BIRMINGHAM & DISTRICT CHESS LEAGUE
Welcome to the official website of the BDCL
The news was last updated on 24/03/2021
Updates/Pages recently updated 24/03/2021 In memory of Ken Francis 08/03/2021 Demise of Ken Francis 22/02/2021 Demise of Tom Cox 17/02/2021 - BDCL Online Tournaments 31/01/2021 - BDCL Online Tournaments 30/01/2021 - Demise of Alan Shrimpton 17/01/2020 - BDCL Online Tournaments 03/01/2021 - Demise of Frank Wood 20/12/2020 - BDCL Online Tournaments 13/12/2020 - BDCL Online Tournaments 13/12/2020 - BDCL Meeting Notes 30/11/2020 - BDCL Online Blitz 21/11/2020 - Birmingham Chess League Online Tourney 21/11/2020 - Demise of Harvey Quail 15/11/20 - Demise of Lionel Lewis 15/11/20 - Online BDCL Chess 26/10/20 - Online BDCL Blitz 25/10/20 - Wolverhampton Chess Club - Online Chess tournament 18/10/20 - BDCL Committee Update 13/10/20 - Funeral of Nigel Byrne 10/10/20 - Longbridge Chess Club 03/10/20 - New Online Club for all BDCL Members 03/10/20 - Demise of Nigel Byrne 15/06/20 - Demise of Edna Betty Dawson 11/05/20 - Demise of Daljit Singh 08/05/20 - Demise of Tom Evans 17/03/20 - Suspension of BDCL Competetion 09/03/20 - BDCL's Team Lightning competition 09/03/20 - Morry-Wood awards 01/03/20 - Funeral of John Pakenham 22/02/20 - Demise of Jane Kremer(Dave Thomas' Partner) 18/02/20 - Demise of John Pakenham 06/02/20 - The 28th Birmingham Rapidplay Tournament 22/01/20 - Warwickshire Chess Congress 09/01/20 - In memory of Mike Rees - By Alan Ruffle 04/01/20 - Funeral Details of Mike Rees 23/12/19 - ECF Arbiter Course Registration 21/12/19 - Demise of Mike Rees 17/12/19 - Rules meeting 12/12/19 - Demise of Graham Lightfoot 19/11/19 - Online ECF Rated Tournaments 17/11/19 - Reports from Rules Committee 29/10/19 - Demise of Dez Rudge 29/10/19 - Record Secretary Change 14/10/19 - New Address for Warley Quinborne Chess Club 23/09/19 - GM Keith Arkell Junior Award and simul 11/09/19 - Individual Tournament Details and Officials page updated 03/09/19 - Robert Bellin Bishops Talk - Redditch Chess Club - 18th September,2019 03/09/19 - UK Blitz 2019 - Birmingham Qualifier 31/07/19 - The 27th Birmingham Rapidplay Tournament 15/07/19 - The 2019 Midland Open Championship 15/05/19 - Lightning Tourney Results: Mike Walker Memorial 13/05/19 - Morry-Wood awards 25/04/19 - Boldmere change of venue 25/04/19 - Mutual 10 second Tournament 23/04/19 - Rushall change of venue 17/04/19 - Rules meeting 05/04/19 - Welcome page - Arbiters course 04/04/19 - Welcome page - Individuals 06/03/19 - Rules meeting 25/02/19 -Lightning Tournament 09/02/19 - English seniors 08/02/19 - Morry-Wood 01/01/19 - Warwickshire congress 19/11/18 - Halesowen contact 21/19/18 - Derek Perks 11/09/18 - Rules page ]26/07/18 - clubs page - venue details 26/07/18 - Welcome page - Uk Blitz 18/07/18 - Welcome page - Midland Open 10/07/18 - Clubs - Rushall 18/06/18 - Honours page 13/05/18 - Morry-Wood awards 27/04/18 - Mutual Tournament 25/04/18 - Welcome page - Robert Bellin talks 03/04/18 - Mutual Lightning 19/03/18 - Cotswold Congress 15/03/18 - Lightning tournament 05/02/18 - Morry-Wood awrds 30/01/18 - Sutton Coldfield 06/01/18 - Midland Rapid 02/01/18 - Birmingham Rapidplay/ Warwickshire Open Congress 05/12/17 - University contact updated 01/11/17 - Clubs - Marek Schroeder 15/10/17 - Rapidplay results 23/09/17 - Halesowen ECF club of the year 05/09/17 - Admin page - Laws of chess 25/08/17 - Welcome page links - LMS 22/08/17 - Welcome page 18/08/17 - Birminghm Rapidplay 03/08/17 - Welcome page - Redditch chess evening 11/07/17 - Welcome page - local congresses 15/06/17 - Greenlands page 13/06/17 - Honours, Officials 11/06/17 - South Birmingham Rapidplay 08/05/17 - Morry-Wood awards 07/05/17 - Rules meeting report 28/03/17 - Summer League - rules 18/03/17 - Jon Speelman event 10/03/17 - Home page - Colin Thomas 09/03/17 - Leadue Lightning Tournament 02/02/17 - Welcome page - Cotswold Congress 23/01/17 - Morry-Wood competitions 14/01/17 - Birminghan Rapidplay 10/02/17 - Geoff Harris memorial 02/01/17 - Welcome page - Warwickshire Congress 03/12/16 - Home page - Gabor Csepregi 19/10/16 - Warley Quinborne website 17/10/16 - Welcome page - Rapidplay 10/10/16 - Welcome page - Warwickshire Juniors 31/08/16 - Guidelines for captains 21/08/16 - Welcome page - F Grades 09/08/16 - St. Georges withdrawal 01/08/16 - Jonathan Swallow 28/07/16 - Ron Hardy 28/07/16 - Welcome page - Mutual website 27/06/16 - Wecome page - 4NCL Congress 14/06/16 - Honours, Officers 13/06/16 - Archives 2015-16 10/06/16 - Redditch club website 08/06/16 - Jim Friar 29/05/16 - Morry Wood results updated 27/04/16 - Summer League Fixtures 26/04/16 - Welcome Page - Cotswold Congress 20/04/16 - Welcome page - Walsall Kipping 13/04/16 - Ruels meeting report 03/04/16 - Welcome page - Olton website 16/03/16 - Rules & Docs - Summer League form/rules 16/03/16 - Lightning Team Tournament 11/03/16 - Welcome page - St. Georges 28/01/16 - Welcome page - news, Rules committee meeting 20/12/15 - FIDE Rated Congress - updated 17/10/15 - Welcome page - Stourbridge parking 12/10/15 - Welcome page - Birmingham Rapidplay 24/09/15 - Shirley Website URL 18/09/15 - Welcome page - Rapidplay 31/08/15 - Welcome page - Individuals 23/08/15 - Rushall return 20/08/15 - New rules/guidance 14/08/15 - Welcome page, Clubs - Bushnbury venue change. 11/08/15 - BDCL Rules updated 10/06/15 - South Birmingham website 09/06/15 - Honours page 09/06/15 - Welcome page - Ken Langston 26/05/15 - Welcome page - British Chess Championships 22/05/15 - Welcome page - Chess magazines 27/04/15 - Morry Wood awards 21/04/15 - ECF National Club Championships 9/04/15 - Home page - trophy finals 11/03/15 - Home page, Lightning tournament 05/03/15 - Home page - Lightning Tournament 03/03/15 - Home Page - Mike Walker Funeral details 02/03/15 - Document uploaded - Summer League 25/02/15 - Home page - Mike Walker 24/02/15 - Home Page - Morry-Wood Awards 16/02/15 - Home page - Tom Farley 11/02/15 - Home page - Mike Walker 21/01/15 - Welcome - Kynoch web site 20/01/15 - Home page - Colin Hammersley 13/12/14 - Home page - Robin Farmery 14/10/14 - Welcome page - Rapidplay 30/07/14 - Rule Change Proposals 06/07/14 - FIDE Laws updated 30/06/14 - West Bromwich page 25/06/14 - Welcome page - WCA 12/06/14 - Fixtures meeting 10/06/14 - Honours 2014 05/06/14 - Welcome page - AGM 28/05/14 - Archives 2013 added 15/05/14 - Welcome page, Bushbury venue change 07.05/14 - Welcome page - Division 2 play-off, Mike Biddle email. 03/05/14 - Morry-Wood page updated 14/04/14 - Welcome page - Staffordshire congress 29/03/14 - Welcome page - Summer League & League Management meeting. 28/03/14 - Welcome page - Rules meeting 25/03/14 - Mindsports events 17/03/14 - Welcome page - Keith Arkell 15/03/14 - Lightning Tournament 2014 03/03/14 - Welcome page - Team Lightning 03/03/14 - Welcome page - Morry Wood 23/01/14 - Welcome page - University Championships 20/01/14 - Welcome page - University details 08/01/14 - Welcome - staffs Congress 02/01/14 - Welcome page - Warwickshire Championships 01/01/14 - Alf Schroeder 12/11/13 - Welcome Page - Peter Oliver email 08/11/13 - Welcome page - Stourbridge parking 24/10/13 - Welcome page - Warley Quinborne 5 15/10/13 - Welcome page - Shropshire congress. 14/10/13 - Welcome page - Birmingham Rapidplay 02/10/13 - Welcome page - Sutton Coldfield venue 01/09/13 - Welcome page - League Individuals 23/08/13 - Welcome page - Summer League 20/08/13 - Welcome page - Leamington Rapiplay 13/08/13 - Welcome page - Sutton Coldfield equipment 25/07/13 - Welcome page - Birmingham and Coventry congresses. 05/07/13 - Welcome page - Wolverhampton parking 12/06/13 - Clubs pages and index 11/06/13 - Honours page 11/06/13 - Welcome page - Book collection 07/06/13 - Trophies & Tables for 2013-14 19/05/13 - AGM Notice 15/05/13 - Welcome - Staffs congress 13/05/13 - Archives 2013 02/05/13 - Welcome page 29/04/13 - Morry-Wood - Winners announced 27/04/13 - Guidelines for captains 25/04/13 - John Holmberg Funeral 22/04/13 - Admin pages - Rules meeting 18/04/13 - Links page - Kynoch 16/04/13 - Welcome - British Blitz 11/04/13 - Robert Jones 10/04/13 - Chess in Schools & Communities 09/03/13 - Welcome - Champions 19/03/13 - Welcome - Summer League 13/03/13 - Team Lightning Tournament 25/02/13 - Welcome - Warwickshire congress 21/02/13 - Lightning tournament form 21/02/13 - Welcome - Morry-Wood, Lightning 31/01/13 - Welcome - Alf Schoeder update 29/01/13 - Welcome - ECF Grades 28/01/13 - Welcome - League Individual 27/01/13 - Welcome - Alf Schroeder's Birthday 10/01/13 - Welcome/Clubs - Rushall Venue 10/01/13 - Welcome/Clubs - Sutton Coldfield 01/01/13 - Welcome - Stourbridge Parking 18/12/12 - Welcome - e2e4 Congress 17/12/12 - County - Under 120 result added 02/12/12 - Welcome - MCCU news 28/11/12 - Checkmates withdrawal 26/11/12 - County - Under 120 result added 18/11/12 - Welcome - Mike Walker 24/10/12 - Welcome - Halesowen Roadworks 08/10/12 - Welcome - Rapidplay 09/10/12 - Welcome - Free Tournament 24/09/12 - eMatch cards - Version 8 available 20/09/12 - Welcome - New Redditch venue 13/09/12 - Welcome - Stourbridge venue 10/09/12 - Welcome - Birmingham Blitz 01/09/12 - Welcome - Leamington Rapidplay 31/08/12 - Welcome - Changes to handbook 20/08/12 - Birmingham Rapiplay 05/07/12 - Welcome - Special meeting 25/06/12 - Welcome - Hinckley Congress 24/06/12 - Welcome - Staffs Congress 2013 12/06/12 - Welcome - League AGM 12/06/12 - Officers page updated 11/06/12 - Honours - 2012 winners added 28/05/12 - Welcome - Chess lectures 22/05/12 - Morry Wood Winners 22/05/12 - Archives - Trophies 2011-12 21/05/12 - Welcome - AGM notification 17/05/12 - Welcome - David Rowe - Update 14/05/12 - Welcome - Management Meeting 11/05/12 - Welcome - Tony Brown 11/05/12 - Welcome - MCCU Arbiters course 01/05/12 - Sheffield Congress 16/04/12 - Welcome - Staffordshire Congress 21/03/12 - Welcome - Rapidplay update 14/03/12 - League Lightning Tournament 08/03/12 - Welcome - Individual Final News 02/03/12 - Birmingham Summer League 24/02/12 - Stourbridge car parking updated 20/02/12 - Google places map 17/02/12 - Stourbridge car parking 08/02/12 - Welcome - League Lightning 30/01/12 - ECF Half-year grades published 30/01/12 - Staffordshire Congress 26/01/12 - Birmingham Rapidplay 17/01/12 - Norman Young obituary 16/01/12 - Dave Thomas award 13/01/12 - Walsall venue move 23/12/11 - E Match cards - V7 available 15/12/11 - British Blitz Championships 08/12/11 - West Bromwich venue change 18/11/11 - Individual Tournament update 16/11/11 - Report of rules commitee meeting 01/11/11 - Welcome - New Kynoch Venue Handbook Changes Sutton Coldfield Venue Sutton Coldfield Chess Club will be meeting in the Lounge of Minworth Social Club, Robinsons Way (off Water Orton Lane), Sutton Coldfield B76 9BB. Same night and start time (Mondays 7.30pm) so fixtures are unaffected. Patrons requested not to bring their own food or drink. |
Headlines 24/03/2021 In memory of Ken Francis Ken Francis was my friend in chess. I first met him in 1975 playing in division 5 of the Wolverhampton league West Midlands Police v Mercia. Ken was white and he played his favourite “Stonewall attack”. His knights had free range all over the King side of the board. He manoeuvred me off the board. After winning he told me I was not a bad player. At the time I was graded at about ECF 160 and I was fresh from beating Mercia’s best up and coming new young player Andrew McCumiskey who was graded about ECF 170.Asked what his grade was, he replied ECF 128. He smiled and followed it up with “128 is a dead handy grade”……….. “especially in tournaments”……I do believe his current grade is ECF 128.
I played Ken several times after that, there was one more defeat against the “Stonewall”, after which I did some study about this opening and beat him. He never played this opening against me again. It never happened but in Midland’s chess but Me, you, and Fred Tatler………..What a combination. Thank you ken. Yours Sincerely Alan and Ann Ruffle 08/03/2021 Demise of Ken Francis - Funeral on April 7, 2021 Ken Francis, Mercia Chess club co-founder and stalwart President passed away last week. Ken co-founded Mercia Chess club on 5th May, 1969, He won Mercia Chess club's best performance award 6 times including the first one when it started in 1977-78 Ken is a great friend of many at Mercia and in Birmingham, Wolverhampton chess clubs. Ken will be greatly missed by Mercia chess club. Ken's funeral is at West Bromwich on 7th April,2021. For details please ring 0121 6827266 22/02/2021 Demise of Tom Cox - Cremation March 8, 2021 “I’ve received the sad news of the recent death of Tom Cox, after a period of ill-health. Many of you will know him as a semi-regular player in the Shirley & Wythall club’s fourth team from 2002 through to 2007. Previously, Tom played competitively for Wythall Chess Club for many years, at least from the early 1980s until the 1999-2000 season, when the club left the BDCL. In that time, he was Secretary, Team Captain, Chairman, father figure in the club, and much more besides. Whilst never a strong player, he loved his chess, the camaraderie, and the organisational side of the game. When a homeless Shirley Chess Club rolled up at Wythall House in 2002, we found that several of the former Wythall players still played there socially, including Tom, who came out of retirement to play for us up until the 2006-07 season, persuading other former Wythall players to do likewise. His personality and guiding influence will be sorely missed. In many ways, his legacy is alive in our club today, and our abiding memory – What a lovely man! His funeral/cremation will take place on March 8th at 10:30 at the Robin Hood crematorium. As usual under covid restrictions attendance is limited. Gordon Christie, Shirley & Wythall Chess Club“ - Gordon S.G. Christie 17/02/2021 Thursday Online Blitz and Bullet Tournaments: 18th and 25th February, 2021 The Birmingham Chess League (BCL) online club on Lichess will be taking advantage of the end of the current WMA season by running consecutive Bullet and Blitz events on the last two Thursdays of February. On Thursday, 18th, there will be a 1 minute Bullet tournament followed by a 3 minutes + 2 second increment Blitz. On Thursday, 25th February, there will be a 2 minute Bullet tournament succeeded by another 3 minutes + 2 second Blitz. On both days the Bullet events will run from 7.00 p.m. until 7.45 p.m. and the Blitz tourneys will start at 8.00 p.m. and finish at 9.30 p.m.. These are 'Arena' format events so it is ok for players to join the tourneys a little late or to leave early. Lichess and BCL members can sign up for any or all of these events at https://lichess.org/team/birmingham-chess-league/ - Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 31/01/2021 BDCL Online Chess in February (1) Wednesday, 3rd February, 7.45 p.m.. Rapidplay Arena (Time-control: 10 minutes + 3 second increments). The direct link for joining the tourney is: https://www.chess.com/live#r=896776/. Registration is possible from 6.45 p.m. on the night. (2) Monday 8th February, 7.30 p.m.. Rapidplay Swiss (Time-control to be decided). There may be an 'Open' and a separate grade-limited section. (3) Monday, 22nd February, 7.30 p.m.. Slow Blitz Arena (Time-control to be decided). (4) Sunday, 28th February, 7.45 p.m.. Chess 960 Arena (Time Control: 10 minutes flat) On Lichess round 5 of the 'Birmingham Chess League' (BCL) club's one-round-per week slow-play Swiss tourney continues on Friday, 5th February, at 7.30 p.m.. (N.B. It is now too late to join this event if you haven't registered already). There will probably be some more BCL events on Lichess in February but these have not yet been decided. As always, players who want to take part in 'BDCL' online events must have signed up with chess.com and have joined the 'BDCL' club at https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/. For 'BCL' events, players must have registered with lichess.org and joined the Birmingham Chess League 'team' at https://lichess.org/team/birmingham-chess-league/ -Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 30/01/21 - Demise of Alan Shrimpton - mid-January 2021 It is with much sadness that I have to report that Alan Shrimpton, a member for many years of Walsall Kipping Chess Club, died in mid-January after a sustained period of health problems. Alan was the oldest and longest serving member of the club, and joined it in the 1960s. His first recorded game for Walsall, in fact, was in the 1967-68 season of the Wolverhampton League. From then to 1974-75 he was the Captain of the club’s second team, which for six years was in Div. 1. Since then he played continuously in teams in all the local leagues. Alan was a steadfast supporter of all club activities and an active player at club evenings. He was always generous and cheerful, and regarded with affection by all who played with him, both young and old. One tribute to him, among many, sums him up well – "a lovely man… magnanimous in defeat and gracious in victory, but a ferocious defender of his Chess rights…an old-fashioned gentleman…". Much more has been said, showing how much he will be missed. - Mike Groombridge, Walsall Kipping Secretary 17/01/2020 BDCL Online Chess in January Three further events organized by the online 'BDCL' and 'Birmingham Chess League' (BCL) clubs will be taking place before the end of January. (1) A "Chess 960" Rapidplay Tourney is scheduled for 7.45 p.m. on Tuesday, 19th January, hosted by BCL at https://lichess.org/team/birmingham-chess-league . This event will have a time-control of a flat 10 minutes but will have a 'Berserk' option that allows good or reckless players to gain an extra point by halving their allotted time. 'Chess 960' largely removes the advantage held by players with encyclopaedic opening knowledge by semi-randomising the initial locations of the back rank pieces. Otherwise the rules of chess remain exactly the same. It can be good fun: try it! Would-be participants must be members of Lichess and of the Birmingham Chess League club. You can still join the club at the web-address given above. Registration for the tourney is possible from now onwards.
(2) The BCL's 7-round one-game-per-week Slow-play Swiss continues on Lichess at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, 22nd January. This will be the 3rd round but it is still not too late to join the event. The time control is 60 minutes + 10 second increments. The password for joining is 'BDCL'. (3) A Slow-Blitz Arena event is planned on Chess.com for Monday, 25th January. This will commence at 7.30 p.m. and will probably have a time-control of 5 minutes + 5 second increments. If you can't make the start-time then it will still be possible to join the event late. In order to take part you must have signed up both with Chess.com and with the 'BDCL' club at https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/ . The tournament will be listed on chess.com from 19th January and it will be possible to register for it from 6.30 p.m. on the evening of the 25th.-Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 03/01/21 - Demise of Frank Wood 1942-2020 (28/12/20) It is my sad duty to report that Frank Wood, passed away on 28th December 2020 only six weeks after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Frank was a good friend to many and a much liked and well respected member of Wolverhampton Chess Club, which he joined in season 1996/7 after moving to the area from Cheshire. He had served the club tirelessly as Chairman and ‘A’ team captain for some years, and was always keen to make club nights active and welcoming. He was well known and popular in chess circles throughout the West Midlands, and had been President of the Wolverhampton and District League from 2007 to 2009 and Tournament Secretary from 2012 to 2017. Frank had played chess from the age of 11 and over the years had played for Cheshire, Lancashire & Staffordshire. He was an inventive player whose favourite opening was the Morra Gambit. He was born in 1942 and attended junior and grammar schools in Sheffield, before studying law at Sheffield University. As a qualified solicitor his main career was in local government, after which he spent 6 years working for a Building Society before retiring finally in 2000. He had a very active retirement, travelling widely with his wife Chris. He also sang bass with Penn Singers. He was a member of Wombourne over 50's Rambling Club, again with Chris, often leading their walks and covering walks of 6-12 miles every week. Frank was a true gentleman who will be widely missed for his hard work, friendship and invariable good humour, our deepest sympathy goes to his wife and daughter... - Phil Bull 27/12/2020 BDCL Arena Tourney, Weds, 30th December, 7.45 p.m. - 9.45 p.m For anybody who feels like playing some more chess once the turkey and mince pies are only memories, I have put on a 6 mins + 4 second increments tournament for 7.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 30th December. It is an 'Arena' event so players can play throughout or come and go as they please within the 2-hour playing period. Hopefully the time control will be a reasonable compromise both for players who prefer their chess fast and for those of us who like to take a more leisurely approach. The event is entitled "BDCL Goodbye 2020 Arena" and the direct link for joining is: https://www.chess.com/live#r=831001/ Chess.com have had some problems with tournament links recently, so if the link fails then it still may be possible to join via the 'BDCL' club page or by going to 'Live Chess' and 'Tournaments'. Players can sign up from 6.45 p.m. on the Wednesday evening. As ever, to take part you must have signed up with chess.com and have joned the 'BDCL' club at: https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/. We are up to 90 members now. - Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 20/12/2020 BDCl Tournament, Monday, 21st December, 7:30 PM The 'BDCL' online club on chess.com will be holding another evert on Monday, 21st December, starting at 7.30 p.m.. This will be a 5-round Swiss tourney with a time control of 10 minutes + 2 second increments. So hopefully it should suit those who don't like the really fast events but still want to play several games in one evening. The tournament is is being organised by Julie Wilson of Stourbridge club. Entrants must have registered with chess.com and also be members of the 'BDCL' club. BDCL can be joined at: https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/. The direct link for the actual tournament is: https://www.chess.com/live#t=1924554/ You can sign up for it from 6:30 p.m. onwards on the night. It should be possible to join the tourney late as long as you do so before the start of the 3rd round. - Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 13/12/2020 Christmas Blitz Tourney online, Thursday, 17th December, 7.45 p.m. The new 'Birmingham Chess League' club on Lichess will be holding a Swiss blitz tournament on the 17th. The time control will be 3 minutes + 3 second increments. There will hopefully be 9 rounds but this will be partly dependent upon entry numbers. Would-be participants can sign up for the event from now onwards at: https://lichess.org/swiss/PjVis2QB/ The tourney password is " BDCL " Entrants must have registered with Lichess.org - which is a free and painless process - and must also have joined the Birmingham Chess League's online 'Team'. All players who belong to a BDCl club are eligible to sign up for this at: https://lichess.org/team/birmingham-chess-league 13/12/2020 Long Play Swiss Tournament online - 7 Rounds starting on Friday, 8th January, 7.30 p.m. This one-game-per-week event run by 'Birmingham Chess League' will commence on 8th January. Subsequent rounds will take place at the same time every Friday for a further 6 weeks. (Note that it will possible to opt out of a particular round if you can't make it for any reason - but you would need to withdraw before the round began and then re-join again before the start of the next round). The time control will be 60 minutes + 10 second increments - so games are likely to take between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours. You can register for the event from now onwards at: https://lichess.org/swiss/rmhVrHsp/ The tourney password is " BDCL " As with all Birmingham Chess League online events, participants should be members of BDCl clubs; and must have signed up with Lichess and have joined BCL at: https://lichess.org/team/birmingham-chess-league/ - Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 13/12/2020 BDCL - The Finance and General Purposes sub-Committee Meeting Notes The Finance and General Purposes sub-Committee of the BDCL held a brief online meeting on Monday 7 December. Matters discussed were as follows: We still hope to be able to conclude the suspended 2019-20 season. Ideally play would be concluded by mid-May, to allow the administration of the 2021-22 season to run to the established timetable (entry forms submitted by 31 May, and so on) but in practice we recognise that this date may not be achievable. There's some room for manoeuvre with the dates, and the 2021-22 season could start roughly on time even if the previous season didn't conclude until the end of June. The Online sub-Committee, chaired by Chris Evans, has created online BDCL clubs on both chess.com and lichess.org, which currently have 88 and 48 members respectively. Five events for members have been organised on the chess.com platform, each one attracting roughly twenty entries, and one event on the lichess.org platform. It was felt that there might be demand for grading-limited events aimed specifically at lower-graded players. Paul Sharratt has taken on the role of secretary of Stourbridge CC on an interim basis. The sub-Committee will meet again in eight weeks' time, on Monday 1 February,2021 30/11/2020 BDCL Online: "End of Lockdown Blitz" Tourney - Wednesday, 2nd December, 8.00 p.m. This will be an 8-round Swiss tournament with a time-control of 3 minutes + 3 second increments. The time control has been chosen in the hope that it will appeal to speed-lovers but also be less intimidating than the more normal 3 + 2 for those of us who lack lightning reflexes and who find it hard to cope with a mere 2 second increment! Registration for the event starts at 7.00 p.m. on the night of the tourney. WAs ever, would-be participants must have signed up with chess.com pre-tournament and also have joined the BDCL online club at: https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/ The 'BDCl' club currently has 85 members but hopes to attract many more. All players who belong to clubs that play in the main Birmingham & District Chess League are eligible to join. - Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 21/11/2020 Birmingham Chess League Online Tourney , Tuesday, 24th November, 8.00 p.m. The new “Birmingham Chess League” club on Lichess – see entry below for 15/11/20 for details – will be holding an inaugural 'fun' tournament on Tues, 24th November. It will be an Arena event with a time control of 5 minutes with 2 second increments. The unusual thing about it is that it will be a 'Chess 960' event. Chess 960 is also known as Fischer Random Chess because it was invented by Bobby Fischer and involves the back-rank pieces being placed in semi-random order at the start of the game – meaning that there are 960 possible starting positions for each game. So your knowledge of normal opening theory is unlikely to give you any advantage. Come along and try it! Would-be participants must have signed up at Lichess.org and have joined the Birmingham Chess League Club. The direct link to join the tournament is: https://lichess.org/tournament/VbsetVph/ You will need to input the password “BDCL” to take part. - Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 21/11/2020 - Demise of Harvey Quail (14 November, 2020) It is my sad duty to inform you that Harvey Quail passed away peacefully on Saturday morning (14/11/20) at Queen Elizabeth Hospital with his wife Denise at his side. Harvey was President of the BDCL in the 2009-10 season and had served for many years as the secretary of West Midlands Police CC. - Tim Lane 15/11/20 - Demise of Lionel Lewis (27/10/20) John Lewis (Warley Quinborne) has the following sad news: My father, Lionel Lewis, sadly passed away on 27th October aged 92. He had been suffering from dementia. Lionel had been a member of Mutual Circle for over 40 years but his chess "career" began at King Edward's School during the war. When he returned to Birmingham after university he joined the City & Erdington Club, as I believe it was named, playing alongside Ritson Morry. Following the club's demise he was briefly a member of Quinborne before joining up again with Ritson at Mutual. He was a very active and dedicated member, taking on most roles at one time or another. In his prime he was a Div 1 board 2 or 3 player,and was still playing league chess up until last season, just about holding on to a 3 figure grade. I know that Mutual members have not forgotten his performances in 2015/16 when at the age of 88 he barely lost a game and played a vital role in their Terrill trophy success. Lionel was never the fastest of players, and invariably found himself in time trouble (pre quick play finishes and the like of course). However, I remember him telling me about the time when he got held up and arrived at a match with less than 4 minutes on his clock. He proceeded to make his 30 moves, missing a back rank mate along the way, and ended up winning the the game! It's fair to say that Dad taught me everything I know about chess, though self evidently not all that he knew! When I returned to Brum in the 80s I decided to stay local and join Warley Quinborne rather than follow him to Mutual. Although he and I regularly found ourselves on opposing teams we engineered things in such a manner that we never in fact played each other competitively. I think Dad had seen enough of my tears as a youngster when defeating me and didn't want to inflict any more pain, which he surely would have done! Away from chess he enjoyed his working life, running a successful business, crossword puzzles, and a nice glass of red wine - the latter possibly the result of having a French wife. The funeral has already taken place and numbers were of course limited. Anyone who wishes to may send a donation to the Alzheimer's Society. - John Lewis 15/11/20 - (1) BDCL Online Tourney, Monday, 16th November, 7.30 p.m. The 'BDCl' online club on chess.com will be running another event at 7.30 p.m. on Monday, 16th November. This will be a two-hour (maximum) Arena Tournament with a time-control of 5 minutes + 5 second increments. Registration is possible from 6.30 p.m. onwards that evening. Because it is an 'Arena' event it is ok for would-be players to join or leave the tourney at any time within the 2-hour period. So if you just want to drop in for two or three games that's fine, or equally you can decide to play for the full 2 hours. Participants must be members of chess.com (free for basic membership) and must have joined the BDCL online club. The club can be joined at: https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/. The direct link for the tourney is: https://www.chess.com/live#r=602833 This event is being hosted by Julie Wilson of Stourbridge club who, I believe, is offering a hand-sewn chess-themed face mask as the prize for the winner! (2) New Birmingham Chess League Club on Lichess Some players prefer Lichess.org to chess.com for internet play. Therefore another branch of 'BDCL' online has just been founded by Phil Maybury of Warley Quinborne on Lichess. The new club (or 'Team' in Lichess terminology) has been named "Birmingham Chess League" and can be joined at https://lichess.org/team/birmingham-chess-league/. Would-be members must first have signed up with Lichess (which is free). As yet there are no events organized for the new club but an inaugural tourney will be set up in a couple of weeks time. Phil intends to organize events with various formats and time controls, even occasionally including a Chess 960 (Fischer Random Chess) tourney. Please consider joining the new Lichess club and - if you haven't already done so - the club at https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/ as well. All players who belong to a BDCL club (whether otb or online) are eligible to join either or both clubs. At the time of writing we have 80 members on chess.com and 26 on Lichess. - Chris Evans (on behalf of the BDCL's online chess committee) 26/10/20 - Online BDCL Blitz Tourney, Tuesday, 27th October, 8.00 p.m. The new 'BDCL' online club - now an official branch of the main BDCL - will be running its second ever tournament on Tuesday, 27th October. This will be a 9-round Swiss Blitz event with a time-control of 4 minutes + 2 second increments. All players from clubs in the Birmingham & District League are welcome. Would-be participants must have signed up with chess.com (free for basic membership) and also have joined the 'BDCL' club at: https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/ Registration for the tourney itself is at: https://www.chess.com/live#t=1643367/ but you can't actually register until 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday. Our first BDCL event - won by Neil Owen of Sutton Coldfield - attracted 22 entrants. I would like to substantially beat this figure on Tuesday! - Chris Evans 25/10/2020 Wolverhampton Chess Club - Online Chess Tournament Wolverhampton Chess Club has organised a 7-round Sunday Swiss event with a flat 30 minute time control with just one round to be played each week. This tournament is scheduled to start on Sunday, 25th October at 6.34 p.m. This tourney will run on Lichess.org so participants will need to have joined Lichess (which is free). Players will also need to sign up with the 'Team' that Phil has specifically set up for this event: 'Wolverhampton Swiss'. This team can be joined at: https://lichess.org/team/wolverhampton-swiss/ Registration for the the tourney itself is at: https://lichess.org/swiss/SrR4sXbe/ The password to enter can be gained from your Club Secretary. 18/10/2020 BDCL Committee Update The Finance and General Purposes sub-Committee of the BDCL held a brief online meeting on Monday. Matters discussed were as follows: To support Chris Evans' initiative in creating and administering the online BDCL club on chess.com, we decided to create an Online sub-Committee and to ask Chris to chair it – an invitation he has subsequently accepted. Notification of the club's inaugural event, a 10-minute "arena" tournament on 15 October, has already been circulated. Although there's very little information to disseminate at present, the Hon. Gen. Sec. undertook to try to increase the frequency and regularity with which material appears on the BDCL web site. With regard to the restart of competitive OTB chess, the consensus around the (virtual) table was that the best we could hope for was to resume the suspended 2019-20 season in the Spring of 2021 (though this is, obviously, an aspiration rather than something we are in a position to commit to). A small number of clubs are meeting for face-to-face friendly chess among their members. There was a brief discussion about the possibility of holding a full online meeting of the Management Committee, but it was felt that (a) there was little or no current need for a meeting; and that (b) it would prove logistically challenging. Alex Holowczak noted that the ECF's monthly rating system is now live – see https://www.ecfrating.org.uk/v2/new/list_players.php. Richard Collett noted that the "Greenlands" name is no more but that the club has been reconstituted as Longbridge Chess Club and will be meeting in one of their former venues, the Austin Sports & Social Club. F&GP will meet again in eight weeks' time, on Monday 7 December. 13/10/2020 Funeral of Nigel Byrne “Funeral/Crematorium Service is 1.30pm - Friday 30th October 2020 – at Perry Barr Crematorium . Hearse will collect family/friends from Nigel and Diane’s home, 10 Coniston Road, Erdington, Birmingham B23 6HJ at 12.30pm. Leaving 12.45pm. Anyone , who ever wishes to attend their home , stand outside to pay their respects are most welcome. Hearse will travel via PDSA Veterinary, Dolverton Rd, Aston, Bham ( where both Nigel and Dianne worked) and stop for 5-10 minutes for staff to pay their respects and then onto Perry Barr Crematorium. Covid Rules allow 30 persons max to attend the Crematatorium. Which includes 24 inside and 6 outside. There are 4 places outside free for me to allocate to chess persons. There will be a Live Webb Feed of the service – and kept on line for a few days thereafter for anyone to link into on the day or after. The link reference will be given to Dianne nearer to the date of the service. Flowers and/or Donation to their own charity PDSA – Aston Branch of which Nigel was the Head Vet. Solihull Chess members will be sending flowers in the form of chess pieces and /or a chess board in case others were considering same. Re any donation to their charity PDSA – Diane’s daughter is setting up a ‘Just giving page on Facebrook’ – so 4 ways of donations – Facebrook Link, Direct online to their PDSA Website specify for Aston Branch, or send to myself home or Nigel and Diane ‘s home well before the day of the service please. Not on the day of the service as the Crematorium cannot accept donations under Covid and also on the day Diane most likely to be too emotional. Dianne now welcomes any person who may wish to contact her on the telephone to chat etc…0121 382 6972. Condolence Cards also most welcome to be sent to Nigel and Diane’s home address or via myself “ Kind regards John Green 10/10/2020 Longbridge Chess Club As of midnight Thursday, 8/10/20; Greenlands Chess Club ceased to exist - the club will now be known as Longbridge Chess Club.
Website: http://www.longbridgechess.club/ Players can join our Online Club at: https://www.chess.com/club/longbridge-chess-club Steve Crees (Secretary, Longbridge Chess Club) 03/10/2020 New Online Club for all BDCL Members Chris Evans of Mutual Circle has set up an online club on Chess.com for any and all members of BDCL clubs. The new club is is not yet an official BDCL venture but has been formed with the encouragement of Hon Gen Sec, Tim Lane. The club, called simply "BDCL", can be joined on chess.com at: https://www.chess.com/club/bdcl/ People can also sign up by logging on to https://www.chess.com/ and then searching the club list for "BDCL". The purpose of the new club is to provide a larger pool of local online players (of all strengths) than can be offered by any existing BDCl club on its own. The background to this is that several of the smaller local clubs in particular have been finding it difficult under COVID to sustain club-nights and internal club events online. Members can get fed up with playing the same handful of people (particularly where there are large grading disparities). Also some players prefer fast time controls and others slower ones - and the numbers in each camp are often not sufficient to make internal club events at different time controls feasible. If the new club can acquire 100+ members then it should become possible for local club organizers (who would become administrators) to occasionally set up tournaments which suited their own members and which could be thrown open to the wider BDCL community. 100+ members may sound a lot to aim for but it only amounts to 5 or so players from each existing club. Please would players who read this consider joining the new club themselves and publicising it to their club-mates. Chris Evans (secretary, Mutual Circle) 27/9/2020 Demise of Nigel Byrne – verbatim from John Green: "To everyone from the chess world within the Birmingham and District Chess League and elsewhere, unfortunately I am the bearer of this very sad news that Nigel Byrne, 63yrs of age, from Solihull Chess Club in the West Midlands unexpectedly experienced a suspected heart attack and passed away on last Sunday 27th September at his home address in Erdington, Birmingham. I am aware of the personal circumstances surrounding his demise and I will gladly speak to anyone at any time of day on behalf of Dianne, and their families re passing on your condolences, feelings, cards etc. or just a chat, not a problem for me. It is envisaged that there will be a funeral service at Perry Barr Crematorium in due course with Covid Rules applying. May be late October / early November in view of the suddenness of Nigel's heart attack and others awaiting to be cremated. I shall keep everyone informed of his funeral date when known and the numbers of spare persons allowed inside and outside after his family and friends and colleagues. Dianne likes flowers – but if anyone wishes to make any charitable donations instead of, or as well as, please donate to PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) of which Nigel was the Head Vet – and a brilliant one. His Tribute – A Giant and Ambassador of a person to all of us who had the privilege of knowing Nigel. He will be very sadly missed but certainly not forgotten. His tributes and condolences coming to Dianne in their hundreds and to myself from the chess world are saying exactly the same. Namely that he was a Lovely, Caring person. He would do anything for everyone – nothing was any problem. It was a pleasure to be in his company – he made any situation enjoyable with his wit, smile, open and honest personality. His generosity was unlimited. At the same time a very professional person. His contribution to Solihull Chess Club as the Assistant Secretary / person and player – and to the chess world – has been magnanimous and unparalleled. I cannot praise and thank Nigel enough – the sprit and personal favours he has brought to members at Solihull and to myself has been well beyond any reasonable expectations. ‘Mate – I shall miss you loads. May God be with you Nigel always and forever.’ Kindest condolences – John Green." 15/06/2020 Demise of Edna Betty Dawson Sadly, Edna Betty Dawson passed away on 21/4/20 after being in a care home for about 18 months. Betty played League Chess for Kynoch Chess Club for approximately 30 years. She was always very pleasant and good natured towards all chess players and of course thoroughly enjoyed her chess. She will be sadly missed by all members of Kynoch Chess Club together with her husband Brian Dawson who also plays chess for Kynoch. The funeral was at Streetly Crematorium recently and due to the Coronavirus only six people were able to attend. - Grendon Morgan of Kynoch 11/05/2020 Demise of Daljit Singh "Although not a member of West Bromwich I play there every Monday casually, usually with Daljit. He was a kind caring honest man with a zest for life, including chess and snooker, and was pretty good at both. He will be sadly missed." Our condolences go out to his friends and family. - Stuart Deeley of Mercia CC 08/05/2020 Demise of Tom Evans Tom Evans (Tom Peed) It is my sad duty to report that club member and fellow Chess player Tom Evans (Known to everyone as 'Old Tom' to distinguish from young Thomas) passed away at 12.00 on Sunday 3rd May 2020. Having fallen in the house he was in hospital having had a successful hip operation, but contracted Covid 19 and became another victim of this awful disease. he would have been 84 next month Tom was a good 10-pin bowler as well and played for our team at Acocks Green bowl. He maintained a very good technique even into his eighties and scores around 180-190 per game were the norm. It was while Playing his beloved Bowling Tom at the age of 65 re kindled his passion for chess 40 years after first playing for Lucas, by joining the Westminster Chess club who were also using the Acocks Green Bowling venue before moving on to play for Mutual Circle then Olton. Tom's chess strength lay mainly in the openings with a good repertoire of tricks and traps. as well as entertaining chess Puzzles....His chess was always exciting if not entirely accurate as were many of the stories and anecdotes he would reel off with considerable ease considering his age and health. In his younger days Tom was a Sports Argus Darts team player going back to the sixties and a mean snooker player competing in CIU national events. The pictures he showed me suggested he cut a suave figure as a young man. He and his brother practised darts by throwing six inch nails at a board in the back yard. Several Argus cuttings show that he was in the news regularly playing for this prestigious team. Tom was also a keen collector of Comic Annuals and especially Rupert Bear of which he had many going back to 1936. He had a good correspondence with the bear’s artist Alfred Bestall. Although Tom only played for Olton for a few years, the chess club will not be the same again and Tom will be sadly missed. Photos of Tom Evans via the links Playing Chess... Darts News... Darts Win... Art work... Richard Reynolds, Olton Chess Club, with input from Alan Woollaston 17/03/2020 Suspension of BDCL competition Dear Officers and Club Secretaries, In the light of the current Coronavirus pandemic and advice from the English Chess Federation, the President and I have decided that all team and individual competitions organised by the Birmingham and District League will be suspended from midnight tonight, Sunday 15 March, until further notice. If clubs decide to proceed with fixtures already arranged, results will not be counted towards the competition in which they take place, and any games played in such circumstances will only be submitted for grading on receipt of separately-submitted requests to that effect from the Secretaries of both participating clubs. We will issue guidance in due course about arrangements for completing our competitions. I would be grateful if all twenty-six BDCL-affiliated Clubs would acknowledge receipt of this email. I am sure that you will understand the rationale for this decision; the well-being of our members and their families, and the wider community, must be our prime concern at this time. We look forward to resuming normal activity in better times. Best wishes, Tim Lane Honorary General Secretary 09/03/2020 BDCL's Team Lightning competition BDCL's Team Lightning competition tomorrow (Tues, 10th March, 2020) at 7.15.p.m. at Olton club
09/03/2020 - Morry-Wood awards 01/03/20 - Funeral of John Pakenham The Funeral service will take place at Sandwell Valley Crematorium on Friday 13th March 2020 at 1.45pm. Sandwell Valley Crematorium Newton Road, West Bromwich B71 3SX John wasn't really one for flowers - so the family have suggested a donation to St Mary's Hospice - Selly Park - instead should anyone care to do so. 22/02/20 - Demise of Jane Kremer (Dave Thomas’ Partner) "I am sad to tell you that my partner Jane Kremer, whom many of you will remember assisting with the admin at local tournaments, died in the early morning of Wednesday 5th February. Her funeral will take place at Rowley Regis Crematorium, B65 0AD at 3.15pm on Monday 2nd March. No flowers, bright clothes.” -Dave Thomas 18/02/20 - Demise of John Pakenham Sadly John Pakenham passed away peacefully in his sleep on 9th February, 2020. He was taken ill again shortly after Christmas/New Year and bravely faced up to the situation, never once feeling sorry for himself and always thinking of those around him. He will be sadly missed at Warley & Quinborne and in the wider chess community having served to provide and promote chess for many a decade. Our thoughts and prayers are with John and his lovely family. Details of his funeral arrangements will follow in due course. 06/02/2019 - The 28th Birmingham Rapidplay Tournament The 28th Birmingham Rapidplay Tournament will be held on the Sunday 15th March at the Quinborne Community Centre, Ridgacre Rd, Birmingham B32 2TW. Full information about the tournament can be found here: https://rapidplay.birminghamchess.org.uk/ 22/01/20 - Warwickshire Chess Congress The Warwickshire Congress is being held on 21st – 23rd February Venue : Citrus Hotel Ryton on Dunsmore, Coventry Sections: Open, U1975, U140 and U110 Free entry for first 20 female entries Online entry through http://congress.warwickshirechess.org/ Entry form can be found in word format via the link here... 09/01/20 - In memory of Mike Rees - By Alan Ruffle In 1957 Mike was my next door neighbour in Lozells Birmingham. He was a member of Lucas Chess club and active in all kinds of administrative chess club roles, He was a kind gentle man. I was an eleven year old schoolboy in short trousers attending Gower Street school and Mike was kind enough to give me some chess coaching. We played regularly and my game improved. I joined Lozells Chess Club and my game further improved so that I began to beat him on a regular basis. I left home and I did not see Mike for many years although we had a number of chess orientated email communications. His role during this time was as Web Master for the Birmingham League. In 1995 I met Mike in a Division five Birmingham league game. I was playing for West Midlands Police and Mike was still with Lucas. You guessed it! I lost. Thanks for everything Mike, Knowing you has been a pleasure.- Alan Ruffle
04/01/20 - Funeral Details of Mike Rees The service for the funeral of Mike Rees is to be held on Tuesday 14th January 10.45 am at Lodge Hill Cemetery & Crematorium, Weoley Park Road, Selly Oak, B29 5AA Afterwards to meet at Harborne Golf Club, 40 Tennal Road, Harborne, B32 2JE The Family have requested no flowers but a collection box on behalf of a Parkinson’s Disease charity will be available. 23/12/19 - ECF Arbiter Course Registration Course dates – 15th – 16th February 2020 Course venue – Daventry Court Hotel, Sedgemoor Way, Daventry NN11 0SG Course schedule – 9.00am – 1.00pm, 2.00pm – 5.00pm on both days Course fee – £30 Course Lecturer – Adrian Elwin; Assistant Lecturer – Alex Holowczak Online Registration: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-arbiter-course-registration/ 21/12/19 - Demise of Mike Rees(The First BDCL Webmaster) Message from Phil Maddocks Dear friends and chess colleagues, it is with sadness that I have been learned from Mrs Andrea Rees that her husband Mike died in hospital this Saturday morning 21/12/19 at about 01.00 hrs. Mike knew many people in the chess circle but I do not know them all – could you please inform anyone I have missed and who does not yet know. For me, Mike ranks alongside the all-time chess administration legends such as Crump, Wood, Morry, Rowe and others. Mike was a great friend to me and I will never forget him. It is too soon to be clear about funeral arrangements but those details should be available soon after Christmas/New Year. 17/12/2019 - Report from the Rules Committee meeting held at South Birmingham on 17th December 2019 1. Match 131 Sutton Coldfield v South Birmingham Keith Escott (Sutton Coldfield) was in severe time trouble (no increment) and offered a draw which may have been intended to be under FIDE Guideline 111 6.1.2 i.e with less than 2 minutes on his clock and his opponent was making no effort to win by normal means. Our Handbook sets out this rule on page 39. This was turned down by his opponent, John Emanuel, and a few seconds later Keith Escott’s flag fell. Both sides had stopped scoring as they had less than 5 minutes on their clocks. The committee listened to submissions from both sides. The committee decided that Keith Escott had correctly made a claim for a draw according to the FIDE Guideline. Although both players agreed the final position, Keith Escott was unable to consider participating in a reconstruction of the game score immediately after the match and supplied a re-constructed scoresheet to the committee later although this was not verified by John Emanuel. Acting as the designated arbiter and using Keith Escott’s scoresheet, the committee examined the last 10 moves of the game and concluded had Keith Escott had correctly claimed the draw. Ruling The committee finds that the Sutton Coldfield player’s claim for a draw is upheld. 2. Match 234 Solihull v Lichfield Lichfield claimed that: a) Solihull named a player on board 4 who Lichfield discovered playing in the room in a Leamington League match (Rule 7.2) Solihull justified the naming of the player by saying that it had been an unfortunate error and that the mistake had only been discovered when the match cards had been exchanged and the match started. The committee felt that it was the club’s responsibility to make sure that any player named on the match card should be available to play and that any player known to be defaulting placed on the bottom board. b) Solihull did not play their players in order of strength as the boards 5 and 6 were graded 141 and 157 respectively (Rule 7.2). Solihull stated that this was another unfortunate error and, in order to justify this, supplied a list of games played by Ben Larkin who was the 141 graded player on board 5. Solihull tried to show that by calculating his current grade his position in the team was justified. It was explained to Solihull that the committee had previously rejected this approach in another board order dispute and they therefore could not accept this.
Ruling The committee finds that Rule 7.2 has been breached because a) Solihull should have been aware that they were defaulting a board which should have been board 6 b) they did not play boards 5 and 6 in order of strength. NB The penalty for a breach of Rule 7.2 is the loss of the game by default. The games will be graded. Mike Biddle Chairman, Rules Committee 12/12/2019 - Demise of Graham Lightfoot of Olton CC Graham Lightfoot died last week after being extremely ill for several months. Although it is a good 15 years since he last turned out in a BDCL team, there may be a few senior souls who remember him and may like to know. He was the sort of person is remembered by those who knew him. His funeral will be at 2.00pm Monday 23rd December in Avon Room of Rainsbrook Crematorium, Rugby CV22 5QQ. Graham started his chess in the 1950s and played for Olton until his police career and family took him to Rugby where he became the driving force behind the local chess club. His enthusiasm and belief gave him a knack of attracting excellent players to his teams so his club once won the national championship but, alas, were drawn away to Moscow in the first round of the following year's European club tournament. He reappeared in BDCL playing for West Midlands Police. At about the turn of the millennium, Graham discovered the game of bridge and abandoned chess to focus entirely on his new passion. 19/11/2019 - Online ECF Rated Tournaments The ECF is developing an Internet Chess Service so that members and supporters can take part in online ECF rated tournaments and events. The system is currently in beta test with ECF clubs and regular tournaments for members and supporters on lichess, chess.com and chess24. As well as the regular rapid and blitz tournaments, the ECF will be staging National and International Events. Once the system is in production, the ECF will also be calculating and publishing ECF internet ratings for players taking part in club/ team games. The organisers would like to invite chess players from Birmingham and the surrounding areas to join the beta test group. Can you let Nigel Towers (nigelst123@hotmail.co.uk) know if you would be interested in this and we will provide you with further details including joining instructions for the internet clubs, along with details of upcoming tournaments and events. 17/11/2019 - Report from the Rules Committee meeting held at South Birmingham on 29th October 2019 1. Match 122 Wolverhampton v Shirley & Wythall A dispute had arisen with regard to match 122. Shirley & Wythall requested a postponement using Rule 6.1 giving the correct 28 days notice. However, Wolverhampton were reluctant to allow a postponement due to problems regarding their clubroom and offered to play the match over 5 boards. This was at first accepted but then rejected by Shirley & Wythall. Wolverhampton now claimed that by accepting the 5 board match, the notice for the postponement had been reduced to only 27 days and they could, therefore, reject it. The committee listened to submissions from both sides. The committee noted that Wolverhampton had not offered any alternative dates but made the offer of a five board match instead which Shirley & Wythall had accepted, only later rejecting this. Ruling The committee finds that, as agreed between the two clubs, the match should be played over five boards at Wolverhampton C.C. on 31st October. 2. Match 219 West Bromwich v Solihull Board 6 In this match the Solihull board 6, John Green, continued to play with his clock at 0.00. This was noticed by a West Bromwich member not involved in the match and pointed out to the West Bromwich player, Jonathon Pincher. The committee sought advice from Alex Holowczak and Dave Thomas on this matter. The reply from Alex is below and Dave Thomas agreed with this: The flag is down when either: - (a) The time shows 0.00 and (b) the player observes this (and so claims) - (a) The time shows 0.00 and (b) the arbiter observes this (which clearly can't happen in league chess because there is no arbiter) That the clock showed 0.00 is not enough of itself, because both requirements (a) and (b) for the flag to be down have not been met yet. Acting on this advice, the committee decided on the ruling below. However, it should be pointed out that should any further incidents of this nature come to the committee’s attention, then the person interfering with play may well be subject to a harsher penalty. Ruling The committee decided that the game is awarded to Jonathon Pincher. However, following the intervention of a West Bromwich club member, West Bromwich are penalised one game point. West Bromwich are reminded that clubs are responsible for the conduct of their players. 3. Mercia withdrawal from Division 2 Stourbridge raised two questions arising from the withdrawal of Mercia from Division 2. a) Do Mercia count as one of the relegated teams from Division.2? The committee endorsed the usual practice that as Mercia had not played at least 50% of their matches, they would not count as one of the relegated teams. b) Would reserves used in the three matches played by Mercia count towards the total described in Rule 4.12 “If, in the All-Play-All Championships, a player shall play for a fourth time in any season for any of his club's higher teams than that in which he is registered, or be re-registered in any such team, he shall be deemed to have become registered for play in that club’s higher team etc”? The committee endorsed the usual practice that as Mercia had not played at least 50% of their matches, the three matches played so far will remain in the records for grading purposes, and the games played by reserves will be ignored when counting reserve appearances.
Mike Biddle 29/10/2019 - Demise of Dez Rudge of Solihull CC On behalf of Solihull Chess Club it is with deep regret and sadness that I have to announce the death of Dez Rudge – a loyal and dedicated Solihull chess club member of eight years standing. He died of a massive heart attack two weeks ago at the young age of 55 years. He was very popular and well liked by everyone within the chess leagues and brought spirit and energy into our wonderful game of chess. Not only was he a great ambassador for the promotion of chess, his support at away matches as a spectator was well above and beyond my normal expectations – outstanding. He is missed already and will continue to be so for many many years to come. Our condolences and feelings have been passed to his family. They have announced the funeral arrangements: Thursday 14th November 11am at Robin Hood Crematorium and/or 10.30am from the house. Afterwards at Blossomfield Club for food and drinks. Please join us to pay our respects to his family and friends – you are all most welcome. Kind regards John Green – Secretary for Solihull Chess Club 29/10/2019 - Record Secretary Change Terry Benson has stood down as Records Secretary due work commitments. Please send all Correspondence to Alan T Woollaston (former Records Secretary) regarding Fixture Change's, Player Registrations and Reporting Results to BDCLRecords@hotmail.co.uk 14/10/2019 - New Address for Warley Quinborne Chess Club The Stag & Three Horseshoes, Halesowen Road, Birmingham B62 9BB 23/09/2019 - GM Keith Arkell Junior Award and simul on The Saturday, September 28th, 2019 @ 1:00 PM GM Keith Arkell will be making a presentation of the new Keith Arkell Junior Award to Greenlands Chess Academy student Matthew Rowe. Keith will then give a Simultaneous Display for approximately 25 players or more. A few limited places are still available - the cost to sit at a board is £10. The start time for the event is: 1pm - Saturday September 28th. The venue is: Greenlands Chess Club, 105 Longbridge Lane, B31 4LF Tea, coffee, biscuits and confectionery are free on this occasion. Places are in demand and will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. If you would like to play; please contact: steve_crees@hotmail.com 11/09/2019 - Individual Tournament Entries are being taken for the 2019-20 Individual Tournaments with the deadline for entries being 1st October 2019. Rules are in section 20 of the handbook (pages 36 & 37). Please note that my home number has changed to 0121 706 5306 with other details as on page 4 of the handbook. Robert Glass, Individual Tournament Committee Chairman. 03/09/2019 - Robert Bellin Bishops Talk - Redditch Chess Club - 18th September, 2019 International Master Robert Bellin will be giving a talk on the Bishop on Wednesday evening, 18th September at the Redditch chess club in Alvechurch. Robert is a one time British champion, a prolific author, and a very active player at the highest levels with some highly creditable recent results including draws against GM Gelfand (see above 'rd 1 top seeds have it easy' - or maybe not! at Gibraltar in 2017) and GM Sveshnikov (appropriately enough in a Sveshnikov Sicilian earlier this year). This will be the third in a series of Redditch club lectures from Robert following on from his highly successful talks on the knight, and outposts. The talk will focus on the bishop and will cover handling of the bishop and the bishop pair at all stages of the game. As ever with Robert it will be interactive with exercises and opportunities to test your understanding of the key ideas. Based on past experience it should be very enjoyable and a good opportunity to take away some new ideas which could help to improve your game. The talk will start at 7-30 and continue until 10-00 or slightly later. The club address is: Alvechurch Sports and Social Club, Radford Road, Alvechurch, Birmingham, B48 7LD The event will take place in the upstairs function room at the club. There will be a charge of £8 for the evening with a reduced rate for juniors and students. Could anyone interested in attending please contact Nigel Towers nigelst123@hotmail.co.uk so that the organisers can keep track of numbers. IM Robert Bellin's draw against GM Boris Gelfand can be found at -: https://en.chessbase.com/post/gibraltar-rd01-top-seeds-have-it-easy/ 03/09/2019 - UK Blitz 2019 - Birmingham QualifierThe Birmingham qualifier for the 2019 UK Blitz is being held at the Quinborne Centre on 7th September, 2019 at the Quinborne Community Centre, Ridgacre Rd, Birmingham B32 2TW. This year's competition is being staged as a series of 8 qualifiers at different locations across the UK over two weekends in September (7th, 8th and 14th September) . Winners from the qualifiers will be eligible for an all play all final on 16th November in Solihull with separate Open and Women's sections. The Finals and qualifiers combined have a total prize fund in excess of £7,000. This is Open Championship and there is no geographic or citizenship restriction on entry. Further details and the entry form can be found here -: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/uk-open-blitz-championship-2019/ 31/07/2019 - The 27th Birmingham Rapidplay TournamentThe 27th Birmingham Rapidplay Tournament will be held on the Sunday 20th October at the Quinborne Community Centre, Ridgacre Rd, Birmingham B32 2TW. Full information about the tournament can be found here: https://rapidplay.birminghamchess.org.uk/ 15/07/2019 - The 2019 Midland Open Championship The 2019 Midland Open Championship will be held between 9-11 August at the Ramada Hotel Telford Ironbridge, Forge Gate, Telford TF3 4NA. The leading Midland player in the Open will qualify for the 2020 British Championships. Full information about the tournament can be found here: http://www.mccu.org.uk/m_congress/ 15/05/2019 - Lightning Tourney Results: Mike Walker Memorial The 2nd Mike Walker Memorial Lightning event took place on Tuesday, 14th, at Mutual Circle with 23 entrants. The 'Open' was won by Matt Harborne of Mutual with 4 1/2 out of 6. 2nd came Patrick Duncan of Warley Quinborne on 4 points. Last year's winner, Henrik Stepanyan (Sutton Coldfield), was a little off-form this time but finished 3rd= on 3 1/2 along with Luke Boynton (Mutual).
In the 'Challengers' (Max 135 grading) event Mike Groombridge
(Walsall Kipping) shared first place with Richard Leaper of Mutual:
both scored 5/6. Thomas Evans (Olton) and Alan Halidan (Redditch)
were 3rd= on 4 points. The two tournaments had a few problems with the pairings (and a with a delayed start) but participants generally said that they had had an enjoyable evening. Many thanks to Olton club for the loan of their lightning buzzer and to Robert Hollows for gamely and efficiently arranging the initial pairings manually until I had finally managed to wrestle the computer into submission!
Chris Evans (secretary, Mutual Circle) 13/05/2019 - Morry-Wood awards 2019 Winners of the Best game and youtfh prizes have been announced, the results are shown on the Morry-Wood page. Phil Maddocks 25/04/2019 - Boldmere Chess Club - Change of venue
Boldmere Chess Club have moved to new premises with immediate
effect. 25/04/2019 - 2nd Mike Walker Memorial tournament - Tuesday, 14th May
An individual Lightning Tournament at Mutual Circle Club
23/04/2019 - Rushall Change of venue
The Bowman Pub has been sold to the Co-Op, to be turned into a shop.
It will close immenintly. Steve Wilcox 17/04/2019 Report of the Rules Committee held on 16th April 2019 at South Birmingham C.C Regarding Match 262 Mutual Circle v Sutton Coldfield. In this match Sutton Coldfield complained that Mutual Circle’s board order contravened Rule 7.2. The report is here... Mike Biddle, Rules committee Chairman 05/04/2019 - ECF Arbiters course, Daventry When - 13th – 14th April 2019 Where - Staverton Park Hotel, Daventry Road, Daventry, Northamptonshire NN11 6JT Course Fee - £30 Click here for more information Alex Holowczak 04/04/2019 - Individual finals 2019
The finals of the
Individual events took place this week, with all six ties resulting
in decisive outcomes after a single game. Congratulations to
the winners, who are as follows:
Open: John Edge (Halesowen)
Max-160: John Mildenhall
(Sutton Coldfield)
Max-140: Terry Walker
(South Birmingham)
Max-120: Kevin Spillane
(Boldmere St. Michael's)
Max-100: Joe Kadar (South
Birmingham)
Max-80: Tom Vanes
(Coleshill) Tim Lane Lee Collier has added the following comments regarding the League Individual : "Although I am proud of my 17 BDCL Individual Finals & the record-breaking 7 game semi-final tussle against Gary Hope in 2002, I think Terry Walker has surpassed that. Terry won the division 4 individual final in 1969 & has reached (won) another final 2019. 50 years apart - a truly remarkable record!" 31/03/2019 - Rapidplay scores now available on the Rapidplay page 13/03/2019 - League Lightning Tournament 2019 This was held at Tyseley Working Mens club on Tuesday 12th March. 14 teams of 4 players took part in three sections at the rate of 10 seconds per move. Section A consisting of 4 teams was won by Olton A with 14½ points with Richard Liszewski dropping only half a point in six games. Section B was won by South Birmingham C on 15½ points with Mutual Circle A second on 12. Terry Walker of South Birmingham won the Individual award with 5 points out of 5. Section C consisted of 4 teams and was won by South Birmingham D on 16½ points. The full result can be found here... 06/03/2019 - Rules committee meeting The Rules subcommittee met on 5th March to consider a dispute, the ruling is given here. Mike Biddle Chairman, Rules committee 25/02/2019 - Annual Lightning Tournament The Birmingham League's annual Team Lightning Tournament will take place at Olton's venue, Tyseley Working Mens Club, Warwick Road, Tyseley, Birmingam, B11 2EX, on Tuesday 12th March. Teams of 4 or 5 players will compete in graded sections at the rate of 10 seconds per move. Matches will be played over 4 boards. Entry fee £6 per team, payable on the night or in advance to John Mildenhall lightning@birminghamchess.org.uk. At least 80% of entry fees will be returned as prize money. Team lists to be submitted by 7:15pm on the night, Play to commence as soon as possible after 7:30pm. If you can't raise 4 players, come along anyway, we will be able to form extra teams on the night. Lightning Tournament Committee 14/02/2019 - Warwickshire congress reminder Warwickshire congress details The entry form and details of this upcoming congress are on a PDF document here. Ed Goodwin 09/02/2019 - English Seniors Championship The ECF is relaunching the annual English Seniors Championship with a four day FIDE-rated and ECF graded congress at the St Johns Hotel, Solihull in April 2019. The event will run for four days from 4th to 7th April, with a total of six rounds. There will be two sections - Over 50s and Over 65s - with the two winners becoming English Seniors Champions for 2019/2020. English players aged 50 or over by the end of 2019 will be eligible to enter the Championships, with an early bird discount available on entries received before 15th February. Full details of the congress can be found here - https://www.englishchess.org.uk/english-seniors-championships/ . We hope to see as many players as possible at this exciting event to re-establish the Seniors Championship at a Midllands location. For further details please contact Ed Goodwin at edhgoodwin@gmail.com Nigel Towers
08/02/2019 - Morry-Wood awards 28/01/2018 - 6th Dudley Castle Congress
The 6th Dudley Castle Chess Congress will be held at The Quality
Hotel, Birmingham Road, Dudley, DY1 4RN
24/01/2019 - Solihull Chess 960 Rapidplay Tournament
Solihull Chess Club are organising a Chess 960 Rapidplay on Sunday
10th March, at Solihull School. Also known as Fischer Random Chess.
30 minutes per game plus 10 second increments. Entry £15, one
section with graded prizes. £750 in prizes. Contact John Green
07975530977. Flier and entry form will be posted shortly. The 26th Rapidplay will be neld on Sunday 31st March at Quinborne Community Centre, there will be sections for Open, Under 170, Under 140 and Under 110. More information and entry details can be found on the Rapidplay page. Alex Holowczak 01/01/2019 - Warwickshire congress details The entry form and details of this upcoming congress are on a PDF document here. Ed Goodwin 19/1/2018 - Halesowen contact
John Southcote will be leaving the area at the end of November. The
role of Halesowen Secretary will be split, until (at least) the end
of this season. The new contacts, effective from 1 December, are as
follows: Tim Lane, Hon. Gen. Sec. 09/11/2018 - Derek Perks - updated It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing of our WDCL Tournament Secretary and Auditor Derek Perks on Thursday 18th October 2018. Our sympathies and thoughts go out to his family at this sad time. A full obituary can be found here . Derek's funeral will be held at Gornal Crematorium on Wednesday 14th November at 11am and there after at the Dudley Arms in Himley.Andrew McCumiskey, Mercia Chess Club 20/10/2018 - Birmingham Rapidplay Results in the tournaments will be updated and can be seen through the links on the Rapidplay page 14/10/2018 - Birmingham Rapidplay Invitational To celebrate the 25th rapidplay, there will be a special Invitation tournament featuring a mix of grandmasters, former winners and local players. The full details are here... Alex Holowczak 10/10/2018 - Nigel Short Nigel Short, son of Lichfield secretary and former Birmingham League president David Short, has been appointed a Vice President of FIDE. David Short 13/09/2018 - Mercia contact
Peter Thompson will be
acting as Club Secretary for Mercia for the remainder of the current
season. Peter can be contacted at
pithompsonj8@gmail.com and
on 01902 765870. Tim Lane, Hon General Secretary 11/09/2018 - Individual competitions The individual Knock-out tournaments are now in graded bands rather than divisions. Anyone wishing to enter should contact Tim Lane, the closing date for entries is 1st October. Revised rules are contained within the BDCL Rules. 21/07/2018 - Birmingham Rapidplay October 2018 Entries are now open for the 25th Birmingham Rapidplay Tournament, wich takes place on Sunday 21st October. See the Rapidplay page... 26/07/2018 - Redditch venue change Redditch CC now meet at Alvechurch Sports and Social Club, Radford Road, Alvechurch, Birmingham, B48 7LD Michelle Clack Olton/Westminster venues Please also note that the 37 bus given in the handbook is now the 4/4A service Birmingham-Solihull/Gospel Oak 26/07/2018 - Uk Open Blitz championship
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/uk-open-blitz-championship/
Alex Holowczak 18/07/2018 - Midland Open
The 2018 Midland Open will be at the
Ramada Hotel in Telford between 10-12 August. The leading Midlands
player will be the 2018 Midlands Champion, and qualify for the 2019
British Chess Championships.
Alex Holowczak 10/07/2018 - Rushall Venue change Rushall chess club are moving from 6th August to The Bowman Corner of Myatt Avenue and Gretton Crescent Aldridge WS9 0DR Still meeting Monbdays 7:15pm Steve Wilcox 25/06/2018 - Windsor Peck It is with great sadness that Halesowen Chess Club must announce the death of our team mate and friend Windsor Peck. Windsor passed away peacefully on 15 June. A true gentleman, he was a well known and respected figure in Midlands chess and will be missed by all who knew him John Southcote 18/06/2018 - Honours page updates This years winners and photos from the AGM have now been added to the honours page.Images are compressed, if winners would like a copy of the original, i can email it, also some photos not shown are also available. 13/05/2018 - Morry-Wood awards The winners of these two league awards for best game and the Junior prize have been announced. See the Morry-Wood page for more details. Phil Maddocks on behalf of Laurie Wheatley 27/04/2018 - Mike Walker Memorial Lightning Report
Chris Evans (secretary, Mutual Circle) If anyone wants to see the full result please email the webmaster 25/04/2018 - Redditch Chess Club - Robert Bellin talks Robert Bellin on weak squares and outposts, Redditch 22nd May.
There are some spare spaces for our next
in the series of Robert Bellin talks. This takes place on Tuesday
22nd May at Redditch from 7.15 until 10pm with an interval somewhere
in the middle. It‘s on weak squares and outposts. His last talk on
knight endings was excellent. I won at least two games I probably
wouldn’t have after attending. Places can be booked with Nigel
Towers, nigelst123@hotmail.co.uk, or through me. 03/04/2018 - Mutual Circle lightning Tournament
Details of the Individidual Lightning
tourney that will take place at Mutual Circles' venue on Tuesday,
24th April appear here.
This event is held in memory of former Hon Gen Sec, MIke Walker.
Please would you circulate details to your members. I also give
brief details in the text below. 26/03/2018 - Graham Humphreys - update Mike Groombridge reports that Midlands chess stalwart Graham Humphreys sadly passed away on Wednesday in New Cross Hospital, aged 89. Graham was a long-time organiser of chess events in the Birmingham and Wolverhampton areas. His son Simon informs us that.the funeral will take place at 3.30pm,on Friday April 13th at Gornal Wood Crematorium, Coopers Bank Rd., Dudley. DY3 2PT 26/03/2-18 - Birmingham Rapidplay This took place on Sunday 25th March. Full results are on the Rapidplay page
Open 20/03/2018 - Coventry Chess Club
Coventry Chess Club are looking to recruit strong players to play
for us in Division 1 of the Coventry Chess League. Coventry Chess is
a friendly club, based at Massey Ferguson Social Club, Coventry. CV5
7NL. 19/03/2018 - 50th Cotswold Congress This will take place in Gloucester over the Spring Bank Holiday, Saturday 26th-Monday 28th May. The entry form can be found here... Andrew Gilmour 15/03/2018 - Lightning Tournament 2018 The annual 10-second tournament took place at Olton's venue on Tuesday 13th March. 18 teams competed in 3 sections. Section A was won by Sutton Coldfield, Section B by South Birmingham B and Section C by South Birmingham C. Individual prizes are awarded to Henrik Stepanyan and Chris East of Sutton Coldfield.The full result appears here... Lightning Tournament Committee 15/02/2018 Reminder - Warwickshire Open Chess Championships 2018
Organised by the Warwickshire Chess Association Ltd
Friday March 2nd to Sunday March 4th Ed Goodwin
05/02/2018 - Morry-Wood awards 30/01/2018 - Sutton Coldfield Chess Club
Sutton Coldfield Chess Club now meets
Mondays AND Thursdays after 7pm. 06/01/2018 - Midland Open Rapid & Blitz 2018 The Midland Open Rapid & Blitz will be held on
17-18 February at Holiday Inn Birmingham Walsall, 20 Wolverhampton
Road, Walsall, WS2 0BS. There will be four 9-round Rapid sections
and a 9-round Blitz tournament. The prize fund for the tournament is
£2,680. For full details, including the online entry
form and a downloadable entry form, please visit this link on the
MCCU website:
http://www.mccu.org.uk/m_congress/index.htm Alex Holowczak 02/01/2018 - Birmingham Rapidplay and British Blitz Tournaments Entries are now being accepted for the 24th Birmingham Rapidplay to take place on Sunday 25th March 2018. Details are on the Rapidplay page. There is a qualifier for the British Blittz Championship 2018, details of which are here.. Alex Holoczak 02/01/2018 - Warwickshire Open Chess Championships 2018
Organised by the Warwickshire Chess Association Ltd
Friday March 2nd to Sunday March 4th Ed Goodwin 05/12/2017 - University contact details updated 18/11/2017 - Chris Evans change of handbook details Mutual Circle Secretary Chris Evans has moved house and is now at 30 Drew Crescent, Pedmore, Stourbridge, DY9 0UX. Tel : 01384 827640 Please update your handbook details
Due to changes in my personal circumstances, my address and other
details have changed as follows: Open - http://chess-results.com/tnr307899.aspx
There are two Midland regional tournaments coming up soon: - Midland Junior Championships (Leicester, 22nd
June): http://www.mccu.org.uk/eforms/mccu_jun_leic22jul17.pdf - Midland Open Championships (West Bromwich,
11th - 13th August): http://www.mccu.org.uk/m_congress/index.htm
Rapidplay Congress on September 10th. Venue : Sydni Centre , Leamington CV31 1PT Open, U170, U140, 110 sections
Home page: http://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/35/home Fixtures & Results: http://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/35/ofixtures Tables: http://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/35/tables
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/rip-geoff-harris/
Many members of the BDCL
will remember Ron Hardy, who had played in the League since at least
the 1958-59 season, when he was runner-up in the Division 4
individual event as a member of the Lozells club. I believe he
subsequently played for St. James until they folded, before coming
to South Birmingham. Sadly I have heard that Ron passed away
on 12 July. His funeral will be held at the Beacon Church Centre,
Whetty Lane, Rubery, B45 9DL at 11.30 on 17 August.
http://mutualcirclekingsheath.weebly.com/
John Harris Secretary
Cotswold Chess Congress
Chris Griffin is leaving
the immediate area, stepping down as secretary of St. George's and
retiring from chess. Club chairman Ken Wise will be Acting
Secretary for the remainder of the season. Contact details:
e-mail:
k_j_yy@yahoo.co.uk
Home: 0121 705 8770
Mobile: 07847 326578
Best wishes to Chris for
his chess-free future!
Report of the
Rules Committee meeting held on Monday 25th Jan 2016 at South
Birmingham C.C. Homer Trophy H3-12 South Birmingham 3 v
Olton 2 Olton claimed that they had not been informed
of the date of this cup match. Terry Hare-Walker (South Birmingham)
stated that he informed Robert Reynolds (Olton) of the date of
Wednesday 13th January verbally at Olton on 2nd
December. Robert Reynolds denied that this happened.
Rule 5.4(f) states that “Clubs
are instructed to contact one another to confirm the playing
arrangements”. Olton, for various
reasons, decided not to contact South Birmingham to find out the
date chosen for the game. On the Thursday before cup week, Olton
claimed the game by default and then South Birmingham re-stated the
date chosen for the match. Olton also disputed the ruling by the
Hon. Records Secretary not to accept their claim for a win by
default. South Birmingham also claimed the match by default when
Olton failed to appear on the date they had specified. After considering
submissions from by sides the committee gave the following ruling:
The committee rejects Olton’s claim that
the Hon. Records Secretary was at fault in not accepting their
claim.
The committee finds it disappointing that
two experienced club officials have failed to comply with Rule
5.4(f) which has worked successfully for at least 25 years.
The committee finds that both clubs failed
to comply with Rule 5.4(f) and orders that the game be played on
Wednesday 24th February 2016 at South Birmingham.
Mike Biddle
Chairman, Rules Committee
Nominations for the 2015-16 Ritson Morry award for the outstanding
Junior player, and score entries for the Baruch Wood best game must
be submitted by 31st March.
Send e-mail submissions to
morrywood@birminghamchess.org.uk.
Phil Maddocks on behalf of the Subcommittee Chairman 1st: Ameet Ghasi 5.5 £200 2nd: Mike Surtees 5 £100 3rd: Lawrence Cooper 4.5 £50 Grading: Patrick Duncan, Andrew Lewis £12.50
eac 1st: Parminder Sanghera 6 £120 2nd: Agoston Mihalik, Zoe Varney 5 £45 each 1st: Andrew Crowther, Brian Crofts 5 £90 each 3rd: Keiran Koasha 4.5 £30 1st: Chris Paul 6 £120 2nd: Ben Jacobsen 5 £60 3rd: Jason Smith, Martin Berridge, Paul Heeney,
Fredrick Beneat, Steve Swajkun, Jeremy Sharples 4 £5 each
Although none of these are "official" BDCL offerings, they have been
reviewed by a number of members of the Management Committee, and
we're hopeful that they'll help Clubs prepare for the start of the
new season and get off to a smooth start.
Millfields Rd
Bilston |
Guidelines for Captains and Players
These
guidelines are intended to assist captains and players. They are,
nevertheless, only guidelines, and anyone requiring further details
should consult the League Rules or the Laws of Chess.
Click
Here
|
|
|
|
LEAGUE NEWS MAILING LIST We now have a mailing list for members of Birmingham League teams to receive information and news of events taking place. Please contact the webmaster if you wish to receive an invite to join. |
|
Club
Details I have now updated the details of clubs that play in the BDCL on the website. Each club has a page and it is up to club Secretaries to inform me of any errors or changes. Clubs can also send me items for inclusion that will help promote their club. Click on 'BDCL Clubs' link on the left. Google Maps Locations of clubs are on Google maps click Here |
|
Webmaster This site is now being updated by Richard Reynolds. Please report any problems to me at webmaster@birminghamchess.org.uk |