Jan
24
Coronavirus Update – masks no longer compulsary from Thurs 27/1/22
January 2022 - Latest Government Regulations. From Thursday 27/1/22 face masks will no longer be legally required in chess clubs. However, the government states "Public health guidance will remain in place, suggesting individuals should continue to wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces, where you may come into contact with people you do [...]
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Jan
24
Monday puzzle / game
White to play and mate in 3 This is the end of an online game between Firouzja (White) and Carlsen. Can you spot the mate in 3? Solution
Jan
23
STOP PRESS: Dorset Juniors WIN Inter-County Team Battle!
Dorset Juniors beat Hampshire, Devon and Berkshire in epic team chess battle
Jan
20
Thursday puzzle / game
White to play and mate in 2 White has a number of ways of winning but only one mate in 2. Can you find it? Solution
Jan
16
Mike Waddington Annotates
Mike Waddington kindly sent in this short game which he played in 1997 against the very sadly departed Steve Shutler. The game is an excellent example of the importance of time in the opening and early middlegame. You can play through the game below or click here if you prefer to see it in full [...]
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Jan
01
Wessex Online Tournaments – Review of 2021
Keith Gregory sends the following review of the enduringly popular Wessex Online 5 minutes + 5 seconds tournaments. 4NCL Wessex (and friends!) – a 2021 review As we move into 2022 and our 3rd year of “4NCL Wessex Online” chess, with the official 4NCL Online season 5 starting 25th January, it seems a good time [...]
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Dec
31
The Presidents’ Double Jab Review of Covid-19 Year 2021
Alan Dommett, President of the B&DCL, and Ian Clark, President of the DCCA, have jointly produced the following review of the year. 1st Jab Any upbeat assessment of this remarkable year for Dorset chess can only be made because we had two exceptionally talented people in the right place in unprecedented times, just when they [...]
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Dec
28
Christmas 2021 Puzzles Solutions
We hope you enjoyed the puzzles! Here are the solutions... 5 Christmas Puzzles Santa has had a very long day delivering presents and has forgotten which way round the board is in this puzzle. So White can be playing up or down the board. Either way it is mate in 3! Can you find both [...]
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Dec
27
Jonathan Penrose – World Champion Beating Amateur
Penrose playing Euwe in 1960. Photo by Dguendel (wikimedia). CC BY 3.0 Jonathan Penrose passed away last month aged 88. Despite being an amateur he was by some margin the strongest British player of his generation. Some of his achievements... he won the British Championship a record 10 times he was the first British player [...]
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Dec
20
Southbourne Christmas Fun Handicap Tournament Results
As is traditional, the Southbourne Christmas Fun Handicap Tournament was held on the last available Friday before Christmas. Last year, for the first time in almost 30 years, it was not held and this year we chose not to organise it on Christmas Eve as we understand Santa might be very busy! So the tournament [...]
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Dec
20
Monday puzzle / game
White to play A 17 y.o. Garry Kasparov is playing White. His rook on a1 is en prise and his opponent also has d4 threatening mate on h1. How did Kasparov strike first to demolish his opponent? Solution
Dec
18
Mike Waddington Annotates The British Over 50s
As previously reported, Mike Waddington won the British Over 50s Championship in October. Here is his interesting fourth round game from that tournament. His opponent sacced a pawn for an attack which Mike met with calm defence before turning the tables on his opponent. You can play through the game with Mike's commentary below, or [...]
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Dec
16
Thursday puzzle / game
White to play and win This is a fairly gentle study by Aristide Dall’Ava. Solution
Dec
13
Monday puzzle / game
White to play This is from a game between Spassky and Larsen. Black’s pieces look awkwardly placed but only one sequence leads to an advantage for White. Solution
Dec
04
Christian Westrap Annotates
Christian Westrap has kindly sent in his interesting game against Martin O'Neill from the Wessex vs Poole match in the 4NCL weekend 1. Christian says, "It was an enjoyable game, albeit quite hard work for me! I was pleased to defend well and take my chance when it arrived." You can play through the game [...]
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Nov
30
Dorset Juniors Success at 2021 British Junior Rapid & Blitz Championship
The 2021 British Junior Rapid & Blitz Championship took place on 13th and 14th November at Kents Hill Park, Milton Keynes. Four Dorset juniors - Jamie Doyle, Larissa Cuthbert, Florence Spirling and Zander Booth - took part and all performed very well. The weekend was intense with the juniors playing, on average, between 18 and [...]
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Nov
29
Hampshire Junior Open Chess Tournament – great wins for Dorset Juniors
Hot off the press! Three young Dorset junior chess players took part in the Hampshire Junior Open Chess Tournament on Sunday 28th November: Leo Camopy in the U10 section, with Harry Mercer and Zander Booth in the U12 section. All played very well and special gold congratulations to Leo and Zander who won their respective [...]
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Nov
29
Monday puzzle / game
White to play and win There is only one move that wins here whilst everything else loses. Can you find it and the critical second move follow up? Solution
Nov
25
Nov
22
Allan Pleasants and John Weatherlake At The European Team Championships
As previously reported, Allan Pleasants and John Weatherlake represented Wales at the European Team championships last week. Before play had even commenced Allan said it was "Going to be tough for both of us". So it proved for John (pictured above) who played in four rounds, facing a GM, an IM, an FM and a [...]
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Nov
12
Your New Monthly ECF Rating Explained
Introduction The ECF grading system was the method formerly used by the English Chess Federation (ECF) to indicate a player's strength. It was first published in 1958 and was devised by Richard W. B. Clarke, father of politician Charles Clarke. The 3 digit ECF grades were updated on a six monthly cycle, based on results [...]
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Nov
11
Allan Pleasants & John Weatherlake Represent Wales
The European 23rd European Team Chess Championship is taking place in Slovenia from Friday 12th to Sunday 21st November. Allan Pleasants (Weymouth and Wimborne) and John Weatherlake (Poole) are representing Wales. Allan is a seasoned international but this is John's debut for his national side. If you want to follow the action, here are some [...]
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Nov
11
Nov
08
Monday puzzle / game
White to play and win This is a study by Peter Boll. It is not too hard to spot the main idea but it needs a couple of accurate moves to nail the solution. Solution
Oct
30
Halloween Special – Dracula-Frankenstein Gambit
Cropped version of an original photo by Miguel Mendez. CC BY 2.0 It's that time of year again when things go bump in the night! Last year in Bulletin No.34 we provided you with some creepy crawly action with the Halloween Gambit Horrors! This year it is Dracula's and Frankenstein's turn! Welcome to the dark [...]
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Oct
30
Halloween Puzzles
The wicked Black Witches have been up to mischief again... they have been CHEATING at chess... can you undo their fiendish tricks? Hints and Answers at the end. Good luck! 1. The Black Witch did not like losing at chess so she magically turned all the pieces green! Can you colour the pieces black and [...]
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Oct
22
Highcliffe Are B&DCL Team Handicap Knockout Cup Winners!
Highcliffe are to be congratulated for their fine win on Wednesday evening in the B&DCL Team Handicap Knockout Cup Final beating Weymouth 4 – 2 in an exciting encounter. Due to the handicap system, Weymouth needed to win 4 – 2 and half way through the evening (before the drinks break!) it looked as though [...]
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Oct
16
Bulletin No.83 – Au revoir to bulletins
18 Months of Bulletins As OTB chess has resumed, this is the last of our Saturday Bulletins which we started when the COVID lockdown began over eighteen months ago. If you include the Dorset Local Chats and those Bulletins which have been split into several parts then there have been over 100 Bulletins! We tried [...]
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Oct
13
Mike Waddington is British Over 50s Champion!
Mike Waddington at the 2021 British Over 50s Championship. Photo copyright Brendan O'Gorman, shown with his kind permission. Congratulations to Mike Waddington for winning the British Over 50s Championship in Milton Keynes, which ran from 4th to 10th October. Mike lost his first round game but proceeded to win all the remaining six! He ended [...]
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Oct
09
Bulletin No.82 – B&DCL ‘Team and Individual’ Rolls of Honour
As we approach the start of the new B&DCL 2021/22 league season and the first set of fixtures this week, it seemed appropriate to: Round off the truncated 2019/20 season with a summary of the results and presentations Step back in time and reveal the tables of all the team and individual winners of each [...]
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Oct
02
Bulletin No.81 – The Stafford Gambit is Dead, Long Live the Stafford Gambit!
Back in January 2021, an in-depth article on the Stunning Stafford Gambit was produced, where I tried to present a strong and persuasive case for playing it, its main features being … It's exciting! It's adventurous! It's daring! It's full of traps! It's unsound! This can often work in Black's favour as the pressure is [...]
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Sep
29
Highcliffe win KO Cup semi-final encounter as OTB Competitive Chess Returns
On Monday 27th September we saw the welcome return to competitive 'over the board' chess in the local area for the first time in over 18 months with the semi-final of the delayed 2020 B&DCL Team Handicap Knockout Cup semi-final match between Highcliffe and Wimborne which was played at Greystones. This is probably the longest [...]
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Sep
25
Bulletin No.80 – Combo Corner: Bronstein
Introduction David Bronstein is best remembered for failing to win the world title against Botvinnik and in particular the horrendous blunder in game 6 of the match which was eventually drawn 12-12. This is a great pity as Bronstein was one of the most creative players the world has ever seen, a true genius of [...]
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Sep
18
Bulletin No.79 – The Bournemouth ‘Grand’ Chess Congress
Introduction After much deliberation and several reworks of the numbers, the Bournemouth Grand Chess Congress was finally launched in 2012, the same year as the London Olympics. However, it almost did not happen! Below is the full history of the Congress, how it came about, its successes including attracting some of the UK's top Grandmasters [...]
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Sep
18
Friendly matches – Poole vs Bournemouth & Highcliffe vs Ringwood
Over the summer there have been a few warm up matches played as we all get used to playing real chess again. Paul Errington (Bournemouth) and Eric Sachs (Poole) report on two over the board matches between Bournemouth and Poole Chess Clubs played in September, the first one at the Winton Liberal Club, which is […]
Sep
11
Bulletin No.78 – Combo Corner: Botvinnik
Introduction When you think of Botvinnik you immediately think of strategic masterpieces rather than fantastic tactics. However, Botvinnik did play some really nice combinations, it was just that by the time he played them he normally had other ways of winning. In other words Botvinik's combinations were normally crowning glories after he had already outplayed [...]
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Sep
11
Poem No.14 – A Chess Riddle
Over the summer months Christine Roberts is delighting and entertaining us with her chess poems. This final one provides us with fond memories on how we used to greet each other at the start of the season. Since two years now, do you remember that yearly night in late September? We grouped together in the [...]
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Sep
11
Weekly Quiz No.14 – Find the Plan (and Move)!
This is the last of our Weekly Quiz Questions on Find the Plan (and Move)! Like the previous 13, it has been taken from an actual game position and you have a number of possible options but only one might be best! This is different to the Puzzles as the solution does not lead to [...]
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Sep
09
Thursday puzzle / game
White to play and mate in 2 To my eyes a little bit harder than Monday’s mate in 2 but still with a simplicity and elegance to the solution. There are 5 different mates involved! Solution
Sep
04
Bulletin No.77 – Local Games: A Mixed Bag of Goodies!
We have a bit of everything today! We start with a short king hunt... our second offering is a positional game with twists and turns... and we end with a memorable win against a famous GM. Enjoy! Attack with the English We normally associate the English with subtle queenside pressure or the big centre [...]
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