Author: chessWeb

It’s a three-day festival of chess for Govanhill Chess Club, with consecutive events at the end of March. Teams and arrangements for each follow:

Scottish National Online Chess League – 27 March

Govanhill will play Lenzie 2 in the final round of SNOCL Division Four.

Our team for this game, which will be played on chess.com at the 25+10 time control at 11am on Sun 27 March, is as follows:

1. Faidon Filipsson (white)
2. Julien Papillon (black)
3. Derek Rankine (white)
4. Jass McNeill (black)
5. Niall McCamley (white)

Players will receive notification on their opponents via a message on chess.com a little after 10am, when the teams are revealed.

Results and standings will be published on the Scottish Online Chess Organisation website.

Friendly: Govanhill vs Bearsden – 28 March

In early March, Govanhill scored a narrow win away to Bearsden Chess Club.

The home leg of the two-game friendly takes place on Monday 28 March, in Wellcroft Bowling Club, with a 60+0 time control.

The teams are as follows (Govanhill players highlighted in bold):

1. Derek Rankine (white) vs Rob Colston (black)
2. Mel Burt (white) vs Rhys McCrosson (black)
3. Graeme McKinnon (white) vs Peter MacDonald (black)
4. Christopher Nield (white) vs Julien Papillon (black)
5. Giuseppe Bosco (white) vs Dominic Quinn (black)
6. Chris Cotton (white) vs James Todd (black)
7. Jass McNeill (white) vs Mark Thwaites (black)
8. Alistair Goodall (white) vs Libor Masar (black)

All games will be graded by Chess Scotland. Players are reminded to bring a pen to record their moves, and to arrive by 6:50pm for a 7pm start.

Simul with GM Jacob Aagaard – 29 March

We have also teamed up with our friends in Bearsden for a special joint simultaneous exhibition with the renowned Danish GM Jacob Aagaard, pictured above.

GM Aagaard, currently the second strongest player in Scotland with a FIDE rating of 2465, has won the British and Scottish Championships, and is an award-winning author of chess books. We are extremely grateful to GM Aagaard for the opportunity, and to Rob Colston and Mel Burt of Bearsden Chess Club for organising.

The simul will take place on the evening of Tuesday 29 March in Bearsden’s venue, Cairns Church in Milngavie. Govanhill will have nine players:

1. Rhys McCrosson
2. Graeme McKinnon
3. Harvey Dellanzo
4. Ethan Small
5. Alex Radevic
6. Derek Rankine
7. Julien Papillon
8. Jass McNeill
9. Giuseppe Bosco

Car transport will be provided from Wellcroft Bowling Club at 6:30pm (corner of Queens Drive & Balvicar Road), for a 7:30pm start in Cairns Church. Players are to wear a mask during the game, unless they have an exemption.

GM Aagaard has allowed his opponents to pick their colour. The simul will be played without clocks; once GM Aagaard comes to each board, the opponents are to make their move, and GM Aagaard will play his before moving to the next board. Opponents have two pass requests – say “pass” and GM Aagaard will make another circuit of remaining boards.

When games conclude, players are welcome to play casual games in a separate music room across the corridor from the playing hall, where some boards will be set up.

Derek Rankine, Secretary, is the contact for any questions around these events: secretary@queensparkchessclub.com

About

On Monday 21 March, Govanhill held a small graded Allegro tournament for its members: a three round Swiss format event at the 15+0 time control.

The results and standings, which have also been published by Chess Scotland, follow. Congratulations to new member Guiseppe Bosco on his victory!

The club intends to hold other Allegro tournaments in future, including a collaboration with two other clubs. Keep an eye on the website for details.

Round 1

1. Julien Papillon 0-1 Derek Rankine
2. Giuseppe Bosco 1-0 Jass McNeill
3. Harvey Dellanzo 1-0 Alex Lane

Round 2

1. Derek Rankine 0.5-0.5 Giuseppe Bosco
2. Jass McNeill 1-0 Harvey Dellanzo
3. Alex Lane 1-0 Julien Papillon

Round 3

1. Harvey Dellanzo 1-0 Derek Rankine
2. Giuseppe Bosco 1-0 Alex Lane
3. Julien Papillon 1-0 Jass McNeill

Standings

Position	Name	Score	SBgr*	Rating†
1	Giuseppe Bosco	2.5	2.75	1416
2	Harvey Dellanzo	2	2.5	1338
3	Derek Rankine	1.5	2.25	1016
4	Jass McNeill	1	2	0
5	Alex Lane	1	1	0
6	Julien Papillon	1	1	1202

* Sonneborn-Berger tie break score

† Chess Scotland allegro rating

We are delighted to confirm that Cyprus national Nicolas Skettos will be joining us on the evening of Monday 31 January for a simultaneous exhibition match.

Nicolas holds the online FIDE title of Arena Grand Master, and has this month achieved a peak FIDE classical rating of 1940 following a strong performance at a tournament in Newcastle.

This will be a valuable opportunity to learn from an expert level player in a distinctive format that evens the playing field somewhat by providing club members with a major time and focus advantage.

Members will this week receive an email from President Julien Papillon with details of the simultaneous exhibition, which begins at 6:45pm. If you would like to notify Julien of your participation, please email president@queensparkchessclub.com.

Update

Nicolas won five of the eight games, and resigned one to Derek Rankine, who had won two pawns in a Sicilian Najdorf.

The other two games – against Alex Radevic and Rhys McCrosson – went on late into the evening and were suspended. The game against Alex was continued at a later date; Alex abandoned a perpetual check idea to seek the win, but Nicolas ultimately emerged victorious in a complex position. It was not possible to find a suitable date for completing the game against Rhys.

We are grateful to Nicolas for taking the time to play us.