Club” “ABC Chess Club” 1 2 3 B. Gates 1/2 1/2 G. Oogle 4 5 6 A. Virus 1 0 C. Rash

Final Match Result 3 1/2 2 1/2

Email from : (Mr Compwise – XYZ Chess Club) Date : (00/00/0000)

** Rapid-Play Tournament, Sunday 12 th October **

The BDCL's 12th Rapid-Play tourney will take place on the above date at Quinborne Community Centre, Ridgeacre Road, Quinton. There will be an 'Open' section and sections for those graded under 160, under 125, and under 90. Entry forms and further details available from Ken Langston (tel. 0121 585 9663, 9.30 a.m. - 8.30 p.m. only, email: [email protected]. ).