Online Club Championship

Whilst we are once again unable to meet as a Club, Tournament Secretary, Mark Murrell, took the opportunity to hold an Online 2021 Club Championship. Play was on the lichess platform. The rate of play was all moves in 60 minutes with 15 second increments and ECF online rated.

The format of the online Club Championship was a 5-round Swiss played on our lockdown Tuesdays of 5, 12, 19 Jan and 2, 16 February at 7:30 pm.  Time Control G60+15.

Round 1

5 January 2021 – Round 1 is in the bag, results from the Tournament pages via the link below.

Round 2

12 January 2021 – Of the eight players who won in R1, Kyan, Ian, Michael W, and Peter McC won in R2 and lead the field. Of these games, Ashley v Peter was the liveliest and is well worth a look if only for the drama (Link: https://lichess.org/m500oQqL).

Wins were otherwise recorded by Matthias, David and Michael B.

All the games from R2 have now been added to the games board below. You will be able to identify the R2 games by the date “2021.01.12”.

Round 3

19 January 2021 – Kyan assumes the sole lead on 3/3, after beating Michael Wilson, while the other game involving the others on 2/2 at the start of the round, between Peter McC and Ian, was drawn. There were no upsets in the other games, with wins for Mark, Ashley, Istvan, Peter N and Jay, while Nigel and John J drew.

Leading scores after three: 1 Kyan 3/3; 2 Ian and Peter McC, 2½; Michael W, Peter N, Ashley, Mark, Istvan, 2; 17 players.

The Round 3 games have been added to the games board below (thank you, Mark) and can be identified by the game date “2021.01.19”.

Round 4

2 February 2021 – The entry was increased by a new member joining the competition, TU Senan, joining with 1½/3.

Kyan increased his lead to a full point with a time-trouble affected win over Ian. The two Peters drew, while Ashley and Istvan both won to join the chasing pack, with just one round to go.

Leading scores after four: 1 Kyan 4/4; Peter McCarron, Ashley, Istvan, 3; 18 players

The Round 4 games have been added to the games board below (thank you, Mark) and can be identified by the game date “2021.02.02”.

Round 5

16 February 2021 – A thrilling finish was in store for this evening’s last round. The red hot favourite, Club OTB Champion Kyan Bui, had a one point lead and needed only a draw. At the start of the last round, there were three players on 3/4 chasing Kyan on 4/4. Istvan and Peter McC were paired together, hoping that Ashley, with the Black pieces, could do the business against Kyan. Istvan accounted for Peter to finish on 4/5 and must then have been delighted to find that Kyan had made a rare blunder and lost a piece. Doubtless Ashley’s hand was trembling on his mouse as he charted his way to the full point, but he made no slip-up and completed the win, to bring about a triple tie for first place. Congratulations to the first place trio, but the Tournament Secretary is now planning the play-offs!

To complete the podium, Ian beat Peter N to finish 4th alone on 3½, while the third step is even more crowded than the top step with Peter McC, Mark, TU Senan and Jay all finishing on 3/5.

Leading scores after five rounds: 1 Kyan, Ashley, Istvan, 4/5; 4 Ian, 3½; Peter McC, Mark, TU Senan, Jay; 3. 18 players.

Full scores via the OLCC link below, all the games further below (thank you again, Mark). The last round games are those with the game date ‘2021.02.16’.

The Play-off

    1 1
2 2
3 3
Total
1 Kyan Bui     1W 1B 0B 1W 3/4
2 Istvan Karacsony 0B 0W     0W 0B 0/4
3 Ashley Freeman 1W 0B 1B 1W     3/4

Game 1 was a 13 move miniature over in 46 minutes, leaving Kyan a point to the good. Find the game in the Play-off game board below; game date ‘2021.03.02’.

Game 2 started off as a cagey positional battle until Ashley sacrificed a pawn on the Q-side while he opened up the g-file to Istvan’s castled king and pressed home a winning attack. Find the game in the Play-off game board below; game date ‘2021.03.09’.

Game 3 completed the first cycle of play-off games and brought advantage to Ashley who defeated Kyan for a second time. Find the game in the Play-off game board below; game date ‘2021.03.16’.

Game 4 the first game of the second cycle saw Kyan in dominant mood, securing the point in 25 moves. Find the game in the Play-off game board below; game date ‘2021.03.20’.

Game 5 Ashley maintained his 100% record in the play-off with the point in a wild game. So if it’s not premature, congratulations to Ashley for a hand on the (virtual) trophy. Kyan now needs to win the last game to share the title in their third head-to-head (including the main tournament). Find the game in the Play-off game board below; game date ‘2021.03.25’.

Game 6 Kyan levels with the Fried Liver. Ashley and Kyan share the Online Championship after Kyan got the win he needed, assaying the Fried Liver attack which netted him a pawn. Ashley had the compenstion of more space and a mobile pawn centre, but after Kyan prepared his breakout, his extra pawn with an eventual 3-1 Q-side majority, told. Find the game in the Play-off game board below; game date ‘2021.03.30’.

1 Tue 02 Mar – Bui v Karacsony 1-0, 13 moves
2 Tue 09 Mar – Karacsony v Freeman 0-1, 51 moves
3 Tue 16 Mar – Freeman v Bui 1-0, 34 moves
4 Sat 20 Mar – Karacsony v Bui 0-1, 25 moves
5 Thu 25 Mar – Freeman v Karacsony 1-0, 37 moves
6 Tue 30 Mar – Bui v Freeman 1-0, 48 moves

Links to the LMS pages: Standings | Schedule

OLCC Tournament pages | WWCC Online Policy

The Tournament Games

The Play-off Games