News

Date:28/06/2022  Swales sails to Rapid Play Victory!

The clubs Summer rapid play tournament was won by Chris! A special mention also to Harris who was the best youngster on the night and had Chris in all sorts of trouble in the Quarter Finals.

The group stages saw highest rated Thornaby entry Mike fail to get out of Group B after blundering his queen against Brad and only managing a draw against Chris when 2 pawns up in an end game. Chris topped the group after Brad had a bit of a piece losing nightmare against him. Group C saw 3 good performances and 1 win for first time visitor and recent Teesside under 11 Championship runner up Tristan, but it was Sam and James who qualified from the group. Sam topped the group after getting a piece up against James with his Sicilian defence. Group D was fastest finished and in typcial fashion of the players involved, featured some very attacking games. Iain topped it with 3 wins and Harris also qualified after winning a decisive last round game against Joseph.

The eye catching entry and instant favourite for the competition was Chris' friend and coach Alan Lau. Alan hasn't played competitively since 2015, but is a very strong player who has won the league multiple times with Redcar in the past. Alan emerged from "the group of death" (Group A) as a strong favourite for the knockout stages and was described by Nick as "totally ruthless"! Callum's win in the 2nd round of games over Bill proved decisive for the runner up spot. The game looked to be heading towards a drawn position, but Bill lost on time.

The Quarter finals saw 3 of the group winners progress. The exception was Sam who fell to Callum after accidentally playing the 2nd move in his analysis instead of the first. Alan defeated James's Scandinavian after a discovered attack from James was countered by Alan leading to a "totally won endgame position" for Alan. Iain beat Brad after pressurising his Sicilian with a "delayed Smith Morra" and comming in with a decisive attack that led to a king and rook fork along with a Queen exchange. Chris had his toughest knockout stage game against Harris after getting into a mess against a Caro-Kann opening. Harris was 2 pawns up and had Chris pinned right back, but Chris managed to get a counter-attack going against the open King and forced a checkmate.

In the semi finals, Iain was first to make it through to the final. His game against Callum went to a rook pawn end game, but Iain had a 6 minute time advantage. This proved decisive and Iain won on time. Chris renewed his oldest chess rivalry (dating back to 1991!) against Alan and for once got the better of his regular 1990's nemesis. Alan castled queen side against the Sicilian Dragon, but it was Chris who pushed his queenside pawns first and managed to get a pawn up. Chris eventually pushed a pawn to b3 and, under pressure, Alan made a mistake by taking it allowing a queen sacrifice for a back rank checkmate. Alan's verdict: "Chris was jammy!"

In the final, Iain played the Albin Counter Gambit against Chris which he struggled with against Ray Pallister last month. Chris managed to hold on to his pawn advantage this time and just about repelled Iain's aggressive attack. Iain sacrificed more pawns to try to find an advantage, but soon after Chris managed to get his bishop onto a good square and get some pressure himself. A checkmate soon followed when Iain moved to the wrong square after a check.

Chris said "I'm really pleased with this win. I used to be very good at quick chess when I was in my 20's, but with so many good up and coming younger players in the club now I'm pretty much a veteran in comparison and I didn't honestly think I had much chance of winning tonight!"


Results Summary....
F
Chris 1-0 Iain

SF
Alan 0-1 Chris
Iain 1-0 Callum

QF
Alan 1-0 James
Chris 1-0 Harris
Iain 1-0 Brad
Sam 0-1 Callum

Group A
1. Alan
2. Callum
3. Bill
4. Nick

Group B
1. Chris
2. Brad
3. Mike
4. David

Group C
1. Sam
2. James
3. Tristan
4. Manuel

Group D
1. Iain
2. Harris
3. Joseph
4. Ollie

Date:27/06/2022  Aces run champions close!

Darlington A 3-2 Thornaby Aces
Steve Dauber ½-½ Chris Ross
Kevin Wilson 0-1 Francis Batchelor
Jonathan Sams ½-½ Brian Ellis
Richard Harris 1-0 Iain Mellis
Luke Owen 1-0 Joe McGinnis

Put together a close match for the final outing for the Aces of the season.

Brian finished first with a lively Goring Gambit K-pawn game where he was an exchange up and close to sealing the deal but an exposed king meant the perpetual check forced a draw.

Iain's game looked like a slow positional advantage through the game for his opponent. Joe, had a very double-edged position, but then queen pawn structure must have collapsed into a decisive advantage. Joe has been unlucky in the Aces with 2 up and comers recently, I see Luke's new grade will be about 1560.

I liked the look of Chris's position for much of the game. He snaffled the a-pawn of his opponent and didn't look to fall behind because of it; but as the pieces came off, he said to me it became a position impossible to push without it falling apart.

Last to finish was myself in a game I was very pleased with. Against the London and I went for ambition with g5 and h5 pushes, the position blocked up with all the space to me and secured the pieces exchange so the only bishop on the board was the same colour good vs bad to my advantage. Still took a lot to force it into a win with a rooks with pawn supporting mating-net, as a draw looked possible at many points.

The Ace's shall fly again!

Francis

Date:25/06/2022  Old Guard Looking Shaky!

In this weeks club championship games, there were 2 big shocks. James got his best ever win so far by defeating Brian Ellis and Geoff managed to grind out a win against Mike.

In Mike's words "I blundered the exchange & Brian blundered a piece and our opponents as it should be made us pay. Years of experience count for nothing if you don't do a blunder check, and look at every check and capture before moving. So well done to Nick's Cadets, the old guard are looking shaky!"

Geoff said "Yes the taddovsky move worked again! Play for a draw and see what happens. I felt I had a solid game, Brian was watching and pointed out a better way I could have won, but I stuck it out and ground out a win".

Full results and standings are here.

Date:23/06/2022  Swales finishes as B division top scorer!

After a tough season for the Bombers, Chris managed to achieve some personal glory by finishing as the top scorer in the B division. Chris finished the season with only 3 defeats (including 2 to Darlington's Dominic Leigh) in 21 games in the A and B divisions. His final game was against nearest rival Andrew French and Chris managed to secure the draw he needed to finish 1st.

The top 3 scorers in the division were.....
1st) Chris Swales (Thornaby Bombers) 8
2nd) Andrew French (Great Ayton B) 7½
3rd) Peter Harker (Hartlepool A) 7

Chris said "It is slightly meaningless as a lot of better players didn't play as many games as me, but I'm still proud of my season and finishing as the highest scorer in the B division. It was my first full season for 23 years, the vast majority of my opponents were high graded than me and I've proven that I'm still difficult to beat. I'm going for more wins next season though as I've drawn too many this year!"

Date:22/06/2022  Mission accomplished for Bombers!

Great Ayton B 2½-1½ Thornaby Bombers
Kegan Harrison ½-½ Mike Creaney
Jim Rogers 1-0 Bill March
Andrew French ½-½ Chris Swales
Kevin Wilson ½-½ Sam Greig

Another narrow defeat for the Bombers, the 7th time we've lost 2½-1½ this season. As a team there was little to play for and captain Joe's stated objectives were to give Sam a chance to see if he could compete at the higher level and give Chris the best chance of finishing as top scorer in the B division. Despite the defeat, both ojectives were achieved!

Mike's game finished first. The pieces seemed to get exchanged off fairly quickly and a draw was agreed. Mike also gets the "Mr Reliable" award as the only player in the whole of the B division to have played all 15 games for his team this season! All were on board 1 as well and he has been a dependable rock with a lot of draws against higher graded players in a tough season for the Bombers.

Chris was next to finish. The board order worked out that he was playing Andrew French, the only person who could pass him in the top scorer list. Chris felt he had the edge against Andrew's King's Indian, but when a draw was offered he was happy to accept to complete his personal target.

Bill's game looked level for a lot of the time after a solid Caro-Kann opening. However he started to get a bit cramped and then he lost a pawn. Things quickly collapsed from here and defeat followed.

Sam was last finished and achieved the 2nd of Joe's objectives by looking competitive at this level. He seemed to have the better of his game and got a pawn up, but it was doubled and later in the game he lost it. Sam offered a draw soon after which was declined, but the result never looked likely to be anything else from that point onwards. We definitely have another potential B division player next season!

So a difficult season for the Bombers has finished, but we were very competitive in the majority of our matches. The nucleus of a good B division team is there and like the Cadets we have lots of reasons to be optimistic for next year.

Date:14/06/2022  Redcar Wreak Revenge!

Thornaby Aces 1-4 Redcar A
Francis Batchelor ½-½ Sarah Grattage
Brian Ellis 0-1 David Baillie
Mike Creaney 0-1 Andrew Smith
Chris Swales ½-½ Royce Parker
Bill March 0-1 Jason Gentle

The Aces beat Redcar 3-2 last month, but without Chris Ross and with Andrew Smith returning for them, it proved a much tougher prospect this time with most of us playing an opponent 1 or 2 higher up.

Jason played a bishop takes f7 move which Bill missed and it left him a pawn down with his king exposed. Bill's king seemd to get chased around the board for most of the rest of the game and he resigned when it was mate in 2.

Chris felt he had most of the play against Royce Parker. After Qa4+ on move 11, Royce chose to move his king to f8 rather than block and Chris pushed on the king side and put him under pressure. Royce had all his pieces defending in multiple ways and Chris was pretty sure he'd missed something as he couldn't find a way to get a decisive advantage. Computer analysis later showed Chris did have better attacking options, but his attack had fizzled out and Royce defended well to get the position blocked up. At this point, Chris felt any move he made would have weakened his position and agreed a draw.

Francis looked to have a slightly worse pawn structure against Sarah Grattage, but he found a perpetual check with his rook in a rook vs 5 pawns end game to get a draw.

Brian started OK, but the second time I looked he was pinned back, a piece down and in all sorts of trouble. He lost soon afterwards!

Mike lasted the longest. He said to me he was "relieved" when he blundered a piece away with 3 minutes left on his clock because he could "finally resign"! I looked at the position several times and each time I looked Mike seemed to be pinned further and further back. He was a pawn down quite early, but it was a doubled pawn and it looked like it might have been possible to force a draw if he'd had a bit more time.

Final score 4-1 to Redcar. Well done to them for getting revenge and guaranteeing 4th place in the table. Last home game of the season for any of our teams, so "noisy chess" is back in the main room now!

Date:11/06/2022  More Success for Thornaby Juniors!

Thornaby chess club and Thornaby Library were well represented at the Teesside Individual Junior Championships today with medals picked up in every section!

In the Over 11 section, Sagar picked up another title defeating all comers and finishing on 5 out of 5. Joseph finished 3rd in the same section and included a noteworthy victory over Redcar's new star Alice Sturman on the day. Omi also got a medal after placing 5th.

In the under 11 section, Tristan finished as joint runner up with 4 out of 5. He won his first 3 games and then bounced back from disappointment in the 4th round to win his last game.

In the under 9 section, Isaac finished in joint 3rd with 4 out of 5. He only lost his last game after a long battle with the eventual winner.

Well done to all of the Thornaby children who took part and acquitted themselves so well!

Date:07/06/2022  Knights put Bombers to the sword!

Thornaby Bombers 1½-2½ Middlesbrough Knights
Mike Creaney 0-1 Nikhil Bhandari
Chris Swales ½-½ Ray Pallister
Iain Mellis ½-½ Chris Rumsey
Joe McGinnis ½-½ Aiden Darlow

The Bombers last home game of the season finished the same way as too many of the others with a narrow half point defeat!

Mike finished first. Resigning after missing a queen check tactic that lost him a piece.

Chris was sporting his new chess T-Shirt, but never looked comfortable after his opponent played an unfamiliar to him gambit. He was OK for the first 8 moves, but then started to get into a bit of a mess when his opponent got his pawn back. From move 9 onwards the computer showed his opponent slightly ahead throughout, but Chris managed to cling on despite being behind in development. In the end a draw was agreed in an endgame position that was going to be a bit of a pawn race that neither player wanted to see to the finish.

Iain has turned into a solid B division player over the 2nd half of the season and he repeated his feat from our last game by drawing in an endgame position that looked very favourable to his opponent. Iain was 3 pawns down when the draw was agreed!

Joe was a pawn up, but short on time and in time pressure he missed a move from his opponent that meant he was going to lose his pawn advantage. It looked a dead draw at this point and with Joe having little time left compared to his opponent's 45 minutes he accepted a draw.

Date:05/06/2022  Queen's Gambit Chess Challenge Report!

The Queen's Gambit Chess Challenge was played at Thornaby Library yesterday as part of the Library's Jubilee celebration. We were delighted to welcome 2 of Middlesbrough Chess Club's star players Mariana Mosnegutu and her husband Klauss Mosnegutu as our guests.

Mariana played a simultaneous display against members of the public and some of our regular Saturday morning library session attendees with Klauss also helping out when things got busy. We had up to 10 boards going at a time and it was a great chance for everyone to play against 2 of the top players in the region.

As expected, Thornaby players didn't fair very well and the husband and wife team managed to win every single game they played! Nevertheless, it was a great experience for everyone who took part and we'd like to thank our guests again for all of their time and effort.

Date:02/06/2022  Ellis wins game of the season!

Thornaby Aces star Brian Ellis has joint won the league game of the season award after his draw earlier in the season with Great Ayton player Steve Booth!

Brian was black in this game and Ernie Lazenby the league president said "The player with the black pieces played chess like it ought to be played, entertaining and complex. No thoughts of a draw, going for a win with some nice combinations that required careful precise defence from white."

Brian said "The game exemplifies the difference between computer analysis and OTB club chess. Where the computer looks umpteen moves ahead the club player sometimes just has to rely on intuition and bottle."

Well done to Brian! I was there and it was an excellent entertaining game!

Date:31/05/2022  Mellis shocks Ellis!

In the latest club championship game, Iain surprised Brian to get his best ever win in grading terms. Brian lost a piece without getting any compensation in space or time, but still had chances and Iain had to play carefully.

After drawing with Mike earlier in the month, Iain is still mathematically in contention for the title although the result probably helps Francis more than anyone! There are still 5 players in with a chance though....

1) Mike Creaney 6½/9
2) Francis Batchelor 5½/6
3) Brian Ellis 5/7
=) Joe McGinnis 5/7
5) Iain Mellis 4½/7

Full results are here.

Date:31/05/2022  Strong season finish for Cadets!

Thornaby Cadets 2-2 Darlington C
Joseph Machin ½-½ Carl Stephens
James Urwin 0-1 James Garner
Nick Tadd ½-½ Sam Ball
Sam Greig 1-0 Richard Kuby

A great draw for the Cadets against the C division champions Darlington C yesterday! When their board 4 player is graded higher than your board 1 player you expect a difficult night, but the Cadets played out of their skin!

Joseph went a pawn down, but played solidly in the end game and a regular Thornaby nemesis Carl Stephens couldn't break through. Nick played out a solid draw with Sam Ball. James found his opponent a little bit too strong. That left Sam who put in a very impressive display on his debut to defeat one of the top scorers in the C division. Sam got a pawn up, but the end game looked complicated with a queen and a knight each. Sam turned down 2 offers of a draw and avoided all of the possible pitfalls that can come up in these queen endgames to eventually force his pawn through and get the resignation.

The Cadets have finished the season strongly with a 3 match unbeaten run and we can hope for big things from them next season!

Date:29/05/2022  Jubilee Day Queen's Gambit Chess Challenge!

As part of their Jubilee Day celebration, on Saturday 4th June, Thornaby Central Library will be hosting the "Queen's Gambit Chess Challenge".

In this most royal of years, why not take on the challenge of this most royal of games?

Can you defeat the maestros? Mariana Mosnegutu, the current top rated player in the area, along with regular library hosts Brian and Chris will be taking on members of the public. To give you a chance, they will be taking on 5 players all at the same time!

Are you the next Magnus Carlsen or Beth Harmon? Come along and give it a go and you could win a prize!

There are lots of other things going on in the library and in the town to enjoy. The Chess display will run from 10am till 2pm.

Date:25/05/2022  Bombers crash to defeat!

Billingham A 2½-1½ Thornaby Bombers
Brian Whitaker ½-½ Mike Creaney
Paul Frank ½-½ Chris Swales
Paul Weightman ½-½ Iain Mellis
Darren Donnison 1-0 Callum Abbott

The Bombers went into this match hopeful of a result, but couldn't produce the goods against our nearest rivals in the league.

Mike finished first. He played the Colle-Zukertort and looked to be slightly on top to me, but he didn't feel he ever had an advantage. It was a fairly closed looking position and I wasn't surprised it finished a draw.

Chris felt comfortable from the opening. However pressing pawns on the queen side before castling put him in trouble when his opponent took the f7 pawn with his bishop. Chris had to play carefully here, but came out with an even looking endgame and a draw was agreed soon after.

Callum was a pawn down, but looked OK. His position collapsed quickly though and he was disappointed to lose.

Iain looked to be in trouble the exchange down, but after a great battling perfomance he held on for a draw.

Date:17/05/2022  "Coolest Guy in Chess" gives Hartlepool win!

Thornaby Bombers 1½-2½ Hartlepool A
Mike Creaney 1-0 Bernie Price
Chris Swales ½-½ Bill Wilson
Bill March 0-1 Peter Harker
Joe McGinnis 0-1 Kevin Waterman


Another close game between the Bombers and Hartlepool's best, but the same overall score as last time.

Joe had a night to forget and lost quickly. Bill was under a bit of pressure against Peter Harker after a "terrible opening", but then got a pawn up after a blunder. Peter had a bit of pressure, but Bill seemed to be doing OK. However, then his position seemed to fall away after some sub-optimal moves and his pawns started to disappear and he lost quite quickly.

Chris took the pawn on b7 with his queen to go a pawn up, but could feel Mike's disapproval on the board next to him! However it was a good move from later computer analysis, but it was complicated and Chris didn't find the best moves and ended up retreating and losing the pawn and the initiative. His opponent had a bishop sacrifice on for quite a lot of the game that Chris had to be careful of and when his opponent eventually played it, he got another pawn up. Chris was in a decent endgame despite being a pawn down and with his opponent down to 2 minutes, Chris offered a draw that was accepted.

Mike's opponent played a gambit to gain some space and then Mike got another pawn up. Mike always seemed like he had enough to defend the attack even though his opponent had a lot of space and Mike eventually won the end game with about 1 minute left on his clock! A great win for Mike against a very high graded player for the B division.

With Hartlepool all coming in one car, it was nice that the 2 earlier finishers played a few friendly games with some of our other club players. Afterwards, Hartlepool captain Peter Harker was described to me as "the coolest guy in chess" by some at our club!

So a good night at the club, but another narrow defeat for the Bombers. At least it took "the coolest guy in chess" to beat us this time! We remain competitive in all of our matches in this division, but aren't picking up enough results.

Date:16/05/2022  Excellent Aces debut for Callum!

Middlesbrough Rooks 4½-½ Thornaby Aces
Stephen Cole 1-0 Francis Batchelor
Paul Gregory 1-0 Michael Creaney
Giuseppe Magazzu 1-0 Iain Mellis
Paul Perrett 1-0 Joe McGinnis
Nikhil Bhandari ½-½ Callum Abbott

A difficult night for the Aces, even though the Rooks left some of their big guns at home. With Thornaby missing 4 players as well, the Middlesbrough team proved good enough.

Let's start with the positive, an excellent draw by Callum on his debut for the Aces against a strong opponent. Callum described the game as the "hardest of his life", but got a pawn up and with his opponent short on time and could have won. In the end though he was happy with a draw.

Joe was also a pawn up and looking good for a point at one stage, but lost in the end. Francis looked to be doing fine also, but when i looked again towards the end his position had deteriorated badly. Like me, Iain just found his opponent one step ahead.

I blundered the exchange for a pawn after 12 moves although it took another 7 moves to finally lose it. After that I could predict all of my opponents moves, but was powerless to do anything constructive about them except put up resistance.

Mike

Date:16/05/2022  Blind Faith Book Release!

Thornaby Chess Club member Chris Ross has just released his new book entitled Blind Faith. Chris is the highest rated member in the CCA, and the highest rated blind player ever in Britain. In this volume he documents his detailed analysis of 80 games over a 14-year period; giving great insight from starting as a good club-level player, into becoming a strong technical player and planner throughout all phases of a game.

The foreword from the book comes from GM Neil McDonald: "You can see the outcome of decades of exhaustive and objective analysis in this book. Although Chris has never been a full-time chess player, having pursued a successful career in academia, his approach has always been professional. He has developed an impressive opening repertoire, as well as worked on his endgames and middlegame planning. I hope the reader enjoys this fine collection, learns a lot of new ideas, and is inspired to follow Chris's example in studying their own games."

I would like to congratulate Chris on the launch of the book, an achievement in chess that only a few achieve.

You are able to purchase both paperback and e-book copies of the book from Steel City Press here:
https://steelcitypress.co.uk/product/blind-faith

Date:09/05/2022  McGinnis leads Thornaby Challenge in Durham!

Joe finished best of our 3 entries in the Durham Chess Congress over the weekend. All 3 of our competitors were in the minor section. Joe finished the weekend with a respectable 3 out of 5. Geoff finished on 1.5 after getting locked in a storage cupboard and missing one of the rounds! James enjoyed the experience of his first congress and finished with 1 out of 5.

The minor section of the competition made headlines in the Gazette after being won by an 8 year old Ukranian boy who finished with 5 out of 5. More information is here.

Date:05/05/2022  Aces kings in Redcar!

Redcar 2-3 Thornaby Aces
Sarah Grattage 0-1 Chris Ross
David Baillie ½-½ Francis Batchelor
Brian Myers 0-1 Brian Ellis
Jason Gentle ½-½ Chris Swales
Alice Sturman 1-0 Joe McGinnis

The Aces picked up an excellent away win against Redcar.

Francis finished first. It was another game playing black against David Baillie's Queens Gambit Exchange variation and Francis was happy with his position. He felt David had lost momentum and was needing to be very reactive, but it slipped away from Francis and pieces were forced off into what would be an even, long and difficult endgame. Neither player decided it was for them this time and agreed a draw.

Chris Swales' opponent played an aggressive early f4 move against the Sicilian and got a pawn up. Chris was under a lot of pressure and probably losing, but then a mistake from his opponent allowed a break with f5 which left the game looking a lot more even apart from the extra pawn on the h file. They were soon down to a queen and bishop and pawns each and when Jason offered Chris a draw he accepted as he was a pawn down and it seemed like a good deal!

Joe was disappointed with his result as looked to have a winning end game when he got 2 pawns up with all the pieces off. However, he missed a move that allowed his up and coming 15 year old opponent to queen a pawn because Joe's king was too far away. Fortunately it didn't matter as first Chris converted and then Brian wrapped up the victory.

Chris Ross was pleased with his performance and described it as a "rewarding victory against a good player". Chris did a lot of exchanging off quite early to leave himself in a dark squared bishop and 7 pawns end game which he always looked likely to win. Chris neutralised the 4v3 on the queenside and marched his 4v3 on the kingside slowly but surely. His opponent did manage to get the first of Chris' passed pawns, but at the expense of creating another one and leaving Chris with a straight forward looking win. Resignation followed shortly after.

Brian was a pawn down in a rook vs pawns ending, but had his opponents king trapped on the back row threatening back rank mate which meant his opponents rook couldn't move off the back row either. That allowed Brian to get his king in to sweep through the necessary pawns and win the end game to get the victory for the team.

All in all a great win for the Aces which gives us a chance of overtaking Redcar for 4th place in the league.

Date:03/05/2022  Cadets earn their stripes!

Thornaby Cadets 3-1 Great Ayton C
Joe McGinnis 0-1 Gordon Dickinson
Callum Abbott 1-0 Kevin Wilson
Geoff Howsden 1-0 Stephen Gatenby
James Urwin 1-0 James Jefferson

The Cadets recorded their biggest win of the season with a 3-1 win over Great Ayton C today.

James had his opponent pinned back right from the start and won in a fairly convincing 24 moves. He did almost miss a mate threat at one point though! Geoff and Callum both got 2 pawns up and had relatively routine looking wins. Geoff got a rook and king checkmate, but he would have queened a pawn fairly soon after anyway. Callum ended up winning a rook and a piece towards the end to put the result completely beyond doubt. Joe underestimated the threat on a key diagonal and ended up losing a piece not long after he thought he'd weathered the storm and there was no coming back from there.

With one game to go, a stronger finish to the season for the Cadets bodes well for next season.

Date:01/05/2022  Sagar shines again!

A trio of Thornaby's best youngesters travelled to Yarm school today for the Teesside Megafinal. Sagar starred on the day with an excellent perfect score of 6/6 to win the Under 12 section and qualify for the regional Gigafinal. Harris and Joseph were at the young end of the Under 18 section and both finished with 3/6 for a creditable joint 7th overall in the competition. More information is here.

Date:28/04/2022  Howsden wins grading prize!

Geoff finished the season long Cleveland Individual competition with 2 out of 5 which was enough for a share of the Under 1440 grading prize. A win over Bernie Callaghan and draws with higher graded players Paul Weightman and Peter Archer were enough for Geoff to take the prize. Our other entry in the competition Nick faired less well with 5 losses! Middlesbrough's Nic Tavoularis won the event with Billingham's Gary Leighton taking the Under 1650 grading prize. More info is here.

Date:27/04/2022  Makeshift Bombers fail to soar!

Darlington B 3-1 Thornaby Bombers
Robert Donner ½-½ Mike Creaney
Peter McKay ½-½ Chris Swales
Carl Stephens 1-0 Callum Abbott
Richard Kuby 1-0 Geoff Howsden

With several regular Bombers missing in action, our makeshift team was only good enough for a 3-1 defeat on the night. Geoff was finished first. It was even for most of the game, but he was outmanoeuvred in the end. Callum was also doing OK for a while, then missed a move involving a "knight boomerang" (in his words!) that left him a piece down. Chris thought he was in a decent position after isolating a pawn pawn in the middle and having active pieces. His opponent put everything into defending the pawn and then forced things off. Chris agreed a draw when at the point he thought he might be losing, Peter had offered one earlier as soon as Callum went a piece down! Mike looked to be in a bit of trouble when his opponent got a rook onto f7, but he found the right defensive moves and forced a draw.

Date:26/04/2022  Epic Sagar makes rapid play final!

A great turnout for our 15 minute rapid play yesterday (so good there wasn't room for me in the draw!) and it was a good night. Francis reigned supreme, but the tournament was probably more noteworthy for the performance of the newcomers and youngsters! Sagar had an excellent run to the final including victories over Brad, Iain and Geoff! New member Brad also impressed with a run to the Semi Final, particularly in his Quarter Final victory over Mike. Harris picked up a win and Joseph reached the Quarter Finals.

The group stages saw Callum eliminated from the “Group of death” (group A) after a draw with Joe. Mike won this group with 2 wins and a draw. Francis dominated Group B and Nick made a mistake not realising he was out of time against Harris, which allowed Joseph to take the other knockout place. Group C was the speedy group and finished well before the other 3. Geoff claimed 3 wins to be number one seed in the knockout phase and Iain beat the other 2 to get the 2nd place. In Group D, Sagar was well ahead against Janos, but stalemated. He came back well to win his other 2 games and take Group D. Brad won the decisive last game against Janos to get the other knockout place.

-In the Quarter finals, Iain blundered a queen against Sagar, Francis won what turned out to be his toughest match of the night against Joe, Brad got the exchange up against Mike and eventually won on time, Joseph blundered a rook against Geoff.
-In the semi finals, Geoff blundered a knight in the end game against Sagar and Francis converted a pawn advantage against Brad.
-The final was decided in Francis' favour by a knight fork on the king and queen.

Results.......

Final
Sagar 0-1 Francis

SF
Sagar 1-0 Geoff
Francis 1-0 Brad

QF
Geoff 1-0 Joseph
Sagar 1-0 Iain
Francis 1-0 Joe
Mike 0-1 Brad

Group A
1st) Mike
2nd) Joe
3rd) Callum
4th) Andy

GROUP B
1st) Francis
2nd) Joseph
3rd) Harris
4th) Nick

GROUP C
1st) Geoff
2nd) Iain
3rd) James
4th) Manuel

GROUP D
1st) Sagar
2nd) Brad
3rd) Janos
4th) Bertie

Date:20/04/2022  Tadd nicks 2nd at Billingham Quickplay!

3 Thornaby players travelled to Billingham yesterday to enter the Easter quickplay. Nick was the best of our 3 finishing with a creditable 2 out of 3 for joint 2nd on the night. A fantastic first round win over Hartlepool's Kevin Waterman set him on the way. The tournament was won by Billingham's leading C division scorer Luke Londesbrough who finished on 3 out of 3 and included James amongst his victims. James finished with 1 out of 3 and Callum 1.5.

Date:19/04/2022  First competitive win for Joseph!

After some solid draws against very good players in the league this season, Joseph got his first competitive win with a victory over Nick in the club championship. He didn't start well in the opening, but a blunder from Nick allowed a fork to win a rook and Joseph was ruthless from this point onwards! Meanwhile, Francis took a big step towards possibly retaining his title by defeating current leader Mike. Doubled pawns on move 12 proved Mike's undoing and the subsequent slow build up of pressure from Francis eventually led to a collapse. Full results are here.

Date:13/04/2022  Quickplay 4th for Callum!

A contingent of 3 players from Thornaby travelled to Billingham for the quickplay on Wednesday. Callum continued his good recent progress with an excellent joint 4th on the day with 2 out of 3. He was slightly ahead in his match against eventual joint winner Peter Harker from Hartlepool, but unfortunately ran out of time. James and Nick both scored 1 out of 3. It was a good day for Hartlepool as Bill Wilson was the other joint winner along with Peter. Former Thornaby stalwart Brian Whitaker finished 3rd on 2.5.

Date:11/04/2022  Batchelor prevents Valentine's day massacre!

Middlesbrough Rooks 4-1 Thornaby Aces
Nicholas Tavoularis 0-1 Francis Batchelor
Mariana Mosnegutu 1-0 Brian Ellis
Klauss Mosnegutu 1-0 Mike Creaney
Giuseppe Magazzu 1-0 Iain Mellis
Paul Perrett 1-0 Joe McGinnis

Our rearranged game from Valentine's day saw the Aces hopelessly outgraded against Middlesbrough's best. This one had 5-0 written all over it! However, Captain Francis put in a great performance to get one of his best ever wins against the reigning and 6 times CCA individual champion Nicholas Tavoularis!

The rest of the team found it somewhat more difficult. Mike's opponent wouldn't have needed any help, but after losing a pawn on move 7 in the same opening he lost to Kegan Harrison with last month it might be time for a change of opening for Mike! Iain had hardly got out of the opening before leading A division scorer Giuseppe Magazzu won a piece and started threatening check mates. Resignation followed on move 18 with mate in 2 impossible to prevent without a queen sacrifice from Iain. Brian and Joe didn't fair much better.

Nevertheless, from a Thornaby point of view a great result for Francis which bodes well for him on board 1 for the hopefully closer games we have to come in the rest of the season.

Date:06/04/2022  No disgrace for valiant Aces!

Great Ayton A 3-2 Thornaby Aces
Virgil Sekely 1-0 Francis Batchelor
Steven Booth ½-½ Brian Ellis
Martin McLoughlin ½-½ Mike Creaney
Ray Honeybourne ½-½ Chris Swales
Kegan Harrison ½-½ Joe McGinnis

Out graded as usual, but a valiant effort from the Aces. Joe was finished quite quickly. The queens were exchanged at move 10, and all the minor pieces were gone by move 18, leaving both sides with 2 rooks and all 8 pawns. Kegan offered a draw at this point, which Joe declined. He had doubled his opponents pawns and felt it was worth pushing on a bit. A few moves later Joe went a pawn down and a rook was exchanged in the process. The doubled pawn meant the position still looked fairly even and Joe was hapy to offer a draw himself a few moves later and with no big advantage to either player it was was accepted.

The other games lasted a lot longer and time pressure was probably a factor in several of the results. Chris was next finished. Similar to Mike's game against Ray last week after 2 and a half hours play there was only a piece and a pawn off each. Chris felt he was behind in space and development though and with his opponent having a passed pawn was slightly surprised to be offered a draw which he accepted. Ray was down to 15 minutes on his clock and a strong looking knight for Chris which was threatening a lot of forks if Ray put a foot wrong combined with the time pressure was probably a factor in the draw offer.

Martin played his usual Gruenfeld against Mike who played the Colle-Zukertort. Mike miscalculated on move 9 and lost a pawn. Martin then did the recommended thing and swapped down as much as possible. Mike still had hopes of drawing if he could reach a Rook or Queen ending a pawn down. The Queen ending materialised and with Martin getting short of time and Mike threatening a perpetual check Martin offered a draw.

Brian had the better of it against Steve, but the endgame involving a pawn on the edge and the wrong colour Bishop saved the day for Steve leaving the game as a dead draw.

That left Francis who was the exchange down, but on a very open board with pieces spread all over the place and perpetual check possibilities if Virgil made any mistakes. Francis only had 2 minutes left on his clock unfortunately and with little time left his very strong opponent forced the queens off with the threat of mate which led to a fork to get a further piece up. Francis was left with little option, but to resign.

So a 4th 3-2 defeat of the season for the Aces. At least we're staying competitive in what is a very tough league for our current squad.

Date:29/03/2022  Bombers grind out a draw!

Thornaby Bombers 2-2 Great Ayton B
Mike Creaney ½-½ Ray Honeybourne
Joe McGinnis ½-½ Jim Rogers
Chris Swales ½-½ Andrew French
Bill March ½-½ Peter Archer

Given our normal line up contains 4 players who get quite a few draws, it is probably surprising that this was our first overall match draw of the season! This time the Bombers played true to type with all 4 games finishing as draws.

Bill was first finished and agreed a draw in a fairly closed position with no obvious way forward for either player. Chris finished next and was happy when his opponent offered a draw as he felt he was slightly on the back foot at the time. Mike's closed Catalan game had a lot of positional manoeuvring, but no pieces taken at all in the first 2 hours and soon after he agreed a draw with no obvious advantage to either player.

That left captain Joe's game to decide the match result. He was a pawn up and had a decent looking attack going, but lost the initiative when he almost got a bishop trapped. Although Joe was still a pawn up, he was getting short of time and there was still plenty of play left in the game for his opponent. Joe offered a draw which was acepted leaving the match tied at 2-2 after draws on all 4 boards.

After a poor start to the year, the Bombers seemed to have turned the corner. This was a good result against the recent plate winners and one of the best B teams in the league!

Date:22/03/2022  First Urwin win in Cadets draw!

Thornaby Cadets 2-2 Hartlepool B
Joe McGinnis ½-½ Graham Matthews
Joseph Machin 0-1 Kevin Waterman
James Urwin 1-0 David Lowcock
Janos Mehes ½-½ Mark Priest

A fantastic performance from the Cadets against their much higher graded opponents saw us get a draw in the overall match.

Joseph put up a good fight, but lost a piece and couldn't recover. Joe drew on the top board in a topsy-turvy game with both players having winning chances at different points in the game.

Next to finish was James and he turned out to be the Thornaby hero getting his first ever win for the team. His opponent had a dangerous looking passed pawn on the 6th rank, but James still looked to be in good shape. An at first glance reasonable looking queen move proved disastrous for his opponent as James found a queen fork which threatened checkmate and a rook. His opponent resigned when he realised he would lose a rook and a bishop to prevent the mate. Well done James!

That left the scores tied with only Janos still playing. Janos had a strong looking centre, but his opponent had threats on the king side. A few moves later the 2 players agreed a draw. A great result for Janos based on the grading difference which underlines his recent improvement in friendly club games.

With just 2 games left to go this season, the Cadets have proved to be a great development team for us this year. James winning today means all 5 of the players who have made their league debuts this season have scored points in the league for us. Next season is going to be an interesting one for the Cadets!

Date:22/03/2022  Aces come close to breaking Darlington record!

Thornaby Aces 2-3 Darlington A
Chris Ross ½-½ Steve Dauber
Francis Batchelor ½-½ Kevin Wilson
Brian Ellis 0-1 Richard Harris
Mike Creaney 0-1 Jonathan Sams
Chris Swales 1-0 Dominic Leigh

A good effort from the Aces who came close to upsetting Darlington's 100% record in the A division this season losing narrowly 3-2.

Mike and Brian both went pawns down quite early on and couldn't quite equalise. Mike's chances ended on move 42 when he lost a bishop. Brian fought on for a long time, but also lost eventually.

Chris (Swales) was playing Dominic Leigh for the 3rd time this season and having lost the previous 2 was very happy to get a win over his "nemesis"! The game was even on material, but Dominic had a strong looking end game position. He was however getting short of time and it was a blunder of a piece in time pressure that gave Chris the winning advantage.

Francis settled for a draw as he was getting short of time himself. Chris (Ross) was hoping to get a win over Steve Dauber, but couldn't quite manage it this time.

So another close competitive match, but it ended in another 3-2 defeat.

Date:16/03/2022  4 way race developing for Club Championship!

A couple of key club championship matches were played yesterday with joint leaders Mike and Brian drawing in an "uneventful" game and Joe coming out on top against Iain to join Mike and Brian on 4 points. These result mean that everyone in the competition has lost at least 2 games apart from Joe, Brian, Mike and Francis. The winner will almost certianly come from those 4. Full results are here.

Date:14/03/2022  Bombers raid Middlesbrough!

Middlesbrough Knights ½-3½ Thornaby Bombers
Sahil Farooq 0-1 Mike Creaney
Ray Pallister ½-½ Iain Mellis
Chris Rumsey 0-1 Chris Swales
Aiden Darlow 0-1 Joe McGinnis


A much needed team win for the Bombers against an inexperienced Middlesbrough team saw us climb off the bottom of the table.

Iain was first finished. He was always well in the game and had a strong position when his opponent offered a draw. As he couldn't really see a clear way through his defenses and we were going well on other boards, he decided to take him up on the offer, instead of blundering an advantage away!

Joe finished next. His game turned on a single mistake. His opponent was a pawn up, although Joe was pretty much certain to get it back, but rather than capture immediately he pinned a knight on d5 against the queen on b3. His opponent defended with Be4 instead of Bc4, allowing Joe to win the knight with c6. His opponent kept on fighting even when down a piece and 2 pawns, but eventually resigned when defeat was inevitable.

Mike was a pawn down, but with a blocked looking position. It looked like a dead draw with opposite coloured bishops, but his opponents inexperience showed and Mike started hoovering up pawns and eventually queen one in the endgame. He's had a lot of draws, but this was Mike's first win on the often tough B division board 1 this season!

Chris was last to finish. The game was close for a while before Chris slowly carved out an advantage. He isolated a pawn on the d file and then pressurised it until he won it. This left the d file with 2 rooks and a queen on and this proved pivotal when a mistake from his opponent allowed an unusual rook fork on the queen and bishop.

Although the scoreline finished heavily in our favour, none of the games were anything like walkovers and it was good to see another CCA team with some new talent coming through. It was also good for us to get off the bottom of the table!

Date:08/03/2022  High flying Darlington climb to the top!

Thornaby Bombers 1-3 Darlington B
Mike Creaney 0-1 Jonathan Sams
Chris Swales 0-1 Dominic Leigh
Joe McGinnis 1-0 Peter McKay
Geoff Howsden 0-1 Carl Stephens

A strong looking Darlington B team proved too good for the bombers with only Joe avoiding the whitewash. The result puts them to the top of the B division and leaves us in the relegation zone. It was revenge for Darlington as we're the only team to have beaten them this season. Yes, we have actually been victorious!

Geoff was first finished and found his higher graded opponents to be in uncompromising mood. Geoff's assessment was "An average defeat. No stupid mistakes, but nothing inspirational either".

Mike continues to search for a win on the tough B division board 1. This time he was playing the Black side of the French defence and was on the defensive for most of the match. He gave up a weak e6 pawn hoping for activity as white had also had vulnerable pawns. Unfortunately, this didn't materialise and when he went the exchange down as well as the pawn it was time to call it a day!

Joe put in a captains performance capitalising on a weak move from his opponent. Joe did miss a couple of chances to win more quickly, but by this time it hardly mattered. He swapped off the last 2 minor pieces to leave himself up by 2 passed pawns in a rook ending. His oppenent resigned a few moves later when it became obvious he would have to lose one of his rooks to stop a pawn.

Chris was last to finish, but his position was lost well before the end. The only hope was that his opponent was getting very short on time, so he played on. Once he went 3 pawns down, Chris resigned with no hope of salvaging anything.

It's tough at the bottom, but our opponents are probably the strongest team in the division.

Date:02/03/2022  Cadets continue progress!

Billingham C 2½-1½ Thornaby Cadets
Gary Leighton ½-½ Joseph Machin
Paul Frank 1-0 James Urwin
Keith Harrison 1-0 Nick Tadd
Sean Cooke 0-1 Callum Abbott

Another tough looking fixture for the Cadets saw a couple of good results for 2 of our new up and coming players. Billingham had 3 1500+ players on the top 3 boards, but our team still put up a good fight. After some confusion involving board order and the latest March grades at the start of the match, the Cadets swapped round the initial team selection leaving young Joseph as our top board player.

Once the match did start, Callum finished first and cruised to a comfortable win. A big contrast to his most recent 13 seconds to go win!

Joseph was getting beaten on board one pretty conclusively when I looked and was next to finish, assuming a loss. Turned out that Joseph got Gary Leighton in a perpetual check to gain a draw. Excellent Joseph!

I'm afraid I was the lame duck of the evening against Keith Harrison. My opening didn't go to plan, getting attacked by a Knight, Bishop and Queen to my King before I could get it to safety. Anyway, I reduced the threat by exchanging Queens and the Knight but lost a pawn in the process to his Bishop. I started to gain momentum at this point - I had my two Bishops together pointing at his Queen's side, and then after castling my two Rooks pointing in that direction also. But unfortunately my plan fizzled out as Keith launched an unexpected pawn storm towards my King. I survived, just, leaving myself with R and 5 pawns, against R/B and 5 pawns, figuring his Bishop was useless, boxed in and on the wrong coloured squares, thought I might have got something from the game. Alas, not to be, and after 52 moves he finished me off. Going back through the silicon machine afterwards I was never ahead, slowly going downhill all the way. But there again, he is rated 400 above me (if the ratings mean anything anymore!)

James's game with Paul Frank was last to finish. James did gain a piece early on, but then miscalculated in the middle game. It could have gone either way, but when Paul ended up with a Bishop advantage at the very end, it was curtains.

Result Billingham Synthonia C 2½ Thornaby Cadets 1½

Another case of "could have been different" - well played everybody, apart from me!

Nick

Date:01/03/2022  Aces fold against Great Ayton!

Thornaby Aces 2-3 Great Ayton A
Francis Batchelor 1-0 Michael Hardman
Brian Ellis ½-½ Martin McLoughlin
Mike Creaney 0-1 Steven Booth
Iain Mellis 0-1 Ray Honeybourne
Chris Swales ½-½ Jim Rogers

Another tough fixture and a defeat but not too bad an effort.

Brian and Martin were first to finish and appeared to hurry to a draw in order to watch the Middlesbrough match!

Chris was second to finish. He felt like something went wrong in the opening as he ended up with a blocked pawn on e5 blocking in his fianchettoed bishop. Chris was slightly behind on development for most of the game, but never felt under any real pressure that much was going to come of it. There were some complications when both players had 2 rooks, a queen and a knight each, but Jim found a move to essentially force both rooks off. It looked easy for Jim to defend from there and the end game didn't look too promising if the queens went off, so Chris offered a draw which was accepted.

Iain made a couple of "impatient" moves in his game and locked himself in a bit. He went a pawn down and former Thornaby player Ray eventually converted.

Francis finished next. He got the exchange up early in his game and always looked like he would convert this advantage.

That left that match at 2-2 and Mike had to fight for the overall match result. His opponent Steve has improved a lot, and had Mike on the defensive until 10.30 when Mike ran out of time in a lost position having dropped a pawn a little earlier.

A close match, but the reduced size A division is proving tough for the Aces this season. There's still time to upset some of the big boys before the end of the year though!

Date:22/02/2022  Bombers crash-land to foot of table!

Thornaby Bombers 1-3 Billingham A
Mike Creaney ½-½ Brian Whitaker
Iain Mellis 0-1 Paul Frank
Bill March 0-1 Paul Weightman
Chris Swales ½-½ Phil Whittingham

A match with few redeeming features from a Thornaby point of view saw the Bombers slump into the relegation zone for the first time this season. For once we outgraded our opponents on every board, but it didn't show in the results!

Mike was first to finish and was happy to get away with a draw after being a piece down and his opponent missing a mate in 2 at one point in the game.

Chris was next to finish. He was on top for most of the game and got a pawn up, but then allowed his opponent back in with some overly defensive moves leaving the game drawn.

Iain had a good level game for most of it, but came unstuck in the endgame against his more experienced opponent.

Bill had a late finish again and looked like he might have sneaked a draw when he captured a pawn leaving the game as a pawn and knight versus a knight endgame. Unfortunately, time pressure caused a mistake and his opponent found a checkmate without needing to queen the pawn.

After 4 straight defeats, the Bombers need to quickly rediscover their early season form as we enter the second half of the season!

Date:15/02/2022  Hollywood finish gives Callum a first win!

Thornaby Cadets 1-3 Billingham B
Joseph Machin 0-1 Dave Frank
Janos Mehes 0-1 Luke Londesbrough
Callum Abbott 1-0 Michael Bell
James Urwin 0-1 Darren Donnison

With the Cadets fielding a full team of ungraded players who are all new to competitive chess this season, this game was always going to be a tough ask. Joseph was first finished after underestimating the danger of a knight move which led to checkmate in 2 and he resigned.

Janos was next to fall, losing to rising Billingham star Luke Londesbrough. James lost a kinight early on, but battled on well against Billingham captain Darren Donnison before eventually losing.

That left Callum who was involved in a complicated topsy turvy game on board 3. At one stage Callum missed a mate in 5 opportunity, but as his clock ticked down to less than 2 minutes he looked to be dead and buried. An innocuous looking pawn move from his opponent opened the door for a spectacular queen move which turned the game on it's head. Computer analysis afterwards showed it was mate in 6 to Callum from here, but with so little time he had to rely on instict to get the mate. The end was like a scene from a Hollywood action film with his clock ticking down second by second! Callum eventually delivered the final checkmate with just 13 seconds left on his clock! What a way to get his first win for the team!

A good fighting performance from the Cadets and all 4 are getting better with each game!

Date:09/02/2022  Day of the Underdog!

The latest round of Club Championship matches saw surprise draws for the 2 pre-tournament favourites. Joe put in a battling performance to hold Francis to a draw and was even a a pawn up at one point. Nick was actually the exchange up against Brian and it was Brian who forced a draw via perpetual check. Callum had chances to make it 3 shocks out of 3 and was a pawn up against Mike. However Mike's much greater experience shone through in the end and he battled through in the end game to get 2 pawns up and then on to an inevitable win. Brian and Mike joint lead the standings with 3½ each. Well played to all 3 of the underdogs though!

Further information on the club championship can be found here.


Results
Francis Batchelor ½-½ Joe McGinnis
Mike Creaney 1-0 Callum Abbott
Brian Ellis ½-½ Nick Tadd

Date:07/02/2022  Navigation error costs Bombers possible draw!

Hartlepool A 2½-1½ Thornaby B
Ray Stonehouse 1-0 Mike Creaney
Bernie Price 1-0 Iain Mellis
Peter Harker 0-1 Chris Swales
Kevin Waterman ½-½ Joe McGinnis

With 2 of the bombers lost over Billingham when the match started, right from the start it meant time pressure could become a factor for both Mike and Joe. In Joe's words "I blundered in the opening with Car to A1027 instead of A689. Nearly got trapped in Billingham but managed to get out of it, despite missing the best moves recommended by the satnav. Eventually got back to a reasonable position, but it cost me and Mike several tempi, which turned out to be important at least for me".

First to finish was new Bomber Iain. A very attacking game from both players saw the experienced Bernie Price play a knight sacrifice on move 4! A poor queen move by Iain lost a piece and left him behind on pawns. Despite being material down, Iain continued to attack, but eventually his opponent proved too strong.

Chris had a good win against Peter Harker. He got a pawn up and then a blunder from Peter gave Chris a bishop for nothing. A queen exchange followed and the game looked all but won. Peter reached the same conclusion 3 moves later and resigned!

Mike was up against it playing Hartlepool's top player, but looked well in with a chance of a draw. An unusual end game with 2 knights each as the only pieces followed and Ray managed to get a pawn up and force a victory.

Joe didn't start well and was a pawn down, but then put some pressure on c7 and was well ahead in his game with 2 pawns up and a good attack going. Unfortunately having less time began to be a factor towards the end and mistakes crept in. Joe eventually agreed a draw with a more level looking position and a big time disadvantage.

It's always going to be tough when the B team plays an A team. and given the big grading differences it was not a surprising result, but a good effort nonetheless. With better navigation the match could have been a draw!

Date:01/02/2022  Mellis joins the Bombers!

Iain's great start to the season has been rewarded with promotion to the Bomber squad! Although it is only based on 5 games, his first official rating sees him ranked 4th in our club! Iain is now a nominated player for the Bombers, so cannot play for the Cadets for the rest of the season. More information is here.

Date:31/01/2022  Cadets progressing, but narrowly defeated!

Darlington C 2½-1½ Thornaby Cadets
Pete McKay 0-1 Joe McGinnis
Bob Donner 1-0 Joseph Machin
Carl Stephens ½-½ Iain Mellis
Richard Kuby 1-0 James Urwin

Totally outgraded the lads put in a great performance.

On his debut for the club, James was first to finish - doing well into the middle game until Richard pawn-stormed through the middle and then it all fell apart.

Iain blundered on move 15, but then got Carl's queen for a rook and a piece. Later he was offered a draw by Carl and was very grateful to accept as he only had a Queen against a well protected Knight and Rook and was also several pawns down

Young Joseph was doing really well, well into the middle game when he got caught in a nasty skewer with Queen in front of a Rook - downhill after that.

Joe and Pete were locked in a very complex middle board position, each having only won two pawns. It looked like a draw from a distance, but Joe had a big space advnatage. Then Joe produced a devastating attack which dramatically swung the game his way - resignation followed.

Match result 2½-1½ to Darlington C, but plenty of potential going forward!

Nick

Date:28/01/2022  Tadd glad and first Urwin win!

The latest round of club championship games saw a good night for the players with the black pieces. James got his first ever competitive victory with a win over Janos. This sets him up nicely for his first ever team game for the Cadets next week. The surprise of the night saw Nick dispatch high flying Iain with a sicilian defence game. Iain made Nick fight to convert his 2 pawn advantage, but a relieved Nick eventually forced 1 of them through and claimed his first win of the season. Defeat for Iain meant Mike climbed to the top of the standings after a draw with Joe that looked pretty even all the way. For full results of the competition so far, please visit our website here http://www.thornabychessclub.co.uk/ClubChampionship.htm.


Results
Joe McGinnis ½-½ Mike Creaney
Iain Mellis 0-1 Nick Tadd
Janos Mehes 0-1 James Urwin

Date:21/01/2022  4 way tie as Club Championship hots up!

A busy week in the club Championship saw 4 players move up to share the lead on 2 points. Geoff, Iain, Mike and Brian lead the standings, but tournament favourite Francis has games in hand. Iain has made a great start to the club winning 4 of his 5 rated games so far. More games are scheduled for this Tuesday, so if you haven't already schedule one if you can. For full results of the competition so far, please visit our website here http://www.thornabychessclub.co.uk/ClubChampionship.htm.


Results
Brian Ellis 1-0 Joe McGinnis
Geoff Howsden 1-0 Janos Mehes
Iain Mellis 1-0 James Urwin
Nick Tadd 0-1 Mike Creaney
Nick Tadd 0-1 Geoff Howsden

Date:11/01/2022  Aces trumped by Great Ayton!

Thornaby Aces 1v4 Great Ayton A
Chris Ross 0v1 Virgil Szekely
Francis Batchelor 0v1 Steve Booth
Brian Ellis 1v0 Martin McLoughlin
Mike Creaney 0v1 Kegan Harrison
Bill March 0v1 Ray Honeybourne

A bad night at the office for most of the aces with only Brian getting a win on board 3. Brian was helped by his opponent expecting to be playing him with black rather than white and came out on top in a complicated game where both sides were attacking on opposite wings.

Mike was put to the sword after getting his move order wrong right out of the 4.f3 Nimzo opening as white. He was under constant pressure until move 35 when Kegan simplified into a winning ending and Mike resigned, relieving the pressure!

Bill thought he had a draw, but Ray manged to show it wasn't a few moves later and forced a win in the end game.

Francis was playing a work colleague and possibly this distraction along with the short notice change of rooms affected his game a bit. In his own words, the defeat had "little redeeming factors and I felt my playing performance must have been about 400 points lower!"

Chris suffered his first ever loss for Thornaby after choosing to go the exchange down with some compensation. A forced exchange of queens a few moves later meant it didn't give the advantage he was hoping for.

Date:05/01/2022  Swales fails to get French surrender!

Great Ayton B 3-1 Thornaby Bombers
Ray Honeybourne ½-½ Mike Creaney
Mike Pointon 1-0 Bill March
Kegan Harrison ½-½ Joe McGinnis
Andrew French 1-0 Chris Swales

The bombers started the year with a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Great Ayton B. Although we were outgraded on 3 of the boards, on paper it looked like the sort of game we could get something out of on a good day.

After a couple of hours, Mike and Joe's games had both fizzled out to early draws. The board got blocked on the queenside in Mike's Samisch Kings Indian game against former Thornnaby stalwart Ray Honeybourne. Joe's slight early advantage had disappeared by the time they agreed a draw. Bill was a pawn down in what looked to be a losing end game, leaving the onus on Chris to try to equalise the match scores.

Chris's opponent (Andrew French) had the better of the early part of the game and looked the more likely to gain a winning advantage, but by move 26 the position was more even and Andrew offered a draw. Partly because of the match situation, Chris pushed forward looking for a win and declined a chance to go a pawn up in favour of what looked to be a more pressurising attacking move. Unfortunately, a couple of moves later, Chris completely missed a mate in 3 and he resigned after playing a few checks to see if anything could be engineered from the situation. Unfortunately it just delayed the inevitable!

Bill was still battling on at this point, but soon after Chris lost, Bill's opponent forced his extra pawn to queen and it was game over from there.

Having played every team once now, we sit 5th in the table. It is all fairly close though and we are only 1 win off the team in 2nd place.