Basildon Chess Club

Basildon Chess Club Championships 2021-22 (Open and Under-1800) The 2021-22 Club Championships commenced on 11th November 2021. 16 entries were received for the Open tournament and 7 entries for the Under-1800.
The winner of the Open tournament will be crowned Club Champion and will receive a trophy and engraving on the Club Championship shield, which is also kept for one year. The winner of the U1800 tournament will also receive a trophy.
The Open tournament consists of four all-play-all (once) groups. The winner and runner-up of each group will qualify for the quarter-final. In the event of a tie for 1st/2nd place, the head to head game will act as a tie breaker. If this was drawn, 1st/2nd place will be decided by the toss of a coin. In the event of a tie for 2nd/3rd, a Rapid play off will take place. No tie breaker in this case.
The quarter-finals will be the winner of each group playing a runner-up of one of the other groups.
The U1800 Tournament will be all-play-all once. In the event of a tie, a rapidplay decider will determine the winner.
The time controls for all non-rapid games will be 80 mins + 10 secs per move. A draw for colours will take place before every game.

TLDR Following the sad death of Allan Reid in July 2022, the U1800 competition was halted and awarded posthumously to Allan, who was leading at the time with a 100% score.

The Club Championship was won by Radu Bara.

Group Matches
Pos Group A JB RB AG MM Pts       Pos Group B BF PS TB AR Pts
Q2 Justin Baptie x 0(W) 1(W) 1(B) 2/3 =Q1 Bob Fowles x ½(B) 1(B) 1(W) 2½/3
Q1 Radu Bara 1(B) x 1(W) 1(W) 3/3 =Q1 Paul Savin ½(W) x 1(B) 1(W) 2½/3
3 Arunas Gedvilas 0(B) 0(B) x 1(B) 1/3 =3 Tye Byram 0(W) 0(W) x ½(B) ½/3
4 Mandar Mane 0(W) 0(B) 0(W) x 0/3 =3 Allan Reid 0(B) 0(B) ½(W) x ½/3
Pos Group C TS DK LS SH Pts       Pos Group D DM SC PL AD Pts
=Q1 Tamas Somogyi x ½(W) 1(B) 1(W) 2½(W)/3 3 David Millward x ½(W) 0(W) 1(W) 1½/3
=Q1 David Kraszewski ½(W) x 1(W) 1(B) 2½(W)/3 Q2 Sean Clarke ½(B) x ½(W) 1(W) 2/3
=3 Lakshan Siddharth 0(W) 0(B) x - 0/2 Q1 Peter Laundy 1(B) ½(B) x 1(W) 2½/3
=3 Steve Higgins 0(B) 0(W) - x 0/2 4 Andy Daniel 0(B) 0(B) 0(B) x 0/3

Knockout Matches
Quarter Finals
02-Jun-2022 Paul Savin 1-0 Sean Clarke
16-Jun-2022 Peter Laundy ½ ½ (1 0 0)-½ ½ (0 1 1) Tamas Somogyi
16-Jun-2022 Bob Fowles 0-1 Radu Bara
23-Jun-2022 Justin Baptie 1-0 David Kraszewski
Semi Finals
15-Sep-2022 Radu Bara 1-0 Paul Savin
11-Aug-2022 Tamas Somogyi ½ ½ (1 0 1)-½ ½ (0 1 0) Justin Baptie
Final
06-Oct-2022 Tamas Somogyi 0-1 Radu Bara
Under-1800 Championship (Now Closed)
Pos AR MM TB AD SH KS Pts
1 Allan Reid x - - 1(B) 1(B) 1(W) 3/3
2 Mandar Mane - x 0(W) 1(B) - 1(B) 2/3
=3 Tye Byram - 1(B) x -(B) - -(B) 1/1
=3 Andy Daniel 0(W) 0(W) - x 1(B) - 1/3
=3 Steve Higgins 0(W) - - 0(W) x 1(B) 1/3
6 Keve Somogyi 0(B) 0(W) - - 0(W) x 0/3
Group and U1800 Match Reports Group A
11th November - The battle of the top seeds saw Radu win a pawn going into a rook, minor piece and pawns ending. Although Radu won a second pawn, they eventually reached R+N v R, which is theoretically drawn, but Justin's king was stuck in the corner and the pressure of having to play on 10 second increments eventually led to a mistake - knight fork and a big win for Radu.
25th November - Justin was back on the winning trail against the in-form Arunas, who never recovered from an early slip that gave away a pawn and disturbed his position. An efficient win by Justin followed.
16th December - Mandar found the going tough in his first match in this group, losing to Arunas.
3rd March - Mandar looked to have a good position early on against Justin, but it didn't last and Justin claimed the full point.
12th May - Radu v Aranas was in danger of being a 'normal' game, but then Radu started sacrificing. First a pawn, then a knight, then a rook. Despite the material deficit Arunas found himself mated (and as bemused as I was as a spectator). A highly entertaining game that has now been uploaded to the website. This also ensures Radu's (and Justin's) qualification for the KO stage.
26th May - Radu completed a rare 100% group performance with a win over Mandar.

Group B
11th November - Steady and strong play by Bob against Tye led to him forcing through in the centre and pushing a pawn to the 7th, with much material still on the board. This proved enough to gain the point. Paul won the exchange in the middle game against Allan and used all his years of experience to simplify into an ending where he could give back the exchange, but be left with a winning runaway pawn.
25th November - Paul started strongly in a complicated French variation against Bob, and looked to be better after the early moves. As the game progressed, the complications disappeared and a draw was agreed before the ending took shape.
6th December - Bob became the 2nd quarter final qualifier with a win over Allan.
16th December - Paul gained a quick advantage in the opening against Tye and held it to secure the victory and qualification for the quarter finals.
17th February - Tye was a couple of pawns up against Allan, but with major pieces on the board and exposed kings, Allan had just enough to salvage a draw.

Group C
11th November - Tamas against Lakshan was a tremendous spectacle where Tamas' kingside attack resulted in Lakshan's king being chased all over the board. Although he was temporarily a piece up Lakshan was never able to find a safe haven and was eventually forced to concede.
25th November - Newcomer Steve put up a battling display against Tamas, but Tamas eventually used his middle game skills to overwork the black pieces and turn his advantage into a full point.
6th January - Steve set up a well blocked position against Dave K, and after much manoevering the latter overpressed, allowing Steve to pick up 2 extra pawns in a B+N+6p v B+N+4P ending. With both players heading into severe time trouble, Steve blundered twice (pawn then knight) to give Dave K a totally undeserved win.
17th February - Dave steered the game towards an early ending and confined Lakshan's bad bishop before picking up a couple of pawns to gain a winning position and qualification for the quarter finals.
24th February - Although both had already qualified, Tamas and Dave played for the title of Group Winner. As it turned out, a very entertaining encounter, with a manic scramble at the end, resulted in a draw so they share 1st place.

Group D
11th November - David versus Peter looked very even for a long time, but then Peter managed to fork king and rook with his knight and the extra exchange, coupled with efficient endgame technique gave him the win. Sean applied the long, slow squeeze on Andy's position, until the pressure eventually forced a mistake and Sean took the point.
25th November - Sean, with the white pieces, held a small advantage over Peter for most of the game. However, he couldn't use his more active pieces to get the win and the game tailed off into a drawn K+P ending.
2nd December - Peter versus Andy was an eventful game that very nearly went black's way. Peter started well but miscalculated in the middle game. A wrong move order meant Andy would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A fortuitous win for Peter means that he is the first qualifier for the quarter finals.
6th January - Andy (black) sacrificed a piece for an attack against David M's Lopez, but this backfired and after also losing the exchange he was a whole rook down. David made no mistake in concluding the win, to keep open his chances of a qualifying place.
10th March - In the crucial last group game, David M (white) obtained a space advantage on the k-side, but Sean advanced his q-side pawns in response. The position eventually became quite blocked and, although a sacrificial pawn break was possible, David eventually accepted Sean's draw offer. So Sean qualifies with Peter for the KO stages.

U1800
11th November - First appearances for our two new members. Welcome Steve and Keve (son of Tamas). This was an impressive start from Steve, winning a piece early on and following this up with a quick finish.
25th November - Allan won the exchange early on against Keve and never let the advantage slip, to give him a winning U1800 start.
9th December - Keve's tough start continued with a loss to Mandar.
6th January - Tye (black) managed to entice Mandar's queen into a vulnerable position, and using the semi-open f-file for his rook provoked a mistake winning a piece and the game.
10th February - Andy (white) built up a tremendous attack against Allan, won a couple of pawns, but then blundered a piece to leave Allan with an advantageous ending in which he made no mistake in winning.
17th February - Andy won the exchange in the middle game against Steve, and this time made no mistake in converting this into the full point.
5th May - Andy against Mandar was a wide open game, which after Mandar won a piece, was decided by a mating attack with Andy's king stuck in the centre of the board. Steve against Allan was level for a long time, but a decisive blunder from Steve gave Allan the point.
1st August - Following the recent death of Allan Reid, the U1800 competition is now closed and has been awarded to Allan, as he had both the highest score and also a perfect 100% score.

Knockout Reports 2nd June - Paul had the white pieces against Sean. A long game started with an equal opening but then Sean got a passive position and it went downhill when both players ran short of time. So Paul is our first semi-finalist.
16th June - The reigning champion is out! Radu emerged from a complicated position where unusually all material remained on the board approaching 20 moves. Then, a miscalculation from Bob allowed Radu to move into the semi-finals. Early exchanges in the Peter v Tamas led to an uneventful draw. The computer evaluation at the end suggests white had a very nominal edge, but it would be a very long slog for a win by either player.
23rd June - An early positional error by Dave was an open invitation for Justin to launch a fierce kingside attack. Dave managed to repel the first wave, but with a very passive position and little time left, a mistake was inevitable. And so it proved, with Justin breaking through and claiming the win. The Tamas - Peter replay was another hard fought battle, where Tamas had the advantage, but not quite enough to beat Peter's defensive technique. So we head to a rapidplay tie-breaker!
30th June - Another dramatic late night finish. Not content with two Essex KO Rapid games, Peter and Tamas decided to complete their tie-breaker tonight. Two games, 10mins+5secs. The run of draws ended as Peter's faithful London System once again came up trumps. In a complicated ending, time eventually ran out for Tamas. In the 2nd game, Peter was always on the defensive and after Tamas' pressure eventually won him a pawn it was just a question of technique to exchange to a won K+Ps ending. So, still no winner and down to single 5min+5sec games. Given that in all four games the player with the white pieces had held the advantage, it was an important draw for colours - which Tamas won. In a repeat of the previous game, Tamas had the edge and eventually won a pawn, but this time, in a Q+Ps ending it looked like Peter had a perpetual. However, Tamas managed to get his king to safety and although Peter regained the pawn, another passed pawn was unstoppable, so Tamas becomes our 4th semi-finalist.
11th August - Tamas drew the white pieces against Justin, and won a pawn fairly early. All knights were exchanged, but all other pieces remained for some time with 7p v 6P. With both players running very short of time, all the major pieces were exchanged in quick succession, but Tamas still had the extra pawn. The final, very tense, phase of the contest had both players constantly under 1 minute remaining, but Justin defended resolutely and Tamas' draw offer was accepted.
18th August - Another hard fought game between Justin and Tamas. What looked like equality from the opening turned into a small advantage to Justin that he expoited to near perfection. This culminated with Tamas losing 2 pawns and at one point being down to 2 seconds in a R,B+Ps late middle game/ending. However, at the point where victory looked almost assured, Justin made an inaccurate move which looked like it allowed Tamas a perpetual. He offered a draw and as Justin's clock ticked down to the last few seconds, it was accepted. Subsequently, Justin discovered that he was still winning in the final position!
25th August - Tamas won the draw for colours and caught Justin cold in the 1st 10+5 rapid game, as the latter blundered a piece. Although he carried on for a while, it was always hopeless for Justin. In the 2nd game, Tamas (needing only a draw) 'surprised' Justin with his Elephant Gambit. However, Justin knew exactly what to do and came out of the opening with a winning position, which he converted with ease. So, sudden death 5+5 was required to separate the two. Tamas, as white, went down a similar line to game 1 but Justin was awake now and equalised. As the clocks ticked down, Justin won the exchange but at the cost of giving Tamas active pieces and a pair of strong central pawns. Justin missed a discovered check, the pawns stormed forward and Justin's clock dropped down to zero amidst the complications. A highly entertaining set of games, and almost a replica of his quarter-final strategy, Tamas becomes our first finalist and ensures that a new name will be appearing on the Club Champion shield this year.
15th September - Radu (playing white) had this to say following his win over Paul in the 2nd semi, "I won somehow, on time - we were playing for some time with his flag down. I was very lucky, Paul played well. I thought that he was winning at some point but a draw was more likely". So Radu joins Tamas in the final, to be played on 6th October.
6th October - Tamas drew the white pieces and managed to win a pawn in the middle game, followed by a 2nd. The cost for the extra material was a huge clock deficit (something like 3mins v 58mins, and then 1min v 45mins). Radu made sure that the exchanges did not include a queen and rook, and with these major pieces still on the board the clock proved decisive as Tamas eventually overstepped the time control. So, commiserations to Tamas for going so close, but congratulations to Radu on his first win in this tournament. Radu will now be added to the eminent names appearing on the prestigious Basildon Club Champion shield.
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