 |
 |
ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008 SOUTH BIRMINGHAM CHESS CLUB The 2007/8 season has been most memorable for several reasons. The club has for the first time had a Grandmaster (Danny Gormally) and an International Master (Steven Gordon) playing for its’ first team. Not only did we successfully keep our three teams in Division 1, but we also Our First Team (1A) won all of its’ first 10 matches and set up a commanding lead and successfully retained the League Championship. Our Second Team (1B) did exceptionally well and finished in second place, and thus retained for the club, the trophy that the 1C team had won last year. Our Third Team (1C) scored 13 points and finished sixth in Division 1. Our Fourth Team played in Division 2 and finished in third position on 17 points. Our Fifth Team played in Division 3 and successfully retained its’ place. Our Sixth Team played in Division 4 and finished in fourth place with 15 points. Our Seventh Team played in Division 5 and finished in 9th position with 9 points. Our First Team played in the Terrill Trophy and reached the final. Our team had to obtain 5 points out of a possible 6 in order to win the match because Boldmere were given a 3½ point start. The team we chose to play for the club in the final was made up of 2 players from each of our 3 Division 1 teams. We won the match and the Trophy – full results below:
Terrill Trophy – Final
The season opened with the usual ‘friendly’ match against Olton on 21 August 2007. The match took place over 22 boards with the South Birmingham Team being led by Grandmaster Danny Gormally. The match was won by South Birmingham with a score of 15½ to Olton’s 6½ giving us our tenth successive victory. League Lightning Competition The Club entered three sides in the League’s Lightning Event. The First Team which consisted of David Dunn, Martin Smyth, Dani Malik and Kaiser Malik won the ‘Premiership’ Section with 16½ points out of 20. They were supported in the top section by our Second Team which consisted of Liam Hylands, Neil Clarke, Terry Walker and Robert Glass who successfully helped by taking points off the opposition. The Third Team consisting of Derek Stockhall, Sean Ralph, Fred Dickson and Paul Phillips did well in the second section and finished second with 17 points out of 24. Top performers were Martin Smyth and Dani Malik who both scored League Individual Competition We were guaranteed winning the Division 2 League Individual Competition as both the finalists are from South Birmingham. Robert Glass won the toss of the coin and chose the white pieces against Gary Hope. An exciting game followed which resulted in a victory for Robert. Well done! The Most Promising Junior The most Promising Junior Award this year goes to Dani Malik who played 16 games in Division 1 winning 11, drawing 4, and 1 loss. He also played in the League Lightning Competition and scored 5 out of 5. Potter Trophy I would like to thank all players who have played reserve games for teams other than those for which they are registered. This year, four players stand out for contributing more to the Club than is expected of them, and thus, contributing to its’ continued success: Neil Clarke Fred Dickson David Dunn
This year the Potter Trophy is awarded to one of the elder statesman of This season Martin played a total of 26 games for the Club for all three division 1 sides. He was always prepared to turn out for any team irrespective of how short the notice that was given to him. Martin made a significant contribution to the Club winning the League Championship, the Terrill Trophy and the League Lightning Championship. He also helped several players with their adjourned games by using his unique analysis technique. Nickers Trophy This year there were several candidates trying to get their name on this most prestigious of trophies. Neil Clarke and Martin Smyth both drew ten games. Fred Dickson out did them by drawing twelve games. However, this year, our most Petrosianesque player and a new name on the trophy is Tim Lane who drew 13 games out of 18 played. JUST ANOTHER NIGHT AT THE CLUB Robert and Gary were both playing games in the Division 2 League Individual Competition. Gary was playing against John Fahy and Robert was playing against Alan Burnett. After they had finished their games, all four players went into to the analysis room. They were so absorbed in analysing the two games, the players didn’t notice the hours ticking away… There was knock on the fire escape door: West Midlands Police had come to investigate the premises being burgled! Apparently, the Caretaker assumed that everyone had gone home and the building was empty. So the alarms were set and the building locked up. The energetic arm movements of the players set off the alarms – which are connected to the police station. Hence the arrival of the Quick Response Unit. Once it was established that the building was not being burgled – but occupied by over enthusiastic chess players, the culprits were lead led down the fire escape by the Police and the building secured. What are they like!!!
The club was particularly well represented in the Warwickshire Chess Championships where fifteen of our members took part. Steven Gordon is to be congratulated on coming second in the British Championship. WELL DONE STEVEN!
Next season we will have vacancies for several players, because a few of our members are leaving the area. So if there is anybody out there who wants to play for a successful club please contact us. Lastly we will be holding events every Wednesday at the chess club starting from Wednesday 21 May. The first event is a Five Minute Tournament.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
