Welcome

Welcome to the website of the Nottinghamshire Chess Association (NCA). The NCA administers chess in Nottinghamshire.

If you are a new or experienced chess player looking to join a club in Nottinghamshire contact one of the club secretaries shown on the list of clubs. New members are always welcome.

If you need to contact any NCA officer then please visit the information page for their details.

Latest news

For older news items see the news page.

Best Game Prize (13th May)

Entries are solicited for the "Best Game" prize. Eligible games are those played during the 2011-12 season by members of clubs affiliated to the NCA in the League, in the Congress and any other tournaments organised by the NCA, or for county teams. The rules are not set in concrete, and any grey areas will be determined by EC.

Entries should be submitted to the secretary by 31st May. Games played [eg in the later stages of the county championships] after this deadline will be eligible for next season's prize; likewise, games played [eg for county teams] after the closing date last year are eligible this time. Light analysis may be included, but is not necessary. Entries will be anonymised before submission to the judge.

Ideally, entries should be e-mailed in PGN format [which can be produced by any modern chess program]; but any readable format, whether by e-mail or otherwise, is acceptable.

Doncaster Rapidplay (7th May)

Steve Burke (Ashfield) scored 3/6 in the open, ahead of Paul Cumbers (Grantham) with a score of 2½/6. In the major section Tim Kendall (Gambit) scored 3/6.

Cambridgeshire Rapidplay (7th May)

Steve Burke (Ashfield) won the U175 grading prize in the open section with a score of 2½/5. Also playing in the open was David Coates (Newark) who scored 3/5. In the Challengers section Jonah Willow (West Notts) and Hambel Willow (West Notts) both scored 2½/5.

Nottinghamshire County Championship - amendments to entry form (7th May)

Please download the latest version of the entry form for the Nottinghamshire County Championship as there have been some amendments made. Here is a brief summary of the changes:

All help in setting up is gratefully received. If you have any further enquiries then contact Robert Richmond.

Nottinghamshire County Championship (30th Apr)

An entry form is now available to download for the Nottinghamshire County Championship which is being held on 16-17th June at Bramcote Memorial Hall (West Notts chess club venue).

Nottingham Congress (28th Apr)

Mark Hebden wins the Open again with a score of 4½/5. Stephen Hunter and Michael Harper (both Gambit) win the Major and Intermediate sections. Full results are now up on the web site.

Some photos (taken from Brendan O'Gorman's photo gallery):

Mark Hebden - Open winner
Mark Hebden - Open winner
Jim Burnett - 2nd place in Open and British Champioship nominee
Jim Burnett - 2nd place in Open

 

Bolton Congress (18th Apr)

Daniel Broughton (West Bridgford) came equal 3rd in the major section with a score of 3½/5.

Southend Congress (18th Apr)

Jim Burnett (Mansfield) came equal 3rd in the open with a score of 5/7 and won £50 prize money. His grading performance for the competition was 217, some 20 points higher than his actual rating of 194. Also playing in the open was David Coates (Newark) and Alex Combie (Newark), both scoring 3½/7.

Inter-County U160 Championship: Nottinghamshire 8-8 Greater Manchester (3rd Apr)

Nottinghamshire drew 8-8 in their last county match to finish top of the table and become under-160 champions. They qualify for the national stages and will play Middlesex in the quarter final on 19th May. Full Results

Old Chess Kit Donation or Sponsorship (3rd Apr)

EPIC Partnership are running a new initiative in inner city schools (specifically St Anns and Sneinton in Nottingham) to introduce chess lessons and activities after school and are looking for some assistance with obtaining the equipment. If any one would consider donating any old or unused kits or would like to sponsor the purchase of some new kits then please contact Paula Gallagher-Osborne. She is the Partnership Business Manager for EPIC Partnership.

Blackpool Congress (3rd Apr)

A number of Notts players took part in this competition. Taylor Pearson (Notts CA) and Graham Neil (Nomads) both scored 3½/5 in the intermediate section. Here are the results for most of the Notts players (the minor section is yet to be published):

35th Taminco Open International Chess Tournament (28th Mar)

This competition is taking place from 14th to 18th July at Ghent in Belgium. The entry fee is €40 and the accommodation on offer is reasonably priced at €30 per night for room and breakfast. There is over €6000 prize money on offer. An entry form is available to download. You can visit the web site for more information.

Doncaster Congress (5th Mar)

There were 17 Notts players who took part in the Doncaster Congress this year. Paul Cumbers (Grantham) came equal 3rd in the Open with a score of 3½/5 and won £20 prize money. Roger Walker (Mansfield) scored 4/5 in the Intermediate and won £33.33 for coming equal 3rd and £50 for a grading prize. In the Minor section Chris Fraser (West Bridgford) scored 3½/5 and won a grading prize of £16.66. Here are the results for all the Notts players (scores out of 5):

St Albans South Herts Congress (5th Mar)

The congress takes place at St Columbas College, King Harry Lane, St Albans on Saturday 31st Mar and Sunday 1st Apr. An entry form is available to download. For more details about the congress contact Terry Douse at shertschess@yahoo.co.uk. You can also visit the web site.

Date finalised for County Championship (13th Feb)

The County Championship will now be held at West Nottingham on 16-17th June.

ECF Membership (13th Feb)

A paper on the ECF Membership scheme is available from the Executive Committee. The scheme is to be implemented from September. Please send any comments to Robert Richmond.

Executive Committee Minutes for 2011/12 (13th Feb)

Minutes from the meetings of 11th November and 20th January are now up on the web site.

New venue for Ashfield chess club (3rd Feb)

Ashfield Chess Club moved venue from 01 January 2012 and now meet at:

The Coronation Social Club, Bannerman Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, NG17 8DW (still on a Wednesday)

The club details have been updated on the web site.

ECF 2012 grades now published (3rd Feb)

The ECF Jan 2012 half year gradings are now out. These are effective forthwith. The ECF grading web site is www.ecfgrading.org.uk. A new feature on the web site is to see detailed game results for the current season and previous seasons for each player.

Inter-County U140 Championship Results Round Up (3rd Feb)

The U140 team started the season by losing 9-7 to Leicestershire. A convincing 11-5 win over Derbyshire got the team back on track. Their most recent match was against Shropshire where they narrowly won 8½-7½. This puts Nottinghamshire in 3rd place in the U140 section with everything to play for.

8 Oct 2011 Leicestershire 9-7 Nottinghamshire Full Results
10 Dec 2011 Derbyshire 5-11 Nottinghamshire Full Results
21 Jan 2012 Nottinghamshire 8½-7½ Shropshire Full Results

Inter-County U100 Championship: Nottinghamshire 7½-4½ Warwickshire (29th Jan)

The U100 team were comfortable winners over Warwickshire and gain the U100 Midlands title. The success was due to the inclusion of 7 juniors who between them scored 5 points. Full results

Inter-County U180 Championship: Warwickshire 10½-5½ Nottinghamshire (29th Jan)

Last season Nottinghamshire were comfortable winners over Warwickshire but this time it was the home team that prevailed and took the Midlands title. As there are only 2 teams in the U180 Championship, both go through to the national stages. Full results

David Levens new position in the ECF (23rd Jan)

David Levens has just been appointed to the position of Manager of Junior Coaching (Home) by the ECF.

Nottingham Rapidplay (23rd Jan)

The winner of the Open section was Alan Smith from Stockport with a score of 5/6. There was a three way tie for first place in the Major between Mark Kenyon (West Nottingham), Andrew Toothill (Ashfield) and Michael Connor (Great Lever). The full results are now up on the web site with a list of prize winners.

York Congress (11th Jan)

The prizes in the York Congress are determined by points scored rather than final position. All 4 Notts players entering the competition were successful at picking up a prize. Michael Harper (Gambit) came equal 3rd in the minor section and won £60 for scoring 4/5. Alex Combie (Newark) and Jim Burnett (Mansfield) both scored 3½/5 in the open section and get their entry fee refunded. In the major section Richard Webster (West Bridgford) also scored 3½/5 and won the same prize.

DforChess web site and books (1st Jan)

A local chess player, Trevor Palmer from Grantham Chess Club, has created a new chess web site to help promote 2 books that he has published. Here is a short description from the author:

"I have just completed a new chess website, www.DforChess.com, the purpose of which is to publish 2 books I have written, Chess for Ordinary Mortals and The Stonewall Attack. As you will see if you visit the site, the first book, in addition I would hope to being a helpful guide to 'below average improvers', contains 67 illustrative games from my past and present. Although the great majority are from my earlier years in Leicestershire chess circles, there are more recent ones since I joined Grantham CC from Notts League matches. I hope this project will be of interest to Association members. Any feedback at all would be welcome."

You can send your feedback to alfred.palmer@homecall.co.uk.

London Chess Classic (1st Jan)

David Flynn (Nomads) scored 4½/9 in the FIDE Open event and finished around mid table.

London Junior Chess Championships (1st Jan)

Mark Kenyon (West Notts) played very well in the U12 Major Championship and came equal 3rd out of 79 competitors. The results for all the Notts juniors taking part are as follows:

For the full results you can visit the ljcc web site.