Classic chess at G60+15 – online at lichess.org
Controller: Mark Murrell – Email
There are three sections: Open, U1800 and U1500
Schedule
Round 1 – Monday 12 April 2021, at 7.00 pm.
Round 2 – Monday 26 April 2021, at 7.00 pm
Round 3 – Monday 10 May 2021, at 7.00 pm
Round 4 – Monday 24 May 2021, at 7.00 pm
Round 5 – Monday 7 June 2021, at 7.00 pm.
Dispensation: Players unable to play at the given time on the set round dates may seek in advance to play on an alternative date before the next round. In addition one request to miss a round (save for the last one) with a half-point bye can also be made at least one round in advance.
Rate of Play: Games will be played at G60+15 (Game in 60 minutes + 15 seconds a move).
Settings for the lichess.org challenge: Standard, Realtime, 60 minutes + 15 seconds, Rated. Click White King if challenging as White, click Black King if challenging as Black.
Links to tournament pages: Open | U1800 | U1500 Access these at any time from the EOL Championship menu above.
Commentary and games
Click on the tabs below for each section.
Round 1: Monday, 12 April – John Hodgson (2075) was the only casualty among the top half, dropping a knight in a cagey position against Martin van Tol (1803) with both players short of time, but several games are postponed. Otherwise wins for Andy Lewis, David Sands (defending Champion), David Gatheral and a draw between Martin McCall and James Evans.
Subsequently, in the postponed games, wins for Russell White, Robin Slade and Jay Sharman.Games given below.
Round 2: Monday 26 April 2021 – Best game of the round was on Board 1, where Robin essayed the Budapest, leading to a dynamic imbalance. But class will out and Andy came away with the point. Otherwise, results went with ratings on the even numbered boards, 2, 4, 6 and 8. On the odd numbered boards, James Evans held John Hodgson to a draw and Tom Barton and Julian Corfield fought each other to a standstill with opposite coloured bishops; there is one (odd-numbered) game postponed (Russell White-David Gatherall). Find all the games to date in the game board below, R2 being those with the game date ‘2021.04.26’.
Update The outstanding game was a win of utter simplicity for Russell White.
Leaders after 2: =1 Andy Lewis, David Sands, Russell White, 2/2; 3 Martin McCall 1½/2. 16 players.
Round 3: Monday 10 May 2021 – A round of good games and upsets. David Sands put himself in a fine position to retain his EOL Championship, beating FM Andy Lewis with the white pieces. On Board 2, Martin McCall beat the redoubtable Russell White to move into second place; Martin collected a pawn advantage from the middlegame and resolutely pressed this advantage in a well-played endgame. There were wins for Harry Zheng, Robin Slade, Jay Sharman, Julian Corfield, Tom Barton (in an upset win against John Hodgson after John blundered with 32 b4?) and George Horan. All the R3 games have been added to the game board below, being those with the game date ‘2021.05.10’.
Leaders after 3: 1 David Sands, 3/3; 2 Martin McCall,2½; =3 Andy Lewis, Russell White, Jay Sharman, Robin Slade, Harry Zheng, 2; 16 players.
Round 4 – Monday 24 May 2021, at 7.00 pm
Round 5 – Monday 7 June 2021. David Sands, already assured of retaining his title on tie-break, did so in style with a win against Russell White to complete a classy clean sweep. Andy Lewis had the eaiser pairing of Julian Corfiled, but found him a tough nut to crack and once the Board 1 result was known, concluded a draw. David won by 1½ points, a startling margin in a 5-round event. Many congratulations.
Leading positions final: 1 David Sands, 5/5; =2 Andy Lewis, Martin McCall; 3½. 16 players
Open Games
Round 1: Monday 12 April – Ruqayyah Rida held Adrian Billingsley to daw. Wins for Dai Harris, Gerald Conley and Jaideep Cheema. The postponed game resulted in a win for Jef Page. Games are given below.
Round 2: Monday 26 April 2021 – Of the first round winners, only Jef Page recorded a point in R2, but that was with a bye after Jaideep withdrew. Otherwise, there were wins from played games by David Smith, Kenn Butcher and Emmet Clarke. All the R2 games played are shown in the game board below; they are the ones with the game date ‘2021.04.26’. The game shown between Markos (U1500) and Jef (U1800) is a cross-section rated game; doesn’t count in either section.
Leaders after 2: 1 Jef Page, 2/2; =2 Dai Harris, Gerald Conley, 1½/2. 9 players.
Round 3: Monday 10 May 2021 – Wins for Jef Page, Dai Harris and Ruqayyah Rida, all with White, maintained Jef’s narrow lead ahead of Dai. After these two, five of the remaining seven competitors are on 1½/3. All the R3 games are shown in the game board below; they are the ones with the game date ‘2021.05.10’.
Leaders after 3: 1 Jef Page, 3/3; 2 Dai Harris, 2½; =3 Gerald Conley, David smith, Kenn Butcher, Adrian Billingsley, Ruqayyah Rida, 1½. 9 players.
Round 4 – Monday 24 May 2021, at 7.00 pm – Pairings have been published.
Round 5 – Monday 7 June 2021. Dai Harris would secure the U1800 crown with a win in the last round, but a draw would not do it if Jef Page won. Perhaps the poisoned pawn Sicilian was not the best way for Dai to go about it? Ruqayyah countered with a sharp attack on the other wing to dash Dai’s hopes. Jef Page took full advantage of this turn of events to snatch the U1800 title with a win over David Smith.
Leading positions final: 1 Jef Page 4/5; =2 Dai Harris, Ruqayyah Rida., 3½. 9 players
U1800 Games
Round 1: Monday 12 April – All games completed, no draws. Upset results: Peter Kukiewicz 1143 1-0 John Staplehurst 1441; Markos Muratidis 1204 0-1 Aren Sathish-Kumar 900. Other wins by Nigel White, John Jestico, Duc Ta and Laurence Duffy. Games are given below.
Round 2: Monday 26 April 2021 – Wanstead lead the U1500. Nigel White would doubtless rather have played a game, but his opponent was not online and his phone was off, so there was no option but to award Nigel the game. Otherwise two of the other first round winners each won their game, namely John Jestico and Duc Ta, so there’s a three-way Wanstead tie on 2/2, ahead of six players on 1/2. Dilsher Cheema has withdrawn. All the R2 played games have been added to the game board below; they’re the ones with the game date ‘2021.04.26’.
Leaders after 2: =1 Nigel White, John Jestico, Duc Ta, 2/2. 11 players.
Round 3: Monday 10 May 2021 – Of the three R2 leaders, Duc Ta and John Jestico won, Duc Ta beating the other, Nigel White, for an all-Wanstead leader board. All the R3 games have been added to the game board below; they’re the ones with the game date ‘2021.05.10’.
Leaders after 3: =1 John Jestico, Duc Ta, 3/3; =3 Nigel White, Peter Kukiewicz, Dinil Siriwardana, Markos Mouratidis, 2. 11 players.
Round 4: – Monday 24 May 2021, at 7.00 pm – Pairings published.
Round 5: – Monday 7 June 2021. The U1500 ended in a three way tie, but Duc Ta had already secured the crown at least on tie-break, having a one point lead and a 100% score after four rounds. He availed himself of the luxury of losing to Peter Kukiewicz (3/4) and Markos Mouratidis (also 3/4) joined them on 4/5 with a win against John Jestico.
Leading positions, final: =1 Duc Ta, Peter Kukiewicz, Markos Mouratidis, 4/5; Duc Ta U1500 Champion on tie-break. 11 players