Basildon Chess Club

Basildon Chess Club Championship 2015-16 The 2015-16 Club Championship commenced on 25th June 2015. 20 entries were received, resulting in 2 qualifying groups of 7 players and one of six. The groups will be all-play-all once, with colours drawn by the tournament organiser in advance. Essex League time limits apply (80 mins for all moves + 10 secs per move).
The top 2 players in each group, together with the 2 best 3rd place scores (based on percentage of points scored) will qualify for the quarter finals. In the event of ties between 3rd place players in the same group, the criteria will be 1) result of head to head, 2) most wins. If this does not resolve the tie, a 10 minute play off will decide.

The winner will be awarded the Trophy (to keep for one year), plus a shield and £50. The runner up will receive a shield and £25. There will also be a £10 prize for the best Under 140 performance.

Group A

Pos	Name	PL	RH	JB	PS	NA	BR	JS	Pts	%
1	Peter R Laundy (Q)	x	1	1	½	½	1	1	5/6	83%
2	Rob Hewitt (Q)	0	x	1	1	1	1	1	5/6	83%
3	Justin P Baptie (Q)	0	0	x	1	1	1	1	4/6	67%
4	Paul Savin	½	0	0	x	1	1	1	3½/6	58%
5	Neil G Axe	0	0	0	½	x	1	1	2½/6	42%
6	William T Rippon	0	0	0	0	0	x	1	1/6	17%
7	Jeff Sheehan	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	0/6	0%

Group B

Pos	Name	DM	AG	DK	DHW	BT	BL	KL	Pts	%
1	David J Millward (Q)	x	½	1	1	1	1	1	5½/6	92%
2	Arunas Gedvilas (Q)	½	x	0	1	1	1	1	4½/6	75%
3	David Kraszewski (Q)	0	1	x	0	1	1	1	4/6	67%
4	Daniel AR Hardy-Wallace	0	0	1	x	½	1	1	3½/6	58%
5	Ben Thompson	0	0	0	½	x	1	1	2½/6	42%
6	Bharath Lakshmanan	0	0	0	0	0	x	1	1/6	17%
7	Ken Laundy	0	0	0	0	0	0	x	0/6	0%

Group C

Pos	Name	TS	TB	AG	SC	TH	SM	Pts	%
1	Tamas Somogyi (Q)	x	1	1	½	1	1(d)	4½/5	90%
2	Tye A Byram (Q)	0	x	1	1	1	1(d)	4/5	80%
3	Alaa Gamal	0	0	x	1	1	1(d)	3/5	60%
4	Sean Clarke	½	0	0	x	1	1(d)	2½/5	50%
5	Tom Hedaux	0	0	0	0	x	1(d)	1/5	20%
6	S Makiappan	0(d)	0(d)	0(d)	0(d)	0(d)	x	0/5(default)	0%

Knockout Matches

Quarter Finals
01-Oct-2015	Justin P Baptie	1-0	Arunas Gedvilas
01-Oct-2015	Peter R Laundy	0-1	David Kraszewski
01-Oct-2015	Tamas Somogyi	1-0	Rob Hewitt
01-Oct-2015	David J Millward	1-0 (Default)	Tye A Byram
Semi Finals
10-Mar-2016	David Kraszewski	1-0	Tamas Somogyi
17-Mar-2016	David J Millward	0-1	Justin P Baptie
Final
05-May-2016	David Kraszewski	½-½	Justin P Baptie
26-May-2016	Justin P Baptie	0-1	David Kraszewski

Group Reports Group A
25th June 2015 - A fine performance by Bill was not quite enough to prevent Paul from winning a close endgame. Peter always had the edge aginst Rob and managed to convert this into a win. Neil also started with a win against Jeff.
2nd July 2015 - A very good game by Neil took Justin right to the wire on time control and almost provided an upset, a great effort from Neil! Jeff played well against Bill but made some mistakes in the middle and end game. Good effort Jeff!
16th July 2015 - Win of the day for Peter who beat current joint champion Justin in a close match. Rob crushed Neil with an excellent performance to get off the mark in the group
23rd July 2015 - Peter maintained his 100% record, but only after a really difficult struggle against Bill.
30th July 2015 - Just the one game this week, as Rob got the better of Jeff.
13th August 2015 - Paul and Peter played out a "bore draw" (according to Paul) or "gentlemanly draw" (Peter). The result ensured Peter's qualification and also Paul's likely elimination. Justin beat Bill, so 2nd place looks likely to be Justin or Rob.
20th August 2015 - Rob's win against Bill assures him of a place in the quarter finals.
3rd September 2015 - Justin miscalculated against Rob in a winning position, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. So with one game to play, against Jeff, Justin needs to win to qualify.
17th September 2015 - Justin ensured his quarter final place with a win over Jeff, and Paul finished on a winning note against Neil.

Group B
25th June 2015 - Arunas played well to reach a rook ending against David M, but could not force the win and had to settle for a draw. Performance of the night though goes to Daniel as he beat the current (joint) holder Dave K in a manic finish, in an opposite colour bishop ending ! Qualification from Group B could now get very interesting.
2nd July 2015 - David M had a nice win over Ben.
16th July 2015 - David M beat Daniel in what looked like a comfotable win but he later revealed a combination he played was unsound and would probably have led to his defeat. However, Daniel missed the opportunity to capitalise. Wins also for Dave K and Arunas.
23rd July 2015 - Dave K had the better of a sharp struggle with Arunas, who opted for major complications at an early stage. Daniel eventually got the better of a spirited Ken and David M beat Bharath.
30th July 2015 - A fine defensive performance by Ben earned him a draw against Daniel. Bharath recorded his first victory as he beat Ken.
13th August 2015 - Arunas beat Bharath after a mistake with Bharath losing his queen.
20th August 2015 - Ben completed his final game with a fine win over Bharath and a very creditable 2½/6. David M assured qualification with a win against Ken.
27th August 2015 - Dave K beat Bharath to ensure qualification (Arunas and Daniel cannot both overtake him and 4/6 in Group B will be one of the best two 3rd place scores).
3rd September 2015 - Arunas won the qualification shoot out against Daniel to become the 7th quarter finalist.
17th September 2015 - David M claimed top place with an impressive win (much as it pains me to say!) over Dave K.

Group C
25th June 2015 - Solid start from Tye with a win over Tom. Sean and Tamas could not be separated and their even-throughout game ended in a draw.
16th July 2015 - Sean lost to Alaa after pushing too hard for a win, when the position suggested a draw. Tamas had to battle hard to see off Tom who was, as always, very difficult to break down.
23rd July 2015 - Congratulations to Tye on being the first qualifier. His win against Sean featured a superb combination in the opening and although Sean fought long and hard, he never quite recovered. Alaa also enjoyed another win, at Tom's expense.
The remaining five players in Group C received an extra point tonight, as S. Makiappan has withdrawn from the competition. Please note the clarification to the qualification rules, whereby the best two 3rd placed performers BY PERCENTAGE OF POINTS SCORED will now proceed to the quarter finals.
13th August 2015 - Tamas beat Alaa to ensure qualification with Tye. Alaa's 3rd place 60% is unlikely to be enough to qualify.
27th August 2015 - Tamas beat Tye to end the last 100% score in this year's tournament.

Knockout Reports Quarter Finals
Thursday 1st October - Justin beat Arunas with a very impressive series of sacrifices and attacking play. Dave K beat Peter with an attack that delivered mate on the 21st move. However, this was all very fortunate (for him), as Peter had the advantage up until move 18. Tamas beat Rob in a very close game. With equal material in the end game, Rob blundered a rook under no real pressure. Finally, David M went into the semi finals without moving a piece, as Tye failed to show (forgot that it was 1/4 finals night!).

Semi Finals
Thursday 10th March - Dave K fluked a win when Tamas (with Knight and 2 pawns versus 3 pawns) miscalculated in time trouble.
Thursday 17th March - In comparison to the first semi-final, Justin had a more controlled win over David M to set up a repeat of last year's final.

Final
Thursday 5th May - Dave K won the white pieces and also a pawn in the opening. Justin was more or less forced into sacrificing the exchange, but this proved to be the correct decision as his compensation was sufficient to achieve a draw. Replay (this time with Justin as white) is on May 26th.
Thursday 26th May - Dave K made it a hat trick of very lucky wins (see QF and SF above) when Justin, in a winning knight and pawn ending, inexplicably placed his knight en-prise. As a result, Justin loses his half share and Dave gains a half share of the title they won together last year.
Thanks again to Sean Clarke for organising another successful club championship and here's to the 2016-17 competition!