Archive (Jul 2023 - Jun 2024)
Lewisham win the Croydon Shield!
1st July 2024
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For the first time since rejoining the Croydon District League, Lewisham have won the top division the Croydon Shield.
An away win at the powerhouse West Wickham was the catalyst to the victory. Congratulations to Tim who captained the team again this season - special mentions to Ash Stewart who was an ever present, along with Jonathon Peoples and Mike Roberts who scored important points in the crucial games.
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Croydon Cup Win!
13th June 2024
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Lewisham were crowned Croydon Deric Cox Champions following victory against South Norwood yesterday evening.
With both teams knowing a win would be enough to top the league, it was Lewisham's team of Conrad, Kevin, Henry and Matthew who triumphed 3-1.
Well done to captain Cristiano for leading the team to glory!
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Chessfest 2024
12th June 2024
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Chessfest returns for a day of free, family-friendly chess activities with another event in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 7th July 2024, 11am-6pm.
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Free chess lessons from a CSC tutor
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Simultaneous displays by the top Grandmasters in the country
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Giant chess sets
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Speed chess galore in the Challenge the Chess Master tent
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Living chess with actors, replaying famous games of chess on our giant board
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Puzzle-rush: pit your wits against fiendish chess puzzles on ChessKid.
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Furion Kapitanski - National Champion (Again)!!
10th June 2024
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Only weeks after winning the Rapidplay Championship, Furion has added the Classical U8 Bulgarian Championship to his growing trophy cabinet.
Furion scored 8/9 beating the top seed, with a tournament performance of 1529.
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Double Success in the Kent Finals
1st June 2024
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Lewisham are double cup winners this season having won both our matches at the Kent Finals this afternoon.
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Lewisham win the Lewis Cup for the first time since 1992, by beating Beckenham 3.5 - 2.5. Our winning team Ashley Stewart, Jonathon Peoples, Wilf Wheatley, John Allen, Peter Wood and Arnaud Malet. This was our 23rd success in the trophy.
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Lewisham also took the Harvey Cup - a trophy we held as recently as 2018. In the final we beat Petts Wood & Orpington 3.5 - 2.5, avenging our defeat in the regular season.
Our winning team, Rod Wigbout, David Helsby, Kevin Flaherty, Conrad Hall, Jagdev Patel and Matthew Helsby.
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Congratulations to team captains - both non-playing today, Tim Gluckman and Mike Wood, as well as to all involved and to everyone who played a part of the winning squads this season.
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Club Championship Winners 2023-24
25th May 2024
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Congratulations to Martin Gruau who won the Lewisham Club Championship with 4.5/5, ahead of Wilfred Wheatley and Peter Wood both on 4 points.
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Martin wins a £20 voucher for Chess & Bridge as well as the coveted trophy.
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The grading prize (U1600) was won for a second year by Conrad Hall (3/5), who beat Miki Zmudzinski in a tie-break. Conrad wins a £15 voucher for his efforts.
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Furion Kapitanski - National Champion!
20th May 2024
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After a 6/11 performance in the FIDE U8 World Rapidplay Championships in April, Lewisham's Furion Kapitanski cemented his place as Bulgaria's top U8 by taking the National Championships Rapidplay with a score of 6/7 - congratulations from everyone at Lewisham Chess Club
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Matthew Helsby wins Kent Junior Championship U11 title!
5th May 2024
Aft
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After his 2023 success taking the U9 title, Matthew scored a perfect 6/6 on his way to claiming the U11 title last weekend.
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Matthew will be involved in the Kent U11 side that will contest the Inter Association Cup in Northamption next week, to which we wish him every success in following up his individual triumph.
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ECF Blitz @ Beckenham & Bromley Chess Club (Weds 8th May)
2nd May 2024
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Lewisham members receive a discounted entry to Beckenham & Bromley's ECF rated blitz tournament next week at the Parklangley Club.
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Time Control: 7 minutes + 3 seconds a move
Event Starts at 7:15pm, concluding at 10pm
Entry Fees
(a) Beckenham & Bromley Chess Club Members – free.
(b) Petts Wood and Lewisham members -£4
(c) Others - £6
Prizes
1st - £50
2nd - £20
U1800 - £20
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Entry Procedure:
Please:
(a) Pay the appropriate fee directly to:
Beckenham & Bromley Chess Club
Sort Code: 30-91-35
Account No: 03370405
(b) Notify the organiser by email –
ian@ianlsnape.myzen.co.uk
Entries close at midday on 7 May 2024.
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Club Refurbishment - Reopening 8th May
2nd May 2024
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Following a two week closure due to refurbishment works, the club will be open and hosting chess again from 8th May.
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Whilst the walls have been plastered and new lighting fitted, please excuse the appearance whilst the room is repainted and further non-intrusive improvements are made over the coming weeks.
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Final Stretch for London Women
7th April 2024
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Our Women's team move into the final two fixtures this month with a chance of finishing 2nd in the league.
We take on Hammersmith before a clash with the newly crowned champions London Universities at the end of the month.
So far we've had nine players play for us, including those from Charlton, Beckenham and Petts Wood - a truly collaborative Kent Chess initiative!
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Southend Success!
2nd April 2024
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We were delighted to see Matthew Helsby pick up =1st place in the Southend Chess Congress this weekend.
Matthew scored 5.5 / 7, including draws against the players seeded 1 and 3 in the U1600 event, with a performance rating of 1704.
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Photography below with IA (and ex-Lewisham member from many years ago!) Adam Raoof.
Easter Blitz Tournament Winners
28th March 2024
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Congratulations to Jude who won our Easter Blitz with a score of 6.5 / 7 in a field of 24 players
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Other winners (who also picked up a chocolate egg) were;
2nd Place - Sam
Rating Prizes - Kevin & Marcus
Junior Prize - Matthew
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Easter Blitz Tournament
24th March 2024
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We're holding an Easter Blitz Tournament this coming Wednesday 27th March at the Club.
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The time control will be 3+2. We'll be looking to play 6-7 rounds (as determined by entries), with the event to conclude at 10:15pm.
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Registration from 7:45pm, with the idea to kick the event off by 8:10pm. Late comers welcome so long as numbers can be kept even.
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This event is free for both members and non-members, though entry is limited to 40 players.
To avoid disappointment please email your interest to lewishamchessclub@gmail.com to reserve a place.
Prizes (non-monetary) available.
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Lewisham in the hunt for Kent Semi-Final places
8th March 2024
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With just a few weeks left of the regular season, Lewisham are fighting on a number of fronts to reach the post-season stages.
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In the County Cup, the group winners (Petts Wood) will move to the County Cup Final, whilst the second placed team will progress to the Lewis Cup. Currently we sit in second place but are dependent on a favour from last seasons County Cup winners Charlton, who whilst out of contention need to take at least a point of Beckenham and Bromley to see us progress
In the Stevenson Cup, a draw will do against Petts Wood. Should we lose, our opponents would join Charlton in progressing to the Semi-Finals with Maidstone and Rainham the likely opponents.
In the Harvey Cup there is all to play for with six of the eight teams in with a chance of making the semi-finals. We control our own destiny with ties away at Petts Wood (15th March) and Gravesend (26th March) to end our campaign.
In the Tom Fuller, Charlton have taken top spot. Their final match pits them against Petts Wood - anything but a Petts Wood win would open to the door to Lewisham's 5th team to move into second.
In the Intro Cup Lewisham 8 can move into top spot with a win in their final match at home to Dartford but will have an anxious wait with a number of teams (including Lewisham 7!) who could yet surpass their total.
Semi-Finals will take place through April, with Finals Day TBC
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Another fine win for Lewisham 1 (London League)
21st January 2024
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Another fine team victory for Lewisham's 1st team in the London League last night.
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Mikhail's victory against IM Richard Bates on Board 1 secured the match, following on with strong wins for Mark and Jonathon.
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A few drinks were shared afterwards with the company of Hackney players, with our two defeats, both sharp games, being the subject of much of the analysis.
The result puts Lewisham into fourth place in the table, holding onto the coat hails of the top sides whilst giving us some breathing room from the rest of the pack
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Club Talk - Wednesday 31st January
21st January 2024
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We're delighted to announce that Ashley Stewart will lead a talk at the club on Wednesday 31st January.
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Ash is going to present some of his games, where the focus will be on;
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Material imbalances (pieces vs pawns)
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Attacking on opposite sides
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Middlegames with opposite colour bishops
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Rook endgames with pawns.
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The talk will be aimed at Intermediate to Advanced level but it is likely that you will find it instructive whatever your standard.
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This event is free to all club members. Non-members are also welcome with a voluntary contribution of a £1 suggested.
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Photo credit - Brendan O'Gorman (https://brendanogorman.smugmug.com/)
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Big Win in London League D1
18th January 2024
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Tonight saw Lewisham take the spoils at Cavendish as we scored our most impressive victory for many a year, winning 5-3 against a team that contained 2 Grandmasters (inc. England International Ravi Haria), 1 International Master and 1 Women's Fide Master.
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The result moves us to 2.5 points from our 4 games thus far and to the heady heights of 4th place in the league.
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New Dates to be agreed for January Fixtures
17th January 2024
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New dates are to agreed for our London League matches, Lewisham 2 vs East Ham 2 and Lewisham 3 vs Kings Head 2, following venue and transport disruption.
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Lewisham Women will now play Hammersmith on 12th March.
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We hope to be able to agree new dates with our opponents in the near future
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Christmas Puzzle Competition - Win for Jonathon
23rd December 2023
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Congratulations to Jonathon who won the Christmas Puzzle Competition, pipping Mike by a solitary point.
Players were set 11 puzzles with the idea of scoring as many points as possible in 15 minutes.
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Lewisham members will receive an emailed version of the questions (and answers) over the next couple of days
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Christmas Puzzle Competition - Wednesday 13th December
4th December 2023
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Next week sees the return of our festive puzzle competition. Whilst it is a bit of fun, there will be a prize for club members scoring the highest.
Players can have a go at any point during the club night
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Lewisham 1 taste victory in the London League D1
22nd November 2023
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After a draw and a loss (albeit to the behemoth that is Wood Green) in our first two fixtures, Lewisham 1 took their first win of the season since returning to the top flight of the London League, defeating Streatham 5.5-2.5
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Despite being outgraded on boards 1-6, both Mikhail and Peter took wins, with Mike, Wilf and Tim all getting very credible draws.
Boards 7 and 8 proved to be interesting games with the advantage swinging in both directions before both Kit and Arnaud came away with the points.
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With the Christmas break in matches, we're next back in action against Cavendish 1 in January
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Club Championship Update
18th November 2023
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After three rounds only Martin Gruau has a 100% score, tracked by Wilf Wheatley and Mike Roberts on 2.5. Round 4 sees Martin and Wilf face-off, with Mike against Peter Wood, part of a a gaggle of players on 2 points.
One of those, Miki Zmudzinski leads the way for the U1600 grading prize, with Jim Barber hot on his heels with 1.5
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All pairings for Round 4 should be completed by mid-Jan, with the final round to be played Jan/Feb.
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Winning Start for Lewisham Women
15th November 2023
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Lewisham Women got off to a winning start in the first match of the London Women's League season, bettering Wimbledon, a team of exciting young junior prospects.
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A relatively evenly matched contest on paper proved to be the case over the board with all games going past the 100 minute mark.
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Our team comprised of players from Lewisham Chess Club (Julia Mervis and Lucinda Ly), as well as neighbouring clubs Petts Wood (Orla Dorman) and Beckenham & Bromley (Hannah Lynes) - team pictured below.
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Special mention to Julia who was playing her first rated OTB game and came away with the win after resisting a sharp opening attack from her opponent.
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Success for John in the Isle of Man
5th November 2023
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Whilst most eyes will have been on the Grand Swiss, Lewisham focussed our attention on the Major and Minor sections, with John Allen, Zia Mehmet and former committee member Howard Dobson (now resident in the Isle of Man) all in action.
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For John there was a second international prize in a matter of months as he walked away with joint 1st place in the Minor with a TPR of 1866.
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With the Major and Minor sections playing together, John had to face strong opposition, including a draw with a Candidate Master, and beating a player > FIDE 2000.
John, pictured right, along with the Major and Minor prizewinners.
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Season 2023-24 underway
15th October 2023
The 2023-24 season is now underway. Lewisham members should keep an eye on emails with captains of our teams likely to begin emailing for their forthcoming fixtures.
Andrew will be reporting games played on a monthly basis to our captains with the intention of making sure members are all given opportunity to play.
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Calling all Women! Play for Lewisham in the London Women's League
06th October 2023
Lewisham Chess Club will be competing in the new London League Women's Division for season 2023-24.
We're very keen on making this a success and would like to extend the opportunity for non-club members to play.
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All games will be playing within Zone 1, with fixtures kicking off in November
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Please do drop us a note if you'd like to connect and obtain some further information from our club secretary, Andrew
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Fixtures 2023-24 now available for download
05th October 2023
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Fixtures have now been agreed and are available for download (see fixtures/results page) for the following leagues;
Kent - 8 teams
London - 4 teams (including 1 Women's only)
Central London - 1 team
Croydon League - 4 teams
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We have extended our presence in the Kent League by adding a second team into the Intro Cup (average team <1400), which should offer further opportunities for newer players this coming season.
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Lewisham win the 2023 Pitt-Yavash Trophy
1st October 2023
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Lewisham triumphed in Wednesdays Pitt-Yavash Trophy in an 18-board encounter with our neighbours Beckenham, becoming the first team to take the win on opposition soil!
There were club debuts for six of our players - Shreyansh, Jagdev, Furion, Peter, Thomas and David.
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A big thanks to the organisation of Andrew Dovey @ Beckenham who got everyone sat down and started on time.
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Subscriptions Reminder
28th August 2023
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A reminder that subsctiptions for the 2023-24 season are now due with deadline for payment being the end of September, though it is helpful if payments could be made before the Kent & Croydon Fixtures meetings in mid-Sept.
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Prices are frozen at £60 adult (waged), £40 (unwaged/student), and £15 junior. Junior memberships will continue to be fully subsidised whilst we continue to hold a balance of funds on trust.
ECF Award for local chess club
18th September 2023
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We extend our congratulations to the Greenwich Peninsula Chess Club who won the ECF Contribution to Chess in the Community Award in the ECF Awards 2023.
Born from the chess boom of 2020-21, the club quickly found a following which has now grown to a Facebook following of over 600 members, and have recently ran an ECF rated tournament.
We were particularly pleased to see their chartable ethos, organising a team to visit HMP Thameside and raising money for the provision of chess sets to girls schools in the slum areas of Nairobi.
We wish Nick and Andrew continuing success with their efforts. Well done guys!
https://greenwich-peninsula-chess-club.ueniweb.com/
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Lewisham Summer Competition Won by Kushal Jakhria
18th September 2023
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Congratulations to Kushal Jakhria of Charlton Chess Club, who won our Summer Tournament with a flawless 5/5.
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Kushal receives a book voucher from Chess & Bridge.
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2nd place was shared by Rudy Padovan (Beckenham), Kit Gallagher, David Brown, Kenroy Smith (all Lewisham) and David Rogers (Charlton)
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picture below by Jordan Gibbons, originally appearing in BBC article
Pitt-Yavash Trophy
13th September 2023
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The Pitt-Yavash Trophy will be contested at Beckenham this year, on Wednesday 27th September.
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Our now traditional curtain raiser for the new season is played as a friendly match-up with particular emphasis on newer players being encouraged to play a match at the standard time controls (75+15).
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Ted Mason Memorial 2023
10th September 2023
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Congratulations to Colin Gentile who wins the 2023 Ted Mason Memorial pipping Mike Roberts by half a point with an excellent 5.5 / 6.
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Colin received the Trophy from David Hamilton, who remembered his games with Ted fondly, and was able to share a published game.
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Lewisham join the London Women's League
8th September 2023
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We are delighted to announce that Lewisham Chess Club will compete in the new London League Women's Division for season 2023-24.
The League aims to promote Women's Chess in the Capital and will act as an extra opportunity for Lewisham's current women members. We're also keen to bolster our ranks and would be delighted to hear from any players in the area who might consider playing in matches over the season. Please do get in touch, all standards welcome.
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All games will be playing within Zone 1, with fixtures kicking off in October.
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Lewisham Juniors qualify for the London Junior Finals
6th September 2023
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Lewisham Chess Club played host to a South East Qualifying Event for the London Junior Chess Championships this past Sunday.
Amongst the 33 competitors in the U8, U10 and U12 sections, Lewisham members fared well with Furion (U8) and Matthew (U10) both topping their section with perfect scores and qualifying for the Junior Chess Championships.
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Ted Mason Memorial - Sunday 10th September
31st August 2023
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Our Ted Mason Memorial Competition willl take place on Sunday 10th September at the Catford Circket & Sports club and is open to all members of Lewisham Chess Club.
Edward Mason was one of the stalwarts of Lewisham Chess Club, winning the Kent Individual Championship 5 times, along with acting as Secretary of the club for over 25 years.
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The Memorial competition was established in 1989 and is ran as a handicapped time control where the stronger player plays with less time than his opponent dependent on the grading difference.
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Entry Fee = £5 with cash prizes for the winner and runners-up. This also covers a light lunch.
Please see our club update mail dated 31st Aug and confirm to Andrew if interested in playing.
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KSQP Results
24th August 2023
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Knowing that we needed a large win in our final fixture, Lewisham lined up with a strong team of Mike, Kit, Kenroy, Arnaud and Ashley against Gravesend.
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We took it down to the final round of matches, but couldn't get the 4-0 we needed, ending the match with a 13-3 victory, but agonisingly a mere 1/2 point behind Beckenham, who will move into the Semi-Final stages.
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Lewisham's 2nd side were beaten in their final match by Charlton, who had already won Group B
A Greek Odyssey
8th August 2023
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Dimitrios, John and Andrew traveled to Kavala in Greece for the 32nd Kavala Chess Tournament (27-July - 4th Aug).
Days comprised of a number of visits to the local beaches, whilst evenings allowed for some post-game analysis over a few beers and ouzo.
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The standard of opposition meant there were no easy games, with all players regularly playing 4+ hours (John grinding out one of the tournaments longest games, just shy of 5.5 hours)
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Well done to John, who picked up the over 50's prize in Section B
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Best of Britsh!
3rd August 2023
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There was success for 2 Lewisham players at the British Championships.
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Mikhail Sedykh tied 1st in the Major Open on 7/9 points, beating former Lewisham member John Sugden on the way. Along with the trophy that performance qualifies him for the British Championships 2024.
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Seeded 7th, Furion Kapitanski finished 2nd in the U8's, with a performance of 1378 and only one loss to the eventual winner.
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Lewisham Club Championship - Round 1
20th July 2023
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Pairings have been drawn for Round 1 of our Club Championship.
22 players will compete, of which 8 are <1600 and will be eligible for the Grading Prize.
Interestingly, we have five formers winners involved this year - Mike Roberts, Mark Robertson, Tim Gluckman, Colin Gentile and David Hamilton.
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Problem Solving Championship 2023-24 : Starter Problem
8th July 2023
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Entry to this competition sponsored by Winton is by solving the starter problem below. White, playing up the board, is to play and force mate in two moves against any Black defence. There is no entry fee, and the competition is open to British residents only. Competitors need only send White’s first move, known as the key move
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Entries can be made in one of two ways —
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By post to Nigel Dennis, Boundary House, 230 Greys Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 1QY
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By email to winton@theproblemist.org
All entries must be postmarked or emailed no later than 31st July 2023 and must give the entrant’s name and home address. Juniors under the age of 18 on 31st August 2022 must give their date of birth. All entrants should mention where they first saw the starter problem. Receipt of the solution to the starter will only be acknowledged after the closing date, when all competitors will receive the answer, and those who get it right will also receive the postal round, which will contain 8 more difficult and varied problems.
In due course the best competitors and the best juniors from the postal round will be invited to the final in February 2024. The exact date and location will be advised. The prize money in the final is likely to be around £2,500. The winner of the final will win the right to represent Great Britain at the World Chess Solving Championships 2024.
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Player of the Season!
8th July 2023
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With all match results completed our ‘Player of the Season 2022-23’ is Gokhan Kizialy!
Gokhan scored 8.5 / 11 (77%) over the course of the season. Honourable mentions to Iain Hunt, Arnaud Malet and Pete McGranaghan who all topped 70%.
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Lewisham vs Chalton - Newcomers Match
28th June 2023
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On Wednesday 28th June we welcomed Charlton for a 16 board friendly match with the idea of providing a classical rated game to some of our newer players.
In the end we had 5 players playing their first match for the club, and a further 3 getting some additional experience.
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The final scorecard ended 10-6 in Lewisham’s favour, with a fun evenings chess enjoyed by all.
Thanks to Rob Stebbings and David Rogers for organising the Charlton team.
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End of Season Archiving
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With the 2022-23 season now complete, we have moved that news into our achive, which you can access here;
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Attn Lewisham Schools!
Lewisham Chess Club would like to help local Schools and Colleges start or develop their own Chess teams.
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Chess develops the mind - Mental discipline, patience, forward planning, calulation, spatial awareness, strategy and strategic thinking are just some of the attributes a person develops when they learn to play chess. It can also teach one to win with grace and to lose with dignity.
Chess can be demanding, rewarding, exciting and FUN!
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So if you are a teacher who would like to start a school Chess Club or would like to enhance the development of an existing club/team please get in touch with us to discuss how we at Lewisham Chess Club can assist you in your quest to develop and enhance young minds.
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In the first instance please contact Martin Stewart who will discuss how we can best assist you in conjunction with our Youth Chess Engagement officer David Hamilton.
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